The Circus (Erasure album)

The Circus
Studio album by Erasure
Released 30 March 1987 (1987-03-30)
Recorded 1986
Genre Synthpop
Length 54:17
Label Mute - STUMM35
Sire - 25554
Producer Flood and Vince Clarke
Erasure chronology
Wonderland
(1986)
The Circus
(1987)
The Innocents
(1988)
Singles from The Circus
  1. "Sometimes"
    Released: 6 October 1986 (1986-10-06)
  2. "It Doesn't Have To Be"
    Released: 16 February 1987 (1987-02-16)
  3. "Victim of Love"
    Released: 18 May 1987 (1987-05-18)
  4. "The Circus"
    Released: 21 September 1987 (1987-09-21)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Q (?)[2]

The Circus is the second album by Erasure, originally released in March 1987 on Mute Records in the UK and by Sire Records in July 1987 in the U.S. It was Erasure's second consecutive album to be produced by Flood.

The Circus became the duo's breakthrough in the UK, spawning four hit singles and reaching number six. It was an immediate success thanks to the number two UK placing of the first single "Sometimes", six months earlier. The album remains Erasure's longest-running on the UK charts.

Although mainstream success in the U.S. did not occur with this album, it did generate two hits (including a number-one) on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It also became their first record to barely scrape into the Billboard 200.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "It Doesn't Have To Be" – 3:53
  2. "Hideaway" – 3:48
  3. "Don't Dance" – 3:36
  4. "If I Could" – 3:52
  5. "Sexuality" – 3:55
  6. "Victim of Love" – 3:40
  7. "Leave Me to Bleed" – 3:21
  8. "Sometimes" – 3:38
  9. "The Circus" – 5:30
  10. "Spiralling" – 3:10

CD only bonus tracks:

  1. "In the Hall Of the Mountain King" (taken from Grieg's Peer Gynt suite) – 2:58
  2. "Sometimes" (Extended Mix) – 5:22
  3. "It Doesn't Have To Be" (The Boop Oopa Doo Mix) – 7:12

Release history

Country Date
United Kingdom 30 March 1987 (1987-03-30)
United States July 7, 1987 (1987-07-07)

Chart performance

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[3] 91
German Albums Chart[4] 16
New Zealand Albums Chart[5] 40
Swedish Albums Chart[6] 12
Swiss Albums Chart[7] 9
UK Albums Chart[8] 6
US Billboard 200[9] 190

2011 Remaster and Repackage

On 4 July 2011, EMI re-released Erasure's first two albums in 2CD/DVD format. Both feature the original album remastered, plus another disc of tracks associated with the album, and a DVD containing promo videos and a live concert.

Tracklisting

References