The Neon

Erasure can sometimes release really polished, high production albums ("Violet Flame," "Nightbird"). Other times, they prefer to release rough and raw production albums like "The Neon" or "Light at the End of the World." According to Vince Clarke in Forbes, this album was created with the oldest analogue synths in his collection. He also commented that he was amazed at how quickly the album came together. To me, there is great value in releasing these less polished albums, like viewing an artist's sketchbook before the final masterpiece. There are several standout tracks here: "Nerves of Steel" may be the finest composition of Erasure's long career — vulnerable, exceptional lyrics and vocals. In a world of toxic, heteronormative machismo and shallow bravado, how refreshing to encounter such emotional intelligence and overtly sexualized self-awareness. "Shot a Satellite" runs with a cool, retro groove throughout the high energy chorus; the richly, melodic "New Horizons" and of course the reflective, inspiring walk-about narrative of "Kid You're Not Alone." If taken alone, these 4 tracks would be considered exceptional works of art. But then the rest of the album has to be taken into consideration. It's fair to ask, how did "Fallen Angel" wind up here? "Tower of Love" is a collection of strange platitudes but then once the lyrics are finished it closes with a cool, nightmarish instrumental. There are some really fun, retro production techniques for "No Point in Tripping" that make it worthy of this album. And then of course "Hey Now" which has some great lyrics from Andy Bell, but overall the song struggles to stand on its own. So in short, if you are a lover of music, there is a lot of rich content here. If you enjoy thumbing through an artist's rough sketches, then you will find a lot of rewarding material to love.

You know it's a great Erasure album when the next song comes on and you say "Oh, THIS one is my favorite" just after saying that about the previous track. :) Thank you Andy and Vince!

The whole thing sounds so uninspired. Andy sounds bored. And I love when Vince mixes retro sounds with new but here it all sounds old. Yes there’s a couple songs I like but this won’t be a memorable album at all. In fact I’ll forget it came out in a week. Sorry.

This is the most uplifting work Erasure has produced in years. Just when I thought they were all played out, comes this shimmering sonic gem. Thank you.

Erasure is my favourite duo group. They were marvelous up until 2007. These songs don’t have anything catchy about them like their former songs.

I like what I've heard so far. I've been an Erasure fan since their inception- Wonderland. Although I have skipped a couple of albums along the way (The Violet Flame and World be Gone). But Erasure will never come close to the 3 albums I consider musical masterpieces that I can listen to from start to finish never skipping a song and always lifting my spirits when I listen to them. Those 3 masterpiece Erasure albums are: Chorus, I Say I Say I Say and the self titled "Erasure".

Vince and Andy are decidedly more upbeat on their 18th studio release, 'The Neon'. Standout tracks include 'Shot A Satellite', 'Nerves of Steel', and 'New Horizons'.

A little hard to tell when one song ended and the next began. Not a bad album just a little generic.

"The Neon" has classic Erasure DNA all through it. While some songs harken back to earlier albums, it's all very current. The joyful Erasure melodies bring me back to playing "Wonderland" and "Circus" on cassette in my car as a teen with my friends, singing at the top of our lungs. Can't thank Vince and Andy enough for continuing their musical journey. So needed during these times. <3

Erasure looked a bit towards their roots for this album. That’s far from a bad thing. Fallen Angel and No Point in Tripping are stand outs. In the messed up times we have it’s great to have some “comfort music” that wiggles your rear and provides the escapism of a perfectly executed pop song.