Visage to take credit for the invention of this latest pop-music trend.

On a certain level, Visage's claim is justified: Their use of drum machines and pulsed synthesizer patterns bridged the distance between, say, Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" and A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran," and their reliance upon synthetic texture instead of strings, horns or guitars presaged more than a few synth-pop hits. But then, the same could be said of Visage's own major influence, David Bowie's trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger, as well as of their most successful competitor, Gary Numan. And if you stick with what Visage can rightly be said to have originated–using synthesizers as an excuse to revive flatulent oldies, typified by Fade to Grey's version of the Zager and Evans hit, "In the Year 2525"–the average pop fan's sense of indebtedness is going to be slight indeed.

Which is as it should be. Visage was never anything more than a victory of style over substance, and success like that pales under the harsh scrutiny of history, even pop history. For this band, as for the New Romantics themselves, a fade to black would be more in order. (RS 418)

J.D. CONSIDINE