Depeche Mode - Spirit

Since the early 80's, Depeche Mode have blended synth pop, new wave, darkwave and so many other genres so seemlessly that they've become synonymous with them.  In 1981, the world was first introduced to Depeche Mode though their "Speak & Spell" album.  For the most part, this was a pretty straightforward synth pop album.  The band had yet to really get their dark sound, and Dave Gahan had yet to really get his signature sultry/dark voice.  So as you could imagine this album was very different from what you would expect.  The band that would years later become synonymous with every S&M fantasy ever here was pretty PG-13, the darkest thing here is the album cover. But it DID launch Depeche Mode into the spotlight with the gigantic pop success of "Just Can't Get Enough". This direction however proved quickly to not be a good one at all for Depeche Mode.  With 1982's "A Broken Frame", Depeche Mode seemed incredibly out of the loop. The songs here weren't nearly as punchy or enjoyable, not even catchy.  I can barely pick out a single moment on here that I enjoyed all the way through. However, if there was one slight saving grace, there were some small darker elements starting to peak through. 1983's "Construction Time Again" was, ugh, I guess a sort of improvement for Depeche Mode.  The darker elements were coming out slowly, but I just had this feeling that Depeche Mode seriously didn't have a purpose in their music. Depeche Mode finally got back on the right track with "Some Great Reward".  The band here really started embrace the dark sound that had been slowly showing up in their music.  Tracks like "People Are People" remained catchy and pop-oriented, but other tracks like "Master And Servant" showed them seriously gaining headway in this much more dark sound.  It was a far from perfect album, but Depeche Mode were getting there.  Depeche Mode's first truly great album came in the form of "Black Celebration".  While the production wasn't quite up to snuff yet, the atmosphere, lyrics, and song topics were so much more in the line of what constitutes as a Depeche Mode album.  Tracks like "A Question Of Lust" started bringing Depeche Mode down that kinky route that they would capitalize so much on later albums, while tracks like "Black Celebration" showed they still ruled the synth-pop sound while bringing in much darker elements.  In 1987 though, Depeche Mode really started to hit home with the absolutely fantastic "Music For The Masses".  This album is DARK.  The entire mood of the album is just so damn dreary, with some industrial influence thrown in here and there for good measure.  Depeche Mode by this point were ready to leave their mark on the world with one gigantic album.  THAT album, was 1990's "Violator".  At the time, this was the darkest album Depeche Mode made by far.  Heralded as one of the 90's best albums, Depeche Mode quickly became household names with gigantic and memorable singles like "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy The Silence".  It'd be a few years until we'd hear from Depeche Mode again.  In 1993, they released "Songs of Faith and Devotion", which honestly took me a while to get into.  I like the album and all, but it doesn't have the lasting impression that "Violator" and "Music for the Masses" had. That being said, it might just be the darkest album Depeche Mode have wrote.  Don't get me wrong, earlier releases from the band were certainly dark, but "Songs of Faith and Devotion" seemed just so sinister to me.  After that though, Depeche Mode started to make their downfall.  1997's "Ultra" was heavy in industrial sound which I liked, but the majority of the album was dominated by songs that were way too long and painfully boring ("Home" though is fantastic).  2001's "Exciter" started out as an interesting and much more instrumentally diverse for Depeche Mode, but quickly became ridiculously boring. 2005's "Playing the Angel" was a surprise for me however.  This album showed Depeche Mode going way back to their original darkened synth pop sound.  The results were mixed, with half of the tracks coming off sounding like an actual throwback to the best days of this band, with other songs coming off as dated.  While it wasn't perfect, it was certainly a commendable effort.  They tried to go along with the same revival sort of sound with 2009's "Sounds Of The Universe", but man was it ever a failed attempt.  While it kind of worked for them on "Playing The Angel", "Sounds of The Universe" was an hour of over long songs that were trying way too hard.  A lot of the same problems happened with "Delta Machine" in 2013, to a lesser extent.  This album was pretty heavy and pretty dark too, and contained some solid tracks. But it still seemed like a big dissapointed and more or less Depeche Mode really trying to reclaim their glory.  That was the last time we've heard from Depeche Mode.  4 years and one very mediocre single later, lets chat about this new Depeche Mode album.

