Lyrics are the most important thing about liner notes. It's always a huge relief when you find the lyrics in a cd case, cuz sometimes they're not there and it's a total gyp. I've noticed that if a band tries to cram in more than just lyrics, it's usually a sign that the album was weaker than they wanted and they have to convince us that there's more to the album than we actually hear. Depeche Mode's best selling album was Violator. Its front cover consists of a simple red rose with a black backdrop. The liner notes are just the lyrics with four tiny passport photos of the band. I'm pretty sure they didn't even thank anybody. The album was just so good that they didn't bother. As long as I'm thinking about this, two more sets of liner notes come to mind. Full Moon, Dirty Hearts by INXS and Blink-182's self-titled. Both had elaborate liner notes with a weird amount of band commentary about how much fun it was to make their respective discs. Both discs are also considered pretty disappointing by the fans' standards. Hey, I guess liner notes aren't that important. I'm just sayin' doesn't it seem like the simpler the notes, the better the album? Test that theory. Anyway on to the album track by track.

1. A PAIN THAT I'M USED TO ()

The song starts with a sort of guitar gurgle that reminds me a whole lot of "I Feel You," the opener to Songs of Faith and Devotion. This is very, very significant. Years ago, my friends and I observed that Depeche Mode were using Violator as a template for the album, Exciter. Now it seems that they've moved on to emulating Songs of Faith and Devotion. The delightful part of this is that although Violator is their most popular, Songs... is my favorite... cd... ever... by anyone. One reason I love Songs... so much is its supplementation of religious imagery alongside the standard rock and pop themes of life, love and lust. I counted once. That cd lyrically had about 70 references to some kind of religious element. That cd was also pretty ironically-titled. It's a cd rife with mistrust, lust, spite and resentment. Listening to the first familiar guitar gurgle of Playing the Angel made me think that perhaps they were angling for another tongue-in-cheek title. This is going to be another cd about religion, but they're not going to be proselytizing. They're going to be sarcastic. So anyway, I think all this during the first few notes of "A Pain That I'm Used To." Excellent opener. Steady beat with a great crunch. Lyrically, it's a fabulous thesis for the whole canon of Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode don't whine about pain. They contend that pain is normal. Religious references: 5.

2. JOHN THE REVELATOR ()

The liner notes say "inspired by the traditional song of the same name." I wish I have heard it. Is it so blatantly anti the guy? I like to think that the tone is a bit satiric, and that the narrator of the song wants to enjoy life instead of facing consequences. As a result, he wants to kill the messenger. A more likely story is that Martin Gore considered covering this song for one of his covers side projects, but just decided to re-tool the song to have the opposite meaning than the original. It does sound a lot like Martin's solo stuff. The vocals are more gospelly than the usual Depeche Mode, but sort of similar to "Get Right With Me" off Songs of Faith and Devotion. There are also some minor high tinkly synth beats that sound more Martin than the usual Depechey bass dance beat that accompanies the song. Danceable, but can you imagine anyone dancing to an anti-religious diatribe such as this one? Religious references: (besides the entire song itself) roughly 11

3. SUFFER WELL ()

One of the reasons I was most excited for the release of Playing the Angel was because I heard that David Gahan, the lead singer, would be contributing some songs. His solo album was mildly interesting with a bit more blues thrown in than one would guess. I guess he made some threats and Martin must have given in. I actually bought the cd with the bonus dvd and on the accompanying "making of" documentary I noticed that David and Martin never made eye contact when discussing the songwriting of this album. I feel sad that they didn't collaborate. David brought on two other musicians (Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott, whoever they are) to help him with his new day job, but Martin stayed put in his own stuff (and with no help from anyone else). "Suffer Well" is our first taste of Dave on a Depeche Mode effort. His team makes it sound enough like the usual Mode by intro-ing with a few gamey electronic blips and a guitar line that hearkens back to "Dream On" from Exciter. There are all sorts of space age beats in the background, but Dave was smart to keep the guitar in the foreground. It's also nice to hear Martin's tenor voice doing backup. Perhaps they're getting along better than I insinuated. Lyrically, this fits in perfectly with themes set up during "A Pain That I'm Used To." What little writing Dave has done in his life has always been about addiction. This one is about enjoying the pain associated with it. Religious references: 3.

