Erasure - The Two Ring Circus (1987)

A remix album that served as a sort of companion piece to Erasure's second album, The Circus, released 8 months earlier. The 16 tracks consist of 7 remixed tracks originally found on the aforementioned Circus LP, 2 songs from The Circus and one from the duo's Wonderland album backed by a full orchestra instead of synths, and 6 live tracks recorded in Hamburg, Germany. Hardly necessary, but I enjoy the thing more than the critics did:

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "slick but undistinguished package of danceable nonhits."
• Record Mirror (★): "Why do bands bother making albums like these?"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (1997): ★★

Advertisement for the slightly different UK version.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #186

Tracks:

1. Sometimes (Erasure and Flood Mix) 4:54
2. It Doesn't Have to Be (Mix by Pascal Gabriel) 6:55
3. Victim of Love (Little Louie Vega Mix) 5:22
4. Leave Me to Bleed (Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe Mix) 5:09
5. Hideaway (Little Louie Vega Mix) 7:14
6. Don't Dance (Daniel Miller and Flood Mix) 5:36
7. The Circus (Dave Powell Mix) 4:10
8. If I Could (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks to Andrew Poppy) 3:50
9. Spiralling (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks to Andrew Poppy) 3:32
10. My Heart... So Blue (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks to Andrew Poppy) 4:07
11. Victim of Love (live) 3:58
12. Spiralling (live) 2:30
13. Sometimes (live) 3:40
14. Oh L'Amour (live) 4:32
15. Who Needs Love (Like That) (live) 3:01
16. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (live) 4:30

The remix tracks are about what you'd expect for the late '80s and all enjoyable, particularly if you're already familiar with the original tunes. All the orchestral arrangements are a delightful change of pace. I don't know if that speaks more to Vince Clarke's writing skills or Andrew Poppy's arranging skills, but no matter: for me, these three cuts are the highlights of the disc. The live tracks are fairly faithful replicas of the studio versions, so - other than the cover of Abba's Gimme Gimme Gimme - easily forgettable. I usually stop after 10 tracks; I only paid $2 for the CD and those first 10 cuts are easily worth that much.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Other People's Songs (2003)	Abba-esque (1992)
Cowboy (1997)	The Innocents (1988)
Pop! The First 20 Hits (1992)