Reviews
4 Stars (out of 5) - "...ranks alongside...BLACK CELEBRATION as their darkest album to date....dry, dislocated, burnt-out and sometimes beautiful songwriting....Gone are the big, roguishly aggressive hooks, replaced by industrialised trip-hop beats...and widescreen spaces...", Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997.", "'Barrel of a Gun' is classic Depeche Mode: down-plus tempo; Gahan’s tortured baritone squeezing the lemon of Martin Gore’s teeny-bop, S&M lyrics; guitars, synths, and drum machines deliberately emasculated like so much ground meat.", 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Songwriter Martin Gore has plenty of dark passion to document....moody, pulsating ballads such as `The Bottom Line' and `The Love Thieves' are ideal vehicles for Gahan's brooding baritone and for the band's ever-increasing sense of tender intuition...", "..combines up-to-the-second synth effects...with ripping melodies--all supported by the grim sonic architecture that long ago made DM the darlings of many a sour teen. Imposing spires of synths, industrial rivets of percussion, churchy organs, and grave vocals erect an edifice of reverent dread..." - Rating: B+, (6 out of 10) - "...Simeon's pristine production...fits Depeche Mode's need to conceal their age in sleekness. Rather than co-opt drum'n'bass, they do what they've done since VIOLATOR: merge machine aesthetics and corporate machinery into a punkishly forbidding indolence..."
