While live
Erasure albums are hardly a rarity, especially if one counts items like limited-edition souvenir LPs, sorting through which ones are still in print or available on streaming sites is another matter entirely. At the time of its release, 2018's
World Be Live is their first widely available live album since 2007's
On the Road to Nashville, which captured an acoustic show at Ryman Auditorium. The third in a trilogy of releases led by their 2017 studio LP World Be Gone, it follows March 2018's
World Beyond, a re-recording of the album by singer
Andy Bell and the
Echo Collective chamber ensemble. Arriving a few months later,
World Be Live was taken from two sold-out, fully electronic 2017 shows at London's Eventim Apollo (formerly Hammersmith Apollo) during the U.K. leg of an extensive world tour. Featuring 24 tracks and a playing time of over 90 minutes,
World Be Live is a well-curated mix of career-spanning hits alongside five selections from the album they were promoting, which was notably their first U.K. Top Ten album in 20 years. Given the more somber nature of the record, songs like the romantic "Sweet Summer Loving" and the spare, anguished "Take Me Out of Myself" coincide with periodic breaks from the full-on dance party that constitutes the majority of the show. Per usual, however,
Bell's emotive performances make these contrasting moments -- which also include goldies like 1988's "Ship of Fools" and 1997's "In My Arms" -- engaging ones. In the other extreme, rollicking club hits include opener "Oh l'Amour" and "Stop!," one of the few tracks here that allows us to hear the crowd singing along. Another is closer "A Little Respect," which has
Bell still nailing those high notes 30 years on. If there's a single highlight of the album that might make it worth the effort for those still on the fence, it's "Atomic," a pulsating cover of the
Blondie U.K. number one that's right in
Vince Clarke's wheelhouse. ~ Marcy Donelson