 Title - 'Other People's Songs' (Mute)
Artist - Erasure
I've been a huge fan for years and have purchased all their CDs, but I've been disappointed lately. Loveboat was heavy and gloomy - two words that don't describe Erasure at all. Their self-titled album was lush and beautiful and Vince proved his mastery with a very different style, but it just wasn't fun. I think OPS gets everything just right. Energetic, creative, upbeat and totally interesting. Erasure's "Solsbury Hill" is so much more alive than the original. "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" is trancelike and gorgeous. "Make Me Smile" is inventive and completely infectious - I love the "bop bop"s. Listen to "Everyday" a few times and you'll forget that Buddy Holly ever did it, it seems SO Erasure. "Goodnight' is beautiful and touching. Those five are my favorite tracks, but I'm very fond of "Ebb Tide' and "Video Killed The Radio Star" too. (FYI - On the CD single of "Solsbury Hill" is a song called "Searching", which features some of Vince's most clever keyboard work ever.) This is the Erasure I loved on Wonderland, Circus, The Innocents, Wild, Abbaesque, Chorus and Cowboy. Welcome back boys. Please don't slip back into a Loveboat funk again anytime soon !
Ron Merchant
www.mute.com
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