― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 20 September 2006 15:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:24 (eighteen years ago) link
Do you mean that they do not particularly specify homosexual relationships?
― everything (everything), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 17:10 (eighteen years ago) link
I just gave their latest covers album a spin this week. Although covers albums are generally a bad idea I gave them a pass here because Erasure's glory days are long gone anyway and they've usually picked idiocyncratic tunes to cover, picking the most obvious (the Abba stuff) or the most unusual (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Ave Maria, Hall of the Mountain King). It starts off quite well with Solsbury Hill, Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes and Come Up and See Me Make Me Smile. Then it gets really blah until it ends with a really redundant Video Killed The Radio Star. Worth hearing the first three if you are an Erasure fan though.
― everything (everything), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 17:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― everything (everything), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 17:21 (eighteen years ago) link
I don't like digital synths. Way too much "punch" and "thwack".
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 18:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― pisces, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:44 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:02 (seventeen years ago) link
― grimly fiendish, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― pisces, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 15:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 20:07 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:07 (seventeen years ago) link
couldn't have cared less after the 86-91 peak but GODDAMN that peak.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 00:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 13 May 2007 05:20 (seventeen years ago) link
http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2134860,00.html
andy bell. god bless him.
― pisces, Friday, 27 July 2007 02:11 (seventeen years ago) link
Has anyone else said the new album is excellent?
If not, I'll do. Hadn't it been for "Nightbird", it would have been their best since "Chorus".
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 27 July 2007 22:16 (seventeen years ago) link
i still haven't heard it yet :/
― grimly fiendish, Saturday, 28 July 2007 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link
"Ship of Fools" is a little spooky, isn't it? This make s me feel bad at words, but "Ship of Fools" freaks me out a little.
― Peter Pepsi (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 20:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Hmm, never thought of it as spooky -- nicely atmospheric, though. (Helps that that's still my favorite album of theirs.)
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 20:54 (thirteen years ago) link
It is. The music sort of sounds like wind howling. or something. lol. I am also bad at words. I feel like there are other songs on The Innocents that have a spooky vibe to them but tbh it's been a while since I've listened to them.
― ENBB, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 20:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Toppermost of the poppermost: The Innocents, Chorus, I Say I Say I Say
Excellent and worth a listen but not-quite-there: Erasure, Nightbird
Good-to-great singles and one or two decent albums tracks, but otherwise patchy: Wonderland, The Circus, Wild!, Cowboy
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!: Loveboat, Light At The End Of The World, Tomorrow's World.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Saturday, 7 April 2012 21:22 (twelve years ago) link
Ultimately though, my favourites are the analogue-synthfests of Chorus, I Say I Say I Say and Erasure, and the lovely-sounding softsynths of Nightbird.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Saturday, 7 April 2012 21:25 (twelve years ago) link
Chorus is my favourite single
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 7 April 2012 22:55 (twelve years ago) link
Andy Bell's excellent performance in Peter Hammill's opera The Fall of the House of Usher is often overlooked. Here he is duetting with Lene Lovich:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdYajmE_K4M
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Saturday, 7 April 2012 23:09 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/dec/21/david-davies-gay-marriage-interview
― 'Separate Lives', by Phil Collins & Marilyn Manson (PaulTMA), Saturday, 22 December 2012 16:44 (eleven years ago) link
Everything about that interview is amazing
― GIMME SOME REGGAE (DJP), Saturday, 22 December 2012 16:49 (eleven years ago) link
At least he got into Boy George, doesn't seem to have got round to 'Pop!' yet
― 'Separate Lives', by Phil Collins & Marilyn Manson (PaulTMA), Saturday, 22 December 2012 17:13 (eleven years ago) link
He probably wishes he could get into Boy George, if you know what I'm saying.
― I saw three shi*s come sailing in... (snoball), Saturday, 22 December 2012 18:09 (eleven years ago) link
"I would give everything I own... not to be a Tory fuckwit homophobe."
