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Visage / Fade to Grey Orchestral

By Paul Sinclair

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We do like a maxi-single here at SDE, and now that they are few and far between it’s always good to highlight a release that might be of interest. The Steve Strange fronted Visage are following up 2013’s comeback Hearts and Knives with a new album Orchestral, due to be released next week. A eight-track CD single of their most celebrated song Fade To Grey has recently been released to give you a feel for the new album.

Orchestral, as is probably apparent, will contain ten Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. The new Fade To Grey single features two orchestral versions (standard and instrumental) as well as re-recorded version standard arrangement along with a few other variations.

Alas, the very original recordings from 1980 do not feature but what is rather groovy is that for a limited period you can download for free the stems of this new version of Fade To Grey and create your own remixes

Fade To Grey (Orchestral) is out now. The album Orchestral is released on 15 December 2014.

visage

Fade To Grey (Orchestral)

orchestral

Orchestral

Fade to Grey (Orchestral) Track listing

1. Fade To Grey (Orchestral Version)
2. Fade To Grey (Main Version)
3. Fade To Grey (Extended Version)
4. Fade To Grey (Extended Instrumental)
5. Fade To Grey (The Feliks Arrival Remix)
6. Fade To Grey (Orchestral Instrumental)
7. Fade To Grey (Orchestral Radio Version)
8. Fade To Grey (Orcapella)

Orchestral Track Listing

  • The Damned Don’t Cry
  • Fade To Grey
  • Dreamer I Know
  • Mind Of A Toy
  • Visage
  • The Anvil
  • Never Enough
  • Pleasure Boys
  • Hidden Sign
  • Night Train
  • Love Galore
  • The Silence

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12 Comments

12 thoughts on “Visage / Fade to Grey Orchestral”

  3. Pingback: Out This Week / 15 December 2014 | superdeluxeedition

  4. steve strange was the “hero” of my youth. ( visually )
    i like not every song from the visage albums over the past decades
    but visage has a special place in my heart since the beginning.
    the dark mood of “the damned don’t cry” and my all time
    favourite b-side “i’m still searching” are still great to hear today.
    i was very happy to hear about the plans for a new album in 2013
    but i never thought that visage would bring out so much singles & remixes from “hearts & knives” – great work!
    now they topped that with “orchestral” and the single remixes
    of “fade to grey”. for a fan like me: this is musical heaven.
    i wished that they would have released 7 different versions
    of “the damned don’t cry” back in 1982. there was only one mix with 5:43.
    i look forward to the next studio album – i heard they plan that for 2015/16.
    meanwhile: the special multitrack-download from their official side give fans the opportunity to make their own “instrumental version”
    or “bass & vocals” version of the original “fade to grey” production.
    wonderful idea!!
    visage gave us 11 new songs and more than 40 new remixes
    in the last 2 years. thanks !

  5. Don’t know if it’s accurate, because there are from time to time reissues of that wonderful album, but each time only the original album…
    Obviously I do agree that a big deluxe edition of this album (including the mixes that were on the Dance mixes ep) would be great !!!

  6. I spotted the preview sleeve on iTunes and also have to say how pleasantly surprised I was at the quality of this re-recording. As commented earlier, the new mixes are very close in feel to the original, with more detail apparent and some slight changes in the new vocal recording.
    The recent singles compilation “The Face” (issued by Universal) does have two modern mixes of Fade To Grey based on the original recording, and the iTunes deluxe version of the same album includes a further three or four exclusives.
    Visage’s first album that featured Fade To Grey has been strangely overlooked for a deluxe edition, being some 35 years old and influence of that track particularly, it’s overdue a re- visit.
    I’m betting there is some rights / ownership issue preventing this.
    In the meantime I’d recommend this single – I think they’ve done a good job on it.

  7. I purchased the Fade to Grey (Orchestral) CD and got to be honest, I loved it.

    I will certainly be buying the new CD which is available on mp3, but I want the media so will be ordering on Monday.

    I had fade to grey on 7″ vinyl back in the day, and the only visage song I’ve played since, is the 80’s promo version of Pleasure Boys (house version).

    Hearing this – Fade to Grey (Orchestral) – has made me want to hear more visage for sure.

  8. Over the years there have been some really tacky remixes of Fade To Grey but these orchestral mixes are actually good. The orchestral parts, especially the strings, add another dimension to the track without ruining the original melody, tempo and synth sounds.

    Personally i`ve always loved the feel and melody of the original but i always wished there was a straight up instrumental version. Thankfully for the first time to my knowledge this is the only release to feature a vocal free version which is very similar to the original just with added orchestral parts.

  9. Well, I was rather surprised by the new Visage album, and collected all the CDM that came with it, and I was delighted by the remixes and the strength of these.

    I do understand that now Visage would like to come again in the light of the majority of the people, who only knew “Fade To Grey” with this new version.

    I’ll buy this one also, for sure! And I am not at all disappointed by the original version ‘s absence, or they could have made a 3 CDM with all the remixes through the years lol…

  10. Quite frankly – I don’t get this totally useless releases.
    This is a lame excuse of a “remix” release I’ve ever have seen.
    “Orchestrated” more then Orchestral for me.

    Sure – strip everything that means something and add absolutely nothing to make this EVER interesting. I am usually positive for “thinking outside the box”. But I guess there was no air to breathe outside the box…

    1. Totally useless?????
      Dejan, did you actually listen to this release, or did you just write your opinion out of the blue?

      I was sceptical, too, when I first heard of Visage starting to re-record some tracks with a symphonic orchestra. Although I’m a big fan and I really loved the new album Hearts and Knives, I couldn’t imagine how this would work out. BUT: When I heard the first two minutes of the “new” long Fade To Grey with orchestra, I had to admit I was wrong. And how wrong I was! After a long orchestra intro the song develops into a very true-to-the-original re-recording of the old favourite, with some orchestra bits added here and there. It makes the song sound fresh and old at the same time!

      I listened to the whole album a few days ago, and all songs are melting wonderfully with that orchestral sound. You can hear and actually feel that all involved are treating the old classics with utmost respect. These are not simple re-mixes, where you can’t recognise the original anymore (which I hate!), but wonderful new recordings of old favourites and some tracks of the last album with added orchestra arrangements while most of the original electronic sounds, beats and of course, Steve’s voice, are still there.

      Of course, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But I have to say that I am really surprised how Steve Strange is trying to keep the “old” sound alive through all the new recordings while trying to add something new. If he just wanted to cash in on his past (which many people accuse him of) then he really could have rushed out a simple “remix-album”, done by some unknown remixers who are out there everywhere! But this is different, and just sounds wonderful and magical…

      1. No I have been “blessed” of getting a promotional copy. And I don’t really write anything out of the blue. And everyone has one opinion. However I don’t trash your opinion, right Andy ?!

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