Need a fix of some very old school synth pop? Maybe you need some Visage!
Wanting to find new music to play at the club they were working at, Midge Ure and Rusty Egan began putting together their own music. Their style of music was heavily influenced by, and perhaps even contributed to the New Romantic movement originating in the United Kingdom.
The band recorded, and released their first single, Tar, in 1979, but it failed to garner any attention. However, with the aid of David Bowie, New Romantic styled music was starting to turn mainstream, and with it, more and more record labels were willing to entertain the idea of signing such acts.
Visage released their first self titled album in 1980 through Polydor, who also coincidingly released their second single, Fade To Grey. Though this wouldn't impact the United States, the song reached the top ten in many countries, even reaching number one in Germany and Switzerland.
Despite this success, it was difficult to bring the band back together to produce a follow up album. This was because the members all belonged to different bands at the time which had either just been formed, or were already established. These included Ultravox and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Of the six members, five finally were able to coordinate in 1981, and release their second studio album, The Anvil. It became the groups best selling, reaching number six in the charts. However, tensions were building. Midge Ure summarized the troubles in 1983 interview stating, "The trouble with Visage was that there were too many chiefs, six characters all wanting an equal say without putting in an equal amount of work. I was doing most of the writing and producing, and we all knew Steve [Strange] was the frontman, but when it became successful, jealousy and the nasty side of the business crept in. That was never the way it was intended."
Several of the members would depart the group after its release, leaving only Steve Strange and Rusty Egan as the remaining original members. With all new members, they released 1984's Beat Boy. The album was a total failure. The two members were labeled as wafer thin talents by Ian Cranna of Smash Hits, who would also go on to say about the album that it was, "A cross between all-purpose Euro-disco and Queen, with excruciatingly amateurish lyrics."
While the group would disband, and a long hiatus ensued, Steven Strange would rekindle the Visage banner, and release albums in 2013 and 2015. Though neither produced any singles, they also didn't receive scathing reviews that Beat Boy did. In fact, 2013's Hearts And Knives, was stated to feel nostalgic, and great for fans.
I personally came across Visage while listening to an obscure compilation disc steeped with what were labeled as, "unknown 80's". Though I would argue this label on several of the tracks, there were a handful that fit that bill for me. Fade To Grey by Visage being one of them.
It was never my intentions to buy the album with the tune. Rather, a chance encounter at a used CD shop where I was perusing their recent acquisitions, and found the disc in that bin. Even then, as I read the band name, I said to myself, "Why does that name sound familiar?" It wasn't until flipping it over and seeing the song title that I put two and two together. Ultimately, because it was there, and relatively cheap, I decided I would grab it.
Which brings us to today.
Visage's self titled debut definitely fits the bill in sound. It's peppy, poppy, and...synthy(?). If you're looking for that classic 80's sound, you're definitely going to find it here, and perhaps that's what makes it so enjoyable.
Not by any means will I say that this album is packed from front to back with memorable or top ten hits. But, it is decent. If you have a nostalgic itch, it could definitely work as a good scratch. I personally ended up grabbing four of the nine tracks to add to my shuffle. If nothing else, it was cool to hear something different.
Do I want to dig deeper into their catalog? Not particularly. However, if I were at a place that had their other two 80's albums on CD's, and they were fairly priced, I might go ahead and grab them.
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