Erasure Album: “Circus”

I love "Wonderland", but consider it to be way too similiar to Yazoo (which Clarke had just came from). So "The Circus" is really the album that begins to give us a good understanding of Erasure - the band. From the hip "It Doesn't Have To Be" to the soft "Spiralling", this album has it all. And it is actually a concept album of all things. There's hints in the music from "Don't Dance" to "Spiralling" that lead all back to the actual song "The Circus". What I love about Erasure, is that they often have a number of songs on each album that are just as good as their singles or better. "Hideaway", "Leave Me To Bleed" and "Spiralling" are tracks that were never heard on the radio, but they are three of my favorite tracks from the album. There are hits as well like "Sometimes" and "Victim Of Love". If you are interested in Erasure and don't have this album, get it. You won't be disappointed.

The Circus reflects the bands growth level from their debut Wonderland with better vocals and tighter production. Some of my favorite Erasure songs of all are here in "Victim Of Love," "Leave Me To Bleed," and "Sometimes." A smooth blend of analog synths, unique electronic bleeps, combined with a great melody has quickly become the British duo's tour de force. Lots of danceable tracks with some slower ones mixed in. I love the atmospheric dreamy qualities of "Spiralling." Other cool songs include "It Doesn't Have To Be," "Hideaway," and "The Circus."

If you like Erasure, also check out EchoImage!

My experience with Erasure has been a little backwards. In fact, since buying "Pop: The First 20 hits" and "I Say^3" a few years ago, I have bought every erasure album (barring the latest two of course) in reverse order of release. Anyway, I just recently purchased "The Circus" and after one listen was kicking myself for waiting so long.

Before buying it, I was sure, as I was with "Chorus", that the best songs would be the singles from "Pop..". It ended up, however, just as with "Chorus", that my favorite songs were entirely different. While I love "Victim of Love" and "The Circus", my favorite tracks are "Hideaway", "Don't Dance" and "If I Could", with "Don't Dance" being the top one. (I know I'm in a small minority there) This is just simply a great album and it brings my list of Erasure albums better than "The Innocents" up to four with "Chorus", "Erasure", and "I Say^3" being the others. I don't know what it is about me and "The Innocents", I guess i just "Don't Dance" to the Rhythm.

As for the extra tracks, "Mountain King" is fun, "Sometimes" is a little unnecessary, but I do like the "Boop Oopa Doo" Mix of "It Doesn't Have to Be". All fans of synth-pop will love this outstanding album. Next on my list to purchase is "Wonderland". (Can you believe I don't even own their FIRST album???)

With this album, more people were starting to take notice of the chemistry between Vince Clarke and Andy Bell. With such songs like "It Doesn't Have To Be" and "Sometimes", Clarke is proving that he has a winning formula outside of Depeche Mode. A good album from start to finish, it was a prelude of things to come.

Erasure, the English synth-pop duo of Vince Clarke (ex-Depeche Mode and Yaz) and newcomer Andy Bell, debuted in 1986 with "Wonderland," an enjoyable, though spotty, collection of simple, danceable pop songs. With "Wonderland," despite many brilliant highlights, Erasure was still finding its voice and the Clarke-Bell songwriting team was still in its earliest stages (Bell's only contribution to "Oh L'amour" was the title and a couple of the album's other songs were written entirely by Clarke). But by "The Circus," the partnership had solidified and Erasure's forte was clear: writing melodic, hook-laden pop songs devoid of the angst or gloom so characteristic of other '80s synth-pop bands. On "The Circus," everything clicked, and the songwriting was among their most consistent. "Hideaway," "Don't Dance," "Victim of Love," "The Circus," "It Doesn't Have to Be" and (of course) "Sometimes"--where is there another album released in the '80s so full of intelligent, finely crafted, brilliantly arranged pop songs? I can't think of one. Alas, the boys would follow up with 1988's dreadfully inconsistent "The Innocents" and 1989's OK "Wild!" before going on to make their finest records in the '90s. But if you want an early Erasure album that sounds like a greatest hits collection, buy "The Circus."