― I saw three shi*s come sailing in... (snoball), Saturday, 22 December 2012 18:10 (eleven years ago) link
I gave up listening to new Erasure albums quite a long time ago, but on a whim I decided to stream the new one and it's quite good. Maybe they're not self-conscious anymore now that no one's paying attention?
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 23 September 2014 21:55 (nine years ago) link
that's what Vince Clarke said.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 September 2014 21:56 (nine years ago) link
I wasn't even aware that Erasure had a new one out, and probably would have ended up overlooking it completely if it hadn't been mentioned here, so thanks! I haven't heard it yet, but I'll at the very least be giving it a spin. I'm not expecting anything other than an Erasure record that comfortably sounds like an Erasure record, but I hope that it's better than that Tomorrow's World heap of dung that they put out a couple of years back.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Tuesday, 23 September 2014 22:21 (nine years ago) link
It's called The Violet Flame and I actually didn't realize it had just come out today, so good timing on my part.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 23 September 2014 22:38 (nine years ago) link
xpost:
...and it is! I'm halfway through it now, while it obviously doesn't touch anything from their "classic" period, it's leagues better than the likes of Tomorrow's World and Loveboat (which to me are the worst two albums they ever made), and I prefer it vastly to The Light at the End of the World. So I guess this is their best album since the turn of the millennium that isn't called Nightbird, which is a pleasant surprise to me given that I wasn't expecting much.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Tuesday, 23 September 2014 22:50 (nine years ago) link
Love the Gareth Jones mix of You Surround Me has caused an argument between me and my friend. I say it's gorgeous, he says it's ruined.
― brotherlovesdub, Tuesday, 23 September 2014 22:57 (nine years ago) link
With all the praise Nightbird has gotten in this thread, I'm giving it a go right now.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 23 September 2014 22:58 (nine years ago) link
Andy's not really belting it out much on this album (Nightbird), huh?
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 23 September 2014 23:20 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, he's not really belting it out as much as he'd done on previous albums, but I do think it suits the Nightbird material. Andy's voice has obviously changed over the years, and it's hard to say whether this is down to age, or down to the cocaine habit he had in the '90s (which had apparently got so bad that when they were making the self-titled record from '95, he was snorting lines in between vocal takes in the studio - there certainly has been a difference in his voice from then onwards), or whether he's consciously trying to take more care of his voice these days. Then there was his HIV diagnosis in '98, too.
But yeah, it does suit the Nightbird material, I think. I find his voice absolutely unbearable on Tomorrow's World, though... it's like a massive advert for autotune, mostly done on purpose (as an "artistic" decision), but it sounds like absolute shit.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Tuesday, 23 September 2014 23:42 (nine years ago) link
For me 'Nightbird' is their best since 'Chorus', though the self titled was a very interesting diversion - not sure how much it harmed them commercially given it came out at the height of britpop, but was probably artistically a great way to start a commercial decline.
Haven't listened to the new one yet, but it is waiting for me when I get home. I don't mind 'Tommorrow's World' but I rarely go back to it.
― michaellambert, Tuesday, 23 September 2014 23:45 (nine years ago) link
I enjoy quite a lot of the self-titled album and appreciate it for its indulgence, even if it is a bit on the long side. I'll admit that not all of it is successful in what it's attempting, but when it works it works really well, and I find it probably the most interesting album they ever made. It's definitely one of those albums that divides fans... some can tolerate the ambient section in the middle of 'Rock Me Gently' with Diamanda Galas vocalising throughout, and some can't.
Interesting, the first track on it ('Intro: Guess I'm Into Feeling') is a shortened/slightly different version of a track called 'True Love Wars', which was slated to go on the album, but instead was relegated to the B-side of 'Stay With Me'. I'm not quite sure whether it was bumped because they didn't think the song was good enough to be on the album, or whether it was bumped because of space reasons (the album is long enough as it is!)
