The new Depeche Mode album, Sounds Of The Universe, isn’t the return to greatness their publicists would have us believe.
There is one truly great song on the album, the ironically titled Wrong (also the first single; watch the intriguing video in HD here). And when I say great I mean superb. For my money one of their best songs in years, and as good an argument for single-song purchases on iTunes as anything I can think of.
That’s because almost every other song on the 13-track album is either bland or forced or just lacking the catchiness that defined the band during their great era from 1985-1990. SOTU may even be a worse album than Playing The Angel (but I’d say better than Exciter), but I’ll venture it’s legacy will end up being little more than cementing the fact that live DM playlists will continue to be dominated by classics such as Everything Counts and Enjoy The Silence.
C’mon Dave and Martin, throw your pride away. Stop letting these upstart fly-by-night UK chart bands score chart hits covering your old material and go back and cover it yourself! Daves voice is as good as ever, and Martins is even better. The production of SOTU is the best they’ve done in years (it’s just the songs that fail) and I can only imagine what a treat we’d be in for if the DM of now redid an album like A Broken Frame.