Depeche Mode -- Sounds of the Universe

all this talk of a broken frame is very exciting!

RRRONG!

i only just starting getting into the last depeche mode album, which was enough to make me reassess my "meh" reaction to the band overall. 'precious' is one of the dopest tracks in their catalog. definitely going to check out this one, 'wrong' sounds pretty good.

okay I'm listening today on better headphones and the difference is AMAZING; I should never listen to music on that other set of headphones ever again

"Peace" is kind of cool, you guys

I like how empty/sparse these songs are!

I hope this isn't bad form to mention here, but we (well, mainly I) put together a pretty cool feature for Rhapsody, including some exclusive quotes from remixers Michael Mayer, Rex the Dog, Roman Flügel and others. It's here: http://blog.rhapsody.com/2009/04/justcantgetenoughdepechemode.html

...and that's my last self-promotion on the matter.

"I like how empty/sparse these songs are!"

yup, and the space makes the synths sing!

hey pshrbrn, the photos need captions so people can find out who the remixers are!

A great album, as expected. Haven't really dived that much into it yet, but it seems like another solid long player. Now I don't joined that "best since Violator" bunch yet, simply because 1. their previous album was absolutely marvellous and 2. There are at least four other Depeche albums that I would rank ahead of "Violator" anyway. But this is solid stuff, no doubt. I like the heavy use of analog synths, and that there seems to be fewer guitars than for a while.

Funny, I find this album very guitar heavy but in a mellow soft rock way as opposed to the RAWK thing they went for on SOTD

digging this - kind of bummed out on missing out on the demos disc but $70 was sort of a naw maybe later reaction for me

Having spent said amount for the box...it was worth it.

I need to also say again -- the Thin White Duke remix of "Wrong"? Quite possibly my song of the year at this point.

ach, thank you, tricky. that was... an oversight!

first thoughts:

-- it's "Exciter, Part II"
-- "Wrong" makes more sense in the context of the album, although at the time, it really stands out as the clear choice for the first single.
-- if Mark Bell had done a better job producing "Exciter" then it would have sounded more like "In Chains"

I agree with all of the above.

"In Chains" in particular is fiendishly great, I'm finding. The part of the Pitchfork review that talks about the front-loading of this album is pretty accurate.

The more I listen to this, the more it does actually sound like the sounds of the universe to me. It scares me to think how much money I would pay to go to a Cure/DM tour, especially after their most recent albums.

The more I listen to it the more I find that my initial thoughts of it being a 'quiet' album like Exciter are inaccurate -- there's a lot of big sounds throughout but since they're not all pitched at Playing the Angel-style RAWRGH levels they bubble up more. "Corrupt" in particular is really starting to sink in.

Been a massive debate on Depeche lists/sites about the wisdom of leaving "Ghost," "Light" and "Oh Well" off the album proper but I enjoy the fact that we have them to start with. If anything they're just the big 'what ifs' like "Happiest Girl" and "Sea of Sin" were for Violator.

The main DVD documentary about the making of the album has had a slew of clips appear on the official site for the past few months so it's not all a surprise but there are interesting moments -- Dave talking about wanting something different and interesting for the "Wrong" video (hey, he got what he wanted!), the extent to which Martin now seems more thoroughly involved in arranging his songs via all the old keyboards and equipment, what they wanted to aim for on this album vs. the last etc. Also turns out that the final version of "Wrong" took a long time to finally settle, they only wrapped up in late November on it -- based on the versions and clips that they play, all the changes were for the better (the middle eight was originally this melodramatic-even-for-them string/synth deal that would have killed the momentum stone dead).

Listened to this once through, it reminded me of Pretty Hate Machine. Am I mad?

Um, yes?

Just finished my first full listen and I'm liking it, quite a lot. Would like it even better if "Jezebel" had been left off though. I didn't think I ever needed to hear DM as a schmaltzy Vegas lounge act, but now I'm 100% sure of that.

Jezebel is fantastic!

Maybe I need to give it another listen, but I just couldn't help but wish the whole thing was an instrumental version of the last minute or so.

i went to the show last night and the new songs are sounding rough around the edges, but nice against the backdrop of the hits. it was cool to see them play a slightly unpolished set. the setlist was: wrong/personal jesus/walking in my shoes (with faux "fly on the windscreen" intro)/come back/peace/enjoy the silence/never let me down. PJ, ETS and NLMD all had bits of the remixes/extended versions added. crowd went predictably crazy for the last two.

Nice, about what I would have expected for a free show like that.

The "Usual Thing" documentary on the DVD (at least the fancy box set version) is a nice complement to "Making the Universe," which was a basic chronological assemblage of footage over six months without anything else tying it all together. In contrast "Usual Thing" relied on various interviews from all involved and focused on the final album sessions in November, mostly to do with mixing with Tony Hoffer. A lot of it is to be expected but there's all sorts of brief trivia bits and more demonstrations of their current studio process, Ben Hillier's ability to keep things focused (which Mark Bell is implicitly said not to have done a good job at for Exciter) -- a lot of keyboard discussion near the beginning for any gearheads. Best bits:

* there's a variety of interstitial moments of video footage from, I'm pretty sure, the Some Great Reward sessions in Berlin -- a fair amount of it cropped up on the DVD with that reissue but there's some more here. A lot of it is used in a 'look how they've changed/the more things change the more etc' sense but it's no less effective for that. (It is perversely amusing/maddening, if understandable, that barely any shots of Alan Wilder appear in that footage -- he's still the unspoken absence.)

