Sounds of the Universe | ||||
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File:Sounds of the Universe Album Cover.jpg | ||||
Studio album by Depeche Mode | ||||
Released | 20 April 2009 | |||
Recorded | May–December 2008; Sound Design (Santa Barbara, California) Chung King Studios (New York City, New York) |
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Genre | Synthpop, alternative dance[1] | |||
Length | 60:52 | |||
Label | Mute | |||
Producer | Ben Hillier | |||
Depeche Mode chronology | ||||
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Singles from Sounds of the Universe | ||||
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Sounds of the Universe is the twelfth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released in Europe on 20 April 2009 and in the United States and Canada on 21 April 2009. It was supported by the 2009–10 concert tour Tour of the Universe.
As with the previous album, Playing the Angel, Dave Gahan has once again written three songs with Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott: "Hole to Feed", "Come Back" and "Miles Away/The Truth Is".[2] "Spacewalker" and the bonus track "Esque" are instrumentals. Martin Gore shares lead singing duties with Gahan on "In Chains", "Peace" and "Little Soul", he sings the lead of "Jezebel" and the B-side "The Sun and the Moon and the Stars" on the second disc of the deluxe box set. The B-side "Oh Well" is the first track ever to be co-written by Gore and Gahan. The album ends with a short hidden instrumental track after "Corrupt".
Three singles were released from the album; "Wrong", "Peace", and a double A-side of "Fragile Tension" and "Hole to Feed". "Perfect" was also released in the US as a promotional single.
The album was released by Capitol Records in the United States and by EMI in Canada, marking the first time in the band's catalog that saw distribution from EMI within North America, where previous albums were released by Sire Records and Reprise Records, a division of Warner Music Group.
Contents |
While Dave Gahan was still busy with his solo album Hourglass (2007), Martin Gore was in his home studio in Santa Barbara, California, working on new songs. In May 2008 the band hit the studio to record their most anticipated twelfth album.[3][4] As a producer, Ben Hillier took the strings again, because the band were so satisfied with their previous effort together on Playing the Angel (2005).
The band described the time in the studio as very productive, a total of twenty-two songs were created and it was difficult to choose the right songs for the album. Five of the songs not used on the album were released as part of the deluxe box set.[5]
Short video clips of the band and production team at work in the studio were regularly posted on the band's homepage.
Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 70/100[6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The A.V. Club | A−[7] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+[8] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 7/10[10] |
Pitchfork Media | 6.3/10[11] |
PopMatters | 5/10[12] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin | 6/10[14] |
The Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sounds of the Universe received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 70, based on 28 reviews.[6] Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt stated that on Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode "still sound genuinely inspired"[8] and Ned Raggett of Allmusic gave the album four out of five stars, concluding: "Sounds of the Universe is a grower, relying on a few listens to fully take effect, but when it does, it shows Depeche Mode are still able to combine pop-hook accessibility and their own take on 'roots' music for an electronic age with sonic experimentation and recombination."[1] Awarding the album five stars, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph noted that the album "shows up the imaginative constraints of most guitar-based rock."[16]
However, Rolling Stone critic Melissa Maerz felt that "the result sounds like a time machine back to the Eighties", adding that "Depeche Mode should be poised for a comeback, but it's too soon to unpack those black turtlenecks."[13] Bill Stewart of PopMatters rated the album five out of ten, saying Depeche Mode "tempt us with a strong first half and then dump us in a collection of tossed off b-sides."[12] Jon Caramanica wrote for The New York Times that while the album "lacks the fragility of 1984's Some Great Reward or the earned attitude of 1990's Violator, it's unmistakably an attempt at revisiting the past, admirable either as an act of defiant stubbornness or tenacious commitment", but also opined that "even at its most imaginative, this is seamless Depeche Mode filler, music that could be made by any number of acolytes."[17]
Despite the fact that lead single "Wrong" spent a sole week on the UK Singles Chart at number twenty-four, Sounds of the Universe reached number two on the UK Albums Chart—the band's highest position since 1997's chart-topping Ultra—, as well as number three on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 80,000 units in its first week of release.[18] However, the album only spent one week in the UK and US top ten, and (like its predecessor Playing the Angel) only spent four weeks on the UK chart altogether. Despite its high chart placing, it was the band's lowest selling studio album in the UK, and is their second album to fail to achieve a certification from the BPI (after 2001's Exciter). It also failed to achieve a certification in the US, though was eventually ranked number 200 on the Billboard 200 year-end chart for 2009.[19]
