Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 18, 2018 11:49:12 GMT
Artist: Depeche Mode
Album: Construction Time Again
Genre: Synthpop
Year: 1983
Standout tracks: Everything Counts, Two Minute Warning, Told You So and And Then...
Another day, another 80s synth release to go through and right now I will try to finish my journey within the musical journey of Depeche Mode and their 80s and early 90s albums. I was not too impressed by their second one, A Broken Frame (1982) which never really grew on me, no matter how many listens in a row I did and while not a terrible record, it did absolutely nothing for me and I will likely ever bother wasting any more time on it.
Anyway, on their third title which is one I only know of because it comes with the fantastic song Everything Counts, but the rest of the songs on it, I have either never heard or completely forgotten about.
01. Love, In Itself - Starts off and rather fast, and while it is a catchy number which includes a more rich or warmer variation to their usual cold synth beat approach, here one are treated with guitars and piano, but still it kind of end up letting itself down by bringing along some truly awful and very dated 80s production details which makes it to be an very uneven album opener.
02. More Than A Party - And they sure do not slow things down, as this one is even done in a faster pace but again as with the opening act, it is just a bit too hectic and without any hint of a good or remotely catchy melody to back it up, it just ends up as a very annoyingly and dull filler.
03. Pipeline - Well, so much for hoping for a positive start, as here is the third forgettable and dull filler in a row and to make it even worse, it is the albums most lengthy number as well.
04. Everything Counts - And then finally things begin to look a lot brighter, as this classic brings along a small hope of better things to come.
05. Two Minute Warning - Yes, now we are talking. Another pleasant surprise which I have never heard (or so I think) before. Here the production is top notch and it is a surprise to learn that this great cut never made it out as a single back in the day, as it is surely among the best and most catchy songs of their early 80s material.
06. Shame - And it just could not last could it? Every time these guys is on a good row with solid stuff, it is cut off immediately by yet another filler. Okay, so this one is not as bad as the first two tracks, but coming up after the two beast above, it is just a big letdown.
07. The Landscape Is Changing - Oh great, once more with the terrible production sounds along with an extremely dull song/lyrics, this album has to really finish off in a great way to stop it from being yet another below average one.
08. Told You So - Okay, so maybe this record has a few hidden gems lying around, as this might just be one of the few but very good ones which might "save" it or me from falling a sleep of boredome.
09. And Then... - A real shame that such a beautiful song as this is has to be stuck on such a uneven and at times poor album.
10. Everything Counts (Reprise) - Well, was that really needed? Less than 60 seconds of their bigest hit of this album, once more. It should have finished off with And Then..., not this.
A big hit and miss in my ears, as this album sure do pack some great songs, well 4 of them but it also suffers badly by having to much fillers and some which contain terrible production notes that makes it almost unbearable.
I have absolutely no idea how this record gets so much praise by critic and fans, at best a mediocre release with some solid gems, but where their search of finding their right sound ends up standing in the way of including good and memorable melodies, and while I do enjoy a bit of the industrial noises they use, it just do not work well for my part and I cannot give this one a better final rating than a generous:
5/10