extrawack reviews “Sounds…”
extrawack’s review is by far the most interesting one so far, with plenty of mouthwatering bits and a generous helping of wee details we might not yet have known. Like “Jezebel” being the only Gore lead song on the album. Also, the band will hit Madison Square Garden in July/August and the full US tour dates should be announced in two weeks time. The tour comments have been removed from the original article since we published this story. The full review after the jump!
extrawack!’s Corey Vezina recently caught an advance listen of the new Depeche Mode album, Sounds of the Universe…here’s his review:
Surely, you think, it must be some sort of trick. More mathematical cum financial sleight of hand bullsh*t from the pages of the paper you can’t bear to read anymore; Another of those things that reminds you of the precise reasons well all knew better than to do something as hopelessly square as pay attention in math class.
Depeche Mode, 30 years? Oh, f@ck off.
Yet, there they are. Just a year shy of the third decade -which almost no band ever sees- album 12, Sounds of the Universe, clangs loudly into the room, still confident and tight in black shades. Still dark. Still electric. Still here.
You may not remember their last two albums, Exciter and Playing the Angel. You’d be generally forgiven for that, dropping as they did in an almost hidden way, finding their pulsing way to the CD rack at Virgin to sit behind the re-pressings of Music for the Masses and Violator. Ultra, itself now a decade gone, was the last album to make anything like a wave, to bend your ear at times the way the songs always used to. The band spun into the inevitable solo projects and change of writers that always mark the sign of a good band falling finally and fully apart. Tracks began to spin more and more off of the tight electric axis they’d created. Surely, time had finally got the better of them.
But, they are not here to go quietly.
Following up on 2005’s Playing the Angel, Sounds… returns the dark, scratchy, bass-driven industrial electronic music that the band introduced on 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion. Long since gone are the synth-romance roots that popped and echoed through the dance clubs of the early 90s. Increasingly, the tunes are an edgy anti-pop, produced to a technically aggressive point intentionally beyond radio airplay. Music decidedly not for the masses. Understandably so at this point in their career…bitterness of experience aside, who has much left to say at 50 that they didn’t say at 20? Yet, it comes out at times as a brutish attempt to sonically remind of the steel toe in one’s boot. “We’re still loud, are you still with us?”
While surely the message of a given piece of music can be important and the statement it is making is can be impressive, at some point, songs become “good” or not when you sing them in the shower, or drum them into your steering wheel. This album seems orchestrated to not be consumed in so pedestrian a fashion.
The tight and wrought ballads are still there, Gahan’s crooning search for achieving a better version of himself continues, but expect a treatment quite similar to Playing the Angel, where Gore and Fletcher’s layering of the sounds takes you loudly the wrong way through the pipe organ. Where previous efforts would carry you away, it’s now on you to follow along.
Running about 57 minutes, the tracks include the single “Wrong”, a strongly belted and thumpingly backed lament of running life’s chances quite off the rails, the slower tempo of “Peace” where Gahan takes a choral refrain right up the cliff into falsetto and “Fragile”, another melodic bass track with a handful of the early background computer noises you got first on “New Life”, if you’ve been around that long.
“Hole to Feed” is perhaps the best effort, again pulsating and upbeat about its darkness, though, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Angel’s top single, “Precious”. “Space Walker” is the “you get one every album” instrumental, Jezebel the “you get one every album” Martin Gore ballad, though, with a near Erasure vocal treatment.
All in, a solid album, though, with fewer songs you, a mere human, can sing along to. Like seeing that girl from high school at a 20 year reunion, you still feel the love, but you have to work harder now for the lust.
Full track list:
1. In Chains
2. Hole To Feed
3. Wrong
4. Fragile Tension
5. Little Soul
6. In Sympathy
7. Peace
8. Come Back
9. Spacewalker
10. Perfect
11. Miles Away / The Truth Is
12. Jezebel
13. CorruptOther DM news: “Tour of the Universe” starts May 10 in Europe, hits the US July- August, and will include a stop at NYC’s Madison Square Garden. US Tour dates to be released in about 2 weeks…check back here for details.
