After releasing The Two Ring Circus, a remix album in 1987, The Innocents was the third proper studio release from Erasure, released in 1988. This album, produced by Stephen Hague and released by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S., was the release that catapulted Erasure to super-stardom in their home country and gave them their long-awaited breakthrough in the U.S.