Customer Reviews

Total Pop! The First 40 Hits (2 CD Set)

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Erasure. Total Pop! - The First 40 Hits.
© 2009 Mute Records Limited. Printed in the E.U. LC05834. CDMUTEL16. 5 099924 294720.
Released 23 February 2009 (U.K.)

Total Pop! is also available as Deluxe Box (3 CD/1 DVD).

First of all, I must admit that I'm not really a big Erasure fan. I would call myself a casual fan who has enjoyed a number of the duo's singles over the years, starting really with 1994's "Always", which has become my favorite Erasure song. Nonetheless, I must admit that I was extremely excited when I first viewed the press release for this 2009 double-disc hits compilation. Does it get any better than this?

Glancing over the tracklisting it is really an amazing overview of this synth-pop duo of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, an act which I think has been overlooked many times despite continuously churning out numerous high quality singles year after year, album after album. I don't think that many people realize just how many hits that these guys have had since hitting the music scene in 1985. Add them up! Yep, 40! (... and counting!) Astonishing! Not many bands or artists have that kind of track record!

A whopping 33 of these hits made the U.K. Top 40 while 28 of them made the U.K. Top 20. Quite an impressive feat! Take a look at the hits. While most of these singles did not chart in the U.S. they were successful overseas. If you are a U.S. music lover and unfamiliar with their hits outside the U.S. charts now is your chance to catch up!

As I listen to this 2-CD collection starting with 1985's "Who Needs Love (Like That)" on disc 1 and ending with "Always [Jeremy Wheatley 2009 Mix]" on disc 2 I'm reminded of the numerous gems that I may have overlooked initially -- for example, hits such as "Blue Savannah" (1990) and "In My Arms" (1997). The latter track I vaguely recall hearing for a brief time on the radio the summer of '97 and had completely forgotten how amazing it sounds! Even recent singles such as "Here I Go Impossible Again" (2005) and "I Could Fall In Love With You" (2007) are as good as the early cuts, in my opinion.

The 2009 mix of "Always", which has been used to promote this release, is not radically different from the original 1994 album version. Perhaps that's why I like it? Coming roughly 15 years after the original release "Always" still sounds as amazing as the first time that I heard it.

One may note the big push to emphasize the digitally remastered sound with this collection. Notice the "2009 digital remaster" tag on nearly every track in the above listing. A little overboard, eh? I'm glad that the audio is getting recognition when it often does not! All tracks have been newly remastered for this 2-CD set by Simon Heyworth at Super Audio Mastering, Devon. And what a difference it makes! Many of these tracks have never sounded better, with the exception of the excellent mastering on Hits: The Very Best of Erasure from 2003.

The liner notes are rather thin but informative, nonetheless. Erasure's hits are broken down across a few pages in terms of writers, production, mixes, EP/single information, release dates, and U.K. peak chart positions. Many casual fans may find this information very useful if discovering the duo for the first time. Additionally, the packaging is very nicely done, in my opinion, with the two lovebirds on the back of the album sleeve topping it off. Beautiful!

Note that while the collection is titled as having the first 40 hits of Erasure it is actually 41 tracks (with the new mix of "Always") in chronological order. Disc One fills in at roughly 78 minutes, and Disc Two covers roughly 77 minutes. No space is wasted, cramming this package full of excellent, timeless pop music. Here's to the next 40!

Considering what a terrific band they are, I've never understood why Erasure is not more popular in the US. I was also perplexed about the title "40 Hits" for this compilation, since I thought I knew all their biggies and it certainly didn't add up to 40. So I was very happy to discover that just because Americans didn't fully appreciate Andy and Vince's output, clearly the rest of the world did and this CD is an outstanding validation of how fabulous their music is. I'm playing it constantly - at home, in the car, at work. The music is highly infectious and you simply cannot maintain a bad/sad attitude with their bouncy, totally feel-good, party-ready sing alongs.

Im no audiophile Im thinking I just may be a little fanatical when it comes to audio because my car is even more extensive than this but in my home I have a 9.4 setup consisting of a Onkyo 5008 a Emotiva XPA-5 amplifier, 4 Mythos STS's, 4 Mythos Gem XL's, 4 Super cube Reference sub woofers and a Oppo bluray player as my main CD player witch sounds better than my PS3 when playing music or movies. I also have over $2,000 of acoustic panels and bass traps in my room. With the Onkyo and the Emotiva together they pump out around 2,300 watts to my 9 speakers and with the 4 Super cube Refs and built in amps in the Mythos STS's I have a total of 8,400 watts of powered subs. So my point here is audio is very important to me. So now on to my beloved Erasure, I used to own the 90's version of their greatest hit's CD but it has been lost throughout the years and I just recently bought this version. Erasure has always been one of my favorite groups since I 1st heard them in the 80's. So I put this CD in and was amazed at what I heard!!! It sounded like the music was recorded just yesterday and has audio that rivals most newer music. I have never heard Erasure sound this clear and distinct and with this much clarity in all the sounds of the music,instruments or synthesizers. The music has a very large sound stage and none of the sounds are mushy or meshed together all sounds are very distinct. I can hear every little detail and sound in the music like I have never heard before. Bass is nice deep and full I found myself lowering the bass a bit witch I normally don't have to do with older music or albums. Usually older music lacks good bass and punch and have almost no deep bass at all. Hiss is completely absent in the back ground witch is very important to me and something that can become very irritating and distracting to me if it is too loud. I love this CD and find myself playing it over and over again although I like the 1st disk better. The audio quality of this CD to me rivals most new Cd's. I give the audio quality of this CD 5 stars and the CD it self 5 stars. You can't go wrong with this Erasure compilation this one is the best yet.

Every song is a pure gem on these 2 cd's... I have rarely heard a greatest hits cd that I want to listen to over and over. Not many artists can maintain a great sound and brilliant pop song like Erasure. Do not debate buying this cd. Just do it and you won't regret it!!!!!

This is like the best CD to have from Erasure. It has the basically the best of the best from Erasure. I believe I got the best deal when I purchased this CD. This CD takes you back when Erasure was at the top of their game. It's a must have.

Erasure's best years and best songs come from their first three albums and possibly the "crackers international" EP. From then on it's been "hit and miss" consistently, and never truly regaining the success and the quality of their earlier work. I'd really like to see their first two albums get he remastered treatment along with some 12" remix tracks such as what they did with "The Innocents". But since these don't appear to be coming any time soon, you'd have to buy this 3CD set, enjoy the first CD, and most likely skip some tracks from CDs 2 and 3, later to be cast aside and forgotten until the rent is due and they'll find their way to Amazon, eBay or some other online site where you can get rid of your unwanted music.