Source (thanks to Wayne for the heads up!)
52 Comments
10 February 09 at 3:34pm
1
Thanks... coming soon Southamerica... yes, yes... Great.
10 February 09 at 5:21pm
2
This article is giving me the feeling that the album is going to be a catastrophe. Dave back to singing falsettos? Sounds like we are looking forward to a anal sound experiment with rejected Kid A songs.
10 February 09 at 6:09pm
3
Looking forward to seeing Depeche in Buenos Aires
10 February 09 at 6:33pm
4
Great review! I can't wait!
10 February 09 at 8:09pm
5
I think this critic is more concerned about sounding poetic/creative and artsy than he is about giving a genuine review of this album. Regardless, I'm certain that most if not all DM fans will love this album!!
10 February 09 at 8:51pm
6
Tour hits MEXICO in September!!! Then Brazil and Argentina.
10 February 09 at 9:18pm
7
"still confident and tight in black shades. Still dark. Still electric. Still here." So lucky to be loyal to a band that remains unique, groundbreaking, and "underground" compared to other bands that have sustained longevity. Love DM!!!!!!!
10 February 09 at 9:44pm
8
not sure about that review...especially when he says "Like seeing that girl from high school at a 20 year reunion, you still feel the love, but you have to work harder now for the lust." Makes it sound like we Devotees have to dig deep to love it. hmmmmm not every review is good. We'll see soon.
10 February 09 at 9:55pm
9
fao tension fear not, it's only 1 persons view, evryones a critic!! i have found from the past, although they are hugely successful in america, the press give them a hard time...I'm genuinely excited about this new album as I was fairly disappointed with PTA and esp exciter, although I didn't really like Ultra, I now find myself always playing it, and consider it one of their best, thought Tim Simenon did a cracking job of producing that
10 February 09 at 10:25pm
10
Very interesting.. I can't wait for the new album. P.S. I have "Fragile Tension" FULL version, for me - nothing special, I was disappointed,in "Fragile Tension" too much bass,electronics, it's like not the old DM...
10 February 09 at 11:30pm
11
@ suiluapDM Lighten up! I have the song too, and anyone with half a brain can tell thats no where near polished enough to be a final cut. My best guess is that Its a soundboard rip from when the song was in pre production.. I mean really, compare the Preproduction Stranglove floating around on the web to the final cut...BIG difference. I think Fragile Tension will be a highlight track of SOTU..I mean, there is some HUGE potential in that song..check out 1:40 to 2:30...also, it sorta goes without saying that you shouldn't grade a paper by it's rough draft, yunno?
11 February 09 at 12:29am
12
I think I heard the same, Dave's voice sounds separated from the music and is very soft
11 February 09 at 12:54am
13
All this Useless speculation means Nothing. Let's just have a Black Celebration and be Exciter that Dm is providing us with another Precious CD. It's No Good to worry about what Damaged people say about the Album. I'm sure it will be ULTRA AMAZING!!!!! Can't wait!!!!!
11 February 09 at 2:04am
14
I agree with AndyD421 and that's my favorite part of fragile tension. I don't like this review, it seems that the person who write it doesn't know enough about DM
11 February 09 at 2:21am
15
When you read things like: "Music decidedly not for the masses"..."anti-pop music"..."Hole to feed, not so good than Precious"... Man, this is another review comparing SOTU with MFTM or Violator (IMHO Best DM era)...obviously the worst nightmare for a new dm album.
11 February 09 at 3:47am
16
Not many "awesome songs"... "beautiful production" or "back to their best" type of quotes... Oh dear :(
11 February 09 at 4:40am
17
I just want to point out that the review does not confirm that there is only 1 Martin lead song. At least I don't read it that way (and frankly, it would surprise me). Thoughts?
