Erasure: Andy Bell (vocals); Vince Clarke (various instruments).

The Kickhorns: Roddy Lorimer, Tim Sanders, Simon Clark, Steve Sidwell (brass).

Additional personnel: Caron Wheeler, Naomi Osborne, Jane Ayre (background vocals).

Producers: Stephen Hague, Dave Jacob, Erasure.

Erasure's third album, 1988's THE INNOCENTS, features the US breakthrough hits "A Little Respect," and "Chains of Love," and is a welcome departure for the duo. With this release, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell move away from the strictly-synthesized Hi-NRG dance-pop of their earlier albums, adding horns and gospel-tinged backing vocals for a more soulful, organic sound, while maintaining the disco vitality of earlier albums like WONDERLAND or THE CIRCUS.

Bell's lyrics are more overt in their social commentary, as on "Phantom Bride" and "A Little Respect," and he pointedly leaves the original gender references intact in the CD-only cover of Tina Turner's classic "River Deep, Mountain High." However, the duo is still capable of camp silliness like "Sixty-Five Thousand" and "Yahoo!" giving the album a balanced sensibility. THE INNOCENTS ranks with 1989's WILD! and 1994's I SAY I SAY I SAY as one of Erasure's best albums.

CMJ (1/5/04, p.22) - Ranked #17 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1988"