Audience-Alienating Era: The period after Midge and Billy left, from 1983 to 2014 (That's a 32 year dork age, folks.) With the band's most talented members gone after the release of The Anvil in 1982, the third LP Beat Boy featured dull synth-pop tunes like "Pleasure Boys" that lacked the fetching composition courtesy of Ultravox alumni, leading to lacklustre sales and the group breaking up in 1985. In 1986, Steve teamed up with Wendy Cruise to form Strange Cruise, a run-of-the-mill pop-rock unit that disbanded faster than they were assembled. Fans were excited when Steve said he was Putting the Band Back Together in 2012, only for it to be an In Name Only version with the only returning member being Steve Barnacle from the 1984 line-up.note (Given that it had been 30 years since Billy and Midge quit on...unhappy terms, one wonders why Steve didn't just ask Midge to reconcile and rejoin the group.) The sound shift from synth-pop to modern electro-pop was derided, as pre-84 Visage was considered the pinnacle of dance-oriented synth-pop, and the cliche pulsating beats of tracks like "She's Electric" didn't win listeners over on their own merits. Demons To Diamonds was more of the same, with the added kink of half the songs having to be finished by others after Steve's tragic passing.
Awesome Music: "Fade To Grey", "Tar", "The Anvil", "Night Train", "The Damned Don't Cry", "Love Glove"...pretty much their whole discography is kick-ass.
Cliché Storm: Every song from Hearts And Knives and Demons To Diamonds.
Cult Classic: Weren't very popular, not even back in the 80's, but their music is (for the most part) not-dated & still cool and catchy in the 21st century.
Fanon Discontinuity: Most fans ignore everything released after The Anvil, especially Midge Ure devotees, as it was the last release by the band to feature his handiwork.
Harsher in Hindsight: Their hit single "Fade To Grey" includes the lyric "Stepping out from a backdrop poster, wishing life wouldn't be so long". Steve died when he was only 55.
My Real Daddy: Midge was the main mastermind behind the studio group, and the post-82 output done without his involvement wasn't nearly as well-received.
For those who don't have either their judgement clouded by Nostalgia Filter or are devotees of the New Romantic era, pretty much every song by them is this in spades. As it turns out, having a nightclub owner be the lead vocalist was a terrible idea, as Steve Strange can't sing; his vocal range is as flat as a pancake, and his slurred Welsh accent makes the lyrics neigh-incomprehensible to decipher. It helps that Midge Ure wrote the admittedly-catchy melodies, but many listeners wish he sung the tracks as well due to his immense singing ability, making this Ultravox - Magazine side project a great case of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character (well, singer).
