Erasure The Innocents

The Innocents was the third proper studio release from Erasure, released in 1988. Produced by Stephen Hague and released by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S., it was the release that made Erasure superstars in their home country and gave them their long-awaited breakthrough in the U.S….

Having built up a strong fan base and back catalogue in just a couple of years, Erasure turned into a full-blown pop phenomenon thanks to The Innocents, winning the British equivalent of the Grammy for album of the year and spawning a big American hit single, "Chains of Love." Stephen Hague took over as producer from Flood, perhaps smoothing out some points for a more general mainstream appeal but otherwise letting the strengths of the songs speak for themselves. It begins with another single and stone-cold classic, "A Little Respect," with a charging beat/acoustic guitar/synth arrangement and a flat-out fantastic performance from Bell, especially on the ascending chorus. Guest performances help flesh out a number of songs quite well…

Since their singles have always been as well chosen as they were well crafted, Total Pop! The First 40 is top-shelf Erasure the whole way through, displaying the evolution of the synth pop band through representative singles. This Total Pop Deluxe Box features the original two-CD Total Pop! with all the synth pop duo’s singles in chronological order, and then adds material geared toward the truly devoted Bell/Clarke aficionado. Besides an expanded booklet, the box adds a bonus live CD, plus a DVD of the duo's mostly flamboyant performances on the BBC television network.

This six-track EP helped bridge the gap between the April 1988 release of The Innocents and the October 1989 release of Wild! "Stop!" and "Knocking on Your Door" (both heard in original and 12" remix versions) were typical hi-NRG Erasure tracks, with driving dance beats and forceful tenor vocals by Andy Bell, but they did not embrace the broader pop audience the group had reached with the 1988 singles "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect." "She Won't Be Home" was a Christmas song, reflecting the seasonal release of the EP in November 1988 in the U.K.

Phantom Bride is a remix EP by Erasure. It was released by Mute Records 12 October 2009 to commemorate the release of the 21st anniversary edition of The Innocents. The EP includes a remastered version of the title track plus brand new remixes including Vince Clarke's Big Mix of Hallowed Ground, Almighty's 12 Essential Mix of the single Chains Of Love and FrankMusik's mix of the title track, Phantom Bride.

30 years after the release of their debut album, ERASURE (Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) celebrate their incredible career and friendship with a 13 disc anthology box set charting their award-winning songwriting partnership. Mute / BMG are delighted to announce From Moscow To Mars – An Erasure Anthology. Curated by Vince and Andy it is a sumptuous box of memories of Erasure’s intergalactic journey through the pop and glitter and love that has defined their story so far. The BRIT and Ivor Novello winning pop duo have released a staggering number of albums, including 5 UK Number 1’s and 17 top 10 singles (35 singles charted in the UK Top 40) and their recent best of, Always, saw the band entering the Top 10 album charts once again. From Moscow To Mars is a 13-disc box set that includes all of the band’s 50 singles, a CD from both Vince and Andy compiling their favourite tracks, CDs of remixes (from Martyn Ware, William Orbit, Little Boots, Youth, Shep Pettibone, Chris & Cosey, to name but a few), b-sides, live material and rarities PLUS a radio documentary about the band and the Wild! concert, available on DVD for the first time.