[1] Solsbury Hill (Gabriel) - 4:19
[2] Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime (Warren) - 3:20
[3] Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (Harley) - 3:58
[4] Everyday (Hardin/Petty) - 2:00
[5] When Will I See You Again (Gamble/Huff) - 2:59
[6] Walking in the Rain (Mann/Spector/Weil) - 2:49
[7] True Love Always (Holly/Petty) - 3:08
[8] Ebb Tide (Maxwell/Sigman) - 3:07
[9] Can't Help Falling in Love (Creatore/Peretti/Weiss) - 3:29
[10] You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (Mann/Spector/Weil) - 4:00
[11] Goodnight (Eberhardt) - 4:10
[12] Video Killed the Radio Star (Downes/Horne/Woolley) - 3:50
2003 CD Mute MUSDJ 127-2
2003 CD Mute 9198
2003 LP Mute 9198
Erasure's tenth studio album, & the follow up to 2000s critically
acclaimed 'Loveboat', features the duo's unique take on some of their
favorite songs. Recorded over 2001 with Gareth Jones, best known for
his work with Depeche Mode, the album includes a diverse selection of
tracks originally made famous by the likes of Buggles, Cockney Rebel,
Buddy Holly, The Righteous Brothers & The Korgis. Mute. 2003.
Album Description
While there's nothing wrong with doing an album of covers, putting such
a project together has its risks. For Erasure, the experiment yields
mixed results. More often than not, they connect with the material in
unexpected ways, and certainly with greater success than one might
expect from other electronic groups. This is due largely to the fact
that these guys have been around long enough to develop a sensitivity
to music as being more than a beat and a hook. Their sense of humor
leads them to revise "Video Killed the Radio Star" in a way that's not
only highly amusing — it actually suits the message of the song.
Plus, Andy Bell remains a very convincing singer, particularly on the
softer material, where his choir-boy timbre glistens and shimmers.
Problems occur when they can't find a convincing way to graft their
highly identifiable sound onto the song. On "True Love Ways," for
instance, Vince Clarke's textures are sweet to the point of gag
inducement, which makes the squirmy synth lick in the bridge section
seem weirdly out of place. While they deserve credit for not mimicking
the feel of the records they cover, there's something very unnerving
about the disco gallop they inflict on "Ebb Tide." And when they do
stay faithful to the original arrangement, as on "You've Lost That
Lovin' Feeling," all the grandiosity achieved by Phil Spector sounds as
if it was being squashed down to Tinker Toy sonics. Finally, just
because you're able to insert a cricket sound every time the word
"sleeping" occurs on "Goodnight" doesn't necessarily mean it's a good
idea.
Robert L. Doerschuk
Erasure is at the top of the list of synth-pop groups who have
transcended the genre's inherent limitations, and Other People's Songs
demonstrates why they've stood the test of time. These are not remixes
or samples; in fact, the arrangement apple never falls far from the
tree. The selected pop tracks from the latter half of the 20th century
are rendered through Vincent Clarke's effervescent sensibility and Andy
Bell's emotive vocals. Most dance-club covers have a shelf life that
barely outlasts the last call. But as on Abba-esque, their homage to
Abba, Erasure meticulously nurture and revitalize rainbow-colored
covers, this time making Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" and Buddy
Holly's "Everyday" sweet but not bubblegum-flavored. Erasure has a
stockpile of signature sounds, many of them used here to tie together
disparate but instantly recognizable pop songs into Erasure songs.
Beth Massa - Amazon.com
Way back in the prehistoric days of the ’80s, after synth
mastermind Vince Clarke had already founded Depeche Mode and produced
two albums with soul singer Alison Moyet as Yaz, he started a little
duo called Erasure. Fronted by flamboyantly gay Andy Bell on the mic,
Erasure generated an impressive string of upbeat and danceable ditties
that flirted with the American Top 10. On this new album of cover
songs, they take their love of grandiose pop to a curious level,
reinterpreting tunes from the likes of the Righteous Brothers, Buddy
Holly and the king himself, Elvis Presley. Sounding like it was
produced on their old gear from the ’80s (a bonus in these
electro-clashed times), the results have a better chance of ending up
in mom’s Volvo than your iPod, though you might get a kick out of
their version of the Buggles’ "Video Killed the Radio Star."