Sounds of the Universe was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards, but lost to Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.[20] The album's sleeve design was voted number ten on the 2009 Best Art Vinyl poll.[21]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
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1. | "In Chains" | Martin Gore | 6:53 | |
2. | "Hole to Feed" | Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott | 3:59 | |
3. | "Wrong" | Gore | 3:13 | |
4. | "Fragile Tension" | Gore | 4:09 | |
5. | "Little Soul" | Gore | 3:31 | |
6. | "In Sympathy" | Gore | 4:54 | |
7. | "Peace" | Gore | 4:29 | |
8. | "Come Back" | Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott | 5:15 | |
9. | "Spacewalker" | Gore | 1:53 | |
10. | "Perfect" | Gore | 4:33 | |
11. | "Miles Away/The Truth Is" | Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott | 4:14 | |
12. | "Jezebel" | Gore | 4:41 | |
13. | "Corrupt" (runs to 8:58 with a 42-second hidden track beginning at 8:17) | Gore | 8:59 |
iTunes bonus track | ||||||||||
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No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |||||||
14. | "Oh Well" (Black Light Odyssey Dub) | Gore, Gahan | 5:02 |
Its running time makes it the longest Depeche Mode studio album, narrowly ahead of Ultra's 60:04.
Sounds of the Universe was released in five different formats:
Contains the standard 13-track album.
Contains the standard 13-track album. The iTunes Store version includes two bonus tracks:
Contains the standard 13-track album on 2 LPs, as well as a CD of the album (as per the standard CD).
Contains the standard 13-track album, plus a bonus DVD with exclusive features:
With iTunes Pass, fans receive new and exclusive singles, remixes, video and other content from Sounds of the Universe over a set period of time, delivered to their libraries as soon as they're available. In addition, the iTunes standard pre-order release of Sounds of the Universe contained "Oh Well" (Black Light Odyssey Dub) as track 14, along with an exclusive edit of "Wrong" called the Trentemøller Remix Edit as track 15.
The iTunes Pass track listing contained the standard 13-track album, plus the following:
Includes three CDs containing the album, bonus songs and remixes, as well as 14 exclusive demos ranging from as far back as the Music for the Masses era.[22] It will also contain a DVD featuring three films, a promo video for "Wrong", four songs filmed live in the studio in December 2008, and the album and bonus tracks mastered in 5.1 surround. The box set also includes two 84-page hardback books, the first featuring lyrics to all the songs from the Sounds of the Universe sessions, along with exclusive photography by Anton Corbijn, and the second containing exclusive and candid studio photography by Daniel Miller, Ben Hillier, Luke Smith and Ferg Peterkin. In addition, the box set includes 2 enamel badges, 5 artcards sealed in a collector's envelope, a poster, and a certificate of authenticity.
Preceded by No Line on the Horizon by U2 |
Czech Albums Chart number-one album 13 April 2009 – 11 May 2009 |
Succeeded by 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day |
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Hungarian Albums Chart number-one album 13 April 2009 – 27 April 2009 |
Succeeded by Szóljon a Lord! by Lord |
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Italian Albums Chart number-one album 17 April 2009 – 24 May 2009 |
Succeeded by Stupida by Alessandra Amoroso |
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Spanish Albums Chart number-one album 20 April 2009 |
Succeeded by A las buenas y a las malas by Rosana |
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Swedish Albums Chart number-one album 24 April 2009 – 1 May 2009 |
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Mexican Albums Chart number-one album 27 April 2009 |
Succeeded by Atrévete a soñar by various artists |
Preceded by Quiet Nights by Diana Krall |
Polish Albums Chart number-one album 27 April 2009 – 11 May 2009 |
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Finnish Albums Chart number-one album 29 April 2009 |
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Austrian Albums Chart number-one album 29 April 2009 |
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Danish Albums Chart number-one album 1 May 2009 |
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German Albums Chart number-one album 1 May 2009 – 22 May 2009 |
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Swiss Albums Chart number-one album 3 May 2009 – 24 May 2009 |
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Preceded by The Fame by Lady Gaga |
European Top 100 Albums number-one album 9 May 2009 – 30 May 2009 |
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US Top Electronic Albums number-one album 9 May 2009 |
Succeeded by The Fame by Lady Gaga |
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