Sounds Of The Universe
- Depeche Mode
- Band Name: Depeche Mode
- Record Label: EMI
- Release Date: Apr 21, 2009
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With Universe and 2005's "Playing The Angel," Depeche Mode has created back-to-back albums compelling enough to stand up to its past best.
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Somehow, though, on Sounds of the Universe they still sound genuinely inspired.
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80Sounds Of The Universe also happens to throb with sonic originality and dark, complex humanity, and is a fine addition to one of the richest, most intriguing back catalogues in pop.
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Sounds Of The Universe arguably goes on for a bit too long--it doesn't help that closer 'Corrupt' is throwbackish bobbins--and it certainly could have done without token Gore vocal 'Jezebel'. But other than that it's just a damn fine record, possessed of the kind of unshowy high quality the Basildon band have seemingly actively opposed in the past.
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80Sounds Of The Universe is Depeche's most tune-packed and sonically adventurous album for over a decade. [May 2009, p.82]
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On the whole, Sounds of the Universe is a grower, relying on a few listens to fully take effect, but when it does, it shows Depeche Mode are still able to combine pop-hook accessibility and their own take on "roots" music for an electronic age with sonic experimentation and recombination.
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80Once again the theme of emotional cleansing runs through much of the lyrics, though this particular well of inspiration has not yet run dry.
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80Like 2005's pleasantly surprising "Playing The Angel," Sounds Of The Universe, their 12th album, is a triumph, though more cunning in its method.
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80After nearly 30 years, the trio--now comprising Gore, Dave Gahan and Andrew Fletcher--still imbue every aspect of its 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, with imagery and sonic flourishes that make its music fresh and familiar.
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80Its 12th full-length album fits neatly into its discography while sounding contemporary and building on the trio's lean electro-rock.
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That bleak tone is frequently recaptured on their newest release, Sounds of the Universe, beginning with 'In Chains,' a brooding seven-minute romantic melodrama that hums and crackles with electronics as singer Dave Gahan seethes.
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So the album doesn't sound old but there's a refreshing warmth emanating from these fizzing and burbling Moogs and Parker Steinway keyboards.
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After all these years it's good to hear Depeche Mode attempting, and for the most part succeeding, at staying relevant with age. [Spring 2009, p.65]
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70You could roll your eyes and complain that these guys are still pimping teen angst in middle age, but really it sounds more like it's matured into the longest-running mid-life crisis ever--30 years and counting.
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70Depeche Mode have produced another album fit to fill headphones and stadiums, leaning more towards a muted commercial than perverted side, but for 30-year veterans there's really nothing wrong with that.
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While it may lack the aggressive and occasionally caustic momentum of "Playing The Angel," Sounds Of The Universe succeeds primarily because of its ability to make a nostalgic nod to past successes while still looking to the future.
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It plays like a late-career recap of all that's come before, referencing both the bubblegum synth-pop of its early days and the self-conscious black-leather sensuality of its 1987-1993 creative peak.
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63Ending with a brief, queasy reprise tease of 'Wrong,' Sounds of the Universe concludes anticlimactically, an echo of its promising start.
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60Even where Sounds Of The Universe resembles a self-help manual, it does so with commanding tunes and a ring of truth. [May 2009, p.102]
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60It's hard not to feel disappointed by the sense that a band who have raised their game so many times have nowhere new to go. [May 2009, p.114]
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60Sounds of the Universe comes on a bit softer, with less industrial guitar clang and more of chief songwriter Martin Gore's dreamy atmospherics.
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60A less then stellar return, then, but a welcome one nevertheless.
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They might not be affecting musical culture the way they did in their prime, but at least half of their latest effort is as strong as anything they've written.
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They might be no longer going through the motions, but those moves seem awfully familiar.
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The result sounds like a time machine back to the Eighties.
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Even at its most imaginative, this is seamless Depeche Mode filler, music that could be made by any number of acolytes.
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50They tempt us with a strong first half and then dump us in a collection of tossed off b-sides.
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Dave Gahan's songwriting has improved since 2007's solo "Hourglass," but this Sounds like a mundane midlife crisis.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 23 out of 29
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Mixed: 2 out of 29
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Negative: 4 out of 29
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10
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DexStud8Very strong, solid album from a classic band. After listening to singles: Wrong and Peace proves how infinitely creative Depeche Mode can be.