Light at the End of the World [LIMITED EDITION]

Erasure

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 22, 2007)
• Original Release Date: May 22, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B000OLHGCU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,586 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sunday Girl

2. I Could Fall In Love With You

3. Sucker For Love

4. Storm In A Teacup

5. Fly Away

6. Golden Heart

7. How My Eyes Adore You

8. Darlene

9. When A Lover Leaves You

10. Glass Angel

11. Be My Baby (bonus track)

12. I Don't Know Why (bonus track)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After something of a departure--two live discs and the unplugged Union Street (2006)--Erasure returns to full electronic form. From the languid opening wash of "Sunday Girl," Andy Bell and Vince Clarke make no bones about wearing old hats. Most of Light at the End of the World works within the familiar confines of the vintage Erasure formula, drunk on everyman synthesizers, listing through painfully vague and obvious rhymes. ("I get really repetitive because I don't read enough!" Bell admits.) Backed a long-studied love of pop, gospel, and the dance floor, Bell and Clarke revel in this stuff. "Sucker for Love" and "Fly Away" dabble most obviously in such pap, but the band still packs a few surprises, if only for the devoted. "Storm in a Teacup" tackles the alcoholism of Bell's mother in a rare confluence of straightforward storytelling and concrete imagery, and despite being an insincerely fictitious character study, "Darlene" moves with a syncopated, driving bounce that Erasure has rarely, if ever, found in 22 years of mid-tempo electro-meandering. If you don't like Erasure already, you probably won't take a shining to Light at the End of the World. If you do, let's hope their world spins on. --Jason Kirk

Product Description

Limited edition version features two bonus tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a stellar erasure release, April 19, 2007

By	M. Lohrke "spitcake.blogspot.com" (Provo, UT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

it's hard to believe that erasure's been churning out the hits for nearly 22 years now. after a couple of lackluster and questionable releases (namely 'other people's songs), 'a light at the end of the world' really is a return to erasure's glory days. and since i'm not a big fan of saying 'it's their best since...,' i can say with certainty that it's certainly my *favorite* erasure album since 'i say, i say, i say' because it holds a lot of the same fairytale charm as the latter.

erasure was, is, and will always be about making your rearend shake. after the somewhat meloncholy 'nightbird,' 'a light at the end of the world' is dancefloor stomper after dancefloor stomper. it's in this arena they've always excelled ('victim of love,' 'sometimes,' chains of love,' etc, etc, etc). the opener, 'sunday girl' is a worthy opener: lots of energy, nice use of minor chord verse and major chord chorus. the first single, 'i could fall in love with you,' is in the same vein as 'don't say your love is killing me,' and 'run to the sun.' a great first single. hi-nrg, of sure. by the time you hear 'sucker for love,' (a disco-inspired romp)it's pretty clear erasure went for it all--and succeeded wonderfully. these are some of the best songs they've done in ages. 'storm in a teacup' is a nice ballad that also uses some nice minor/major chord combos. for me, the standout is 'fly away.' it sounds like it belongs on 'i say' and incorporates some of vince's best chord structures, a great bridge, and a great chorus. at the end of the album, you realize there's nary a bad track to be found. it's everything you want in an erasure album. and i mean everything: danceable, catchy, andy's insane vocal range, and lots of fun.

if there's any criticism (and i use the term lightly), andy bell ran out of lyrical ideas about 1994, but it hardly matters. the positive is that he delivers what he has with lots of pure emotion and sincerity, so it's really pretty easy overlook--after all, with music like this it's all about the execution, and they're firing on all cylinders. erasure never pretended to be a band concerned with artistic merits or breaking new ground, nor should they. they were my first concert back in 1988, and i'm happy to report that 22 years into their career they still have *it.*

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Doing What They Do Best, May 22, 2007

By	DAJ (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Erasure hasn't made all-out uptempo dance music in a while, and to make up for that lack, they hit us 1-2-3 with their best disco songs since 1995's "Cold Summer's Day." "Sunday Girl" is a tour-de-force--a song about what happens to fickle lovers when the lights are low and the music is high. It is their best single in years. They follow this with "I Could Fall in Love With You," currently riding high on the US Dance Charts, and the manic, beat-heavy, dramatic "Sucker for Love." The vocal bridge on this last song is stunning. Andy Bell's singing on all these tracks is strong, forceful and melodic. Hearing him belt out these tunes, we are reminded that he is not only a very good singer, he is one of the all-time great dance divas.

Lest you think "Light at the End of the World" is an all-night dance party, the next three songs are gorgeous ballads, beginning with the highly personal "Storm in a Teacup." "Fly Away" and "Golden Heart" showcase Andy's soaring vocals. His singing and vocal arrangements throughout the album are focused and strong.

The synth arrangements on "Sunday Girl," with it's retro-disco touches, and on "Sucker for Love" are attention grabbers, but most of the rest of the backing tracks are fairly low-key. There are some nice touches sprinkled throughout, but there are also some jarring moments--like the overly shrill bridge on "Storm in a Teacup." Overall, the arrangements serve as a nice backdrop to showcase the strength of the songs. Of the last four songs, the other real winner is "Darlene."

Erasure is enjoying a wonderful renaissance, begun with "Nightbird" and continuing here. 20-odd years on, they continue to produce satisfying, sometimes transcendent songs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Consistant., May 23, 2007

By	charlieheston (Portland, Or United States) - See all my reviews

A shorter, punchier Erasure release, but of course not without it's dark moments. This is not the greatest of their albums, though it is very, very infectious. Nightbird is hard to top.

There seems to be two Erasures - One is the duo that gave us Chains of Love, Star, Chorus, Don't Say Your Love is Killing Me, and Freedom. Then there is another Erasure that gave us much of the ERASURE, I SAY and NIGHTBIRD albums. Sadder, darker, warmer. This new record is sadly the former. It's great dance music, hummable and gospel-tinged with a 130 bpm disco thump, but besides Storm in a Teacup this is a pretty shallow album. A great shallow album. You can hear the Other People's Songs/Electric Blue influences.

The only REAL complaints I can voice is the relatively short running time, a general lack of variance in tunes from song to song compared to some Erasure outings of the past, and the cheap-ish looking cover and packaging. If you are a fan though - you can buy confidently, knowing this record is somewhere in the WILD!/COWBOY range of vibe and quality, and certainly better than others...