11 February 09 at 4:43am
18
I've got Fragil Tension. I hope this is a draft mix, because the sound is hurting!
11 February 09 at 6:24am
19
Hmm, I read this review last night. I was hoping for something more positive froem the reviewer. Are we all builiding this release up way to much! I did not like Exciter or PTA but have lived in hope of the magic returning. The press releases have got me very excited about the direction of this album. Fragic Tension sounds OK for an album track. I hope Hillier does not overdue the dirty,electo tricky and lets the beauty of the songs shine through.
11 February 09 at 11:50am
20
When they are electronics is too much electronic....when they use acoustic drums you want drum machines...when they use drum machines you don't want it anymore.....Jesus! I LOVE DEPECHE MODE!
11 February 09 at 12:07pm
21
Both this and the previous review are 1. clearly not written by fans 2. more interested in attempting a few literary gymnastics than assembling a decent analysis 3. extremely poorly written Ultimately, this is album #12 by a band with a large and dedicated fan base. The chances of this album dramatically expanding that fan base by are slim. They are, and always will be, making music for the people that dig it. As one of those dedicated fans I would be genuinely surprised if this album disappointed on any level. Also, I'm shocked to see people dissing PTA. It's a stunning record.
11 February 09 at 12:16pm
22
Quite so, Paolo. The fact that every album sounds different to the last is *the* reason DM are still relevant. The day they stop experimenting is the day they die.
11 February 09 at 2:09pm
23
Fragile Tension - a B-Side? I disagree. There is much more going on in this song than in Precious. I heard it very loud yesterday and I found it briliant. Perhaps Dave Gahan sings to high. But it is a matter of personal taste. Fragile tension is cool.
11 February 09 at 4:11pm
24
Lighten up guys! You've only heard one full (demo) song and read a very amateurish review from a wannabe music journo! Personally, I think SOTU will kick PTAs ass. There's only one instrumental, one Gore-sung track, and the band is oozing positive energy. Dave's vocals are as strong as ever, Martin's contributing some interesting sounds, and they've got a decent producer. I doubt there'll be much filler this time around and the introspective dirge level should be lower. Fragile's clearly not DMs best, but it's better than most of PTA and its cleaner sound suggests SOTU will be an all round easier listen.
11 February 09 at 6:57pm
25
1-Why is not Flood working with them anymore, include Tim Simenon to (whom if asked would work but Flood no)? The answer is becouse they want to make,in general sense, electro-pop, and thats what they have been doing for the last three (including this last one). 2-The same reason Alan isnt coeming back is their aproach to music,no one on earth knows whats happening to Martin Gore, but he is not writing good songs anymore, or maybe he is but the team (once Alan-the musician in the band) is the worng team and he somehow likes to play with this. . .for whatever reason. How can Depeche Mode be Depeche Mode is Alan is not in it, imagine U2 without The Edge, or Led Zeppelin without Jimmy Page, or The Beatles without John Lennon, he was the one who gave depeche "the mode". And I think we should all once and for all understand, that the band that once created "fashion" and musicians were hungry to hear whats will DM do next, now, they are following trends, that was the case with Exciter, with Playing The Angel and with Sounds of The Universe (and the title in my oppinion is not "aroogant" but in a strange way, stupid for a band that had made one of the most "original" record Music For The Masses some 20 years ago) this band is "over"! Get over it, see them live, enjoy few good tracks, but both the attitude, the spirit, dare I say the soul is gone...and theres nothing left to burn, and I am very sad that Dave Gahan, even in his solo album, is not what he used to be. . .even at his worst pesronal time, Ultra one can hear "a cry", with the last three albums he has been mechanic, and pretty much only doing a job...nothin' more.
11 February 09 at 11:05pm
26
When I saw the snippet on the official web site I was thinking Fragile Tension would probably suck and be my least favorite song on the album.. Now that I've heard the whole song my expectations for the album are a LOT higher. It seems to be more complex than Precious, maybe less catchy but it's not exactly meant to be a lead single like Precious... Starting at 2:00 is freakin beautiful, would be nice if they had more of an improv synth jam in there or some syncopated layering experiments?