(A classic for your listening pleasure)

This album starts off with “Going Backwards”, and not for nothing, it’s a really solid start.  I love the ominous, plunking pianos here as well as Dave Gahan’s performance.  In the last few years he’s been sounding like he wasn’t aging well, but here he sounds like the group released “Violator” only a year or so ago.  As far as lyrics go, Depeche Mode are getting a little preachy and political, which if you heard the lead single from this album ahead of time you won’t be too shocked.  But let’s just talk about this groove for a second.  As far as the groove and the instrumental goes, this may quite possibly be some of the best Depeche Mode work I’ve heard since “Songs Of Faith and Devotion”.  It’s not as truly sinister and dark as those days, but for a band this far into their career, I can certainly deal with this sound.  “Going Backwards” is a solid start for Depeche Mode.  It doesn’t come off as them trying to be anything but themselves, and that honestly makes me happy.  While yes they’ve traded in their dark and sort of sexual lyrics for more political ones, if you can stomach it than you’ll love this.  “Where’s The Revolution” is up next, and honestly ever since I heard this at it’s release, i really haven’t been a fan of this.  It’s not even the blatantly political lyrics here that rub me the wrong way, it all comes down honestly to just how desperate this one sounds.  While I appreciate how explosive this chorus is and just how loud things get, everything else about this one just points directly to the problems of the last few Depeche Mode albums.  Instrumentally this just comes off as Depeche Mode trying to stay hip and young.  With this album’s opening track, they just cooled it with trying to stay hip and ended up sounding younger than they have in years.   Plus, “Where’s The Revolution” is almost 5 minutes, add in the fact that the rhythm isn't nearly as hypnotic, and the fact that Dave Gahan doesn’t even sound totally on board, and you’re damn right I’m not crazy about this.  Thankfully Depeche Mode don’t last in this overblown state, and give us the much more subtle “The Worst Crime”.  Right off the bat clearly this one is a whole less explosive.  But here, Depeche Mode don’t give you every detail into their lyrics and let you form your own opinions to their music, and it comes off much more effectively.  “The Worst Crime” at it’s core is all about Dave Gahan’s performance though, as it’s really just him up against this super dark, subtle atmosphere.  It’s done so well though, every time one of those keyboards pop in I leap a little in excitement.  Not the material on this track and for most of the album isn’t absolutely AMAZING, but for Depeche Mode’s recent standards, it’s good.  I love hearing these guys on a more patience testing song. To be honest as far as Dave’s performance goes, I’m not sure what happened but he sounds youthful and full of energy.  If you’re looking for a serious slow burner that comes off well, it’s right here folks.  Up next, “Scum” has a pretty strong groove to it, not to bring up the classic comparison but man does this ever sound like something Nine Inch Nails would have done recently.  This is actually, pretty damn heavy, filled with sudden blasts of distortion and industrial rhythms that I didn’t expect to hear.  “Scum” really doesn’t get mess either, it stays on track nicely.  And while it does occasionally get a little repetitive, this is a much angrier sound for the band and I think it works great.  Dave here sound actually passionate about what he’s singing, which to be honest I can’t really remember the last time I thought that.  

