Solsbury Hill / Tell It to Me Music

Average Rating:

Originally a Peter Gabriel tune (which I have not heard), "Solsbury Hill" gets a nice once-over by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell. The song encompasses some typical Erasure production: bleeps, good beats, Bell's strong but wobbly voice, and a light touch overall.

The single starts off with the radio mix. For once, the radio version actually sounds a tad different than the original mix, with a slightly faster tempo, and some different instrumentation. I prefer it slightly to the original, which we get to hear on track 2. The 37B Mix of "Solsbury Hill" is a slower, slightly funked-up offering, but it still retains a good amount of the song's original elements. Then we have the Manhattan Clique Extended Mix. It has a faster, harder edge to it, but still retains elements of the original mix. There is a 37B Mix of "Video Killed the Radio Star" included (another song from their covers album). This is probably the only song which I didn't like Erasure's interpretation of, and this mix doesn't help my opinion of it. There are three new songs included on the single; "Tell It To Me", "Searching", and Clarke & Bell's version of "Ave Maria". They are all good, in their own interesting ways. It's hard to go wrong with "Ave Maria", and Bell's voice compliments the mood of the song wonderfully. There is also a short film featured for the CD-ROM portion of the single, titled "Dr. Jeckyll and Mistress Hyde". It is cute - typical Erasure.

Erasure is back. "Solsbury Hill" is a strong single, not only by itself, but with all of the remixes, additional songs, and enhanced-CD offerings that come with it, it is a definite must-own. If you're an Erasure fan, then you shouldn't be disappointed. I don't buy everything Clarke & Bell put out, but I bought this. And am quite happy for it.