What if Depeche Mode just wanted to dance? The Circus is Erasure's stunning sophomore effort, a powerhouse blend of infectious synth-pop hooks and soulful vocals. The Circus delivered massive hits in the UK and the US with radio and club staples like It Doesn't Have To Be, Victim Of Love and Sometimes. Erasure is songwriter/synth player Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Vince Clarke is a groundbreaking synth-pop pioneer. Prior to forming Erasure, Clarke wrote nearly all of songs on Depeche Modes iconic first album, Speak And Spell, before moving on to form Yazoo with Alison Moyet (Yaz in the US). Remarkably Clarke found Andy Bell by placing a newspaper ad. The flamboyant Bell was among pops first openly gay stars, and his high-pitched voice has a soulful power thats an arresting complement to Clarkes inspired melodies. The Circus is sourced from a beautifully preserved 30ips 1:1 copy of the original master tapes. These are the best sounding and perhaps the only existing analog tapes for this classic release! When mastering this LP we compared what we were hearing from the tapes to original US and UK LPs. Mastering notes included with the tapes show that the original LP was bass-limited from 40Hz down. Of course we restored the wonderfully full bass response that's present on the tapes, and mastered wide open with no compression applied. The result is an alive and pulsing beat with foundation like you've never heard - the best The Circus has ever sounded!
