Loveboat, Erasure's ninth full-length studio album, proved to be their least successful in terms of sales and charts since their debut Wonderland in 1986. Produced by Erasure and Flood, it was released in the UK by Mute Records in 2000. Erasure's U.S. record label at the time, Maverick Records, shelved the album because of "lack of hit singles." Largely panned by Erasure fans upon its release (and even by Andy Bell years after) because of its greater use of acoustic guitars, its lo-fi feel and heavy-handed bass sounds (many blame Flood's production work), the album did manage to get some positive reviews by music critics.