Track Listing

1. Freedom
2. Where in the world
3. Crying in the rain
4. Perchance to dream
5. Alien
6. Mad as we are
7. Here in my heart
8. Love is the rage
9. Catch 22
10. Moon and the sky
11. Surreal

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99963 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Along with the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure long-ago cornered the market in pure synth pop. While credited as early exponents of house, techno and club culture, both duos have at their core an unashamed love of the catchy hooks and anthemic choruses of pop, but their latter day releases have featured an added component: subtly. For Erasure--considering the hands in the air exuberance of hits "Stop!", "A Little Respect" and the sequins and glitter of their Abba tribute EP "Abba-esque"--Loveboat's seductive tunes and sensitive words are almost excessively subtle. Despite the pounding beats of "Perchance To Dream", the sci-fi electronica of "Here In My Heart" and the album's title, their ninth studio album isn't about the joy of love, but the pain that goes with it and indulges in melancholic melodies and a sense of longing that takes the pair straight back to those early bitter sweet hits "Oh L'Amour", "Sometimes" and "Victim Of Love". Sequin-free and relatively sedate, Loveboat, for all its subtleties, still has its share of addictive tunes--"Aliens" and "Freedom" prove that they've lost none of their penchant for pop and can still write a catchy classic when they put their minds to it. --Dan Gennoe

Customer Reviews

horrible
If you're expecting catchy songs and colourful production then this is not the album for you. It starts with a mediocre single then descends quickly downhill reaching shocking depths of dreariness. Some people seem to mistake this for some kind of brave artistic statement but I think it's just bad. In places it sounds like it was mixed by the work experience kid, drums and bass nearly drown out everything else and in places, such as the track catch 22, are so loud in the mix that they are actually distorted. It's no wonder that their american label said it had to be rerecorded and remixed before they would begrudgingly release it. There must have been some real crisis going on in the erasure camp when this album was being made, which will probably remain a mystery but the results speak for themselves.

A moody masterpiece!
I've been an avid Erasure fan since "The Innocents" almost twenty years ago. I think Loveboat was so poorly received upon release in 2000 because it was a comeback album, and admittedly it's not full of classic pop tunes. But songs such as "Where In The World", and "Mad As We Are" are two of the most beautiful songs the duo have ever released.
In short, if you're new to Erasure and want instant, catchy pop songs, get hold of "Cowboy". If you want depth, emotion and atmosphere, this is a must!

More of a tramp steamer than a passenger liner!
I love them. I genuinely have a deep and abiding faith in Vince Clarke (especially) and Andy Bell. As a follower of 'Nobby' from the early eighties, he's produced a vast amount of total gems.

Loveboat was released in 2000, its lead single Freedom not auguring well for the new album. Overall it's pretty patchy but there are a few superb moments, Alien being one and Mad As We Are which have such a sweeping, profound mood that one can almost touch it.

Loveboat's release in the US was much delayed. They are signed to Madonna's Maverick Records and that was being disrupted by a lot of internal struggles at the time.

Andy isn't keen on his vocals on this album, saying that they sound too muffled and lack his usual clarity and warmth. Clarke went down the road of allowing others to use treated guitar loops and so the album overall lacks that certain Erasure spark that (say) I Say I Say I Say or The Innocents has.

Strangely, maybe this has been the kick in the backside they needed: they took some time away and came back with Other People's Songs, as great a collection of covers as you'll ever hear and now there's Nightbird which really is a return to form.

After twenty years and so many superb songs, Vince and Andy can be forgiven for Loveboat. After all, it's not a tragically-bad album, just a bit disappointing.