Depeche Mode - Sounds of The Universe

Viewer Rating:paulo has rated Depeche Mode - Sounds of The Universe rating: 3 Star

Every Depeche Mode album is met by fans with a sense of great expectations. Will it live up to their past glory and will it have songs that you'll be humming for months on end? Expectations were fed and satisfied by first single “Wrong” with its excellent video but I fear for most fans the remainder of the album will leave them seriously wanting. The album opens promisingly enough with In Chains, a fairly standard DM opener addressing the usual themes of darkness with just a hint of S&M. Second track “Hole to Feed” is Gahan's first of two contributions to the album and it really goes nowhere. His second contribution “Come Back” sounds a bit like Zwan and again is rather indistinct. Songs such as “Fragile Tension” and “Perfect” see the Mode sounding more upbeat than usual and Gahan is in fine voice on both but, as with his own tracks, there is a serious lack of good choruses to hook the listener. “Jezebel” is standard solo Martin Gore and “Corrupt” is very similar to Black Celebration era DM. Overall, there is a feeling of formula to this album and the lack of strong choruses leaves the listener in a muddle and feeling that this could have been a whole lot better.

Review published on the 30 April 2009 13:43