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Mar 16, 2017It’s the political songs, however, that give the album cohesion and purpose, not to mention an outlook that’s admirably unafraid to express contempt.
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Mar 16, 2017Robust and fearless, Spirit may end up being one of the earliest and best salvos of its political era.
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Apr 24, 2017You have to go back to 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion to find a more consistently flawless record from the band. Lyrically the trio is in top form.
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Mar 20, 2017The group's 14th album, Spirit, produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine, Foals), sounds fresh and current.
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Mar 17, 2017In many ways, this is Delta Machine taken into a more organic direction, offering glimpses of past efforts in the process. The decision to let the songs breathe through airy layers was wise, because you can easily focus on them this way.
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Mar 16, 2017On Spirit, the moments where inspiration dips are few, far between and swamped by those where Depeche Mode sound raw and alive and rigidly opposed to merely going through the motions.
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Mar 15, 2017With their latest release, Depeche Mode prove they have both the musical depth and strength of conviction to outlast us all.
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Q MagazineMar 14, 2017Here their sound is largely sharpened and polished by their unmistakable anger. [May 2017, p.98]
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Mar 13, 2017It's their best since 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion.
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Feb 28, 2017Blow by blow, it all adds up to Depeche Mode's best album in years. [Apr 2017, p.95]
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The WireJun 2, 2017Now more than ever, political songs need engagement and direct prescription. In that respect Spirit rarely cuts it. But as with many DM albums, it can still resonate in quieter moments such as “Cover Me”, and the group’s continued existence is one of the great love affairs between man and machine in modern music. [Apr 2017, p.56]
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Mar 31, 2017The momentum does slacken, though, and the album doesn’t feel particularly structured. Still, songs such as the fierce ‘Scum’ and the stately ‘No More’ are worthy additions to the band’s catalogue, and have far more grit and vividness than you’d expect from any band 37 years into their career.
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Mar 16, 2017They sometimes drift into heavy-handed polemics ("Where’s the Revolution"). But with a smart mix of techno-leaning keyboards and bluesy guitar, à la their 1990 high-water mark, Violator, it’s easy to get swept away in their gospel.
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Mar 13, 2017Only diluted by a couple of thin tracks, Spirit is an impressively robust late-career album. Emotionally naked yet clad in thick, metallic armour, Depeche Mode are growing old angrily, and it suits them.
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UncutFeb 28, 20172013's Delta Machine saw Ben Hiller help them access their mid-life pain in dark post-dubstep. This stint with James Ford, though, has effected a more overt compromise. [Apr 2017, p.26]
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Feb 28, 2017That soulfulness amid the misery is the key to making sense of Spirit.
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Mar 20, 2017This is a band whose effortlessness can misguide you into thinking they’re not trying. Don’t be fooled.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 93 out of 123
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Mixed: 18 out of 123
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Negative: 12 out of 123
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Mar 17, 2017
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Mar 17, 2017
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Mar 19, 2017