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| Ha! Ha! Ha! | 
 enlarge | Artist: Ultravox!
Label: Commercial Marketing
Category: Music
List Price: £5.99
Buy Used: £2.78
You Save: £3.21 (54%)
New (32) from £3.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 10303
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 56 minutes
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 602498379493
EAN: 0602498379493
ASIN: B000EU1PWI
Release Date: July 10, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: All items shipped out of the US. 100% guarenteed and shipped within 2 days of placing your order.
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| Tracks:
| • | Rockwrok | | • | Frozen Ones | | • | Fear In The Western World | | • | Distant Smile | | • | Man Who Dies Every Day | | • | Artificial Life | | • | While I'm Still Alive | | • | Hiroshima Mon Amour | | • | Young Savage | | • | The Man Who Dies Every Day | | • | Hiroshima Mon Amour | | • | Quirks | | • | The Man Who Dies Every Day | | • | Young Savage |
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| Customer Reviews:
 The fault line between the seventies and eighties. May 1, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is an album of two extreme styles: hard-driving guitar music that's clearly influenced by the punk rock of 1977, its year of release, and the icy, electronic soundscapes a few years ahead of their time. I remember the catchy, primal rhythm of 'Rockwrok' from the time of its release, together with John Foxx's Lydonesque sneer. The next two tracks follow suit and there's even a '1-2-3-4' opening to 'Fear In The Western World', yet 'The Frozen Ones' deceptively begins with some eerie keyboard. More bizarre is 'Distant Smile', which starts with two and a half minutes of Eno-like ambient piano before the band explode into life yet again.
They then seem to shake off the punk influence. 'The Man Who Dies Every Day' is an especially memorable song couched in an impassioned performance. 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' though is the most visionary track, building upon its Kraftwerk-like percussion. The bonus 'Young Savage' is a welcome addition, another reminder of the current musical fashion. Though 'Ha!Ha!Ha!' tends to pander to the new wave, Ultravox! have the appetite for it while sticking to their usual lyrical content on western civilisation. Not one of the better-known albums of 1977, but well-worthy of investigation.
 a masterpiece released in a topnotch edition August 18, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I was 16 in 77 , never heard of Ultravox! then but I was about to discover them! (donot forget the !) with "Systems of Romance" the following year. Hooked by the originality and the commercial aspect of "Quiet men", I looked then for the predecessors "HA!HA!HA!" and the self named album.
Listening to "HA!(3x)"was at this time a strange experience: hearing a distorted violin,screaaaming guitars from hell,strange keyboard noises all this on punky rythmns.Jumping from hypnotic "we are the robots" beats, to atmospheric peaceful waves, immediately after perverted by the stongest guitaristic distortion ever heard then ,untill the top of the album the orgasmic "Hiroshima Mon amour",all that was a thrilling experience.This CD is a not only one of the foundation stones of the new wave, but of the whole alternative music since 30 years. If you want originality, there you have to go...and above this Island managed to include some undiscovered jewels like young savage studio and live, quirks,another version of Hiroshima Mon Amour,everything with a remastered crystal sound ...a mesmerizing experience. What do you wait for: BUY!!!!!!
Riding Intercity trains dressed in European Grey June 26, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The previous reviewer stated his favourite albums as Kraftwerk's TEE, Reproduction and Thomas Leer/Robert Rental's The Bridge. What a star! I thought I was alone. Ha Ha Ha is not as polished as Systems of Romance but it has its moments. You will find parts of it extremely harsh on the ears and maybe the production could have been a little smoother. However there are some fantastic futurist minutes here, listen to the intro to Artificial Life, it sums up the mood in three repeated notes, a little like Interferon with guitars. Lyrically, Dennis Leigh aka John Foxx is a genius. Futurism came no better, and good as Replicas was, Foxx added romance to the decay, alienation and fear that was the subject of much brilliant music from 1977-1980. This period in music could never be repeated and Ha Ha Ha! is very much part of it. Buy it!
AT LONG LAST!!! May 23, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I'm not one to usually inflict my views on others but I couldn't help it this time. It's not every day that my favourite album gets dusted down and reissued. This along with a few choice others ( Human League's "Reproduction" , Kraftwerk's "Trans Europe Express" and Thomas Leer/Robert Rental's "The Bridge" to name just a few) was the blueprint for the electronic wave of artists that bridged Punk and what would now be referred to as Electronica.This is perfect hybrid stuff- wailing electronic violin /state of the art 1977 synthesisers/ jagged punk guitars and topped off with electronic music's most ethereal front man , John Foxx The ingredients shared here would, some 18 months later,be popularised by Gary Numan adding his own well crafted twist to proceedings.Buy it and be educated and while you're at it buy "Systems of Romance" and "Ultravox!"
The second in the Foxx-trilogy... April 17, 2006
12 out of 17 found this review helpful
'Ha Ha Ha' is now in an expanded/remastered form and like its relatives either side ('Ultravox!', 'Systems of Romance')forms a trilogy Ultravox(!) released before Midge Ure became singer and they had hits like 'Reap the Wild Wind', 'Vienna', 'Dancing with Tears in My Eyes' & 'Love's Great Adventure.' This was when John Foxx was the lead vocalist - like his subsequent solo career, these albums feel a mite overlooked and in definite need of reappraisal/appreciation by a later generation.
The album opens with a definite highlight 'Rock Wrok', which isn't that far away from certain records by Devo and Pere Ubu and for some reason reminds me a bit of 'Blur'-era Blur. 'Rock Wrok' advances on the new wave punk feel of prior single 'Young Savage', which is a very welcome inclusion in the bonus track region. 'Distant Smile' feels like an advance on the Neu!/Satie-soundscapes of the earlier track 'My Sex' as a piano-coda opens the song before a drone overwhelms, in turn giving way to a riff and Foxx's coo-ing vocals - Foxx sounds like early David Sylvian before a grinding angular punk song appears.A very odd structure and belongs on a compilation alongside Devo's 'Gut Feeling'...
'The Man Who Dies Everyday' is another joy, robotic angular alt-pop that reminds me very much of Franz Ferdinand; 'While I'm Still Alive' is in similar climes. The most interesting track is the closing 'Hiroshima Mon Amour', which takes its title from the Alain Resnais French New Wave classic and shows that Foxx was dominating the band. The rock-elements are beginning to be dispensed with - a key electronic track that sounds like the missing link between Suicide and early Depeche Mode, with some sax which reminds you of Berlin-Bowie (just as Magazine's 'Feed the Enemy' did). 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' is partly to blame for the London Blitz scene that followed in its wake - don't hold that against it though, as it's one of the key electronic moments of the late 70s alongside The Normal's 'Warm Leatherette', The Human League's 'Being Boiled', Bowie's 'Warszawa', Cabaret Voltaire's 'Nag Nag Nag' and Suicide's 'Dream Baby Dream.' As with its fellow reissues, 'Ha Ha Ha' is most definitely worthy of purchase - nice to see such joys reissued and reissued in remastered/expanded form...
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