Depeche Mode
Sounds Of The Universe

Depeche Mode is the only band from the eighties still capable of delivering great albums. That's what they used to say, right? Well, "Sounds of the Universe" has absolutely no reason, aside from its name, to be listened to.

An album in which everything is tremendously anonymous, starting from the title and cover to the songs it contains.

What was supposed to be the vintage album of the now-famous trio from Basildon turns out to be a more or less remarkable flop, retaining only a few sounds sprinkled here and there, probably recovered from the early versions of "Space Invaders." A shame, truly a shame, because with a great single like "Wrong," claustrophobic and obsessive in the best Depeche style, one expected great things from the band's twelfth studio album. But it takes little to realize the illusion.

No thrills, no flashes, everything flat and sterile from start to finish. It could be dismissed as a bad album, if it weren't for the fact that when reviewing something, a definitive word like "bad" has no meaning. Essentially, however, it's not wrong to talk about a poverty of ideas and a lack of inventiveness. The instrumental part, always meticulously curated in every previous album, seems rather relegated to an exclusive role of accompaniment for a pop song. Accompaniment to what is, it should be said, the splendid performance of Dave, gritty and unexpectedly rock. But it's just energy that finds no outlet, and remains bitterly dispersed somewhere. Martin, now completely stripped of his guitars, sings only one song, "Jezebel", possibly one of the few tracks worth saving (besides "Wrong") along with "Little Soul", "Corrupt", and "Peace" (though with an embarrassing chorus).

The only glimmer of hope for "Sounds of the Universe" remains the fact that tradition teaches us that any Depeche Mode album has always been difficult to assimilate on first impact. If it had been another band, it would have been an album I would have discarded after five minutes, but what can you do, as a fan, sooner or later, I will give it another chance. Definitely not now.