What was the last album you listened to?

Artist: Depeche Mode
Album: Black Celebration
Genre: Synthpop
Year: 1986
Standout tracks: Black Celebration, Fly on the Windscreen - Final, A Question of Lust, A Question of Time and Stripped

Of their fifth studio release, my expecations are as of now very high but having their last three, very uneven albums in the back of my mind I do hope that Black Celebration might just be the one which finally does it for me.

01. - Black Celebration - And we're off to a very promising start with the freezing yet still very moody title cut, which builds up slowly but then ends up erupting into a fantastic and upbeat opener. 

02. Fly on the Windscreen - Final - Next up is a much darker and heavier cut which might not be as melodic as the opener but damn this sure comes packs some slick beats and also the production here is amazing. 

03. A Question of Lust - While not bad or anything, my main problem with the far more quietly and peaceful of Martin Gore's "ballads" is that they often tend to lack a memorable melody or that little bit of extra to turn them up among the best cuts of an album, as clearly evident on Some Great Reward, where they pretty much ended up as nice little "fillers" stuck in between far better songs. Now this time however, Gore delivers a stunning tune which easily manages to stand out as one of the highlights, and not just on this album but of their career. 

04. Sometimes - And here I would start worrying as none of their earlier albums seemed to be able of backing up such a great start, but here I am beginning to think that I am in for a very big and positive change, as the gems just seem to almost come straight out of the assambly line. While not as powerful or memorable as the first three, Sometimes, while maybe a little too short still ends up as a soulful and pleasant surprise.

05. It Doesn't Matter Two - Okay, so I guess a filler was to come sooner or later. Not horrible or anything but the kind of stuff which reminded me of some of the dull sleepers which took up far too much space on A Broken Frame and this one is surely not on the same level as the first four cuts.

06. A Question of Time - After a few easy listening and soft tracks in a row, this album needed a bit of a energy boost and this surely makes up for that and more. 

07. Stripped - This was to be one of my earliest memories of the band, back in 2005 through the music documentary 101 (1989) and it still manages to be just as hauntingly powerful as ever. A stunning piece of music and once again the production here is truly something special to behold. 

08. Here is the House - Not an easy task of following up two such great songs and this is one of those which I did not really invest too much time or interest in with the first few times I heard the album, but it is one which gets better each time you listen to it. 

09. World Full of Nothing - As with Sometimes, this beautiful number is up there with the far more upbeat and melodic songs of this album, yet I would have wanted it to last a little bit longer as I think it would have been even better with a nice and lengthy outro.

10. Dressed in Black - Somehow this one always make me think of the older James Bond films with Connery and Moore, not sure why really but there is something about its mysterious and dark mood and also they way Dave sings it. 

11. New Dress - Closes the album off in a more industrial way of doing things, still I would have liked more to have Dressed in Black or World Full of Nothing doing that part, as this sounds almost like a b-side which was brought in at the last minute and instead puts me off a little.

Well, that was more like it. Without doubt the best album of their first five ones, not that the competition were all that great, but it is nice to see that they managed to get better from album to album and hopefully that will continue on with their next one.

8/10