James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
Gahan’s vocals have not strayed too far away from the sound that fans of Depeche Mode have come to know and love. Songs like Deeper and Deeper have a grittier and more raw sound than the typical baritone crooning that Gahan is known for. On some tracks Gahan even resembles a sound like that of a lighter Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails.
Hourglass attempts to use a darker, blunt approach to the music, rather than the normal Depeche and Gahan persona. The dark aura that centres on much of the album stems from the pseudo-religious and internal reflection coming from Gahan’s lyrics. Finally writing his own songs, Gahan no longer desires to prove himself, but now vents the personal problems he has stored up over years of fame and the spotlight.
The keyboard effects and solos sound good and offer a nice variety throughout the album. However, the album feels a bit stagnant about three quarters of the way through. The tracks do not feel so much repetitive as bland and lacking originality. Any one of the keyboard tracks or lyrics could have been substituted for another one of the tracks and nothing would really change.
The shining point of the album is the grit and jagged edges of each track's imperfections. The attempt to give the image of the end result of time passing and the raw production of the album is interesting considering that the album is primarily electronic and in turn means that it is rather produced.
In Gahan’s sophomore solo release, the listener finds a man describing the darker elements of his journey in a rather interesting fashion, unfortunately the result is nowhere near as impressive as that man's career.
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