I know that many of you will be slightly sceptical over the 11th Depeche Mode studio album, especially those who thought that the direction that the band’s ‘Songs Of Faith And Devotion’ & ‘Ultra’ albums seemed to be taking them went off course with the subtle, though (in my opinion) brilliant ‘Exciter’ album.
But it was all part of the songwriting evolution as much as anything. Depeche Mode’s musical evolution may not entirely be natural (the band willingly concede this), but the long-term maturity of Martin Gore's songwriting has had as much to do with the change as the lightning-paced development of audio technology, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise when they want to do different things.
It is however a welcome sign that Dave seems to have noticed that the 'Exciter' album may have strayed from the course of evolution that the band appeared to be taking, and this is partly why I (as a DM fan) am prepared to give him my cautious support in him taking part of the songwriting duties.
I have said on several web forums that the musical 'performance' of Depeche Mode seems to be too much left to the producer, great a job Mark Bell undoubtedly did on 'Exciter' - the biggest loss for the band since Alan's departure in 1995.
If Dave is able to bring more out of everyone else involved with the 11th studio album, in more ways than just the songwriting, a more guitar-based album than ever before – of high quality - is not only perceivable, but much more of a mouth-watering proposition than we may at first believe possible.