Visage (Visage album)

Visage
Visage cover by Peter Ashworth
Studio album by Visage
Released	14 November 1980 [1]
Recorded	1979–1980
Studio	Genetic Studios, Reading, Berkshire, England
Genre	Synth-pop new wave disco [2]
Length	38:27
Label	Polydor
Producer	Visage, Martin Rushent
Visage chronology
Visage (1980) Visage EP (1981)
Singles from Visage
"Tar" Released: 2 November 1979 "Fade to Grey" Released: 14 November 1980 "Mind of a Toy" Released: 6 March 1981 "Visage" Released: 3 July 1981

Visage is the debut studio album by the British synth-pop band Visage. It was recorded at Genetic Sound Studios in Reading, Berkshire and released in November 1980 by Polydor Records.

Release

Visage was released in November 1980. It reached No. 13 in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in March 1981. ^{[3] [4]} "Fade to Grey" was released as a single and became a hit, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart and Top 10 positions in Europe, including No. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. Further singles, "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage" were also UK Top 30 hits. The album was reissued as an expanded CD edition remastered from the original master tapes by Rubellan Remasters in the US in 2018. ^[5]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Robert Christgau	B− [7]
Smash Hits	5/10 [8]

Aaron Krehbie of Digital Audio commented that "Moon over Moscow" and "Blocks on Blocks" are "perfect examples of Visage at its best". However, Krehbie also opined that the album was not "the group's best effort", preferring the group's next album, The Anvil . ^[9]

In his retrospective review, Dan LeRoy of AllMusic wrote "this is the music that best represents the short-lived but always underrated new romantic movement", calling it "a consistently fine creation". ^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Visage (Billy Currie, Rusty Egan, Dave Formula, John McGeoch, Steve Strange and Midge Ure), except where noted

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Visage"		3:53
2.	"Blocks on Blocks"		4:00
3.	"The Dancer"	Egan, Ure	3:40
4.	"Tar"	Barry Adamson, Currie, Egan, Formula, McGeoch, Strange, Ure	3:32
5.	"Fade to Grey"	Currie, Chris Payne, Ure	4:02

Side B

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Malpaso Man"	4:14
7.	"Mind of a Toy"	4:28
8.	"Moon Over Moscow"	4:00
9.	"Visa-age"	4:20
10.	"The Steps"	3:14

CD reissue bonus track

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Fade to Grey (Dance Mix)"	6:41

Rubellan Remasters 2018 Expanded Edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
11.	"We Move"	4.00
12.	"Fade to Grey (Dance Mix)"	6.43
13.	"Mind of a Toy (Dance Mix)"	5.15
14.	"Visage (Dance Mix)"	6.03
15.	"We Move (Dance Mix)"	6.29
16.	"Frequency 7 (Dance Mix)"	5.03
17.	"Second Steps"	5.27 [10]

Personnel

Visage

• Steve Strange – lead vocals
• Midge Ure – guitar, backing vocals, synthesizers
• John McGeoch – guitar, backing vocals, saxophone
• Dave Formula – synthesizer
• Billy Currie – electric violin, synthesizer
• Rusty Egan – drums, backing vocals, electronic percussion

Additional personnel

• Barry Adamson – bass guitar (1, 2, 4)
• Chris Payne – synthesizer (5)
• Cedric Sharpley – drums, drum programming (5)
• Brigitte Arendt – voice (5)

Technical

• John Hudson – recording, engineering, mixing
• Iain Gillies — sleeve artwork, a blue/grey tinted monochrome original painting, (based on a b/w photograph by Peter Ashworth)
• Peter Ashworth – original sleeve photography (redrawn for publication)
• Martin Rushent – co-production and mixing

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Visage Chart (1981) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [11] 17 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [12] 11 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [13] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [14] 14 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [15] 22 UK Albums (OCC) [16] 13 US Billboard 200 [17] 178

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Visage Chart (1981) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] 9 UK Albums (OCC) [19] 60

Certifications

Certifications for Visage

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [20]	Gold	100,000*
Germany (BVMI) [21]	Gold	250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [22]	Silver	60,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "New Musical Express, 15 November 1980, Page 34".
2. Evans, Richard (6 August 2024). "1980.2". Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983. Omnibus Press. p. 212. ISBN   978-1-915841-45-2.
3. "Visage | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 December 2014.
4. "Certified Awards". BPI . Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
5. "Visage / Visage".
6. LeRoy, Dan. "Visage – Visage | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 20 December 2014.
7. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Visage". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
8. Hillier, Beverly (11–24 December 1980). "Albums". Smash Hits : 33.
9. Krehbiel, Aaron (September 1984). "Visage". Digital Audio . 1 (1): 80. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
10. "None". Discogs .
11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 330. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
12. "Austriancharts.at – Visage – Visage" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Visage – Visage" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
14. "Charts.nz – Visage – Visage". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
15. "Swedishcharts.com – Visage – Visage". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
16. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
17. "Visage | Awards". AllMusic . Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
18. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1981" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
19. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1982). "The Top 200 LPs: January–December 1981". BPI Year Book 1982 (5th ed.). London: British Phonographic Industry. pp. 50–53. ISBN   0-906154-03-0.
20. "French album certifications – Visage – Visage" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 17 November 2021.Select VISAGE and click OK. 
21. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Visage; 'Visage')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
22. "British album certifications – Visage – Visage". British Phonographic Industry. 4 March 1981. Retrieved 17 November 2021.

External links

• Visage at Discogs (list of releases)