Tomorrow's World (album)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.1/10[4]
Metacritic	62/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Consequence of Sound	[7]
The Daily Telegraph	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	83/100[9]
The Independent	Favorable[10]
musicOMH	[11]
Now	[12]
The Observer	[13]
PopMatters	6/10[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]

Upon release, AllMusic felt that the duo's collaboration with Frankmusik was a "wise choice", adding "the results are generally quite good, sometimes excellent". They concluded: "There's a cohesiveness issue that keeps this one off their top shelf, but Erasure have settled nicely into that groove that the best veteran bands often do. Last time out it was the vital release while this time it's the very attractive diversion, adding new flavors to a group that sounds much more inspired than you'd expect at this point."[6] The Independent described the album as "gentle, blissful and devoid of the exuberant electro romps of yesteryear", and felt Bell's voice displayed "less vibrato" and "more control".[10] MusicOMH wrote "Tomorrow's World appeals to fans of Erasure's later albums just as much as it appeases those who swooned along to "A Little Respect" in 1988."[11]

No Ripcord believed the album to be "updated take on how you'd expect an Erasure record to sound: accessible songs, flamboyant vocals and fizzing synths". They added: "Tomorrow's World isn't a bad album but it's not a complete 'return to form' either. Its strength is having enough of a sense of songcraft to add weight to the keening, theatrical melodrama of Andy Bell's vocals."[16] The Daily Telegraph noted the album was "full of hi-NRG anthems, cheesy pop-house and Tigger-ish bounce. Business as usual, then, with few new thrills."[8]

The Guardian commented: "...stuffed with big, bright synthetic dance tracks straining for "feelgood": floor-fillers by numbers, were they not dull to the point of paralysing. Even with Frankmusik included among the production credits, these one-time synth-pop pioneers sound lifeless compared with all the 80s-raiding whippersnappers so indebted to them."[13] Consequence of Sound wrote "The duo's 14th studio album is an archetypal example of upbeat, affirming, fist-pumping synthpop, and an example of the highest order – but it doesn't sound very original at all. Not any more. Tomorrow's World doesn't let us down; if you want an example of the first wave of synthpop and excellently crafted, catchy dance music, there aren't many better than Erasure, and this is another album that affirms their reputation."[7]

NOW felt the duo's "swooshing melodies" and "yearning lyrics" were suited to the "epic builds, vocal effects and fist-pumping energy of American dance pop". They concluded: "Bell's soaring tenor sounds positively elated by the thunderous beats and delivers with full force on every track. In fact, sometimes it feels like he's competing too hard with the intensity of the big, expensive-sounding production. Then again it's all about the pop hits with Erasure, and when Bell connects with a hook, the effect is heady."[12]