This was Ultravox's last chance, having previously struck out (in my mind) with their debut, which I think is called David Bowie's Players, and their Vienna which, other than the phenomenal title track, didn't seem like the New Wave statement I was searching for.
Systems of Romance was produced by German Conny Plank, who is better associated with Krautrock and early electronica. Here, Plank grafts Ultravox's guitar lines onto a more synthetic backdrop. Indeed, take out the vocals and some of these tracks might as well be a Neu! outtakes. Basically this is a sound that others would put to better use on some of the best albums of the coming decade. (Gary Numan in particular credits this album as his Polaris for Pleasure Principle; Julian Cope hints that Numan's 'inspiration' was closer to 'duplication'.)
So Ultravox finally delivered on the kind of album I was looking for. It's unlikely to displace anything in my list of favorite New Wave albums, but Systems of Romance works as a bridge between two genres I severely enjoy: German motor-tik Krautrock and New Wave/Romantic.
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