Erasure Back from the Dead

I
gave up on Erasure along time ago. 
After reaching their creative peak with 1995’s, introspective
“Erasure” album, which I enjoyed immensely, but didn’t sell well,
they quickly slid into irrelevance. 
Their next album, 1997’s “Cowboy” was a step in the wrong
direction, returning to the standard, three-minute, pop tune, but
this time the songs were generic and bereft of any emotion.  They finally hit bottom
with 2000’s “loveboat,” which their record company, Maverick, wouldn’t
release.  There were
reports that they went back into the studio to rework the album
and record a couple new songs but Maverick dropped them. 
The album was awful, over-produced and Andy Bell’s vocals
were muffled in the mix.  Around
this time Vince Clark said he was retiring from touring and didn’t
even want to be in their videos, so I thought it was over for them.

And
then out of nowhere, “Other People’s Songs” was released, an album
of all cover songs, which turned out to be a surprise hit with the
first single, “Salisbury Hill,” scoring high on the charts with
the best radio support they’ve experienced in years. 
Followed by the album’s success, Erasure is doing a small
tour of the U.S. with many venues selling out. 

“Other
People’s Songs” is a start in the right direction if you forgive
them for how mellow it is and skip over the filler, but the real
challenge will be releasing an album of all new material that will
determine if Erasure is truly back. 
It wouldn’t have hurt to record a couple faster songs to
raise the energy level. Many of the songs I didn’t enjoy because
I simply didn’t like the originals. 
“Video Killed the Radio Star” would’ve benefited if Andy
had sang the song, instead of Vince’s computer. 
One bright note is “Make Me Smile,” an upbeat, melodic, dance
song that would’ve fit nicely on “The Innocents.”

I
waited too long to get tickets to the Los Angeles show, so now I’m
going up to San Francisco to see them. 
I don’t know what to expect, especially after seeing some
of their set lists from Europe, where they opened up with four or
five slow songs in a row. 
It might be a mellow concert.