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List Price: $18.98 | | Label: Mute/EMI
Salesrank: 1685
Released: April 21, 2009 |
| Our Price: $7.16 |
| Used Price: $4.00 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Sounds Of The Universe Track Listing:
1. In Chains
2. Hole To Feed
3. Wrong
4. Fragile Tension
5. Little Soul
6. In Sympathy
7. Peace
8. Come Back
9. Spacewalker
10. Perfect
11. Miles Away/The Truth Is
12. Jezebel
13. Corrupt
Editorial Review:
2009 release from the veteran British Electronic rockers. Eclectic and energized, the band's new release is their most dazzling and diverse album in decades. Recorded in Santa Barbara and New York, Depeche Mode returned to using a lot of vintage gear, from analogue synthesizers to drum machines, in order to conjure up the retro-futuristic arrangements featured on the album. Lyrically the release contains many of the group's enduring obsessions plus more overt black humor than any of their previous collections. The release marks a reunion between the band and producer Ben Hillier, who worked with the band on Playing The Angel. Features the single 'Wrong'. Mute.
Sounds Of The Universe Reviews:
Old is New Again... 
2009-11-30 - Sounds of the Universe is like an unholy paring between DM's Speek and Spell mixed with Exiter. Much like human breeding, it is best if incest is not practiced. I wish they'd gone in a different direction stylistically rather than trying to rehash the dull and boring parts of Exiter with bleeps and bops of Speek and Spell.
I'm going to pretend this album doesn't exist in the DM discography.
Worth Buying For Cool Vibes and Good Crooning 
2009-11-16 - eh, it isn't that bad.
Personally we like
"Playing the Angel" a bit more.
Both are much better than the Previous two Depeche Mode releases,
most people agree.(Ultra and Exciter)
Exciter was an ok CD, maybe the DVD of "one night in paris" was more exciting?
Personally, I like the "oh, yeahs" being screamed.
I like every Depeche Mode item i ever owned.
They have a certain aura and vibe i like.
AND I actually do sometimes buy Morrissey and U2 stuff,
the contempararies of DM from the 1980's
and must say this is way better than their stuff!
Ironic to me, in all the TV and airplay U2 gets in my East Coast Sector.
Morrissey is mostly unknown where I live--it usually is carried in record stores after
I special order it, as no one knows what people want. Or I am cool, something like that.
Great Album! 
2009-11-12 - This is great. I've been a DM fan since a little boy back in the early 80's. This album is great all the tracks are good and you don't get tired of listening to them. I highly look forward to the next new album. Hopefully it will be soon!
The sounds of the Vintage Depeche Mode.
2009-11-01 - I have been a huge fan of Depeche Mode since I was around 12 or 13 years old when I heard their music on the radio station Q-101 back in Chicago. Many years since then including buying their CDs, I came to notice a profound change from the light, somewhat obtuse experimental pop of "Broken Frame" and "Construction Time" towards the darker and more austere industrial electronica of "Violator" through the harsh electronica of "Playing The Angel". All in all, I've always been willing to wait years between releases because of how DM evolved between releases.
Their newest album "Sounds of the Universe" proves this with a profound departure from it's immediate predecessors and marks a welcome return to the early days of 1982-84 DM. It almost seems like a long overdue sequel to "Construction Time Again" that took 26 years to release. :) The bell-chime sounds heard in "In Chains" reinforce my point with this review. While certainly having 21st century technology and polish, SOTU has the feeling of DM actually hopping into a time machine, travelling back to the New Wave era of 1982-84, taking the recording equipment from the studios that existed at that time, bringing it back to 2009-10 and into today's studio and using that recording technology in addition and "Sounds of the Universe".
Some of the harder edged styles are maintained on "Hole to Feed" as well as the grating (not in a bad way) turbulence of "Come Back". Even then, they are a far distant cry from anything on "Playing The Angel" or "Violator".
On the other side of the coin, "Peace", "Perfect" and "Corrupt" are easy fits for the 1983-ish era. "Peace" is an experimental trip back to the early 80s with 21st century polish in every way, including even the rhythm. "Perfect" is the same way too. "Corrupt" could almost have been recorded in 1982. All of them are great songs. Other favorites are "In Sympathy" and "Fragile Tension" which are a class of their own.
Many fans of "Violator", "Ultra", or "Playing The Angel" will likely find this album to be a change of seasons or a disappointment but not me. I happen to be a much of a fan of their pre-1984 era as I am of post 1985 DM and on rare occasions enjoy "Broken Frame" even more than "Violator" or "Ultra". A lot of post 1989-DM fans are not going to like SOTU a whole lot or should expect a completely different sound but for me, as a fan of the lighter DM of early days, it is a real treat to hear this long forgotten side of Depeche Mode. It took a while for me to to sink in but "Sounds of The Universe" is once again another landmark chapter in Depeche Mode's history. Highly Recommended.
Not much 'wrong' here.
2009-10-17 - After all the hoopla over 'Playing The Angel' I'm really don't understand why more people aren't appreciating 'Sounds Of The Universe'.
'Playing The Angel' was far from perfect even though it had some great tracks. The euphoria around that release seemed to hinge on the fact that the band had put out a more electronic collection that their previous, recent efforts. SOTU is, if anything even more electronic sounding but with an ingenious use of retro keyboard sounds polished by modern production techniques. So, clearly, just sounding electronic isn't going to help people enjoy these songs even if that's what was apparently the draw last time.
SOTU is a more complete album than 'Playing The Angel', for the most part the song writing is as good as ever and the production is excellent. There is no need to change producers or bring back Alan Wilder. The sound of the record recalls classic, early Depeche Mode.
One thing that has bemused me has been the choice of singles released from SOTU. 'Wrong' is in my opinion one of the less interesting tracks here and so is 'Peace'. The accompanying videos for these songs were baffling - who needs to see disturbing violence in a music video? Yet the video for 'Wrong' is up for an award, so what do I know? The third single release, the Dave Gahan penned 'Hole To Feed' is the first single release that is more representative of the album as a whole.
Once again, the freeware program 'Audacity' came in useful for chopping off the first minute and a half of 'In Chains' and the end of 'Corrupt' - minutes of forgettable 'drama' that ultimately detract from two otherwise great tracks. Less is more.
I do have to say, that the first couple of times that I listened to these songs I was deeply disappointed but with repeated listens this album does reveal its considerable gifts.
