New album Nonetheless

[bongsteve]

I'm surprised Erasure have had so many fewer top ten albums. I know they had four number one albums to PSB's one, but their sales have really have dropped off the last couple of decades, haven't they? I blame pughie.

I consider myself a pretty big erasure fan, not PSB big, but a fan nonetheless (see what I did there?)

Erasure's biggest issue is just lack of quality/consistency and some missteps along the way. To my ears, they were very good all the way up through and including Cowboy.

Loveboat (2000) - major misstep
Other People's Songs (2003) - felt desperate, mostly a miss
Nightbird (2005) - nice solid album
Union Street (2006) - absolute garbage
Light at the End of the World (2007) - not a fan favorite but really good to my ears, some great tracks
Tomorrow's World (2011) - very meh
Snow Globe (2013) - A mostly holiday album but some non-holiday stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Violet Flame (2014) - a little uneven but some decent tracks
World Be Gone (2017) - just terrible
The Neon (2020) - probably the most Erasure sounding album in a while but nothing overly memorable
Day-Glo (Based on a True Story) (2022) - Vince was bored

Ultimately, Erasure just haven't been able to keep the consistent quality that PSB has AND I've always felt that PSB has done enough varying stuff to feel different but still distinctly PSB. Erasure, well, just always sounds like Erasure.

[MikeyC]

I'm surprised Erasure have had so many fewer top ten albums. I know they had four number one albums to PSB's one, but their sales have really have dropped off the last couple of decades, haven't they? I blame pughie.

Including their first Greatest Hits album (“Pop!”) they’ve had five Number One albums!

[glennjridge]

Does this Taylorswift have one song that's popular? This is bullshit. I tried listening to it. It's all screaming and pathos, no melodies. In the US, maybe someone listens to her, but in England, where there's a huge number of great bands, she's number one? I don't get it.

Of course you dont get it. your not supposed to. you are like most of us here... me included, old men. the first thing that comes with aging is you start thinking our generations music was fantastic and the new artists are all crap.

but the young people know all the hits, we dont, and neither does neil. we're old men. embrace it. I'm sure you do know a huge number of great bands in britain, do you know who knows these great bands? us old people.

[Parkol]

Of course you dont get it. your not supposed to. you are like most of us here... me included, old men. the first thing that comes with aging is you start thinking our generations music was fantastic and the new artists are all crap.

but the young people know all the hits, we dont, and neither does neil. we're old men. embrace it. I'm sure you do know a huge number of great bands in britain, do you know who knows these great bands? us old people.

People in Russia love Depeche Mode very much, everybody does. Old and young. And everybody knows. In the USA there are also great artists we love Guns n Roses, Aerosmith (I went to their concert and it was great), REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, etc. But nobody listened to Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Ed Sheeran. Small children may listen to this nonsense, although many people in Russia do not listen to these artists, because they do not understand what they sing.

I don't believe that Swift is really popular in the world as well as PSB. Perhaps it's just marketing and imposition of services. Roughly speaking, she gets put on the radio regardless of people's preferences.

And, by the way, Empire of the Sun has a great new song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6qigQl ... thesunvevo

[telys]

Of course you dont get it. your not supposed to. you are like most of us here... me included, old men. the first thing that comes with aging is you start thinking our generations music was fantastic and the new artists are all crap.

but the young people know all the hits, we dont, and neither does neil. we're old men. embrace it. I'm sure you do know a huge number of great bands in britain, do you know who knows these great bands? us old people.

People in Russia love Depeche Mode very much, everybody does. Old and young. And everybody knows. In the USA there are also great artists we love Guns n Roses, Aerosmith (I went to their concert and it was great), REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, etc. But nobody listened to Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Ed Sheeran. Small children may listen to this nonsense, although many people in Russia do not listen to these artists, because they do not understand what they sing.

I don't believe that Swift is really popular in the world as well as PSB. Perhaps it's just marketing and imposition of services. Roughly speaking, she gets put on the radio regardless of people's preferences.

And, by the way, Empire of the Sun has a great new song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6qigQl ... thesunvevo

I heard Shotgun Blues is still popular in Russia.

[Shopper]

811 streaming...Erm

how many folks streamed to get that grand no? can ever understand how it is compiled

[Tenlow]

811 streaming...Erm

how many folks streamed to get that grand no? can ever understand how it is compiled

Roughly: 811 x 1000 = 811 000 chart relevant streams.

[jagdmirage]

Just received the packages from Japan. Here are the bonus gifts from various stores.

The message card from HMV or Tower Records.

The other side of the message card.

The key ring from Rakuten Books.

The mega jacket from Amazon Japan.

CD, Mega Jacket and 12" comparison.

[oakey]

I'm surprised Erasure have had so many fewer top ten albums. I know they had four number one albums to PSB's one, but their sales have really have dropped off the last couple of decades, haven't they? I blame pughie.