Timothy Brown - From URB Magazine
Da sich erwiesenermaßen Bekanntes besser verkauft, haben
Cover-Versionen Hochkonjuktur. Auch die neue LP des britischen
Synthi-Duos Erasure besteht aus "Other People's Songs", zwölf an
der Zahl. Die Titelauswahl ist nicht immer geglückt, und warum sie
im Jahr 1980 endet, könnten nur Vince Clarke und Andy Bell
beantworten. Mit Produzent Gareth Jones legte sich das Duo auf den
frühen Synthi-Sound der 70er-Jahre samt Analog-Moog-Geblubber
fest. Eine Umsetzung, die manchmal perfekt passt und manchmal gar nicht
- wie eben auch Bells Stimme. Bei "Solsbury Hill" von Peter Gabriel,
1977, der ersten Single, funktioniert das wunderbar, ebenso beim
Cockney-Rebel-Hit "Make Me Smile", 1975, und den Oldies "Walking In The
Rain", 1964 im Original von The Ronettes, oder "You've Lost That Lovin'
Feelin'", 1965 ein Welt-Hit der Righteous Brothers. Diese Teenage
Tragedies mit künstlicher Pop-Dramatik liegen Erasure und
vertragen die Sound-Effekte und Studiospielereien. Für alte
Rock-'n'-Roll-Nummern wie Buddy Hollys "Everyday" oder Elvis Presleys
"Can't Help Falling In Love" kann man das leider nicht sagen. Letzteres
hätte man sich angesichts der inflationären Elvis-Imitate
sparen können. Auch eine weitere Version der Buggles-Nummer "Video
Killed The Radio Star" - noch dazu als Mickey-Maus-Casio-Version mit
Vocoder - braucht die Welt nicht unbedingt. Dafür versöhnt
"Ebb Tide", ein Evergreen von Frank Sinatra bis Tom Jones gesungen,
durch rockig-rhythmisches Tempo zum tief angelegten Crooner-Gesang.
--Ingeborg Schober
Amazon.de
Schon einmal wagten sich Erasure für eine CD an fremde Songs: vor
zehn Jahren, mit "ABBA-esque", einer Mischung aus Tuntigkeit,
Schlagerpathos und Ironie, die Camp sein wollte, aber in ihrer
ungebrochenen Kommerzialität vor allem Anbiederung an eine Szene
war, die mit Erasure eigentlich nichts zu tun haben wollte. Diese
Gefahr besteht bei "Other People's Songs" nicht: Andy Bell und Vince
Clark haben sich zwölf ernste Songs vorgenommen und mit ihrer
bewährten Mischung aus Zuckerguss und Bierzelt-Techno
überzogen. Erasure-CDs klingen seit 15 Jahren immer gleich, egal,
wer die Titel geschrieben hat - nur funktioniert diese
Eintönigkeit diesmal. Und was für ein kluger Song Peter
Gabriels "Solsbury Hill" ist, hört man umso besser, wenn Andy Bell
"My heart's going boom-boom-boom" säuselt und dann ein
Trance-Trommelwirbel einsetzt. Boom- boom-boom, klasse. (fis)
Kulturnews
Eurotrash dance popsters cover Buddy Holly and other oldies Vince
Clarke reigns as one of New Wave's all-time nattiest songwriters --
first with Depeche Mode, then with Yaz and then with vocalist Andy Bell
in Erasure, penning synth-pop swoon classics such as "Blue Savannah"
and "Victim of Love." So Other People's Songs is an audacious concept:
oldies covers in a vampy Eurotrash style that could give you
third-degree Eighties burns. There's one absolute comic masterpiece:
Bell camps up the Frank Sinatra ballad "Ebb Tide" over perky mall-disco
beats, hitting a histrionic falsetto for the big finish. Erasure do the
Ronettes' "Walking in the Rain" almost as well as Cheryl Ladd, they do
Buddy Holly's "Everyday" better than James Taylor, they prove that one
man and one man only was meant to sing "Can't Help Falling in Love,"
and they tart up Peter Gabriel something fierce.