By 1989, Erasure had become relatively popular. Wild! was their fourth studio album, and the last two had been big hits; The Innocents on both sides of the Atlantic. Their first album, Wonderland, had become a collector classic by this time as well.
However, I had one friend in the early 90s who claimed that of Erasure's catalog, only every other album was any good; he discounted Circus and Wild! as too weird and "artsy" as opposed to the more conventional catchy synthpop (focusing on pop) sound of Wonderland and The Innocents. I'm still not sure I agree with him completely--and his pattern was broken after Chorus anyway--but he has a point. While Wild! does have moments of weirdness, it's also hard to argue with some of the classic hits that it spawned, like "Blue Savanah", "Star" and today's selection, "Drama." "Drama" does, in fact, remind me sharply of some of the material from Erasure's mid-album EP Crackers International… maybe not quite as aggressive and dark sounding as "Knocking At My Door" but just as obviously club focused, and well, similar. Crackers International actually makes a nice bridge between The Innocents and Wild! in more ways than one. The dance anthems get more dance centric, and the non-dance songs get a bit more artsy and perhaps a bit less accessible at first blush. Wild! is one of those albums that has to grow on you.
That friend of mine; I can't remember if he told me that after Chorus was released, or after I Say, I Say, I Say. Either way, I think--the more I ponder the notion--that up until that point he was correct. Not that I don't like some stuff from The Circus and Wild! of course, and not that Wonderland doesn't occasionally feel a bit primitive and clunky stylistically compared to what followed, but still.
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