Sounds of the Universe

Background

While Dave Gahan was still busy with his solo album Hourglass (2007), Martin Gore was in his home studio in Santa Barbara, California, working on new songs. In May 2008 the band hit the studio to record their twelfth studio album. Ben Hillier took the production reins again, because the band were so satisfied with their previous collaboration on Playing the Angel (2005).

The band described the time in the studio as very productive, a total of 22 songs were created and it was difficult to choose the right songs for the album. Five of the songs not used on the album were released as part of the deluxe box set.

Short video clips of the band and production team at work in the studio were regularly posted on the band's homepage.

Reception

Sounds of the Universe received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 28 reviews. Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt stated that on Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode "still sound genuinely inspired" and Ned Raggett of AllMusic concluded, "Sounds of the Universe is a grower, relying on a few listens to fully take effect, but when it does, it shows Depeche Mode are still able to combine pop-hook accessibility and their own take on 'roots' music for an electronic age with sonic experimentation and recombination." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph noted that the album "shows up the imaginative constraints of most guitar-based rock."

However, Rolling Stone critic Melissa Maerz felt that "the result sounds like a time machine back to the Eighties", adding that "Depeche Mode should be poised for a comeback, but it's too soon to unpack those black turtlenecks." Bill Stewart of PopMatters wrote that Depeche Mode "tempt us with a strong first half and then dump us in a collection of tossed off b-sides." Jon Caramanica wrote for The New York Times that while the album "lacks the fragility of 1984's Some Great Reward or the earned attitude of 1990's Violator, it's unmistakably an attempt at revisiting the past, admirable either as an act of defiant stubbornness or tenacious commitment", but also opined that "even at its most imaginative, this is seamless Depeche Mode filler, music that could be made by any number of acolytes."

Sounds of the Universe debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 30,537 copies—the band's highest-peaking album since chart-topping Ultra (1997). In the United States, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 80,000 units in its first week. The album was ultimately ranked number 200 on the Billboard 200 year-end chart for 2009, and had sold 193,000 copies in the US by November 2012, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Sounds of the Universe was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The album's sleeve design was voted number ten on the 2009 Best Art Vinyl poll.

Track listing

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

LP+CD

Contains the standard 13-track album on two LPs, as well as a CD of the album (as per the standard CD).

Special edition CD+DVD

Contains the standard 13-track album, plus a bonus DVD with exclusive features:

iTunes Pass version

With iTunes Pass, fans receive new and exclusive singles, remixes, video and other content from Sounds of the Universe over a set period of time, delivered to their libraries as soon as they're available. In addition, the iTunes standard pre-order release of Sounds of the Universe contained "Oh Well" (Black Light Odyssey Dub) as track 14, along with an exclusive edit of "Wrong" called the Trentemøller Remix Edit as track 15.

The iTunes Pass track listing contained the standard 13-track album, plus the following:

Deluxe box set edition

Includes three CDs containing the album, bonus songs and remixes, as well as 14 exclusive demos ranging from as far back as the Music for the Masses era. It will also contain a DVD featuring three films, a promo video for "Wrong", four songs filmed live in the studio in December 2008, and the album and bonus tracks mastered in 5.1 surround. The box set also includes two 84-page hardback books, the first featuring lyrics to all the songs from the Sounds of the Universe sessions, along with exclusive photography by Anton Corbijn, and the second containing exclusive and candid studio photography by Daniel Miller, Ben Hillier, Luke Smith and Ferg Peterkin. In addition, the box set includes two enamel badges, five artcards sealed in a collector's envelope, a poster, and a certificate of authenticity.

1. "Light" – 4:44
2. "The Sun and the Moon and the Stars" – 4:41
3. "Ghost" – 6:26
4. "Esque" – 2:17
5. "Oh Well" (Gore, Gahan) – 6:02
6. "Corrupt (Efdemin Remix)" – 6:29
7. "In Chains (Minilogue's Earth Remix)" – 7:54
8. "Little Soul (Thomas Fehlmann Flowing Ambient Mix)" – 9:20
9. "Jezebel (SixToes Remix)" – 5:33
10. "Perfect (Electronic Periodic's Dark Drone Mix)" – 5:21
11. "Wrong (Caspa Remix)" – 5:04

1. "Little 15" – 4:16
2. "Clean" – 3:42
3. "Sweetest Perfection" – 3:23
4. "Walking in My Shoes" – 3:22
5. "I Feel You" – 4:03
6. "Judas" – 3:25
7. "Surrender" – 5:00
8. "Only When I Lose Myself" – 5:22
9. "Nothing's Impossible" – 5:02
10. "Corrupt" – 4:41
11. "Peace" – 4:33
12. "Jezebel" – 4:38
13. "Come Back" – 5:09
14. "In Chains" – 4:33

1. "Corrupt" – 4:08
2. "Little Soul" – 3:52
3. "Stories of Old" – 3:24
4. "Come Back" – 6:05

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Sounds of the Universe.