Chorus (Erasure album)

Chorus
Studio album by Erasure
Released	14 October 1991
Recorded	1989-1991
Genre	Synthpop
Length	41:29
Label	Mute Records, Sire Records
Producer	Martyn Phillips
Erasure chronology
Wild! (1989)Wild!1989 Chorus (1991) I Say I Say I Say (1994)I Say I Say I Say1994

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Chorus, Erasure's fifth proper studio album, was released by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S. in 1991 (see 1991 in music); and on the short list of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize. In 1999, Ned Raggett ranked the album at number 45 in his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties".

History

Upon its release, Chorus became Erasure's third consecutive number-one album in the UK and gave them four more top twenty hits. In the U.S., it was Erasure's highest-debuting and highest-peaking album on the Billboard 200 at the time, entering at #29. It gave Erasure their first Billboard Hot 100 entry since "Stop!" with the title track, which also charted well on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Chorus also charted well in Germany, where it peaked at number thirteen.

Production

Prior to the album's production, programmer Vince Clarke had noticed technical limitations of the by-then-predominant MIDI sequencing standard, notably that the protocol's low signal rate resulted in timing errors (known as "MIDI slop") when multiple notes were triggered simultaneously. In an effort to eliminate this and give the album a "tighter" feel, he avoided the use of MIDI completely, using primarily analog synthesizers and the Roland MC-4 CV/gate sequencer. The avoidance of MIDI had other side effects on the sound of the album, such as the lack of chorded voices (the MC4 can only trigger one note at a time per instrument) and digital synthesizers and samplers, due to lack of CV/gate interfaces on available models. Clarke would continue with this production technique for later recordings through the 90s.

Special editions

Chorus was also released as a limited-edition CD in special packaging. Instead of a jewel case, it came in a folding cardboard box. The cover was also different, with the two portraits taken from the side instead of the front, as on the cassette releases. It included the standard lyrics booklet, as well as 8 picture cards with various artwork. The first four are the stock photography from the booklet and have "e" logo backs: family on the beach (later used for the "Love to Hate You" single cover), a business meeting group, three businessmen at a construction site, and a woman and child bicycling. The next four are the portraits from the album cover, one each of Clarke and Bell from the front and side. The backs of these have patient data from Clarke and Bell's MRI scans.

Another special edition was released as a promotional item for the music industry: a hardcover book entitled Chorus Software User Manual with hidden compartments inside which hold a copy of the CD and cassette as well as the same 8 cards as the other special edition.

Track listing

All tracks written by Andy Bell and Vince Clarke.

1. "Chorus" – 4:26
2. "Waiting For the Day" – 3:50
3. "Joan" – 3:50
4. "Breath of Life" – 4:07
5. "Am I Right?" – 4:18
6. "Love to Hate You" – 3:56
7. "Turns the Love to Anger" – 3:56
8. "Siren Song" – 4:44
9. "Perfect Stranger" – 4:05
10. "Home" – 4:14

Chart performance

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart	5
Canadian Albums Chart	21
German Albums Chart	15
Swedish Albums Chart	14
Swiss Albums Chart	21
UK Albums Chart	1
U.S. Billboard 200 Chart	29

Personnel

• Andy Bell – vocals
• Vince Clarke – synthesizers, programming
• Dave Bascombe – mixing
• Me Company – design
• Martyn Phillips – producer

References

Preceded by Stars by Simply Red

UK number one album 26 October 1991 – 1 November 1991

Succeeded by Stars by Simply Red