Depeche Mode
Sounds of the universe

THE REVIEW

Reviewing an album that hasn't been released yet is difficult, especially because you can't have feedback from those who read and perhaps listen to the album. But I want to do it anyway, also because last night, coming home, I had the pleasant surprise of finding a link in my fb inbox to download the new album by a band I love very much and many on debaser, Depeche Mode, the ones I consider the masters of synth pop.

Depeche Mode are the only band that survived the new wave surge of the '80s (Human League, Heaven 17 to name a couple) and I would say they survived it greatly, they have grown and since their first album "Speak and Spell," their music has evolved and improved like fine wine. And if in the first albums I find a lightheartedness that they inevitably lost as the years and albums passed, they have become more aware of their means, creating memorable albums such as "Ultra," "Violator," and "Songs of Faith and Devotion," just to name the ones I love the most. "Home" was judged the most beautiful pop song of the '90s by one of the many polls that often yield strange results in the music field.

Even "Exciter" and "Playing the Angel" are notable albums, with genuine gems like "Dream On," "Freelove," "Precious," "John the Revelator," and "A Pain That I'm Used To."

This is an album they themselves have defined as arrogant, and I think I understand the true meaning of the phrase, in the sense that they do what they know how to do best. It's certainly not an immediate album like "Playing the Angel," and it doesn't contain hits that stick in your mind upon first listen, except perhaps "Wrong," which is beautiful, and its video is equally excellent.

However, it's an album that gets under your skin little by little, as you listen to it, where Martin Gore's guitar plays a significant role, with compelling riffs starting from "In Chain" (and "Fragile Tension" will become one of their classics), where you immediately sense an embarrassing awareness of their means, in short, a tough album, not at all sycophantic, which I believe can win the hearts of fans as it is doing with me.

Needless to say, I'll be on the grass at the Olimpico in June to watch them live once again, and believe me, they are captivating live, even though they are no longer young lads.

And I'll buy the original album.

See you next time.