Virgins and Philistines failed to gain a large audience due to difficulty in marketing an album with such a diverse sound—it mixes 1960s and early 1970s pop music with more acoustic based melodies and string arrangements[citation needed].

regarded as the direct musical predecessor to the later work of The Lightning Seeds in the 1990s, with whom singer Terry Hall would later collaborate in a songwriting role whilst providing occasional vocals.

Additional personnel featured on the album included Pete de Freitas (Echo & the Bunnymen) on drums, Paul Burgess (ex-Camel, also drums), Preston Heyman (percussion), Ian Nelson (clarinet), and Katrina Phillips (background vocals).

The second single, "Thinking of You", was much better received and returned Hall to the top forty in the UK and Ireland, reaching #12[2] and #11[4] respectively.

[2] The album was released in the US with different track listing including the band's self-titled début single.