Mike76

Ah, the Giunti manual of the New Wave! An excellent "bignami" even if I don't always agree with the evaluations.

And you rightly ask me, "What do Depeche Mode have that’s different?" They also do electronic music in the classic song format, only they have a decadent dandy approach and pay a lot of attention to formal elegance; their chilly-romantic melodies hardly ever clash with the content. Furthermore, starting out as a synth-pop band like many others, they have developed an unmistakably unique sound. This, of course, is also an opinion open to debate.

I finally saw it, although I'm afraid I watched a somewhat cut version (recorded on ret4). Nevertheless, it's a great film.

I've always heard negative things about their third album; can someone tell me something about it?

I didn't know that Gill and Allen regretted the political component of their proposal. They probably realized how jarring the combination was between the anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism rhetoric found in this album and the contract they signed with EMI. In any case, even with these huge contradictions, they are great musicians—there's no doubt about that.

Actually, when I think of "My Sharona," my hands start to itch.

A truly original album that uses fragments of easy-listening to create something "else." The only flaw is that sometimes, in the attempt to incorporate pop, it seems that pop is devouring the Talking Heads, as in the case of the opening track "Hu-oh, Love Comes To Town," where you can almost hear the Jackson Five. Nevertheless, a great innovative album, with "Tentative Decisions" and "No Compassion" being my favorite tracks.

For the general point you make about voice, I can only agree with you; personally, however, I really don't like Reznor's voice. "He was the first to compose industrial songs in the strict sense": that may be true, but I don't see it as a great merit. If Nirvana's Nevermind had been produced by Foetus, the outcome wouldn't have been very different. What comes to mind when listening to HLAH is that it's classic rock "only" produced with a different sound. Sure, in 1989 this "only" was exciting, but after the initial hype and listening to it now, there's a distinct feeling that it was indeed "only" a change of form and not of substance. Of course, this can be liked or disliked; I'm just explaining/justifying my tastes, I have no pretensions as a "little critic."

Hi Vortex, read this Banda dei Quattro - Wikipedia

I like the early Duran Duran albums because they are well-produced, have winning melodies, and they also have a "fresh" sound (for the time) without any grand artistic pretensions: they just want to entertain. When I hear "Head like a Hole," I wonder what the goal of the person who wrote it is; indeed, as you say, I'm listening to it with the ears of 2007, but if I listen to something by Ministry from "The Land Of Rape & Honey," I find it just as dated but more honest and courageous. I'm not grossed out by pop, but I find it grotesque to have an aggressive and bleak attitude, to launch invectives against the "God of Money" through catchy choruses like 883 in an industrial sauce. However, I don't dislike everything by NIN; I've heard "Closer," and it's not bad—it has a great sound, and although, as usual, the writing isn't particularly memorable, at least it doesn't fall into the kitschy territory like HLAH does. I think Reznor is a great producer but a mediocre songwriter and a terrible singer. In any case, I'll try to get my hands on that blessed "The Downward Spiral."