The album. The singles. The songs. The tour. The compilation.
Simply put, one of the best B-sides ever - I have absolutely no idea why it didn't make the album. The melody, the energy, the sound, Dave's performance are all top notch, I wouldn't have been shocked to see it as an A-side.
PLAYING THE ANGEL
October, 2005
A return to form? This album is often seen as such, both as a positive and a negative. Some saw it as them finally sounding like Depeche Mode again, and some saw it as them returning to an old formula and giving up experimantation. I'm more in the former camp, I like how much livelier it sounds than Exciter (and even Ultra).
A Pain That I'm Used To
The previous album started with Dave whisper-singing, this one starts with a piercing siren sound that scares the hell out of you if you didn't adjust the volume before the first listen. With an incredible rhyme-structure in the lyrics, it's a great song with an explosive start, going quiet in the first verse, pick up the tempo in the second leading into a harder chorus and back to the "explosion".
John The Revelator
Another winner, lyrics inspired by a gospel, a wonderful up-tempo DM-style electro blues track with a call and reponse chorus.
Suffer Well
OK, the first Depeche Mode track without a songwriting contribution by Martin since 1984, the first ever DM song with writers from outside the DM camp, and more excitingly, the first ever DM song to include Dave as a songwriter - and it's pretty much business as usual. Another nice up-tempo song that doesn't sound out of place at all, even the lyrics and the title is very much on brand. After Paper Monsters (which was OK as a solo debut but nowhere near the band's standard), I was somewhat hesitant about Dave's inclusion in the songwriting, but - apparently - there was nothing to worry about, right?
The Sinner In Me
Track 4 kind of closes the first third of the album for me, this quartet of songs clearly show a revitalised band, presenting their classic sound in a new way. While having a slightly slower tempo than the previous ones, this song is another strong offering, an even darker tone with a wonderfully noisy breakdown part after the second chorus. It also worked incredibly well live, definitely one of my favourites from this era.
Precious
As a counterpart to the harsh-sounding song that preceeds it, Precious starts the mellower mid-part of the album. A touch too smooth for me, and at first it seemed a bit too similar to the zillion synth-pop acts who tried to sound like DM, but the lyrics and melody are really wonderful, and (though it took some time) it's really become a live classic.
Macro
The first Martin lead vocal on the album, a track with such an unusual melody, it's deliciously weird.
I Want It All
So when I voiced my concerns about Dave & co's songwriting, this is what I was worried about. It's not outright terrible, and Martin's backing vocals in the last verse and the closing electronic instrumental part (which was used as the intro for the live shows) definitely lift it up a bit, but it's mostly forgettable mediocrity. Should have been replaced with Newborn.
Nothing's Impossible
The final Dave co-written song, not the most original lyrics, but a pleasent enough listening experience.
Introspectre
A short instrumental interlude - similar to the last 2 albums - leads into the closing section of the album. Not very memorable but serves its purpose.
Damaged People
Especially compared to the weirdness of Marcro, this song is much more like the classic Martin-ballad, but with a strangely musical-esque melody.
Lilian
Back to a more up-tempo song with a classic synth-pop sound, but a bit of a letdown. Should have been replaced with Free.
The Darkest Star
Probably the best album closer since Higher Love, a wonderfully dark (well, what else could it be with this title?) song, trademark Depeche doom and gloom updated to 2005.
*
A Pain That I'm Used To
Newborn
Another great B-side, love the interplay between the mellower chorus and the harder verses. Should have been on the album. The foster remix by Kettel is also a winner.
Suffer Well
Better Days
A very quick and short one, nowhere near the standard of the previous 2 B-sides, but an OK if somewhat throwaway track.
