Critical Quote "Loveboat is the richest and most diverse Erasure album in
years. Crying In The Rain welds bent hip hop beats to Bell's angelic
keening, the ballad Surreal provides the honeycomb pop kiss goodbye
and Catch 22 and Alien are classic Erasure pop songs." -
CDNOW.com
Onge Review
After a three-and-a-half absence, Erasure
returned with their ninth original album Loveboat
in October 2000. Produced by Flood who worked on early Erasure
material, this album demonstrates an experimental element to Andy
and Vince's songwriting with the album possessing a largely acoustic
feel. The album opens with the catchy Freedom, a
typical Erasure song
accompanied with a sing-a-long chorus and upbeat verses. This song
screams guitar, with Vince distancing himself from the nylon plucking
of Cowboy for some out-and-out strumming. Largely a pleasant
song, it doesn't possess any real long term classic potential but
is still none-the-less a fine way to open the album. Where
In The World is one of Erasure's
finest ballads, a song so rich in empathy that no lover cannot fail
to associate. The production is also of high quality, with the soft
beat complimenting Andy's generally passionless vocals. Crying
In The Rain is a track of innovation, with a R'n'B-esque
arrangement joining with Andy's vocals. Although cliché filled, this
does not detract from a fine song. Memories of the Erasure
album are also evident, with the Pretentious style middle-eight
showing Vince may well not be over the appeal of surreal sounding
audio. Perchance To Dream is wonderfully diverse
lyrically, rich in imagery and escapist metaphors, with this song
demonstrating a exploration in Andy's vocal writings which can be
sometimes missing. The music is equally unconventional, with the stomping
bass merely adding to the disappointingly unpolished production. At
least it shows an air of variety in Erasure's
work. Alien is an Erasure
classic, an example of the perfect pop song Erasure
never fail to deliver. Beautifully performed, this is almost reason
enough to have Loveboat
in your CD collection. Although in the final production this song
has lost much of the acoustic drive evident in the early workings
the song is still a fantastic success, and is worthy of being a single.
The album then slows for the uninspired Mad As We Are.
Confused lyrical imagery and a bland musical accompaniment make this
the weakest track on the album. Apparently an attempt to write a Phil
Spector-esque style number, the only really interesting thing about
this track is the way the volume gradually builds up as the song reaches
it's conclusion. Here In My Heart is potentially
a great Erasure track
let down again by an drab production which doesn't know if it's trying
to sound retro or futuristic. Either way it fails and does not compliment
Andy's singing which takes a turn for the worse on a couple of lines
which lead to some listener cringing. What he was thinking when attempting
to sing so unnecessarily high is unknown, but he does uncharacteristically
warble his way through a small section of this song. All is forgiven
as the exceptional Love Is The Rage kicks in with
Andy at his vocal superiority once again. A song from the heart, with
an excellent Vince melody this is one of Erasure's
finest. A catchy chorus demonstrating the conflicting idiosyncrasies
of Love is the central theme to this amazing ballad. This classic
track shows Erasure
have not lost any of their ability and is without doubt the best song
on the album. Next up is Catch 22, another effort
whose production is so demo tape-esque that it detracts from an otherwise
good song. Typical Andy lyrics but a far too bass-heavy non-production
simply leaves this track sounding confused. The song itself is decent,
but sadly the mixing is not. Moon & The Sky is
possibly the most un-Erasure
type song they have ever written. No real chorus structure, but instead
a techno beat and astrological imagery make this a pleasant departure
from the Erasure norm.
This track indicates that perhaps Andy and Vince have it in them to
release a real dance floor hit, but whether they will attempt to is
unlikely. Surreal concludes the album in typical
ballad style. Nothing amazing about this track, but enjoyable enough.
Summary
Generally this is a satisfactory album which is sadly let down by
the mastering. The song writing is of the normal Erasure
high standards, but I can't help feeling the production is woefully
inadequate. Whether Flood, Daniel Miller or indeed Vince was to blame
for the general sound motif of the album is unknown, but there is
not enough polish on this album which is a shame considering the time
gap between this release and Cowboy. But then again there is
always the marvellous Love Is The Rage to keep any listener
satisfied for a very long time indeed.
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