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Be that as it may, Erasure was one of the driving forces in new wave in the 80s, and stayed important for quite some time. Hits like "Chains of Love" or "A Little Respect" were extremely successful on the U.S. charts, and they served to bring a new visibility to New Wave. Clark was more than capable of carrying this load: his work was always extremely pop sensitive. Erasure had a gentle naivite about them; a wide-eyed wonder as if they had just stepped into a fantasy world. They exploited this image in Wonderland and again in I Say, I Say, I Say". When they tried to get a little more down to earth or gritty, they disappointed a little more. Vince Clark's strength was the pop song, not the art song, which made him quite a bit different than former band member Martin Gore who later wrote Depeche Mode's material. As far as I'm concerned, Erasure always held a position near Depeche Mode's as kings of New Wave. They epitomized the lighter, funner side of the movement, while Depeche Mode was dark and artsy. As with Depeche Mode, my interest in them started to wane, but in this case it's not because they abandoned their sound, but rather because they stayed with it. Their more recent cds started to sound tired; as if the formula had done all it could. As they started trying to sound more artistic, they made songs that went a little flat compared to their older material. Similarly, if they tried to go too pop, they lost the New Wave edge that made them more interesting than Debbie Gibson or the Back Street Boys. All in all, they had a good run, though. Perhaps my disenchantment has more to do with the phenomena in which you always like best what you first hear.
The following works of Erasure's are reviewed here: |
