Album 7 from Depeche Mode is one that virtually needs no introduction. It’s by far their most acclaimed and popular to date and is the one that is most prominently ranked as their best. Is it their best to me though? To answer that question, yes. In fact, I’ll even just flat out say it. This is in my top ten favorite albums of all time and is right alongside SAW Vol 2, In Sides and This Binary Universe as my favorite electronic leaning album of all time. I’m sure tracks like ... read more

Album number 6 by Depeche Mode (despite what the title might say) is probably the most outright experimental and gothic outing we’ve gotten from them so far. In fact I can say for certain that this is the album where the band’s gothic tendencies fully shine the most. It is certainly very similar to their previous outing delivering on the same excellent darkwave material, but I feel the general sound palette, instrumentation and production shows even more variety and evolution from ... read more

If Some Great Reward was the album that fully established Depeche Mode’s formula, than Black Celebration was the one that refined it to an absolute T. This album is viewed as a big fan favorite among their discography, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s an absolute rock solid collection of gothic infused synth pop and darkwave with some excellent songwriting that ranges from heartfelt like on the gorgeous A Question of Lust, or topical like the hard hitting and moody closer ... read more

So as alluded to in my previous reviews of this band’s albums, I essentially consider the first three albums to be Depeche Mode trying to find their sound and style. This album basically marks the point where they ultimately found that signature style and ethos that would go on to permeate essentially their entire discography moving forward. I also consider this album to be easily their best so far and to me, the start of Depeche Mode’s peak era. To start with, the production and ... read more

After two albums of simplistic synth pop oriented material, we now have Construction Time Again which marks the first album with Alan Wilder as a full time member, is the first album that attempts to expand their sound palette a bit and is what I consider the final album of Depeche Mode’s proto period (Basically the period before Depeche Mode ultimately found their true style). So, how does this one stack up? Honestly pretty well imo. This album seems to have a bit of a divisive reception ... read more

Depeche Mode’s second album A Broken Frame shows the band basically starting to properly hone in on a more moodier direction which their previous album only really hinted at in some moments. This change in direction is partially due to their main songwriter at the time Vince Clark departing the band leaving Martin Gore as the signature songwriter for pretty much the rest of the band’s discography. But how did A Broken Frame turn out as a first proper step into a moodier direction? ... read more

So, Depeche Mode. My all time favorite 80s band and one of the defining synth pop acts who would go on to make some incredibly morose and gothic tinged dark wave over the years. But this album however would be a far cry from all that, as what we have here is an incredibly chipper and upbeat early 80s synth pop album that just screams early 80s cheese. Now like a lot of fans of this band, this particular style is not what I personally come to Depeche Mode for, but despite that, I honestly have a ... read more

Man what an emotional note to end on huh? A Moon Shaped Pool is just absolutely gorgeous and makes for their most emotional listen to date with some much more personal lyrics reflecting on Thom Yorke’s divorce at the time (only painted even more tragically as Rachael Olsen tragically passed away mere months later). Now while it’s true that a lot of these songs were actually taken from some of Radiohead’s live cuts from over the year with the closer True Love Waits dating back ... read more

Honestly, I find this one to be pretty underrated. Definitely not perfect as the things that a lot of people do criticize the album for do make this one of the weaker efforts in their discography overall, but it’s still a pretty admirable listen imo. King of Limbs definitely marks itself as one of the band’s more purely experimental works with it’s songs structured around these percussion loops and I think listening to it, you can definitely tell that these songs were ... read more

Yeah this one is in my top 5 of all time. While OK Computer and Kid A are arguably more groundbreaking in terms of changing the general music landscape, In Rainbows excels at delivering not only the most fully well rounded album experience in their entire discography, but also one of the most flawless track listings in any album ever. Pretty much everything on here is up there as some of my favorite songs ever and I do not say this lightly. This album’s general sound is absolutely crisp ... read more

Hail To The Thief to me carries over a lot of Amnesiac’s sense of experimentation and general back and forth between musical styles, but I feel like here, it makes for a generally more well rounded whole. I will say like Amnesiac, this album doesn’t carry quite as many big favorites as some of their other albums (with a few exceptions), plus the album can feel it’s length in a few places, but man is this just another absolutely consistently great ride from them overall. ... read more

It’s kind of interesting that almost all of these songs were recorded in the same sessions as Kid A because to me, this really doesn’t feel like Kid A at all really. It feels like Radiohead really going full in on a more purely abstract direction as opposed to Kid A’s more somber existentialism. Does this album feel like a b sides compilation? Well, in some places yes as there are a few moments that come off way more as experiments then full fledged songs and those few moments ... read more

I have never seen a shooting star before

(Jk. I’m not doing that)

I gotta admit, even now upon my most recent relisten to this album, I still have a bit of a hard time truly quantifying the kind of experience it really gives me. This album takes on the seemingly impossible task of following OK Computer which as we all know is such a massive and influential juggernaut of an album. Radiohead basically decided to abandon rock all together and go all in on an electronica and IDM sound for ... read more

Yeah this album is good. How original of an opinion to have on this album amirite? Ok but jokes aside, there isn’t really anything new I can really add to the conversation on this one. Its futuristic and icy soundscapes, ambitious production techniques, sweeping emotion and existential lyrical themes paved the way for hundreds of other bands into the 2000s and beyond and its lasting influence is still felt today. All of which for good reason too as this album is absolutely phenomenal from ... read more

I feel like most people tend to view OK Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows as Radiohead’s true masterpieces which while I don’t disagree with that opinion (spoiler alert), I personally feel like The Bends also deserves to sit right alongside them as an absolutely essential 90s Britpop, Alternative and Art Rock album. It’s definitely the most Britpop adjacent album in their discography for sure as a lot of the hooks and song structures definitely feel like part of that whole ... read more

This album tends to get slept on by a lot of people mostly due all the comparisons made between this and all of the more boundary pushing albums that Radiohead would go on to make afterwards. Heck, even the band themselves have been known to dislike this era. Now yeah, for a band that is known for making some of the most acclaimed albums of all time, it’s understandable that this comparatively basic Britpop tinged Alt Rock album doesn’t have the strongest consensus among fans, but ... read more

And to close out The Cure’s discography, we have Songs of a Lost World. After a 16 year hiatus from the band with them essentially sitting out of the 2010s entirely, they come back with a sharp pivot towards Post Rock. This album is way more focused on big gloomy soundscapes and an incredibly desolate atmosphere and the songs here all spend their runtimes completely sprawling out and delivering on their gigantic scope. The result gives us not only their best album since Wish, but also one ... read more

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. It’s sonically a continuation of the more alternative styles explored on the previous one and there’s certainly some solid highlights on here. Plus I did kinda appreciate some of the lyrics here coming from a more romantic and content place. I just kinda find this one to be largely forgettable. It’s all at least decent but aside from the more notable highlights, I just don’t get much of a reaction from a lot of the ... read more

This album definitely has much more of an alt rock feel going for it compared to their usual output which I honestly do have to appreciate. Does it make for a good listen? Well I mean it is solid for what it is and there are definitely some engaging moments and experiments on here, but it’s nothing essential in the grand scheme of things. Some tracks can definitely feel like they blend together due to how similar they sound sonically, and there’s a few moments that can feel very ... read more

Bloodflowers in some way is probably the closest that the band have gotten to straight up sounding like their early 80s material at least in terms of aesthetic. It’s kinda a back to basics album after the incredibly scattershot Wild Mood Swings where it’s not necessarily anything new for the band outside of some light modern sounding flourishes, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. It’s morose, melancholic and very very dour in tone. These guys have proven to ... read more