Fade To Grey is an all-time classic, never mind 80's. Of course during a 90's revival of 80's music they have to try and ruin it by remixing classic tracks. The only thing wrong with this album is the FTG remix - it just goes to prove that you should leave alone that which you do not understand. This collection is a re-release of the original singles collection - the only change being addition of the remix thing.

Visage were very much a collective although I think you can hear more of the influence of the Ultravox duo Midge Ure and Billy Currie (another classic band).

This is a nice collection, bar the obvious, but you really need to buy both Visage and The Anvil (the 2 available studio albums) to really hear this band at it's best. Classic tracks await such as The Dancer, The Horseman, Look What They've Done and Visa-Age (nice pun...) - and lots, lots more.

Back in 89 I managed to find a remix cassette of the original Singles Collection that contained 12" versions of all these tracks. Why can't someone release this, it was fantastic (shame it got chewed up...).

Sure, the clothes, the makeup, and the posing were silly. And being tagged "New Romantics" by the tag-loving British press didn't give bands like Visage any credibility, despite the fact that they produced some mighty fine dance singles. I loathe the way the British music press loves to chew up and spit out artists at such a fast pace - what's hip today is passe tommorow. Pretty pathetic, really. The ONLY thing holding this great collection of singles back from a 5 star rating is the exclusion of the far superior 12" mix of the single Fade to Grey in favour of the 7" mix and a dreadful, unecessary new remix version of the same song. Had this cd been pressed as the original album was ( or even the great dance remix version of the album that was very briefly available on cassette, many years ago ) it would be perfect. As it is, it is only slightly flawed. As for the music itself, it is all heavily synthetic, very European sounding, influenced by the likes of Bowie and Kraftwerk. The presence of several members of Ultravox, as well as the underrated ( and sadly missed ) guitarist John McGeoch ( who later recorded with Siouxsie and the Banshees as well as Public Image Ltd ) gives the band a great musical base. And Steve Strange is a much better singer than you think he would be. The lyrics are ( mostly ) about nightclubbing, dancing, and dressing up, but they are really inconsequential, as the music really carries the album. A great slice of eighties dance music.

I first heard this band when I lived Down Under, who at the time had two songs in the top 20 "Fade to Grey" and "Mind of A Toy". The fantasy style music energized a sour musical era which did not catch up in the US till about late 1982. BY then these artists Midge Ure and Billy Curie (Ultravox) had split from this band and made something for themselves.

This band had been the early 80's version of "House music" with the intention of not becoming widely known, but in hopes of setting a new trend in the music scene (aka "New Wave")with an imagery of fantasy romantic style music that is danceable. And it sold records. It paved the way for bands like Duran Duran, Human League, Heaven 17, even Joy Division who at once all claimed to have been influenced by this band. The only problem is the US of course was a little behind in the trend,so Visage's work was never was recognized by New Wave music fans in the US.

I particular enjoy "Mind of a Toy" ,"The Anvil", and "The Damned Don't Cry". The imagery of the music distracts the listener from the lyrics. However, it is pretty cool to listen to. The music videos if you can find them were very well choregraphed to the songs.

Visage is a pretty cool band. Their musicianship and songwriting skills are good. This hits package is listenable and satisfying. There's a total of twelve tracks, and all of them are in a synth-pop musical direction. The singer does a nice job with the vocal duties, and the keyboards sound tight. All of the tracks are pretty good. My favorite songs are both versions of "Fade to Grey" and "Love Glove." The CD booklet also contains a biography of the band. Worth a listen.