Paper Monsters - Dave Gahan
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Superior to both the last two Mode albums and [Martin] Gore's recent solo effort, Counterfeit 2. [Jul 2003, p.103]
  2. Despite the amount of rock and soul that Gahan tries to inject into the stew, Paper Monsters only occasionally breaks free of the Mode paradigms.
  3. Lyrically autobiographical, songs deal with Gahan's trouble with relationships and intoxicants and, though they lack Gore's sense of drama and perversity, they do have a maudlin charm.
  4. Paper Monsters succeeds in revealing the "new" Dave Gahan, and that's what makes it a faintly embarrassing listen.
  5. Too much reflection equals not enough action, and Gahan's halting lyrics beg for an urgency and immediacy that Monsters doesn't deliver.
  6. 60
    An intriguing companion to DM's Songs of Faith and Devotion, heady with the lexicon of addiction and redemption. [Jun 2003, p.110]
  7. 60
    Gahan's lyrical moochings are inevitably less assured without his umbilical cord to [Martin] Gore, at times bordering on moon-in-June banality. [Jun 2003, p.108]
  8. 60
    Not everything is as heart-stopping as the velvety, elegiac "Bitter Apple," but there's enough quality to suggest that Depeche Mode could use a few Dave Gahan songs. [#17, p.135]
  9. Paper Monsters is a competent solo debut, and although it doesn't stray too far from the Depeche mold, Gahan does manage to put his own stamp on the songs.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 3 out of 15
  1. LisaB
    10
    Have always been a great Depeche fan and Dave can do no wrong in my opinion - what a voice! I also admire him greatly for staying clean and dry and for opening up his heart in this album. Full Review »
  2. maritnsk
    1
    very poor work. just a waste of time...
  3. V.
    1
    The lyrics are the only part Mr. Gahan wrote entirely alone - and imo they are weak. And for the music... I listened to the album several times to find some kind of an own style, something that made it a unit - nothing. For me its just an overproduced bunch of ideas that were not ready to be songs. Sorry, but if he would have been a real newcomer, most critics would not even have taken notice. Full Review »