The full addition of Alan Wilder to Depeche Mode's lineup created a perfect troika that would last another 11 years, as the combination of Martin Gore's songwriting, Wilder's arranging, and David Gahan's singing and live star power resulted in an ever more compelling series of albums and singles. Construction Time Again, the new lineup's first full effort, is a bit hit and miss nonetheless, but when it does hit, it does so perfectly. Right from the album's first song, "Love, In Itself," something is clearly up; Depeche ...
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The full addition of Alan Wilder to Depeche Mode's lineup created a perfect troika that would last another 11 years, as the combination of Martin Gore's songwriting, Wilder's arranging, and David Gahan's singing and live star power resulted in an ever more compelling series of albums and singles. Construction Time Again, the new lineup's first full effort, is a bit hit and miss nonetheless, but when it does hit, it does so perfectly. Right from the album's first song, "Love, In Itself," something is clearly up; Depeche never sounded quite so thick with its sound before, with synths arranged into a mini-orchestra/horn section and real piano and acoustic guitar spliced in at strategic points. Two tracks later, "Pipeline" offers the first clear hint of an increasing industrial influence (the bandmembers were early fans of Einstürzende Neubauten), with clattering metal samples and oddly chain gang-like lyrics and vocals. The album's clear highlight has to be "Everything Counts," a live staple for years, combining a deceptively simple, ironic lyric about the music business with a perfectly catchy but unusually arranged blending of more metallic scraping samples and melodica amid even more forceful funk/hip-hop beats. Elsewhere, on "Shame" and "Told You So," Gore's lyrics start taking on more of the obsessive personal relationship studies that would soon dominate his writing. Wilder's own songwriting contributions are fine musically, but lyrically, "preachy" puts it mildly, especially the environment-friendly "The Landscape Is Changing." ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Fine; Collectible. As with many of the 1980s' most brilliant pop stars, Depeche Mode have too often been relegated to period film soundtracks and compilations to evoke surface nostalgia rather than their unique emotional and musical complexity. From their earliest days with Vince Clarke (before he left to form Yaz, and later Erasure) creating disjointed, analog Synth Pop that evoked technological and social alienation, to their evolution through the '90s evoking epic orchestrations of heavier electronics and production with a force that often borders on Industrial intensity, they have always been successful on both the dancefloor and in the music store. Dave Gahan's sorrowful, impassioned vocals evoke feelings of loneliness as he presents mischievous lyrics of tongue-in-cheek social commentary, sexual politics and bittersweet romance. As they progressed, their symphony of synthesizers no longer represented cold futurism, but an otherworldly warmth via smooth melodies and clean dance beats. This is the original Sire 1-23900 with lyric sleeve from 1983. Both the cover and the record are in positively excellent condition. There are no visible scratches.
