Depeche Mode
Exciter
(Mute/Reprise)
Yep, it's a Depeche Mode album. Martin
Gore's lyrics include "I," "you," "dreaming," "danger," "pain," "love." So what else is new? The
ability for the band to keep it together for a full album departed long ago. Ultra, from
1997 was an improvement over its direct predecessors like Songs of Faith and Devotion, and
I approach their new releases not expecting the jaw-dropping awe of Music for the Masses.
So, on that level, Exciter is something of a success. Notably, the lead single "Dream
On," and "Freelove" -- a mature version of "Master and Servant," if you will, in which the
narrator wants to insure there is "no hidden catch/no strings attached." I still posit that the band's sound misses Alan Wilder and his percussion/beat contributions.
Get whoever you want to concoct the remixes, I don't buy the 12"s anymore though, and the album
tracks are missing some punch. This release's version of the autobiographical track, "the Dead
of Night" almost works as a discussion of lads' Led Zep-esque hard partying ways (dMode have had
no shortage of the rock-n-roll excesses), but its stop-start cadence distracts. Better is the
simply sweet rhyming of "Breathe." So it's not my favorite album from them, but I'm also not a
black-clad teen anymore. Don't worry, I've still got tix for the local stop of the tour. Rating: 6
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