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2005's Playing the Angel proved to be one of Depeche Mode's strongest albums -- the combination of Ben Hillier's production, the emergence of David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour. As a result -- especially given the return of Hillier, the first producer to work on two Depeche albums in a row since Flood's heyday with Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion -- Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single "Wrong" didn't undercut at all. After all these years, though, Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what's quite astonishing about Sounds is how they've returned to the equipment and textures of their early-'80s work in particular while reworking it to match both Gahan and Martin Gore's current lyrical and songwriting techniques. On balance, Sounds is one of Depeche's lower-key albums, but not without explosive or dramatic moments by any means, though. "Come Back," one of Gahan's three songwriting contributions, captures a sudden sense of vast space right from its start, the deep-chugging percussion and reverberation perfectly contrasting the soft chimes on the verses, while "Peace," with an opening bassline straight out of the days of the band's pop-industrial phase, and a stellar vocal turn from Gahan, is an absolute high point.
Condition:Brand new factory sealed.
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 In Chains DVD 6:53
2 Hole to Feed 3:59
3 Wrong DVD 3:13
4 Fragile Tension 4:09
5 Little Soul DVD 3:31
6 In Sympathy 4:54
7 Peace 4:29
8 Come Back 5:15
9 Spacewalker 1:53
10 Perfect 4:33
11 Miles Away/The Truth Is 4:14
12 Jezebel DVD 4:41
13 Corrupt 8:58
Disc 2
1 Sounds of the Universe DVD / Version
2 Wrong DVD
3 Sounds of the Universe Dolby & DTS 5.1 Surround Sound / Audio
4 In Chains Audio / Mix / Multimedia Track
5 Little Soul Thomas Fehlmann Ambient Mix / Audio
6 Jezebel Audio / Mix / Multimedia Track
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