For fans of: Real Eighties Dance Pop

What they're saying: Metro Weekly calls The Innocents “unquestionably one of the quintessential pop albums of the late ‘80s” additionally praising single ‘A Little Respect‘: “Vince Clarke combines a rhythmic acoustic guitar with a rather simple yet effective keyboard riff, with swirling overlapped synthesizers to provide atmosphere and texture. It’s one of those fortunate combinations that just comes together and sounds magical — a perfect pop single if there ever was one.” A four-and-a-half star AllMusic review by Ned Raggett outlines how the production and songwriting decisions on this record made Erasure pop phenoms, noting “the strengths of the songs speak for themselves.“

What we say: This is a crucial record in the wave of 80s soul inflected dance pop. ‘A Little Respect’ and ‘Chains of Love’ STILL stand up as bangers.