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Depeche Mode Playing the Angel Release Date: 10/18/2005 Score: 7.4 out of 10.0 |
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I'll just come out and lay it on the table - Playing the Angel is the best DM album since Violator (1990). But how much significance does that really mean? Not a great deal. We all know that Depeche Modes' peak was 1990 and they had a significant downfall after that, but it was also a time where their popularity increased ten-fold. Well, in 2005, the band still can create fantastic psycho-sexual moody electronic new wave.
Playing the Angel has by far the most organic rock sound of any DM album and moving to that style hasn't affected the ability for Martin Gore and David Gahan to produce massively catchy electro-synths. It's nowhere more apparent than the debut single, "Precious," which is undeniably the best song from DM since 1990's "Policy of Truth" and "Enjoy the Silence." In fact, "Precious" may well be one of the top DM songs of all time, with it's duo keyboard loops running parallel, with a tight drum beat and Gahan's always reliable vocals. If you can imagine a modern day, slow tempo "Enjoy the Silence", this is almost what you'd get.
Along with the new sonic changes, DM also added a new songwriter to the mix -- David Gahan wrote three songs on the new album following his minor successful solo debut, Paper Monsters, in 2003. These three tracks, "Suffer Well", "I Want it All", and "Nothing's Impossible" may not be the best songs on the record, but they all have killer ambient atmospheres and interestingly laid out beats.
Myself, I've never been a big fan of the solos that Martin Gore does on DM records, and with that I am very annoyed by "Macro" and "Damaged People" the Gore-led songs. Hey don't get me wrong, Gore is a fantastic songwriter, but his voice is merely a great tool as a backup for Gahan's dark, deep voice, which matches the music in incredible ways.
In the end, DM has made another good album, though not GREAT. With songs such as "Lilian", "A Pain I Used to Know" and the amazing "Precious", DM definitely has not lost the edge and ability. They just drove away from some of their typical roots a bit more this time, and the results are more mixed.
-Anthony Nguyen
November 5, 2005
