"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" single (Erasure)

Erasure's single for "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" was released in 2003 off the album Other People's Songs. While their version can't top the original by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, it's pretty good. The single also includes a pair of cool remixes, which make it worthwhile, plus some remixes of other tracks from Other People's Songs which are also pretty cool. Recommended.

Tracks:
1. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (edit)
2. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (Dan Frampton radio mix)
3. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (Manhattan Clique extended mix)
4. Walking in the Rain (37B remix)
5. When Will I See You Again (37B remix)
6. Can't Help Falling in Love (acoustic)

Loveboat (Erasure)

Loveboat was Erasure's first album of the current decade, released in 2000. It sticks to your basic Erasure album model, although perhaps there are a few more down-tempos than usual. Still, it's a nice entry in their catalogue. It contains the hit single "Freedom." Other highlights include "Alien," "Here in My Heart," and "Moon & the Sky."

Tracks:
1. Freedom
2. Where in the World
3. Crying in the Rain
4. Perchance to Dream
5. Alien
6. Mad As We Are
7. Here in My Heart
8. Love Is the Rage
9. Catch 22
10. Moon & the Sky
11. Surreal

Chorus (Erasure)

Erasure's Chorus album was released in 1991. It contains the hits "Love to Hate You," "Chorus," "Breath of Life," and "Am I Right." Album track highlights include "Perfect Stranger" and "Waiting for the Day." At this point, all I can say is, it follows the Erasure album formula. If you like their sound, it's another good album. If you don't, you probably weren't considering buying it anyway.

Tracks:
1. Chorus
2. Waiting for the Day
3. Joan
4. Breath of Life
5. Am I Right?
6. Love to Hate You
7. Turns the Love to Anger
8. Siren Song
9. Perfect Stranger
10. Home

The Innocents (Erasure)

Added recently to my Erasure collection is The Innocents, one of their biggest albums. It contains the big hits "A Little Respect" and "Chains of Love." The album is more than just its singles, however. The other tracks are solid as well, especially "Phantom Bride" and "Yahoo!" A version of "River Deep, Mountain High" that closes the album also works better than I expected.

Tracks:
1. A Little Respect
2. Ship of Fools
3. Phantom Bride
4. Chains of Love
5. Hallowed Ground
6. Sixty-Five Thousand
7. Heart of Stone
8. Yahoo!
9. Imagination
10. Witch in the Ditch
11. Weight of the World
12. When I Needed You (melancholic mix)
13. River Deep, Mountain High (private dance mix)

"Don't Say You Love Me" single (Erasure)

Erasure's single for Nightbird's "Don't Say You Love Me" contains several mixes of the a-side, plus non-album track "Lie to Me." The single and radio mixes are both quite good. The Piney Gir mix would probably make a kickass live performance. The last two mixes are both awesome extended dance mixes. I can't decide just yet which of the two I prefer. Overall, it's another winner from Erasure.

Tracks:
1. Don't Say You Love Me (single mix)
2. Don't Say You Love Me (radio mix)
3. Lie to Me
4. Don't Say You Love Me (Piney Gir mix)
5. Don't Say You Love Me (Mark Moore & Eon vox remix)
6. Don't Say You Love Me (ATOC's Rock 'n' Ravin' vocal remix)

"Breathe" single (Erasure)

Erasure's single for Nightbird's "Breathe" is great. In addition to numerous mixes of the title track, many of which are high quality, the b-side "Gone Crazy" is included. It's awesome. It alone would be enough to make this single worth it, but some nice club mixes of "Breathe" certainly sweeten the deal. I haven't decided if the odd instrumental "Mr. Gribber and His Amazing Cat" is value-added, but it's worth a listen, I guess.

Tracks:
1. Breathe (radio version)
2. Breathe
3. Gone Crazy
4. Mr. Gribber and His Amazing Cat
5. Breathe (acoustic version)
6. Breathe (Pete Heller's Phela Mix)
7. Breathe (LMC Extended Club Mix)
8. Breathe (When Andy Bell Met Manhattan Clique Extended Mix)

"Here I Go Impossible Again" / "All This Time Still Falling Out of Love" single (Erasure)

"Here I Go Impossible Again" and "All This Time Still Falling Out of Love" are both tracks on Erasure's 2005 album Nightbird. "All This Time Still Falling Out of Love" is quite possibly my favourite on a very strong album. This double a-side contains fpur tracks which consist of two mixes of each title. None are the album version. The single mix of "Here I Go Impossible Again" is fine, similar to the album version. The original version of "All This Time Still Falling Out of Love" is cool, but I prefer the album version. Next we have Meloboy's Nü-German Compu-Soul Remix of "Here I Go Impossible Again," which is a very good mix. Finally, we have the Shanghai Surprize Club Mix of "All This Time Still Falling Out of Love," which is my favourite track on this single. It's a great club version of the song that will likely inspire dancing in its listeners. While this may not include quite as much content as Erasure's singles usually do, what it does have is pretty cool and is worth the price of admission.

