If you think about it, this was a very risky album for Erasure to put out. Their popularity kept building, culminating with the release of the Chorus album and the ABBA-esque E.P. I think their casual fans started to lose touch with I Say, I Say, I Say. They surely abandoned Erasure when their self-titled album came out, a year later.

This album was Vince Clarke's retribution, for having been forced to stick to the confines of the three-minute song format. Granted, staying within the mold yielded some truly great songs that have stood the test of time, like A Little Respect, Blue Savannah, and Love to Hate You. However, Vince Clarke is a true musician at heart, and this album was his chance to expand beyond the limitations of an electro-pop format.

I think the best way to judge this album is to listen to it in tandem with the prior release, I Say, I Say, I Say. On Erasure, Andy Bell sings with much more feeling. Grace is one prime example; listen to Andy sing, "Where's the sense in senseless violence?" He is vocally very bold, without sounding embarassing or kitschy. His vocals are full-on, and never err.

There is a lot of naked emotion on this album. Sono Luminus, Rock Me Gently, and Stay With Me are very emotional songs, that take the risk of being so, without failing. If Sono Luminus and Rescue Me's lyrics seem a tad New-Agey, it doesn't matter. Erasure "gets the balance right" (to paraphrase Depeche Mode). Plus, if you really listen to the album's lyrics, you will understand how clever Erasure is on drawing upon religious themes, without sounding preachy or silly. How about, "Take me to the tree, it has a strange effect on me?", from Rescue Me?

Sure, Diamanda Galas alone is enough to scare off the casual listener, with her freakish wailing sound. But, again, you have to give Erasure credit for reaching this far out, to project a mood. Rock Me Gently really becomes a magnum opus, with her singing in the extended instrumental interlude. Aside from its incredible length (10 minutes!), it is a personal favorite for its poignant lyrics. The video for the song is a touching tribute to Marilyn Monroe, and is one of their very best in my mind.

If nothing else, this is the album that spawned Fingers & Thumbs. It is their greatest dance-floor "anthem", in my opinion, and one of their very best singles. Again, the video is one of Erasure's best.

I wish that Angel could have been released as a fourth single. After the opening interlude, it develops into a single-ready tune. I wonder why Erasure didn't release it as a single!!

From start to finish, this album is an unqualified success, injected with some of Erasure's finest lyrics. The only song that might be labeled a little weak is Love the Way You Do So, sounding a trifle too arch and contrived. Still, for a slightly weaker track, it beats the hell out a lot of other album's weak cuts (La Gloria, anyone?). Plus, after repeated listens, I have come to appreciate its subtle, even flow.

The album ends with A Long Goodbye, which is reminscient of Home, from Chorus. The first time I heard it, it almost brought a tear to my eye!

If you are looking for easy hooks and melodies, play the Pop! best-of compilation; to heal an aching heart, or stir your soul, Erasure is the album of choice.

Having listened for the first time both "Erasure" and "Cowboy" one right after the other, there are definitely some contrasts between the typical music of the latter album and the uniqueness of the former. In this album Erasure try to show what their skills really can do when they push themselves into something they don't usually do. The work from this new situation was by all means a very successful experiment. Vince turns out beautiful soundscapes and beats, and Andy takes his talents one notch further. I admire Vince for not using some cheesy drumb and bass sound, and his reliance on analogue synthesizers gives his music a unique Erasure quality. Some of their songs on this album are their strongest, in terms of their emotional and lyrical power, with "fingers & thumbs" being one of their best dance ballads yet. This is more introspective than the others, and listening to it shoulld be done when one feels in a reflective mood. Truly a remarkable album.

Erasure's self-titled album marks the group's first real exposure of their overtly emotional, surreal, painfully pensive, yet beautifully composed lyrics and chords that have become Erasure mainstays. The introduction, like a great opera or oratorio, sets the mood and energy as it builds and magically morphes into song #2, and thus the journey begins. Soon you realize you are hearing the words, emotions, thoughts, and feelings of Andy Bell as he describes the course of a romantic relationship post-break up. From his pleadingly beautiful arrangment of being "ever so lonely" to the bitterness and resentment of seeing an ex-bf with a new romantic interest. Moving forward along with him, you begin to move pass the hurt and despair of a love lost, making odes to the muses, and revelations to god, ending up exactly where you began, in a state of independance and energy, moving ever so forward, single or not. This is a great cd for anyone trying to voice their love lost emotions, someone in search of understanding, and inspiration.

I was pleased to see that, in 1995, Erasure had released a new album. I was simply blown away, though, at the different direction this one took. Gone were the campy, almost empty, songs that I had loved for almost a decade. In their place was a set of ethereal and thought-provoking songs that seem more part of a whole production rather than a list of tracks. Erasure really tapped into true emotion with "Grace", "Stay With Me", and especially "Rock Me Gently". This certainly isn't music to dance to, it's music to live to.

If ordered to pick one album and destroy the rest, I would keep this one.

The self-titled "Erasure" marked a departure of the typical Erasure pop-wave style, and the end result is an honest, emotional excursion into melancholy.

Vice Clarke still paints with an electronic palette, but the music is more focused, almost minimalistic, accompanied by Andy Bell's desperately honest lyrics and powerful delivery. All is not bleak, as there are real moments of joy throughout.

Actually, Vince and Andy pull off a bit of misdirection; the album begins with a very "Erasure" sounding song, "Intro: Guess I'm into Feeling," followed by "Rescue Me." The mood makes a sudden change with "Sono Luminus," and its emotional pull is unmistakable. "Sono Luminus" segues into "Fingers and Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)" and the listener is carried along with the emotional tide for the remainder of the album.

"Erasure" is not as accessible as "The Innocents" nor is it the upbeat, cheesy pop found on "Abba-esque." However, for the patient listener, the payoff is 71 minutes of haunting, emotional music.