Erasure Album: “Chorus”

Chorus is Erasure's best cd musically and lyrically. 10 songs at 40 minutes makes this a consistent and cohesive listen. It's darker and edgier than previous Erasure cds and more original and consistent than later cds. All of Erasure's cds are good if you're a fan. Chorus is the one for non-fans as it is more mature dance music. There's no bad songs on this disc. I Say I Say I Say would be my next recommendation because it isn't as danceable as Chorus but it's just as interesting. I don't think Erasure has surpassed Chorus in excellence. The three studio cds that have been released since don't quite match up to the quality of Chorus. Vince and Andy were in top form in 1991. Just listen to "Breath of Life", "Siren Song", "Home", "Chorus" and "Waiting for the Day." All excellent craftmanship. This cd is worth the money.

Can Erasure be dark? Yes.. they can. Where as "I Say I Say I Say" is a light, fantasy like album, "Chorus" digs deep and brings us into the nightmarish side of Erasure. A side we don't normally see and it's refreshing. It's here that Clarke begins to focus more on digital bleeps and less on analog orchestrations than ever before. I have to strongly disagree with many critics (who don't know jack about electronica) that diss Erasure for always sounding the same. I could say the same thing about rock music or rap music, but that's not the case. Clarke seems to be pushing the limits on what he can do with a synthesizer and still create catchy pop music. There are a number of songs on this album that are just as good, if not better than the singles that came out, such as "Waiting For The Day", and "Home". Both are my favorite songs from the album. Erasure, in my opinion, was and is one of the best bands in the world. No one (except for The Beatles) have crafted so many wonderful and experimental albums, filled with so many pop catchy tracks, as Erasure has. Nice job guys.

Chorus is Erasure in their prime from a chronological standpoint and representative of their apex from a music standpoint.

Chorus is unique in that it marks a return of Vince Clarke from the Oberheim Xpander synthesizer (used in Erasure's earlier material which has a more acoustic quality) to analog synths, which tones have a more computerized quality and use all types of metallic bleeps and blips. Clarke employs analog synths in Chorus to create a more sincere and serious -somewhat darker- album than '80s Erasure material, virtually all of which is campy and happy-go-lucky.

Though the sound and direction is different, the end result is the same: Chorus is has all the poignancy and diversity from song to song as vintage '80s albums such as "The Circus" and "The Innocents" had. Some songs are upbeat and dancy, and others are slow but in the end it still sounds like vintage Erasure and remains one of Andy Bell's and Vince Clarke's best efforts, ever.

The CD came in excellent condition, just as described. Fast shipping. Easy to work with this seller.

For all its disco glitter, "Chorus," the fifth studio album from Erasure, is a pretty moody affair. A few of the songs deal with relationships that are on the verge of falling apart at the seams: there's the stinging bite of "Love to Hate You," the bitter lyrics of a man betrayed in "Perfect Stranger," and the "you-broke-my-heart" ditty "Waiting for the Day." Musically, it's a bit different from what we've heard before. Producer Martyn Phillips (Jesus Jones) gives the disc an even more electronic feel, with its abundance of synth touches and sonic bleeps. The result is a synth pop album with as much bite as anything by the duo's rock peers. Erasure is one of my favorite groups, and "Chrous" is a fine disc that won't disappoint.