11 February 09 at 11:09pm
27
"Still Dark. Still electric."... interesting. It's the kind of album that I'm waiting for... Love DM!
12 February 09 at 6:39am
28
Chorus reminds me of Pink Floyd. can't remember which song. I am still confident that we are going to really like this album. I hope it goes massive.
12 February 09 at 9:14am
29
Awesome, why so negative? FT is a good song - the chorus is the best bit! Great bit of guitar, great vocals. Okay, there's not much of a melody and you won't be singing it in the shower, but it's a decent album track - not one you'd be skipping over when you listen to the whole CD.
12 February 09 at 11:56am
30
Fragile Tension rules! Damaged People rules! Playing the Angel rules! Talk to the hand.
12 February 09 at 2:54pm
31
Like the rewiver says,this album won't be an easy one to tame.So those who claim that 'Fragile Tension' is bad or whatever are wrong.Cause even for a long time fan,it always takes some time to get used to the sound of a new Depeche Mode record.That's what DM is about!When you 've made your mind thinking you know them,BAM the next album detabilizes you and you have to question once more the idea you have from these guys and you end up saying "i can't know DM enough".That's why they're amazing :°)
12 February 09 at 3:34pm
32
I love the guitar parts on FT.
12 February 09 at 3:35pm
33
I love the guitars on FT.
12 February 09 at 6:57pm
34
The review I think is mainly negative. The most obvious ideea is that the songs are not too melodic....wich is a very bad thing...the songs can't be sung by a "mere human". The charm of this band is having songs that can be sung along with a whole stadium. "Frigile tension" unfortunately proves that ideea. I really hope I'm wrong but I don't have a good feeling about this album. :-(
12 February 09 at 8:24pm
35
If the whole album will be like FT... to bad guys. I agree with adiscloud, I would expect to hear a bit more melodic album then previous ones. I mean, FT isn't that bad at all... but I can feel that it takes some time and enourmous efforts now for the band to get something decent. And I guess that is the problem which may progress in future. What DM done in the past was done easily and won the crowd by "naturalizm" of their amazing work. But I don't know why, I still think that SOTU will be outstanding album. I didn't like Exciter for a long while... and all of the sudden I realised that musicaly and lyricly Exciter is few miles away from Violator, however Violator was done at the different time with different producer within a different atmosphere. So, what I'm saying is DM have something in each album which just attracts... may be not frome the first momement, may be later, and their songs, you can't compare them anyways with all this MTV crap. I just simply hope the melodic base of the album will be taken on a different level from PTA. Will see. I'm still optimistic and no matter what I'm going to see them in Vancouver this year with my family :)
12 February 09 at 11:29pm
36
just heard FT, don't forget this probably isn't the full version, which will sound a lot crisper, I personally think it's a bit of grower..at the end of the day some people will love it, some will hate it, that's why we have opinions or we'd all be sheep!!!
13 February 09 at 12:32am
37
Wow, what I find most impressive about reading all these comments is how many presume to know exactly what SOTU will sound like and, amazingly, it's the same people who are negative about it. The great news is, if you don't like it don't listen to it. Take the same advise regarding FT.
13 February 09 at 1:19am
38
To be honest. one review which is not too overenthusiastic aand everybody seems to fear the new album will be disappointing. I heard Fragile Tensions and I cannot understand that people think it has no melody. I play DM songs on my guitar or my synth since ages and I do not have the feeling that DM lost their ability to write brilliant songs. I like Fragile tensions , try to get the refrain and once you have it, you will find it is beautiful. Perhaps the new DM albums are not as good produced as they were in earlier times (BC, MFTM, V,SOFAD), but the music itself is still strong. For me, Dream on for example is one of the best DM songs ever. Perhaps the new songs will not be played to often on the radio, but I could not care less about that.