― Welcome To (Turrican), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 00:14 (nine years ago) link
*Interestingly
So, it turns out that World Beyond, the piano'n'strings version of World Be Gone, is better than the original album. The songs make far more sense like this, and I wish they'd put the album out like this to begin with.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 31 May 2018 19:50 (six years ago) link
Seeing them tomorrow with a couple of superfans. Not sure what to expect. They still good live?
― everything, Wednesday, 15 August 2018 00:30 (six years ago) link
Long time listener, first time concert goer -- that was a great show tonight here in SF. Much like Pet Shop Boys two years back, this was the first time I’d actually seen them over all these years — thirty plus since I heard “Sometimes” being played incessantly from my sister’s bedroom. Of the newest songs “Just a Little Love” and “World Be Gone” were my faves. As for the hits, besides all the others throughout the set (that they opened with "Oh L'Amour" was a pretty clear sign of how deep the catalog is), they busted out two amazing trifectas towards the end — “Love to Hate You,” “Blue Savanna Song” and “Drama,” then later “Sometimes,” “Always” and a set closing “Stop!” And then a single song encore of “A Little Respect,” of course. Only one I wish they’d done was “Chorus,” but otherwise pretty much all I could have wanted.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 19 August 2018 06:21 (six years ago) link
oh man, that sounds amazing
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 19 August 2018 06:21 (six years ago) link
Oh and a midset cover of Blondie's "Atomic" as well. That'll do!
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 19 August 2018 06:23 (six years ago) link
O:
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 19 August 2018 06:24 (six years ago) link
'World Be Gone' is a beautiful little song indeed - it took a while for that album to grow on me. Did they play 'Oh What a World'? I think that's the "fan favourite" of the new stuff.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 19 August 2018 07:23 (six years ago) link
Never mind, I can see they didn't... I'd swap 'Sweet Summer Loving' for that and the setlist would be pretty much perfect.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 19 August 2018 10:14 (six years ago) link
https://www.lexermusic.com/erasure-wild-30th-anniversary-deluxe-edition
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:52 (five years ago) link
ooh cheers for that - my brothers favourite album of all time :D
― nxd, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:58 (five years ago) link
I'm surprised they've felt the need to have a deluxe edition of this one. I'd rather have a really, really good B-sides compilation as they've had some good ones over the years. I'm particularly fond of 'Let It Flow' and 'Waiting For Sex' from the Am I Right? single.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 15 December 2018 22:59 (five years ago) link
Saw them over the summer and it was honestly one of the best nights of my life. Beyond fun. They were delightful.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Saturday, 15 December 2018 23:04 (five years ago) link
Yes, lovely show in August.
That Wild! is great but flawed, because this is THE remix of their "Supernature" cover AFAIC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JmE4hgBp3U
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 December 2018 00:27 (five years ago) link
Richard shared this little titbit of information over on FB
This is the second time I have mixed Erasure. The first time (with David Ball) was a little unnerving as Vince Clarke had very specific instructions. No 909 kick drums were to be used, for example...So I was a little apprehensive about sending this mix back. They liked it though, thankfully
So I was a little apprehensive about sending this mix back. They liked it though, thankfully
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 11:51 (five years ago) link
I'm surprised they've felt the need to have a deluxe edition of this one. I'd rather have a really, really good B-sides compilation as they've had some good ones over the years. I'm particularly fond of 'Let It Flow' and 'Waiting For Sex' from the Am I Right? single.― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 15 December 2018 22:59 (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 15 December 2018 22:59 (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Classic, obviously. My first musical love.
