This Tuesday afternoon, I was minding my business, coming to grips with returning to what was a somewhat normal schedule following hurricane Helene, when I thought to look in my junk mail folder for the first time in weeks. I was excited to see e-mail from the Visage Mothership touting two new CDs in the year 2024! Truth be told, commenter Gavin had let it slip earlier that there would be some new Visage coming our way but he was light on the details at the time.

We can now see that there is a new live album from the sole 2013/2014 tour the band made in support of their sterling “Hearts + Knives” album that saw old pros [Robin Simon, Steve Barnacle, Mick MacNeil] and young turks like Logan Sky and Lauren Duvall joining with the late Steve Strange to craft music full of classic Visage musical values and an emotional depth new to the band. Surely, a best-case scenario!

The “Never Enough” CD single had the live version of The Anvil” as recorded in Hoxton as a taster and it was bracing to hear Visage removed from the antiseptic sheen of the studio and clubs to deliver their payload live. At the time I held out hope that there would be more live recording where that came from and now we have the “Live 2013” album to hit the stores on November 15th on the August Day label who have released all of the 21st century Visage music.

Visage: Live 2013 – UK – CD [2024]

1. Never Enough
2. The Damned Don’t Cry
3. The Anvil
4. Hidden Sign
5. Pleasure Boys
6. Mind Of A Toy
7. The Dancer
8. Shameless fashion
9. Fade To Grey
10. Visage

This will be widely available, but August Day have sweetened the pot with a second disc. There was a Synthosmphonic show featuring Visage at the Ski Flying World Championships in the Czech Republic with orchestral accompaniment in 2014. This second disc features that session, just like commenter Echorich was hoping for a decade ago. This second disc is a Visage webstore exclusive and from there one can buy a bundle of the two CDs along with a set of the five postcards as seen above. Here’s what’s in store on that disc.

Visage: The Prague Sessions With The Synthosmphonica – UK – CD [2024]

1. Fade To Grey [Prague Session Extended Mix]
2. The Damned Don’t Cry
3. Never Enough
4. Pleasure Boys
5. Dreamer, I Know
6. The Anvil
7. Night Train
8. Hidden Sign
9. Mind of A Toy
10. Visage
11. Fade To Grey [Prague Session Extended Instrumental]

We were on these two like white on rice! The justifiably thick Visage CD portion of the Record Cell just got two discs thicker! I can remember the grim times in the late 80s when the paltry selection of Visage CDs used to gnaw away at me, naggingly. Sort of like the Shriekback section as well, now that I think about it. Look where we are now!

Amazingly, there’s rumors of a third Visage CD at the same time; A CD single that was planned but not released from the “Demons To Diamonds” Visage studio album, following Steve’s death in 2015. Reputedly for the track “Before You Win,” but I can’t manage to find a source for these so maybe they haven’t been released yet. I will keep an orb peeled. Meanwhile, if you are a fellow Visage obsessive then you’ll need to order directly from the source for the set of the first two discs; available only there in this bundle. The two CDs are £25.36/€30.44/$32.99. DJ hit that button!

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