"I don't normally do reviews unless I am passionate about the subject. I look forward to more from him, either solo or in Depeche Mode.Check out "Paper Monsters." You won't be disappointed."
It's not happy music per se, but it comes from that good place that you just know the man has churned out his best work. This album makes me happy he survived, and his words and music show that he's happy too. I love Depeche Mode's music, and while I love "Ultra" and "Exciter," I don't think it was until this album that I really appreciated and felt grateful for the fact that Dave Gahan didn't become another casualty of the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The accompanying DVD is an excellent insight into how the album was made, and how Dave is approaching his life and his performance. These songs will get to you, but in such a way that you'll be glad you heard it. It's not too abrasive, but it's not really easy-on-the-ears either. There's something for everybody here.It's not Depeche Mode.there are moments that are akin to Depeche's sound, but Dave Gahan has shown himself to be a versatile singer and performer, and this album shows us his human side apart from the image he conveys in the band.
The themes are familiar, making this music one can relate to. They speak volumes not just about Gahan's life, but about everybody's lives. These are the kinds of songs that stick with you. Songs like "Dirty Sticky Floors," "Bottle Living," and "Black and Blue Again" sound like some edgy new style of electro-blues, with Dave giving his voice the same edge he did on Depeche Mode's "Songs of Faith and Devotion." Then there are the softer moments, like "Stay," "Hold On," "A Little Piece," and "Bitter Apple," which show just what kind of range the man has (not just vocally, but emotionally). The music (which was co-written with fellow '80's survivor, Psychadelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler) is very well thought out, a combination of ambient electronics with punchy blues guitar. It's an introspective album, but it's not depressing or boring. The difference is.Dave Gahan survived, and now he presents us with his debut solo album to tell us about it."Paper Monsters" is a very personal album, with Dave giving us his account of the dangers of his past addictions and failed relationships, and how he lived through them to make it to the good place he's obviously in at this point in his life. Like Ian Curtis from Joy Division, or Michael Hutchence from INXS, he was a man too beautiful for words, too good a singer for the trappings of the genre he was in, and too troubled for his fans to see. (Prince William residents, call 70.)ĭave Gahan's solo CD is more consistent than recent Depeche Mode outings."As the singer/frontman for Depeche Mode, Dave Gahan has that same mystique that many lead singers have.
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* To hear a free Sound Bite from Dave Gahan, call Post-Haste at 20 and press 8124. But when Gahan bleats about dropping to his knees and confesses that he's "not very nice," he's just ripping a page from Gore's blasphemous prayer book.Īppearing Sunday at the 9:30 club. And the 10 throbbingly morose songs crafted by Gahan and co-writer Knox Chandler (a freelance guitarist whose credits include DM's "Exciter") are more consistent than anything the singer's full-time band had managed in a decade. Of course, Gahan has a certain right to the abject outlook and minor-key electro-rock of such songs as "Dirty Sticky Floors" and "Black and Blue Again." He did sing all those bleak DM hits and experienced a well-publicized bottoming out that makes the bluesy anguish of "Bottle Living" seem more than an affectation. In fact, Gahan was never the band's composer, and "Paper Monsters" pays tribute - perhaps unwittingly - to longtime DM tunesmith Martin Gore. After all, "Paper Monsters" sounds a lot like the music the venerable yet somehow still callow synth-pop combo has made since founding member Vince Clarke departed in 1981, and especially since the group boldly (yawn) added guitars in 1990. Inattentive Depeche Mode listeners may well assume that Dave Gahan's new album is the solo debut by the British band's principal songwriter.
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