I consider myself a pretty big erasure fan, not PSB big, but a fan nonetheless (see what I did there?)

Erasure's biggest issue is just lack of quality/consistency and some missteps along the way. To my ears, they were very good all the way up through and including Cowboy.

Loveboat (2000) - major misstep
Other People's Songs (2003) - felt desperate, mostly a miss
Nightbird (2005) - nice solid album
Union Street (2006) - absolute garbage
Light at the End of the World (2007) - not a fan favorite but really good to my ears, some great tracks
Tomorrow's World (2011) - very meh
Snow Globe (2013) - A mostly holiday album but some non-holiday stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Violet Flame (2014) - a little uneven but some decent tracks
World Be Gone (2017) - just terrible
The Neon (2020) - probably the most Erasure sounding album in a while but nothing overly memorable
Day-Glo (Based on a True Story) (2022) - Vince was bored

Ultimately, Erasure just haven't been able to keep the consistent quality that PSB has AND I've always felt that PSB has done enough varying stuff to feel different but still distinctly PSB. Erasure, well, just always sounds like Erasure.

Well, not all agree with you...
(from allmusic)


I also don't agree with you regarding their later work. Loveboat, Other People's Song and Union Street are misses indeed and for Snow Globe, well I consider it a novelty album. However, their regular album output from Light at the End of the World is very consistent imo. These albums also got excellent reviews (at least in Europe). And Day-Glo is one of their best, even though it's based on The Neon.

(at allmusic they're also PSB fans btw. Interesting to compare their reviews from artist like PSB, Erasure and Kylie to those of 'serious' artists like Eurythmics or Pink Floyd)

[NotInvisible]

Does this Taylorswift have one song that's popular?

No - she has a few dozen.

I tried listening to it. It's all screaming and pathos, no melodies.

Perhaps you mistyped, because I don't think there's a single track where she screams, and she's famous in part for her bridge melodies.

In the US, maybe someone listens to her, but in England, where there's a huge number of great bands, she's number one? I don't get it.

There's nothing to get. She's popular because she writes and sings songs that people like. Simple as that. And she's in the fairly unique place of being appreciated by critics nearly as much as by audiences (no doubt helped by the one-two punch of Folklore/Evermore). It's okay to not like her stuff, but the attitude toward her makes this forum come across like incredibly out-of-touch pensioners. It's okay to like Pet Shop Boys and Taylor Swift, and it's okay to acknowledge her talent and Neil and Chris' talent, and it's okay to recognize her massive, massive global success.

[lucienchardon]

I wonder how many places it will drop next week?

OMD's new album, Bauhaus Staircase, also entered the UK albums chart at No. 2. It dropped to 73 on the second week and was out of the top 100 on the third week. It could be something like that. I hope PSB do a little better and stay on the chart for three or four weeks since they done some great publicity in the UK but we'll see.

[Pinhead44]

I'm going to buy my Mum a copy of the cd next week as I know she will love this album, so that should help boost next week's sales figure !

[telys]

Does this Taylorswift have one song that's popular?

No - she has a few dozen.

I tried listening to it. It's all screaming and pathos, no melodies.

Perhaps you mistyped, because I don't think there's a single track where she screams, and she's famous in part for her bridge melodies.

In the US, maybe someone listens to her, but in England, where there's a huge number of great bands, she's number one? I don't get it.

There's nothing to get. She's popular because she writes and sings songs that people like. Simple as that. And she's in the fairly unique place of being appreciated by critics nearly as much as by audiences (no doubt helped by the one-two punch of Folklore/Evermore). It's okay to not like her stuff, but the attitude toward her makes this forum come across like incredibly out-of-touch pensioners. It's okay to like Pet Shop Boys and Taylor Swift, and it's okay to acknowledge her talent and Neil and Chris' talent, and it's okay to recognize her massive, massive global success.

Finally somebody is talking sense.

[telys]

And there it is. I can now confirm that I like Nonetheless. Just had it on while writing a thesis in linguistics and it felt so good. A beautiful piece. I know it took a while but I finally arrived.

[Kiran]

I paid the extra for nonetheless and furthermore and already wishing I'd just bought the standard CD. I don't think the reworked tracks on furthermore are anything special with the originals being simply better.

As for nonetheless, I'm on around my 3rd playthrough and so far, nothing is standing out for me. I know there are a lot of hardcode PSB fans on here who will jump in to criticise my view, but as a fan from the early days, the output of the last few albums has left me disappointed. I still regularly play the older albums but Electric onward just hasn't done anything for me.

I'm always hoping and expecting that the next album will rekindle my love for PSB new music, but each album just leaves me with disappointment. I guess it is time for me to accept that the PSBs will not be putting anything out that will ever get me excited again.