Playing the Angel

Overview

Playing the Angel is Depeche Mode's first album to feature Dave Gahan as co-writer. He wrote the lyrics to "Suffer Well", "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible", while Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott wrote the music. Gahan is the lead singer on all songs except for the instrumental "Introspectre", and Martin Gore-sung tracks "Macro" and "Damaged People". Gahan also sings backing vocals on "Macro", which was the first time he had sung backing on one of Gore's songs since Violator's "Sweetest Perfection".

The title Playing the Angel is taken from a lyric in the closing song "The Darkest Star". It is the fourth Depeche Mode album to get its name from a lyric in one of its songs, the other three being Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward and Black Celebration.

The album has been called a more organic record for using more analogue synths than digital ones. In addition, most of the soundscapes presented are harsher and groovier than the more mellow Exciter.

In mid-July 2005, the unfinished video for "Precious" was leaked online. It is believed to have been leaked through the website of the production team that helped make the video.

Tracks recorded during the Playing the Angel sessions that did not make the album include "Martyr", which was originally planned to be the lead single but was eventually deemed too poppy for the album and saved for The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1. Other songs include "Free", which ended up on the "Precious" single and the Japanese version of Playing the Angel.

The album was released as a Copy Controlled CD and a deluxe SACD/DVD version (CD/DVD version in the United States) which includes the album on hybrid multi-channel SACD as the main disc and a bonus DVD featuring an exclusive studio performance of "Clean" (from Violator), the video for "Precious", a photo gallery and a 5.1 mix of the album. There is also a documentary on the making of the album. All ten of the earlier Depeche Mode albums were re-released in similar format to Playing the Angel, a CD/SACD hybrid (in the US simply a remastered CD) with a DVD featuring a 5.1 mix of each album and a documentary, though Playing the Angel's documentary is far less extensive and also shorter than the classic ones. The album was also released on vinyl as double LP housed in gatefold sleeve.

The iTunes deluxe edition of the album has several bonuses, including another "bare" version of a Violator track, "Waiting for the Night", and the music video for "Precious". People who placed the album on pre-order were eligible to participate in a ticket pre-sale for most Touring the Angel concerts, the first time such an offer was made by iTunes and Ticketmaster.

Album art

The character on the album cover is a little creature called "Tubby Goth" (by the band) and "Mister Feathers" (by the label, the webmaster and the fans). The cover design by Anton Corbijn is believed to be a tip of the hat to a famous still photograph of The Cure's Robert Smith circa "Boys Don't Cry".

Critical reception

Playing the Angel received positive reviews. E! Online and Entertainment Weekly gave the album high scores. Indie music website Pitchfork gave the album a positive review but criticized its lack of innovation. However, there are some negative reviews; Rolling Stone magazine rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, lower than the score received by Exciter.

The album was ranked number twenty on E! Online's Top 20 Albums of 2005 list and number sixty-eight on WOXY's Top 97 Albums of 2005.

The red book version of the album is considered by numerous fans to be poorly mastered, relying on heavy compression to intentionally and artificially boost the output, especially when compared with the vinyl version that was mastered differently.

Commercial performance

Playing the Angel debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 32,505 copies in its first week. In the United States, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 98,000 copies. Both peak chart positions are improvements on the band's previous album, Exciter, which charted at number nine and eight, respectively, although Exciter attained larger US first-week sales of 115,000 units. Playing the Angel had sold 418,000 copies in the US as of November 2007. By January 2007, the album had sold 1.6 million copies worldwide (excluding the US and Canada), according to EMI.

Track listing

All songs written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted.

Bonus tracks

Limited edition bonus DVD

1. Playing the Angel in 5.1 and Stereo -DTS 5.1 (24bit) -Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (24bit)-PCM Stereo (24bit)
2. Making the Angel – PCM Stereo
3. "Precious" (Video) – PCM Stereo
4. "Clean (Bare)" – PCM Stereo
5. Photo gallery – candid studio photos taken by Ben Hillier at the Santa Barbara/New York/London recording sessions

UMD bonus content

1. Making the Angel – A Short Film
2. "Precious" (Video)
3. "Clean (Bare)"
4. Photo gallery

Personnel

Credits for adapted from the liner notes of Playing the Angel.