Visage - The Face (The Very Best Of Visage) mp3 album

Released to mark the 30th anniversary of Fade To Grey hitting the UK top 10, this is the third "Best Of" in the band's history. Fade To Grey - The Singles Collection (1983) was the first, and is still seen as the definitive collection (although we're to assume this new 2010 release will take over its mantle). It chronicled the band from their first single Tar up to Love Glove from the album Beat Boy, which is pretty much all you need anyway.The other two collections were certainly not bad, one being the budget release "The Damned Don't Cry" (which contained the Dance Mix of Pleasure Boys) and the German release "Master Series" (which excitedly included Der Amboss, the first time this rarity was available on cd).Upon reading the tracklist for this new 2010 compilation you will notice the above titles have all been added. So all in all this should be a resounding victory for the newcomer......it almost is.Let's get the two new remixes of Fade To Grey out of the way first. Michael Gray delivers what is perhaps the most respectful treatment i've ever heard on a remix of Fade To Grey, keeping most of the original material and simply updating it into a modern house structure. The same cannot be said of Lee Mortimer's remix. He uses the vocals with some quite nice ethereal pads, but somewhat spoils the atmosphere by stapling this to a sub-standard glitch-house-meets-commercial-dubstep bassline.On to the proper songs. Mind Of A Toy, Pleasure Boys, Fade To Grey and Visage all feature in their extended "Dance Mix" format. This is excellent, as they are usually quite hard to come by without resorting to the original vinyl. Pleasure Boys in particular is worth investigating for fans of Electro. However, the compilers have been either criminally lazy or incompetently stupid; The Damned Don't Cry (Dance Mix) is NOT featured here. Instead, they have included the album version. An explanation would be nice, but I suspect silence will be the outcome.Some other problems arise. The edits of We Move, Love Glove and The Anvil are fine (though I would have really appreciated the Dance Mix of The Anvil), but I have it on authority from other reviews that the version of Night Train is NOT the 7" edit and is in fact an edit of the album version. Also, "Fade To Grey (Original 7" Dance mix)". What? It's just the album version! Not a real reason to complain, but if they've went to the trouble of digging out the original tapes for the debut album then at least remaster the whole thing (oh how i'd love Visa-Age remastered)…To round things off, as mentioned at the start of this review you get the okay-ish first single Tar (but not the brilliant b-side "Frequency 7" which has NEVER been issued digitally) and Der Amboss, along with the proper mix of In The Year 2525.So would I recommend this album to a fan of Visage? Definitely! However, if you are a newcomer to the band, I would strongly recommend getting a copy of Fade To Grey - The Singles Collection first and foremost.

Sadly enough, the 12" dance mix of The Damned Don't Cry is NOT that particular mix but just the normal album-version (of The Anvil-album). You can get the 12" dance mix on the re-release CD of The Anvil though (Cherry Pop-label, 2008).

Great review of the album - just for information Frequency 7 is available on CD (if you can find it) on the compilation Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - beware there are two compilations with the same name - the original single cd is the one you want - check here to buy it on Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Various-Last-Night-A-DJ-Saved-My-Life/release/70404Track is the 5 minute Dance Mix by the wayHope this helpsDavid C