John The Revelator / Lilian
Walking In My Shoes
Suffer Well
Damaged People / Macro
Home
Just Can't Get Enough
Everything Counts
North America October-December 2005
Europe January-April 2006
Clearly a reaction to the previous tour, the hits are back! Actually, this is the first time (bar The Singles Tour for obvious reasons) where the set is entirely made up from tracks from the current album and only singles from before. Given the album motto (pain and suffering in various tempos) translated to tour motto (pain and suffering in various countries), I thought this would be the perfect occasion for a classic hit that heavily features the word "pain" (Strangelove) to return to the set, but it wasn't meant to be (yet). Luckily, the "only singles" approach did not mean no surprises: Everything Counts returned to the set with a great new arrangement after 12 years of abscence, and Goodnight Lovers made its live debut (with Christian Eigner playing keyboards instead of drums) on this tour, switching from their usual "finish with a bang" method to "send them home with a gentle goodbye".
Macro is notable for Dave staying on stage to sing backing vocals on a Martin song for the firs time ever, and Home used the arrangement from the Air remix for the intro and the first verse, before switching back to the album version.
As usual, the set didn't change much at the beginning, Martin had 2 alternating options for 2 of his songs: Marcro was occasionally played instead of Damaged People, and A Question Of Lust usually replaced Somebody when they played multiple nights at the same venue.
Martin dusted off his piano version of Shake The Disease (introduced on his solo tour in 2003) for a one-off show KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in December, and got the taste for it so much that it became the regular encore starter replacing Somebody from late January. The third Paris show in February brought a massive surprise: the return of Leave In Silence for the first time since 1986. It was also a piano version with Martin on vocals, played in the main set in the Damaged People / Macro slot, and then turned into an occasional alternate to Shake The Disease as the piano song starting the encores.
I have an enourmous amount of fond memories from this tour, as it was the first one when I had the opportunity to travel to multiple shows, so I did my best, went to places I always wanted to, and even when the set didn't change, every show had something unique and highly entertaining.
Best audio source is (not surprisingly) the official video release "Touring The Angel - Live In Milan" recorded over 2 nights, which includes the full set (with Macro and Shake The Disease) plus Martin's alternate songs from those dates (Damaged People, A Question Of Lust) as extras. I would also recommend finding a radio broadcast of the KROQ show, which opened with 3 unique semi-acoustic songs (Personal Jesus, Walking In My Shoes, Precious) only rehearsed and played for that one occasion.
The tour was originally meant to finish at the newly renovated Wembley Arena (re-opening with the 2 Depeche Mode shows) in early April, but they decided to add more shows with a slightly revised setlist, playing mostly open-air venues and festivals.
Stripped
Home
In Your Room
Photographic / Just Can't Get Enough
The first half of the main set had some changes in order, saw the return of Stripped while Policy Of Truth was dropped. On festival dates, Martin only sang Home in the middle of the set, but on regular shows, he followed it up with a solo performance of voice and guitar only. He first tried Blue Dress a couple of times (never to return after that), then switched to Judas (which stayed as an occasional alternate) and finally settled on It Doesn't Matter Two (that also featured Peter on bass and Christian on drums) as the main option.
The second half started with the return of In Your Room (zephyr mix arrangement), followed by the live debut of Nothing's Impossible (sounded great live, not played at festivals), and then the hits.
The biggest surprise came in the encores, after the usual Martin piano song: Photographic returned to the set for the first time since 1986, presented in the Some Bizzare version, or you could say the oringinal version, since that was how they played it live back then, and it was rearranged for the Speak & Spell album (a far superior version). It got the crowd going, no doubt about that, but it didn't sound particularly good, just a fun novelty thing, and the band clearly didn't take it seriously either.
The Sinner In Me and Just Can't Get Enough were only used as alternate tracks a handful of times.
Most of these shows were recorded and released through Live Here Now, and they usually sound fantastic, they are highly recommended if you're into this kind of thing.
*
Someone at the management clearly thought that after paying for the album, the singles, the concert tickets (plus merchandise plus travel and accommodation costs), and the 3 great album reissues, the fans must have tons of cash left, so let's release a live video, cds of almost every show from the open air legs of the tour, 3 more album reissues, a brand new single and a best of compilation on cd and dvd in quick succession.
Martyr
The Best Of Depeche Mode, Volume 1
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