Critical Quote "Bell's singing has grown increasing confident and the lyrics
are more adventurous than standard pop fare, but potentially interesting
ideas stumble over rhymes like 'Medusa/Seduce you'." - The
Times
Onge Review The Innocents was a
phenomenally successful Erasure
album, and remains their biggest selling original album to date by
far. Produced by Stephen Hague, who had worked with the likes of Pet
Shop Boys, OMD and New Order, the album topped the
charts from its release, only to regain the number one spot again
eighteen months later. Extremely popular with the fans,The Innocents is largely regarded as their
finest work. The amazing A Little Respect, one of
the band's most successful singles opens this album. The song is simplistic
but staggeringly effective resulting in the perfect love song worthy
enough to open any album. Second up is Ship of Fools,
which was co-produced by Dave Jacob. Another masterpiece, this song
has a wonderfully effective backing from Vince over potent lyrics
of confusion and frustration. Beautifully sung throughout, this is
a truly marvellous pop song. The sensational Phantom Bride
is next, a wonderful song about a lonely girl and her struggle with
life until a man injects some hope into her existence. Perhaps guilty
of a slightly weak but still catchy chorus, this is a highly enjoyable
number and no doubt would have made an excellent single. Which was
exactly what Chains of Love was, which remains one
of Erasure's more successful
American singles. With fine vocal support from Naomi Osborne and Caron
Wheeler, the chorus is typically catchy, and with another fine arrangement
from Vince Chains of Love is a very good Erasure
song. Hallowed Ground slows the pace of the album
after the previous two fast tracks. A downcast song full of negative
imagery as Andy exclaims over the bad things in society. Deep without
ever being depressing (Radiohead take heed), Hallowed
Ground is a fine Erasure
song. Sixty-Five Thousand is a very expendable track
that offers very little to interest the listener. Dull, and uninspired
this really should have been a b-side like most of Erasure's
other instrumental tracks.
Heart of Stone resurrects the album, a superbly
agreeable song, catchy and fun. The addition of brass by The Kickhorns
gives this song an extra thrust, enhancing the listener's pleasure.
Yahoo! is a pseudo-gospel hymn-esque type song, where
Andy preaches about the dangers of the Devil and the glory of God.
In tandem with the stain-glass sleeve design, this song contains unusually
religious lyrics from Andy, but even though I'm an atheist this does
not detract from my enjoyment of this track. Imagination
is another decent Erasure
song. A typical top-tapping chorus with a fine music backdrop make
up this song. Unfortunately now the album's quality deteriorates for
the final four tracks. Witch In The Ditch is pleasant
enough but ultimately isn't particularly amazing, as is Weight
of The World which likewise is slightly guilty of being characterless.
Not bad songs, but by no means album highlights. The bonus tracks
likewise aren't all that spectacular. When I Needed You
is quite popular amongst fans, but the vastly contrasting tempos of
the verse and chorus create a fragmented song. It seems to me that
they were written as two different entities and hurriedly stuck together.
River Deep, Mountain High is a decent cover version,
perhaps slightly long, which offers nothing astonishing as the album
finally fizzles to its disappointing conclusion.
Summary
By and large The Innocents is
an album with some great Erasure
moments. The weak last few tracks do sadly detract from this album
as a whole, as does the unnecessary Sixty-Five Thousand. However
the strengths far out-weight the weaknesses, making this a fine addition
to any pop fan's CD collection.
* Want a second opinion? Disagree with what I've written? The Fan
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