PLAYING THE ANGEL / Release Date October 17th

REVIEW BY A LUCKY DM FAN

source> depeche-mode.com





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Okay,

I just heard the album. And I'm blown away... Almost at least. This really is the DM album I have been waiting for since 1990. The overall sound is like a mixture of DM albums from SGR to SOFAD, with some very modern touches to brush off the retro accusations. The album resembles in mood perhaps mostly SOFAD, but this is a far more electronic album, without SOFAD's murkiness. The beats are oppressive, almost industrial, but the songs are lightened and livened up by those big old-school DM style swathes of grandiose synth-sweeps like on say Halo or Fly On The Windscreen. The modern elements come from clever distortions of the sound and the way many songs have almost wrong-sounding bursts of blips and static to break the clean, otherwise a bit retro sheen of sound. Ben Hillier has done a tremendous job. PTA is the sound of a band envigorated, it's almost like they have become 15 years younger since the last we heard of them.

As for the much-feared Dave compositions (at least feared by me), well I'm glad to tell you that musically they are on par with the rest of the album. Which means: they are very good.

Track-by-track guide:

1. The Pain That I'm Used To – it does begin like Dead Of Night, but fearn not, by the 30-second mark it has settled into something that could have been dragged from the deepest recesses of Violator. Both dark and light on its feet, this is PTA exemplified, with a big chorus that is almost underused, since it collapses under a landslide of distorted guitar. A very strong opener.

2. John The Revelator – hard bubbling electro-blues with Dave taking the role of the crazy preacher man we already know from GRWM. This is very heavy on biblical references, as the title hints, and the gospel choir harmonizing on the chorus makes me think of Condemnation meeting the glam-stomp of Marilyn Manson's version of Personal Jesus, but with much more electronics. Good, but not exceptional.

3. Suffer Well – Opening with an ETS-style processed guitar riff (a very often used motif on this album), this is indeed the first Dave-penned track. Either he has really been taking some lessons from Mart or his songs have been partly ghostwritten by somebody else, because this is so much better than anything on PM that it's almost ridiculous. The song has the typical DM trick of holding back the chorus for a couple of verses, and just when the listener starts to worry that there isn't one, it comes up served on a bed of some glorious synth whooshes and classic Mart-Dave harmonies. Think Halo. Yes, it's that good.

4. Sinner In Me – BOAG style beat, but speeded up. "If I could hide the sinner inside and keep him denied" goes this plea for a personal redemption, that climaxes in a beautiful chorus in a slightly slower tempo. The usual bursts of static and clicks scratch the inner surface of the song like there is another beast under the smooth skin – the sinner in me not content on keeping hidden inside perhaps?

5. Precious – we know this one. And especially, when heard in the context of the album, it is astonishing. One of the best things they have ever done, I feel.

6. Macro – DM at its most avantgarde, this is like Comatose beefed up a bit. Martin is on a much finer vocal form here than on C2 or Exciter. The almost atonal verses settle into a pretty, very mystical chorus that goes "see the microcosm in macrovision / our bodies moving with pure precision / one universal celebration / one evolution, one creation". Heavy stuff, eh? This is the track which will divide the opinions the most, although I did like it a lot straight away.

7. I Want It All – far better than I expected. A slow-burning, almost pastoral mid-tempo slowie that is let down by some vintage Dave lyrics: "Sometimes I try / sometimes I lie / with you / Sometimes I cry / sometimes I die / it's true". Oh dear. But still, an okay track overall, even though the length of six minutes is overdoing it more than a bit.

8. Nothing's Impossible – a very nice surprise! Dave's third track is nearly brilliant slice of understated mid-80's DM synthpop. Overcast oppressing synths crossed with a catchy pop melody make this sound like To Have And To Hold on a date with, say, Two Minute Warning. Like on all his songs, Dave keeps tributing Martin's lyrics here too "Even the stars look brighter tonight / nothing's impossible" goes the chorus.

9. Introspectre – a Board Of Canada -ish 1.44-minute instrumental, that sounds like a soundtrack to one of my more melancholic hangovers but not much else.

10. Damaged People – Alongside Precious, this is my fave track. A tender, sensual, ultraromantic Mart ballad that could have been a highlight on both BC and MFTM. "When you're in my arms / the world makes sense", goes the first chorus. "When your lips touch mine and I lose control / I forget that I'm old and dying", goes the second, and this is blissful stuff. Martin or DM haven't sounded this much in love with love, flush with romantic abandon, since the late eighties. It's like we're all teenagers again and the world is the most wonderful prom disco ever, where everyone falls in love with everyone and the floor is strewn with petals... Fabulous! *swoon*

11. Lillian – Very old school synth-pop with endearingly lightweight lyrics about some Lillian that breaks hearts for fun. The tune is merely okay, but still it's nice to hear DM being able to still have fun, to lose some of the portentousness and world-weariness that has weighed them down a bit since SOFAD. Sounds almost like The Bravery, like somebody here has always stated.

12. The Darkest Star – actually this was perhaps the only disappointing track for me, but that's only compared to my expectations. A slow-burning final track, that never really reaches the climax it hints at. But I'm sure it's very good too, once I learn to listen to it without the burden of it being labelled "the best song Mart has ever written" (it's not).

Well, that's all after one listen only. I was expecting a lot, but I got a lot. This is up there with the 86-93, although not quite on par with BC or Violator, at least on first impressions. Thank you, Depeche Mode, you really have surpassed my expectations.


Eldritch

DM has to be the "gayest" straight band ever....

AND I LOVE 'EM!!!!!

Depressed Mode has made some of the best dance-oriented, dark ditties and it will be nice to have a new release. You have to admit, they've had their share of problems and have lasted a long time. Throughout the change of musics's overall style - these guys have remained true to their sound. I hope the new album will bring back air-play of videos, lots of singles, and much-deserved success!

ITTRIRN! EMFATA...











ithinkthisreviewisrathernice! exceptmaybeforalltheabbreviations...

I may give this a chance. They really lost me right around Ultra...I am very weary of their slow guitar grungey/static sound.

Hopefully this will not sound like that.

This is gonna be perfect for Fall. The review makes it sound great.

Depeche Mode

why isn't this album on amazon?