4. THE SINNER IN ME ()

The farting blips and quick clangs remind me of a sort of fast-paced "Clean" from Violator. The schizophrenic high and low beats compliment the sort of Jeckyll and Hyde idea of the song. The delivery by Dave is especially cool. He puts forth a certain characterization that certainly makes it seem that Hyde has already won. This is musically confirmed through the psycho guitar bridge toward the end. Religious references: 3.

5. PRECIOUS ()

The glossy "Precious" brings a smooth change of pace to the cd. It's also strangely the first single, which led me to believe the whole album would be more laid-back than it actually is. The dvd came with the video to this song which is very computer animated with weird boats and fish creatures and stuff. The song is groovier with repeat listenings. Religious references: 4

6. MACRO ()

Martin takes the vocals for this one. It reminds me a bit of his work on "I Want You Now" from Music for the Masses. Both songs are about getting freaky. In this one, Martin relates the experience to becoming a god (best coital experience ever?). The instrumentality is pretty minimal, but sort of primal. Sounds like a great make-out song. Religious references: 2, but they're pretty galactic.

7. I WANT IT ALL ()

Dave part two! I was going to grade this one lower because his lyrics aren't as strong ("Sometimes I cry -- Sometimes I die it's true," although it does contain the TLC-inspired "I see a river -- it's oceans that I want) and there's an annoying trumpet synth toward the end. I couldn't though because it's so contemplative-sounding. sort of like back-floating on a country pond at midnight. This sounds a lot more like his previous solo stuff. Religious references: none.

8. NOTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE ()

For Dave's last writing credit he does an adequate job channeling Gary Numan's monotone heartless delivery over seemingly positive lyrics. Although the sounds are throwback early eighties Mode, they're not quite as exciting here. Well, who are we kidding, Depeche Mode weren't really really good until 1990. Dave stole from the Cure's "Apart" in lyrics. Religious references: a couple of stretching minor ones.

9. INTROSPECTRE ()

Here's the obligatory instrumental track. They've sucked for the past ten years. This one sounds like electronic bagpipe warm-ups. The title is pretty cool though. It's also short enough to not even count.

10. DAMAGED PEOPLE ()

Martin's on vocals again. The background clanks actually have a sort of Japanese parlour music characterization about them. The tune has a weird positivity that reminds me of "Black Celebration." Unfortunately, the sound itself is like Martin's very weak "Comatose" from Exciter. It's unfortunate, that Martin and Dave didn't collaborate at all. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have both rhymed "cry" with "die." Religious references: 1 (mentioning souls).

11. LILIAN 3.5()

Ahhh, the beat and Dave finally come back! Dave's back with a sneer too. I've always wondered about song titles based on names of people. Weird spelling here. It's not about Lillian Gish. Is she a groupie maybe? I always think it's a groupie, but it's probably a name that just went with the music. At least that's what the members of the band say, I'm sure. Anyway, vintage theme of basking and having fun through spite. Fun tune. Very fun to sneer to. Religious references: none.

12. THE DARKEST STAR ()

On the last cd, they ended with a song called "Goodnight Lovers," which is a great song, but it almost sounded sort of happy, even though lyrically it was the usual stuff. Usually their final track is pretty dark. "Clean," "Higher Love," and "Insight" are the previous concluding tracks and they're all from dark soully territory. The mood returns with "The Darkest Star" which sounds like a combination of those three tunes. The term "playing the angel" appears here, which Dave sings as an insult and follows it with "Devil's companion." Depeche Mode has always done an adequate job of self-describing dark souls, but when they blame someone else of being part of the dark side, they don't hold back. The blame game here is dark, heavy and slow, and Dave's delivery of dueling insults is simply delicious. The best part though, despite the insults, there's a demand to stay exactly the same. Religious references: 3

BONUS TRACK. CLEAN (BARE) ()

Perhaps inspired by Johnny Cash's "Hurt," Depeche Mode covered their own song a little more soulfully. Dave sings a lot more sincerelly. The subtle guitar compliments nicely. The minor tone doesn't completely make the song sincere, but it wouldn't be Depeche Mode if they wee completely sincere. I would love to hear more of their interpretations. I know many more new moods could be gleaned from their catalogue.

TOTAL RELIGIOUS REFERENCES:
34

TOTAL GRADE: