''I Say I Say I Say'' is the sixth studio album from

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

duo Erasure, released in 1994 by

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

in the UK and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

in the US. The album was produced by Martyn Ware, who was a founding member of veteran synthpop groups the Human League and Heaven 17. Upon its release it became Erasure's fourth consecutive studio album to hit No. 1 in the UK, and fifth overall, generating three top-20 singles. In the US, ''I Say I Say I Say'' debuted and peaked at number 18 on the ''Billboard'' 200, easily beating their previous highest chart placing. In Germany, the album climbed to number six. Although Erasure always maintained popularity in the US dance club community, with the rise of grunge rock Erasure saw their exposure on

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

, mainstream stations and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

become mostly non-existent by 1994. This made it even more of a surprise when the ballad " Always" gave them their third top-20 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in September. The album saw keyboardist/programmer Vince Clarke continue with his by-then trademark exclusive usage of pre- MIDI analog synthesizers and sequencers, with the additional self-imposed constraint that no drum machines were to be used either. Instead, Clarke used synthesizers to create the album's drum and percussion sounds.

Track listing

On the Chilean/Argentinian cassette version, there's a Spanish rendition of "Always" (Spanish vocal), just before "Always". In the Philippines release of this album in MC, 2 extended remixes of "Always" were added as hidden tracks (no mention or credits in the inlay), one at the start of each side (before "Take Me Back" on Side 1 and the original "Always" on Side 2).

2016 "Erasure 30" 30th anniversary BMG reissue LP

Subsequent to their acquisition of Erasure's back catalog, and in anticipation of the band's 30th anniversary, BMG commissioned reissues of all previously released UK editions of Erasure albums up to and including 2007's '' Light at the End of the World''. All titles were pressed and distributed by Play It Again Sam on 180-gram vinyl and shrinkwrapped with a custom anniversary sticker.

Personnel

* Andy Bell – vocals * Vince Clarke –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s, programming * Sy-Jenq Cheng – design * Mike Cosford – paintings * John Dexter – arranger, conductor * Luke Gifford – assistant engineer * Norman Hathaway – design * Andy Houston – engineer * Rob Kirwan – assistant engineer * Phil Legg – engineer, mixing * Kevin Metcalfe – editing * St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir – choir, chorus * Al Stone – engineer * Martyn Ware – producer * Olaf Wendt – artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Erasure albums 1994 albums Mute Records albums Elektra Records albums