13 February 09 at 2:07am
39
I love modefan's advice. Don't bitch about it if you don't like it. Find another band to complain about. More DM for us :)
13 February 09 at 3:53am
40
The great thing about being a DM is that they challenge us every time. The have to earn the bliss you feel when you hear their music. Even Violator was not instant love for me. I think FT is a good song and I like the guitar and rhythm. Cant wait for 20.04.09
13 February 09 at 8:42am
41
I hope the band never read these forums, If they read comment .27,I think they would give up. Dave gahan is a fucking legend no other performer puts more energy and passion in his live shows.
13 February 09 at 3:07pm
42
With fans like these, who needs detractors. I don't mind constructive comment but some of the stuff on here just defies belief. Come on guys, if I read one more comment about its not like the old days, bring back Alan, Ben is rubbish, Flood is God, the new album is going to be a disaster, etc, etc, I think I'm going to end my life. Go annoy someone else if you can't offer anything interesting. Adios.
13 February 09 at 5:03pm
43
Personally, I'm glad Alan left - I think he was a bit too obsessed with the production and his ego was probably bad for the band. (To me their songs sound best with minimal production; when they occasionally perform something acoustically you realise how good they really are.) I'm also glad that they collaborate with different producers and challenge themselves from time to time. I don't know why some of you are getting worked up by this 'extrawack' review. It was poorly written by an amateur trying to be clever with his prose, and tells you virtually nothing about the album.
13 February 09 at 7:00pm
44
@Quadro Alan did fantastic things, but I totally agree with you and Rob P.
13 February 09 at 11:30pm
45
I have the same feeling as Jonathan... doesn't seem to be official review.
14 February 09 at 3:40am
46
Greatest band of all time!!!! Hands down baby
14 February 09 at 4:37am
47
There's moments in "Fragile Tension" where I feel some Smashing Pumpkins influence from the "Ava Adore" album. I am so excited! I will be first in line to get the new CD!!!
14 February 09 at 8:01am
48
Another GOOD! review by a taken from The Telegraph (HOME ADMIN CHECK IT OUT) : "I have also been listening to Depeche Mode's forthcoming album, 'Sounds Of The Universe' (which will be out on Mute in April). Depeche are absolutely not a guitar band but they have been almost singularly effective in taking many of the most primal and anthemic elements of the rock format and show and translating them to a world of electronica. I haven't always been their biggest fan (at times the lyrics have been clunking, the voices robotically un-expressive, the imagery reeking in self mythologizing narcissism) but this album has got me pinned to my chair. Electronic bubbles of sound cascade around, spinning off on melodic tangents, while the beats drive straight through you, and the songs have a rich, bluesy, almost soulful flavour, with age and experience having slowly humanised Dave Gahan's voice. It has the tone of an updated 21st century 'Violator', and is delivered with take-no-prisoners confidence."
14 February 09 at 12:28pm
49
I think some of you lot need a chill pill.Ft was probably allowed on the net by dm and prob a very bare if not first approch at singing it.This is the sort of thing they do and then get negative feed back,it's like a game.As for them not being the same without Alan, not true.Every dm album has differed from one too the next.It has always been about dave s voice and martins songs,everything else is irrelevant really.AS for the violater period it was great and will always be there hight of fame and commercially,radio play,the lot.The have to move on imagine the review.Depeche mode's relese 12 th studio album still sounds like Vialator,will the ever move on.YES THE DID AND YES THEY HAVE.Every band has a limt and a period when the are at the top. Oasis, Rem,even the mighty U2,joshua tree sold 14 million albums, How to destroy an atomic bomb sold 6 million.Does that make u2 crap.No. More and more types of music are about and people differ from deacade to decade about what they prefer and like.I cannot wait to see them and for new album they are the best.
16 February 09 at 6:40am
50
Thanks get a grip for the link to the Telegraph. I think this comment holds more wait than the two reviews we have so far. A credible source. This also bodes well for a great response from the UK reviewers.