Ultravox!* – Ha!-Ha!-Ha!

It was released in the middle of the punk rush 1977. It must have the edges! The original which I have buyed as a german pressing 1977 is good co-produced from Steve Lillywhite and the band. In my opinion, the remastered version is more detailed according to the instruments and in total more dynamic than the real good original pressing. Check it please and enjoy one of the great innovative bands of this era.

Best I've ever heard this album (grey). The bass drum is phenomenal. Stereo whooshing back n forth on Side 2. No harshness on violin. Harmony vocals clearly heard. Rhythm guitar is in the room. "It's all in the grooves just needs to be extracted".
Reviewed on Linn LP12/Ekos/Ortofon Windfeld ti/Ortofon ST-80 SE/Dynavector P-75/Bel Canto eVo2i/Shahinian Arc. (At high volume).

Must disagree with Scarpie. This is a wonderful experience. In fact, the best I've heard. It's a frenetic album, and will never be an audiophile delight, but this is as goods as it gets. Too quiet? Not at all. And unlike the "Bubbles" pressing, the stereo separation is intact. Recommended.

Just to add another nail to this one. ARL2839 tells you exactly what this is. It's a truly terrible rendition of this album, and frankly isn't worth owning even as a curio. Hard to know what went wrong. It's like this was put together from old bits of tape found on the floor. If you love this album, these is no need to even look at this one. It's terrible. I have compared against the remastered Grey vinyl, and it truly is night and day. Go for the latter and leave this one as a footnote.

I recommend this German pressing. Great record. Love this era of Ultravox. Jon Fox is a great front man. .

For some strange reason our local Woolworths had about 20 copies of this album plus 7”. I wasn’t living in a big city or some mega cultural centre, just a small market town. So, why we ended up with so many copies of Ha! Ha! Ha! Lord knows 🤷‍♂️. Maybe Woolies had a deal with Island.
Anyway, I was still at school and didn’t have the disposable income to be able to grab a copy. Didn’t get one for another 6 or. 7 years. But Ill never forget flicking through the jumble of albums on display in the shop and seeing copy after copy of this incredible album. It doesn’t really feel like the kind of album a retailer such as Woolies would stock.
But hey, ho. I wonder what fans who were switched on to Ultravox around Vienna thought of this.
The original band had a small but perfectly formed discography and although Systems will always be my favourite, I am still very fond of this unholy racket.

If you want early unconventionally experimental sound by Ultravox, you should buy this album.
But be aware: This album has nothing to do with the mainstream Ultravox stuff in the 80's.

Best track in my opinion: "Fear In The Western World" (it's a kind of punk rock sound with an "in your face" - effect).

Pressing:
Sounds like a typical 80's mastering. Don't expect miracles.

Remastered somewhat poorly.
Too quiet.
I'll be on the lookout for an earlier pressing.

I have a UK first pressing, the 1992 island remaster CD and the grey vinyl remaster. The 1992 CD is the best of all three. It makes the new remaster sound like a bad home cassette recording.
Play Hiroshima Mon Amour back to back with it and you’ll get it

randomly found the 7" single in the black sleeve in a chsrity shop last week.... interested to find out what the single on its own would be valued at, but for a 30p pick up, its in super shape. happy :-)