2008 Woodie Awards
Depeche Mode Fails To Measure Up
After 17 albums Depeche Mode lacks the orginality and creativity of past releases.
Jami Furo
Issue date: 11/11/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Depeche Mode is back with a new album entitled "Playing the Angel," featuring their new singles "Precious" and "John the Revelator." The band has been around for more than two decades and has released 17 albums, but it is impossible to tell based on this amateur-quality album that sounds straight out of 1981, when the trio's first album was released.
"Playing the Angel" holds all of the originality of white bread, and in the electronica genre, originality is a necessity. It is a genre of technological and musical innovation, and this album has nothing of the sort.
The songs on "Playing the Angel" all sound mostly alike, as well. It sounds like a comment that only someone's grandmother would make. "All that kid's music sounds alike-it sounds like a lawnmower!" In this case, however, it is true. There is little variation from song to song, which would be tolerable except that it is not good enough to hear over and over again. One of the only songs that stands out from that mold is "Precious," the group's new single that has been released off of the album. "Precious" is a catchy song with a good amount of feel and melody that can classify it as a decent song.
The British synth trio is one of the longest lived and most successful bands in their genre since they were founded in 1980. Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan, and Martin Gore make up the group, and their talent is widely known and accepted in the world of electronic music.
However, this album does not coincide with their previous accomplishments.
The album begins with a loud distortion sound that fades into the first song, "A Pain that I'm Used To." The obnoxious sound seems to last for an eternity, and it gives a terrible first impression of the album. The band establishes the repulsiveness of "Playing the Angel" early on, causing the listener to begin their listening experience reluctantly waiting for the sounds to improve. Unfortunately, the distortion that begins that album is actually a fair reflection of the quality of the album.
Each song has a definite beginning and end, but when a new song begins, it is only a reminder of the song before. Ends sound like beginnings, and beginnings sound like ends. Not to mention that the album lacks anything that distinguishes it as being an album from the year 2005 as opposed to being an album from 1981. Neither the technological nor the musical aspects exhibit any great degree of innovation. It is electronica, pure and simple. It sounds like plain, stereotypical electronica. You won't be bopping your head, and you won't be tempted to get up and dance. You won't be pondering the music, and you won't feel anything as a result of the music. It is just…electronica.
Maybe die-hard Depeche Mode fans will be pleased with the release of "Playing the Angel." They would likely be the only ones.
"Playing the Angel" holds all of the originality of white bread, and in the electronica genre, originality is a necessity. It is a genre of technological and musical innovation, and this album has nothing of the sort.
The songs on "Playing the Angel" all sound mostly alike, as well. It sounds like a comment that only someone's grandmother would make. "All that kid's music sounds alike-it sounds like a lawnmower!" In this case, however, it is true. There is little variation from song to song, which would be tolerable except that it is not good enough to hear over and over again. One of the only songs that stands out from that mold is "Precious," the group's new single that has been released off of the album. "Precious" is a catchy song with a good amount of feel and melody that can classify it as a decent song.
The British synth trio is one of the longest lived and most successful bands in their genre since they were founded in 1980. Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan, and Martin Gore make up the group, and their talent is widely known and accepted in the world of electronic music.
However, this album does not coincide with their previous accomplishments.
The album begins with a loud distortion sound that fades into the first song, "A Pain that I'm Used To." The obnoxious sound seems to last for an eternity, and it gives a terrible first impression of the album. The band establishes the repulsiveness of "Playing the Angel" early on, causing the listener to begin their listening experience reluctantly waiting for the sounds to improve. Unfortunately, the distortion that begins that album is actually a fair reflection of the quality of the album.
Each song has a definite beginning and end, but when a new song begins, it is only a reminder of the song before. Ends sound like beginnings, and beginnings sound like ends. Not to mention that the album lacks anything that distinguishes it as being an album from the year 2005 as opposed to being an album from 1981. Neither the technological nor the musical aspects exhibit any great degree of innovation. It is electronica, pure and simple. It sounds like plain, stereotypical electronica. You won't be bopping your head, and you won't be tempted to get up and dance. You won't be pondering the music, and you won't feel anything as a result of the music. It is just…electronica.
Maybe die-hard Depeche Mode fans will be pleased with the release of "Playing the Angel." They would likely be the only ones.