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Elly Roberts reviews
Mute
- May 2007
- Rating: 4/10
Its more of the same from iconic duo Andy Bell and Vince Clarke.
For over 20 years, the pair collectively known as Erasure, have been rollingout anthemic dance tunes. So, no theres no change here then. Why should youwhen youve been as successful as they have 30 Top 40 singles and 11 Top 20albums.
But, there is a problem emerging. Single I Could Fall In Love With Youdid reasonably well chart-wise, and Im sure more will follow, though the triedand tested formula now sounds a tad predictable, tired, and in some ways, dated.This collection is also rather bland, except for the very personal nature of thelyrics by Bell, which deal with death, loss and love.
Erasures downfall is that they havent shown any significant progression.When they decided to rework some of their songs on the critically claimedUnion Street, it was a stunning revelation in my mind. With Bell movingover to be near writing partner Clarke in Portland Maine, the pair embarked onthis project last autumn, as they delved into a more computer based approach.
Retaining all the melodies theyre known for, Bell and Clarke go all out withthe high energy synth dance beats. It all begins with Sunday Girl, atypical Erasure track which has shades of Abba thrown in for good luck. Thepace and beats intensify on stomper Sucker For Love, but doesnt matchanything from their back catalogue.
Storm In A Teacup emerges as one of the better songs, even though, itsa lament about his mothers alcoholism, with Bell giving one of his finest performances.There isnt much really going on with Fly Away, which is nothing more thana filler album track at best. By now the formula is starting to become, well,tedious.
Golden Heart aint much better either. Easing the frenetic pace, theydrop the beats per minute for a softer mid-paced ballad with rolling synths,though it has little effect even when Bell does a lot of Oh, Oh, Oh, Ohs.Darlene is more of the same.
In the main, Light At The End Of The World, is quite forgettable becausethe songs simply arent strong enough to call you back for more and more.Technically both know their stuff, but its not worked this time.
Weblink:erasureinfo.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Sunday Girl
2. I Could Fall In Love With You
3. Sucker For Love
4. Storm In A Teacup
5. Fly Away
6. Golden Heart
7. How My Eyes Adore You
8. Darlene
9. When A Lover Leaves You
10. Glass Angel
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.