As these tracks roll on, they get more and more murky sounding, thats the story with “You Move”.  Dave’s voice here honestly continues to hold up surprisingly well.  This one heads back down the ol’ S&M hols pretty hard, but it’s actually not cheesy at all and works really well for them.  This one is just so delicate and fragile throughout, and Dave continues to sound much more masculine and commanding, it’s fascinating.  The synths are gigantic here, and overall as far a a “classic” Depeche Mode track this is probably the closest you’re going to hear.  I wouldn’t say it’s anything game changing for them, but at this point in their career it’s solid.  Up next is “Cover Me”, which sees Depeche Mode going back to a much more subtle sound, with much more of a thick atmosphere.  But to be honest, while this would usually be right up my alley this one just rubs me all sort of wrong ways.  To be honest, I feel like this would have been placed on any of the last few really forgettable Depeche Mode albums.  Dave sounds like he’s not nearly as into this or even slightly passionate about this.  The imagery here is just so by-the-numbers that is comes off sounding like a bands trying desperately to be Depeche Mode.  I do like the chilly atmosphere and all, but that’s really about it. Not to mention, this one goes on for almost 5 minutes, and not even the progressive sounding synths towards the end save anything.  And it’s a shame, because the last minute here has plenty of epic sounding qualities.   Up next though is the criminally short “Eternal”.  This one sounds so much like classic Depeche Mode, it’s almost weird.  The subtleness, the very dark undertones, the twinkling synths, all of this is just so damn impenetrable.  And when those drums come in, things get heavy really quick.  My only real issue on “Eternal” is just how short it is.   I would have loved to god into this more, but it’s only around for two and a half minutes.  It’s fantastic though, and it gives you that serious combination of dark and beautiful that Depeche Mode used to give us.  Sadly Depeche Mode, as alright as they sound here, begin to fall apart.  While overall this album has great tracks, Depeche Mode seem so fragile and often fall apart.  Take for example “Poison Heart” with these plucked guitars right of the bat that get really goofy really fast.  I do like the pacing on this one, but as far as lyrics and Dave’s performance here goes, it’s far from good.  I feel like this one deep down has so much going for it, but it’s just so gimmicky and half assed.  At the end of the day, “Poison Heart” is the epitome of Depeche Mode desperately trying to be relevant and “hip”.  I do however really love the atmosphere and pacing on this track, as well as the synths towards the end. 

Depeche Mode still have a few tricks up there sleeve, one of them being “So Much Love’”.  Instantly my first thought is, did I somehow skip to a track on their classic album “Black Celebration”?  Somehow on this one, Depehce Mode were able to truly capture their 80’s sound and NOT have it come off corny.  What kind of sorcery even is this?  It’s weird, the paranoia is here, and the synths end up sounding completely like they’re from a different time period.  “So Much Love” is absolutely so fantastic that I want to go back and listen to the entire Depeche Mode back catalogue.  But for now, as by-the-books as these recordings are, this is probably the best thing they’ve done in so long.  But just like that, “Poorman” which is absolutely awful.  This one sounds just as “retro” sounding as the last track, with synths that once again sound like they got ripped right from older Depeche Mode albums.  However, this time they just come off as date and seriously corny.  Dave seriously couldn’t sound less interested in his performance, and once again these political themes just make this one so wishy-washy.  Thankfully though, the backing vocals make this a little more enjoyable.  On the other hand, “No More (This Is The Last Time)” really doesn’t work too bad at all for Depeche Mode, it actually comes off sounding like something Nine Inch Nails’ “Year Zero.  The synths here are HEAVY, and the atmosphere on this one is absolutely crushing.  As simple as this is for them, it actually works really well.  See, when they just let loose and not think too much about being hip, they can still really pump out the same sort of material that they were doing in the late 80’s.  Which brings us to our finale here, “Fail”.  This one certainly has a very grim atmosphere, seriously this is a dark one.  And the synths are once again really a solid throwback.  Now, this is probably far from Dave’s best performance here, however the atmosphere does give a little something to fall back on.  I love the drums in the background and the dreary tone to everything.  However, I just can’t get over Dave’s lackluster performance.  I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say that Depeche Mode are BACK for good.  But they’ve totally made some big strides here.

Rating: 7.3/10

Give A Listen To: “Going Backwards”, “Scum”, “You Move”, “So Much Love”

Overall Thoughts:  Since the mid 90's Depeche Mode has grasped on to their former fame for dear life.  They've gone from everything to a throwback sound, to a heavier sound, to a ton of other sounds, that seriously have been far from flattering.  This album is far from perfect, and more often than not it shows the precise reasons why Depeche Mode haven't really had a big record in a while.  However, there are some really decent songs on here as well.  So many that I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed this much of a Depeche Mode album.  So no, it's not perfect, it's a little preachy, and their age is obviously getting up there as well.  But that being said, if they produce more material like this, I'll continue to listen.