User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Paper Monsters
by
Paper Monsters Image
Metascore
67

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12 Ratings

  • Summary: The Depeche Mode vocalist's first solo release finds him working with Sigur Ros producer Ken Thomas.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Q Magazine
    80
    Superior to both the last two Mode albums and [Martin] Gore's recent solo effort, Counterfeit 2. [Jul 2003, p.103]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Amazon.com
    70
    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.
  3. Splendid
    70
    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.
  4. ShakingThrough.net
    64
    Too much reflection equals not enough action, and Gahan's halting lyrics beg for an urgency and immediacy that Monsters doesn't deliver.
  5. Blender
    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]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Mojo
    60
    An intriguing companion to DM's Songs of Faith and Devotion, heady with the lexicon of addiction and redemption. [Jun 2003, p.110]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Uncut
    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]
    All this publication's reviews

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. tudorc
    May 29, 2003
    10
    very good. something that was a need
  2. sven
    Jun 7, 2003
    10
    An excellent debut album
  4. LisaB
    Mar 30, 2007
    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 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.… Expand
  5. Luca
    Jun 22, 2003
    9
    Much better than Gore's solo album (which is too boring for my likes..). A great first album and with no doubt best tracks are "hidden Much better than Gore's solo album (which is too boring for my likes..). A great first album and with no doubt best tracks are "hidden Houses" and "Bitter Apple". … Expand
  6. MATTD
    Jul 4, 2003
    7
    I have always been a devoted DM fan. I find this album, over all, liitle overindulgent and melancholy. I still love Daves style and the rich I have always been a devoted DM fan. I find this album, over all, liitle overindulgent and melancholy. I still love Daves style and the rich sound, but it needs more shining stars like Dirty Sticky Floors and Hidden Houses. Hats off to Dave for overcoming his adversities. His self contentment is evident in the DVD.… Expand
  7. V.
    Jan 23, 2004
    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 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.… Collapse
  8. maritnsk
    Apr 21, 2005
    1
    very poor work. just a waste of time...

See all 8 User Reviews

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
87 Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
87 Bite Down - Rosali
All Current Music »