Andy Bell Solo

[Drico One]

is that the best thing he could find to wear in his new video? some old vest!

Give the man a break. If your options were a vest, a feather boa, arseless pants, or a leotard, you too would go for the touch of dignity.

Drico.

[Patrick Bateman]

btw, this is up to number 23 this week, one place below World in Motion. Doesn't Harry Redknapp look like the Joker?

Andy should have released a World Cup song; the chart is full of them.

[Undertaker]

Hmmm, looks like Bell is already planning his next single. 'Honey If You Love Him.' I thought this sounded ok until he started singing stupid stuff. A decent backing track though. However, i need some help. Below is the link to the video and i really need someone to tell me whats going on.

[Patrick Bateman]

Okay, it's an Andy Bell Rubik cube. More popular in the 1980s than now, people soon tired of its repetitive nature and played Pacman instead.

[Undertaker]

He sounds like a baddie from a James Bond film with a voice box.

Just like Partridge said ;- Doctor No....Vocal Chords.

[Firthy2002]

Awesome backing track...then he starts singing.

If he wrote this himself, he should go see Neil about songwriting lessons.

[Firthy2002]

Have just attempted to listen to the whole album on Spotify.

He's better off on the market stall.

[Flaffer]

what I don't get is that all the Erasure fans would by it, or at least a significant proportion. Same with Dave (the new Bacharach) Gahans last album, it tanked.. Even if only 20% of Depeches' fanbase had bought it it would have done 5 times better. Would a similar Neil or Chris effort do as badly?

[Patrick Bateman]

I honestly think that Erasure's next album will completely tank too. It's extremely difficult to keep the show on the road when you've been going for as long as PSB and Erasure, which is why it's so amazing that PSB are still around and headlining festivals like Glastonbury. With every album release you're struggling to even tread water because pop is fickle and fans have moved on.

That's why it's always good to see younger fans on here who have discovered them in recent years, whereas if you go on the Erasure forum you're challenged if you haven't been around since the original release of Who Needs Love Like That, and it's run as a personal fiefdom by some of their fans. Tragic, and one of the reasons why their fanbase is slowly but surely dying out.

[Drico One]

Would a similar Neil or Chris effort do as badly?

Of course it would. The output of a truly great collective is always greater than that of its component parts.

Neil singing old torch songs to an ersatz synth backing is the stuff of fey sexagenarian nightmares. Chris noodling in the studio sans Neil = Ian Wright-flavoured celebrity vanity japery.

Drico.

[Undertaker]

Erasure will probably get a decent chart position with their new album because sales are at anall time low. You only need 1,000 copies for top 75 at the moment. 24k for number 1 . They do sell ok in their first week. They could do with a writer though because i'm not convinced Bell is capable of writing many good tunes. Most of his lyrics on the last handful of albums and his last solo work are god awful.

Aren't they ging to release that nursery rhymes & fairytales album as well? With Andy's recent visit to the nudist gay beach, we could get all kinds of extravagant tunes. Pussy in Boots, c*** a doodle do, Wee Williy Winky.

I'll get my coat....

[Drico One]

To be fair, there are all sorts of possibilities there for a new EP called, say, Cracks International, featuring Little Jack Horner, Who Killed c*** Robin, and Ring, a Ring, o' Roses. Oh, and Always 2011.

Drico.

[Kris]

Hmmm, looks like Bell is already planning his next single. 'Honey If You Love Him.' I thought this sounded ok until he started singing stupid stuff. A decent backing track though. However, i need some help. Below is the link to the video and i really need someone to tell me whats going on.

I have to say I really like this; very dark and moody. I haven't listened to the album in full but the snippets on iTunes sounded good, albeit the production more than the actual tunes. I can see why it's not many's cup of tea but it's refreshing that he's doing something different rather than cabaret-style ballads, which is what I was expecting.

[York Minster]

Neil singing old torch songs to an ersatz synth backing is the stuff of fey sexagenarian nightmares. Chris noodling in the studio sans Neil = Ian Wright-flavoured celebrity vanity japery.

I agree with this only insofar as that's what happens at their worst. Chris noodling in the studio has also produced such greatness as The Man Who Has Everything and Neil torching it produces such n niceities as Your Funny Uncle. In the long run, I'd rather have more PSB than those type of releases, but it would be nice to have a one off from either of them even though I agree it wouldn't sell. It just has to be good, and I do believe that's a possibility. Sometimes I'm surprised Neil and Chris work together so well, because their styles are so different, and they rarely seem to devolve into White Album seperateness.

[Undertaker]

Hmmm, looks like Bell is already planning his next single. 'Honey If You Love Him.' I thought this sounded ok until he started singing stupid stuff. A decent backing track though. However, i need some help. Below is the link to the video and i really need someone to tell me whats going on.

I have to say I really like this; very dark and moody. I haven't listened to the album in full but the snippets on iTunes sounded good, albeit the production more than the actual tunes. I can see why it's not many's cup of tea but it's refreshing that he's doing something different rather than cabaret-style ballads, which is what I was expecting.

I think it's alright until he starts singing. Mainly because it's distorted beyond recognition. I know they didn't want it to sound like Erasure but what's the point? It's sold about 400 copies. It hasn't changed a thing. Andy is a good singer, so he should sing. Not turn into a Dalek.

Does anyone think Vince and Andy would benefit from splitting up and starting new groups? It's obvious that electronic music is still popular, so would it benefit them to do so?