Tracks:
1. Here I Go Impossible Again (single mix)
2. All This Time Still Falling Out of Love (original mix)
3. Here I Go Impossible Again (Meloboy's Nü-German Compu-Soul Remix)
4. All This Time Still Falling Out of Love (Shanghai Surprize Club Mix)

Erasure

Erasure's self-titled 1995 album was my choice purchase with a coupon I had at Half Price Books. I wasn't sure what to expect from this album, as I'd read that it was more experimental than their usual, but I actually think it works quite well. It's not so far "out there" to lose listeners like me, and the songs still have some very Erasure-ish qualities to them. The album contains "Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)," a track I'd not heard but have quickly grown to love. Other highlights include "Rock Me Gently" and "Love the Way You Do So." However, this album is best taken as a whole rather than examined track-by-track, for while some do stand alone well, the whole product is an experience in itself well worth having.

Tracks:
1. Intro: Guess I'm Into Feeling
2. Rescue Me
3. Sono Luminus
4. Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)
5. Rock Me Gently
6. Grace
7. Stay With Me
8. Love the Way You Do So
9. Angel
10. I Love You
11. A Long Goodbye

Cowboy (Erasure)

After seeing this cheap in a store only to find that the actual disc had been stolen from the case, I decided I had to go ahead and get Erasure's Cowboy album. Overall, it's a relatively strong release, neither the best nor the worst album I've heard from them. Singles like "Rain" and "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me," combined with strong album tracks like "Save Me Darling" make up some of this release's highlights. On the other hand, one or two songs drag a bit, and the remake of "Rapture" isn't anything too special; on the other hand, the version of "Magic Moments" is thoroughly enjoyable. Basically, while this isn't Erasure's best album, fans of artists in the duo's vein will certainly find some tracks on here they like.

Tracks:
1. Rain
2. Worlds on Fire
3. Reach Out
4. In My Arms
5. Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me
6. Precious
7. Treasure
8. Boy
9. How Can I Say
10. Save Me Darling
11. Love Affair
12. Rapture
13. Magic Moments

"Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me" single (Erasure)

The appeal of Erasure's "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me" single (UK CD2, I believe) lay for me in the live rendition of Blondie's "Heart of Glass." Erasure is one of those bands that does a lot of remakes that I end up enjoying, so I knew this was a must-have, and I wasn't disappointed. Pleasantly, I also found the Jon Pleased Wimmin Flashback vox of the title track to be a great listen as well, possibly even better than the single version. I've seen a few negative reviews of "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me" on the Internet, but I disagree. I think it's another great entry in the Erasure catalogue.

Tracks:
1. Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me
2. Heart of Glass (live in Oxford)
3. Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me (Jon Pleased Wimmin Flashback vox)
4. Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me (Tall Paul mix)

Other People's Songs (Erasure)

Erasure's Other People's Songs is, as the title states, an album of remakes. For the most part, they don't stray too far from the originals (although there are some exceptions to this), but do have that identifiable Erasure sound. Therefore, while the remakes aren't usually something which will wow people, they're quite good and worth hearing. The only one about which I wasn't crazy was "Goodnight," which, while pretty, dragged a bit. As both a fan of good remakes and a fan of Erasure, this album was a must get for me. Those who enjoy the Erasure sound will likely find it at least somewhat satisfying.

It's tough to pick standouts, although I do love their versions of "Walking in the Rain" and "Video Killed the Radio Star."

Tracks:
1. Solsbury Hill
2. Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime
3. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
4. Everyday
5. When Will I See You Again
6. Walking in the Rain
7. True Love Ways
8. Ebb Tide
9. Can't Help Falling in Love
10. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
11. Goodnight
12. Video Killed the Radio Star

"Sunday Girl" single (Erasure)

I just picked up the CD single for Erasure's "Sunday Girl," a 2007 release from their album Light at the End of the World. While there are a select few singles I actually seek out, I wanted this one for its b-side, "Take Me on a Highway," which is quite a good song. I had also purchased the Storm Chaser EP as it had quite a few goodies on it, and the "I Could Fall in Love With You" single on impulse one day at the store, so I guess I've got the Light at the End of the World era represented pretty well in my collection. Anyway, this is a nice single and if you like the band, it's worth the few bucks for "Take Me on a Highway" and a few decent remixes of the a-side. I thought the radio edit made things a little abrupt, but that could just be because I'm used to the album version. However, the extended 12" mix is worth a few plays, as is the Riffs & Rays club edit.

Tracks:
1. Sunday Girl (radio mix)
2. Take Me on a Highway
3. Sunday Girl (extended 12" mix)
4. Sunday Girl (Riffs & Rays club edit)
5. Sunday Girl (Riffs & Rays dub edit)