Visage - Visage (1980) {Polydor}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2M2 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1988 Polydor / PolyGram | 800 029-2
New Wave / New Romantic / Synth Pop
With apologies
to Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, and even Duran Duran, this is the music
that best represents the short-lived but always underrated new romantic
movement. That's fitting, because Visage's frontman, Steve Strange, was
the colorfully painted face of the movement, just as this album was its
sound. Warming up Kraftwerk's icy Teutonic electronics with a
Bowie-esque flair for fashion, Strange and the new romantics created a
clubland oasis far removed from the drabness of England's early-'80s
reality -- and the brutality of the punk response to it. And no one
conjured up that Eurodisco fantasyland better than Visage, whose "Fade
to Grey" became the anthem of the outlandishly decked-out Blitz Kids
congregated at Strange's club nights.
With its
evocative French female vocals, distant sirens and pulsing layers of
synthesizers, "Fade to Grey" is genuinely haunting, the definite high
point for Visage and their followers. But the band's self-titled debut
is a consistently fine creation, alternating between tunes that share
the eerie ambience of "Fade to Grey" ("Mind of a Toy," "Blocks on
Blocks") and others that show off a more muscular brand of dance-rock
(the title track, filled with thundering electronic tom-tom fills, and
the sax-packed instrumental "The Dancer"). Strange and drummer/nightclub
partner Rusty Egan had wisely surrounded themselves with top-level
talent, primarily drawn from the bands Ultravox and Magazine, and the
excellent playing of contributors like guitarists Midge Ure and John
McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson, synthesist Dave Formula, and,
especially, electric violinist Billy Currie, all of whom give the album a
depth unmatched by most contemporaneous techno-pop. And despite the
group's frequently dramatic pose, Strange and his bandmates were hardly
humorless; the first single, "Tar," is a witty anti-smoking
advertisement, while the Eastwood homage "Malpaso Man" adds some
incongruous cowboy twang to the dance beats. Only the closing track, the
instrumental "The Steps," is inconsequential -- the rest of Visage
proves the new romantics left a legacy that transcends their costumes
and makeup. |
Personnel:
Steve Strange - vocals
Midge Ure - guitar, keyboards, bass
Billy Currie - violin, keyboards
John McGeoch - guitar, saxophone
Rusty Egan - drums, percussion
Dave Formula - keyboards
Barry Adamson - bass
tracklist:
01. Visage 3:53
02. Blocks On Blocks 4:00
03. The Dancer 3:40
04. Tar 3:32
05. Fade To Grey 4:00
06. Malpaso Man 4:14
07. Mind Of A Toy 4:28
08. Moon Over Moscow 4:00
09. Visa-age 4:18
10. The Steps 3:14
|
http://ul.to/f/cglycd
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