A review on the limit
Wow! Every 'Depeche Mode' fan is excited to listen to 17 new tracks (!) that comes with the deluxe version of 'Delta Machine', including me as well. As a long time Depeche Mode fan it's really hard to do a track by track review.
How can I be objective enough? Of course I love the album, because it's from Depeche Mode. Do I have to be more critical as usual? I promise I will try my best to be honest and fair.
Solve the complexity, enjoy afterwards
When you first listen to 'Delta Machine' many songs were too complex. Simply too many layers and effects. It is almost sonically run over by a train. Only after repeated listening, the braid has solved acoustically. In this case this isn't an easy listening album for the main stream listener. This is an pure fan album for all Depeche Mode devotees.
The first impact
The first impact does the song 'Angel' that should promote the album with video footage from the studio sessions. Unfortunaly the song never was officially released as single. I think this is one of the strongest songs on the album. It's raw, strong unusual off-beat, cool guitars and visually the video is awesome.
Watch the 'In-Studio Collage 2012'
A ballad as first single?
The first official single was 'Heaven'. Having an album full of strong songs and choosing a ballad as first single is either brave or stupid. But with the point of view that this is a pure fan album it makes sense for me. The song is brilliant, dark and melancholy, and definitely no song for any mainstream Top Ten charts.
Further I would recommend you the songs 'Soft Touch/Raw Nerve', 'Should Be Higher' and 'Soothe My Soul'. The album barly miss the 4‑star overall score. But this don't make a bad album of it. For a die-hard fan this is a must-have without any exception. If you just like some of their older, more popular stuff, then it will be difficult if you're not an open-minded listener.
Closing remarks
In general this is a gorgeous and superb album, even 'DM' did it better a couple of times in the past. There are ups and downs to every development. And it takes a lot of professional skill and talent to produce such a mass of good songs. That not every song is a hit among is obvious. But it would be presumptuous to judge this to be critical. I love the album and I'm grateful for this huge album of overwhelming songs.
By the way, this album also made it into our article ‘The best Synth Pop and genre-related albums 2013‘. Read now.
Track By Track Rating