― michaellambert, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 12:41 (five years ago) link
https://thequietus.com/articles/25925-erasure-wild-reissue-richard-norris-remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi1--FQUf3c
― groovypanda, Thursday, 24 January 2019 11:55 (five years ago) link
I've been on such an Erasure kick lately, basically starting from the beginning, having never heard most of their albums in full. I'm up to Wild now myself, and even the stuff that is more album track-y sounds great to me* - think I'm just in the right mood for them atm
*not "La Gloria"
also, why do they have like five albums since 2000 with the word "world" in it
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 29 January 2019 04:28 (five years ago) link
Briefly summing them up.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 22 June 2019 01:12 (five years ago) link
Never much of a fan, but this ^^ list reminded me to pull up this song last night for the first time in 20 years, and I promptly listened to it 10 times in a row before going out dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMbBMxX2nB0
― ... (Eazy), Saturday, 22 June 2019 18:55 (five years ago) link
in a deep Vincent Clarke hole right now, don't think i'll ever get over how much this one man has totally shifted my perspective on pop music.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 15 November 2019 02:35 (four years ago) link
also this first comment from the "Always" video just made me rofl:
"i love how the prince saves the princess with the ultimate power of gay"
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 15 November 2019 02:37 (four years ago) link
Classic
https://attitude.co.uk/article/erasures-frontman-andy-bell-claims-he-refused-to-have-a-sex-with-an-alien-because-he-is-gay/22550/
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 22:04 (four years ago) link
felt like doing an Erasure top ten, hear it is
1. Joan2. Oh L'Amour3. Brother & Sister4. Chorus5. Take Me Back6. You Surround Me7. Ship of Fools8. Cry So Easy9. Rock Me Gently10. A Little Respect
― swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 03:45 (three years ago) link
The new single is the first erasure track that’s pricked up my ears in... a few decades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n77X65Aquw
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 18 May 2021 14:50 (three years ago) link
Their 1995 self-titled album that arguably strangled their Imperial Phase might be the masterpiece that contains their best songshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgIU8D--cuw
― PaulTMA, Saturday, 4 November 2023 02:47 (ten months ago) link
Superior to A Little Respect etc IMO. what an albumhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di1mBv3iHMQ
― PaulTMA, Saturday, 4 November 2023 02:48 (ten months ago) link
And there's Grace, which no one ever mentions. Truly beautiful:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptApotnluTc
― PaulTMA, Saturday, 4 November 2023 02:51 (ten months ago) link
Agreed generally. One of two albums I can think of that not only derailed a healthy chain of no. 1 albums but did so by missing the top ten altogether (the other is ahem Stereophonics' Keep Calm and Carry On). 'Wilfully obscure' in the sense that they sound like they're forcing their own transition to fans-only territory by focusing for a time on open-ended, amorphous music.
It's a really gorgeous record and I wish it was better known.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Saturday, 4 November 2023 02:56 (ten months ago) link
As much as I love Fingers & Thumbs (and consider it most likely the best Erasure song), it was never as hooky as the likes of their biggest hits, so I reckon the arguments that suggest it should have been the lead single fall flat- I mean, "a shattered heart in love's debris" may be a fantastic line, but it simply is not a hooky enough song to fulfill that criteria.
I think Stay With Me must have been chosen as the single as it represented the album best as a whole. I still maintain that had they led off with it in 1991 then it may have been number one for many weeks. Who knows.
― PaulTMA, Saturday, 4 November 2023 03:09 (ten months ago) link
Regardless this album is a masterpiece
― PaulTMA, Saturday, 4 November 2023 03:13 (ten months ago) link
I mostly think the album works but the songs don't always justify their longer lengths. "Rock Me Gently" is the most successful track here imo, the long atmospheric section pushing them into places they hadn't really explored before. 10 minutes goes by quickly! Whereas some tracks like "Sono Luminus" and "I Love You" feel more like those extended remixes that are mostly stretching out an existing short song. I like both tracks, but I may just prefer a 3-4 minute version. I might even prefer the single edit of "Stay With Me" to the album one
― Vinnie, Saturday, 4 November 2023 14:34 (ten months ago) link
Agree with you that "Grace" is awesome, another track that uses the time well
― Vinnie, Saturday, 4 November 2023 14:36 (ten months ago) link