The Innocents
by Erasure
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Erasure bestography
The Innocents is ranked as the best album by Erasure.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Innocents on YouTube
The Innocents track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Innocents rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 90/100 | 1 |
| 2026 |  paladisiac | 1980s, #401-500* | 16/35 | - |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | Top 75 Music Albums of 1988 | 22/75 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 44/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 7/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | paladisiac | top albums, #2601-2700* | 27/82 | - |
| 2026 | Romanelli | My Overall Chart: 901-1000 | 68/100 | - |
| 2026 |  neilgee | Top 45 Music Albums of 1988 | 9/45 | 4 |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 69/100 | 6 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 92/100 | 0 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 85 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 275 | |||
The Innocents collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 42 members
The Innocents ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 89 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/03/2026 13:41 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 09/03/2026 05:20 | Olli | 7,940 | 62/100 |
| ! | 08/12/2026 23:53 |  serpico | 914 | 85/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.9/100, a mean average of 73.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.8.
The Innocents favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 11 members
The Innocents forum mentions
neilgee 12/11/2025 17:42 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) Romanelli 02/22/2024 17:51 in What album are you listening to right now? Romanelli 05/19/2022 00:47 in The Romanelli Music Diary: Ashes & FireThe Innocents comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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johnner TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/31/2012 22:38 | #53822 | TOP COMMENT
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Bought this at time of release, it's good but it has dated especially some of the more Kate Bush indebted tracks i.e. (Weight of the World, Witch in the Ditch etc etc).
Definitely has a unique sound. Chains and Respect are the best tracks.
nocturnaldelight 09/20/2018 14:42 | #221344 | TOP COMMENT
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I bought "The Innocents" on tape in 1988 and had no inspiration to get it on CD for many years. It was one of the last big synth pop albums before techno & dance defined a new era of electronic music in the 90s with faster beats and more innovation. The sound of Erasure seemed dated just a few years after release with so much more progressive electronic music in very different styles. But when I finally bought the CD 30 years later I was really surprised how many good songs "The Innocents" has to offer. You need some time to get used to this very unique sound of Erasure but I found only one really weak song (Sixty-Five-Thousand). The CD has two additional tracks (When I Needed You + River Deep, Mountain High).
TheDude85 05/06/2022 20:00 | #285058 | TOP COMMENT
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The opening 7 tracks play like an Erasure Greatest Hits package, while the rest is forgettable. The extra track of the Phil Spector tune "River Deep, Mountain High" is especially dreadful.
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