Retro Spins: Erasure - Wild!

The Erasure ride started off a bit bumpy. It started off on a pretty low point, with me comparing Andy Bell to nothing more than a carbon copy of Yaz's Alison Moyet. However, by 1987's The Innocents, something changed. Bell was coming into his own, stepping up to finally become the lead singer of Erasure, and not just a cover version of Moyet.

Wild! kicks off with the short, and frankly, unnecessary instrumental, Piano Song. This leads into the peppy, and fun Blue Savannah. I was onboard with it, and it set an expectation that I hoped would be met.

This was followed by Drama! (boy, they sure do love their exclamation points), which kept the adrenaline high. In fact, as a whole, this level of energy is consistent. With it comes good tracks like Star, and La Gloria.

I also really dug Brother And Sister, which may be my favorite from the album. This was followed by 2000 Miles, decent, but definitely has Bell back to channeling his inner Moyet.

Admittedly, the final two tracks are a bit of a disappointment. While Crown Of Thorns simply doesn't resonate with me, Piano Song, yes, the same that opened the album, is not filled with vocals, but still doesn't fair well. The latter, like its opening counterpart just feels unnecessary to the album as a whole.

Erasure would continue to achieve number one albums in the UK in the early 90's with Chorus (1991), and I Say I Say I Say (1994). However, sales would begin to steadily decline by 1995's (self titled) Erasure. Despite this, they've stuck through it, and continued to release albums fairly consecutively through 2022's Day-Glo (Based On A True Story), with their albums continuing to rank in the UK top ten, twenty, or fifty.

Additionally, Erasure would contribute greatly to the resurgence of ABBA in the 90's with their 1992 EP, Abba-esque. The album featured cover versions of Lay All Your Love On Me, S.O.S., Voulez-Vous, and Take A Chance On Me. The latter received a music video, which...just isn't right. Agnetha Fältskog, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are beautiful women. Meanwhile, Andy Bell, and Vince Clarke dressed as the two ladies are not. I mean...well...see for yourself...

I will say that it looks like the two had a lot of fun making the video, and look like they're on the verge of laughing at each other throughout it.

Overall, I'm glad that Erasure was able to turn it around for me personally. The latter decade albums, specifically, The Innocents, and Wild! are definitely the better of what I heard. They were a good note to end on, and I suppose that too wraps up this post.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
October 3, 1981

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
October 3, 1987