Although the reviews here are mostly mixed it would be true to say that even the best albums divide opinion. What Depeche Mode have achieved with Playing The Angel is another metamorphosis of their sound. The band constantly develops and this upsets some of their original fanbase but is crucial to their evolution and longevity. Playing The Angel manages to sound very Depeche Mode like but, simutaneously, completely fresh and unlike anything other music of the day. The basis, of course, is electronic sound which on this album is louder and dirtier than on recent records- somewhere beyond 1997's Ultra. It is to the band's credit that they retain their sound while working with different innovative producers on each project- in this case Ben Hillier who brings the music closest to the sound they achieved when Alan Wilder was still part of the band. The single, Precious, at first appears a rather tame melodic track but listen to it on headphones and it becomes evident that it has a hard basis of heavy electronica and is satisfyingly complex- it is a track that grows in stature with repeated listening. The first five tracks are driving, urgent and dirty and contain immediately appealing hooks and surprisingly savvy techno elements which even Underground Resistance purists would appreciate. The synthesisers could be from any period from 1982 to the present day and there is no band better at using them. I would say, though, that the album's core strength is the vocal arrangements. These have developed so much over the years and occasionally bring a deep soulfulness to the music- check out the Dave Gahan penned Suffer Well for an example. Playing The Angel may not appease everyone but it is encouragingly groundbreaking and modern, It shows no signs of the band's creativity abating- in fact they are scaling new heights. We should treasure Depeche Mode who offer real uniqueness among the blandness of modern British music and have been sorely underrated over the years compared with the likes of U2 (Who have borrowed heavily from Depeche Mode over the years). This is a very good album- here's to the next one!