* snippets of four full live-in-studio performances are included, which are also in full elsewhere on the disc. They all sound radically different from the final versions as a result and are worth it for that alone -- "Stories of Old" is the out of nowhere inclusion but hearing "Come Back," "Wrong" and especially "In Chains" this way = A+ -- and it was also of interest seeing Fletch *actually play keyboards*

* they all still love foozball/table football. In fact it's a major plot point as such through the end of the credits.

that last point basically screams that I should be in Depeche Mode

Well get on it!

thanks for the info about the box set dvd, ned. the dvd bits are my favorite parts of the reissues and they are the main thing that give the DM release version onslaught credence IMO.

Oh one other thing -- they talk about "Oh Well" which I had missed (or forgotten) was the first full-on collaboration between Dave and Martin -- the latter had created an instrumental in Santa Barbara in studio, Dave liked it and came up with words and a melody for it and suggested it to Martin in New York and Martin, initially hesitant, got on board with the idea over time. It's one of the best songs from the sessions and while I don't think it's the way to the future I do think it's a good sign that they've figured out their songwriting dynamic to that point.

(Also I remember a mention that Tony Hoffer was chosen to mix because of his work on Dave's Hourglass album, which was the best album from 2007 that only Dan and I knew about. Dammit.)

er...STORIES OF OLD?? on the new dvd? wow fr real?? god that's made me very nostalgic.

It's a pretty sharp performance! Rocked up in that guitar is the lead instrument with a quiet electronic backing, but it's a fairly restrained turn in general.

Dave's Hourglass album, which was the best album from 2007 that only Dan and I knew about. Dammit.

Hey now... I enjoyed it also.

:'(

genuinely *mental* fan from the 101 era, i sort of fell out of love these last years. their last tour was the only one i didn't see them on since 1990. but having heard the album now i feel it safe to say that COME BACK is their best song since HIGHER LOVE in 1993. amazing stuff! it's the sort of song that no one else does this well, but also in fact the sort of song no one else does at all. makes my personal highlight from ...ANGEL (SUFFER WELL) seem very weedy indeed by comparison. are there some actual 85/86/87 era industrial samples on it? there's a distinct pipe-banging vibe that's been missing since at least ...MASSES era.

BRITS lifetime achievement award in 2011 i'd wager (not 2010, after Pet Shop Boys this year they wouldn't give it to another electro pop band that'd just be daft!)

god bless these guys man.

Does anyone know if Mute will be doing anything as prosaic as releasing 12" vinyl with the Efdemin, Minilogue & Fehlmann mixes?

There is a Wrong 12" with the Thin White Duke, Caspa, and Trentemoller remixes: http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=468136

So maybe there's hope.

For...?

(Having heard all the mixes, the TWD is the one to go for.)

a 12" with the Efdemin, Minilogue & Fehlmann mixes, I assume...?

My wife thinks this one is too "creepy" and vastly prefers Playing The Angel. I think maybe she hasn't really paid much attention to PtA...?

Ah right, I hadn't seen Phil's post on Saturday. I liked the idea of "'Wrong' remixes are on vinyl = our long national nightmare might be over!"

"John the Revelator" = a song about Cadbury Easter eggs

"The Sinner in Me" = dealing with the vague sense of guilt when reading magazines at the bookstore instead of buying them.

haha bastard, I was trying to come up with one for that one

Hahahaha.

"Damaged People" = 'I wonder who threw out all these old department store mannequins?'

"A Pain That I'm Used To" = 'We're getting bad weather, I feel it in my bones.'

Haha wow - SoU seems to me like the most upbeat album DM ever released

Wait, hold on, in comparison to Speak and Spell? (Then again that does have its share of creepy songs...)

I'd argue that Some Great Reward comes across as more upbeat.

second listen, this is fantastic. "fragile tension" is an obvious highlight, but it seems like there's a lot of growers on this album.

i wasn't too sure about the chorus in "peace" at first, but the stunning pre-chorus more than makes up for it (GREAT lyrics, and something kinda freddie mercury-esque about the phrasing that i fully endorse)

production is AMAZING probably their best since ultra. love how the use of very minimal analog drums let the arrangements really expand, and some really cool atmospherics, though i do wish they'd turn down the bit crusher a little

some incredible vocal performances from both gahan and gore as well, dave sounds positively soulful on "in chins"

"perfect" another highlight, the chorus is very beatles-y. someone needs to remix this and just extend the intro for a few minutes

Yeah, I have to say that Dave's vocal performance on "In Chains" is probably the greatest thing I've ever heard him do.

whoever chose to close the album with "corrupt" is a genius