Construction Time Again

Construction Time Again is the third studio album by the British electronic band Depeche Mode, released in 1983. This was the first Depeche Mode album with Alan Wilder, who composed the songs "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing" (as well as the B-side "Fools"). The title comes from the second line of the first stanza of "Pipeline".

The album was recorded at John Foxx's Garden studios in London, engineered by Gareth Jones (who had also engineered Foxx's seminal electronic album, Metamatic). It was mixed in the Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin.

The album's cover artwork features the Matterhorn mountain.

Rerelease

In 2007, Construction Time Again was re-released with a bonus DVD. The first CD was remastered and (except in the USA) was released on a CD/SACD hybrid. The bonus DVD includes B-sides in addition to the single and B-side for "Get the Balance Right", a one-off single recorded prior to the album. The album is released as originally intended and does not include the bonus extended mix of "Everything Counts" (as it was released in the USA, Canada, Japan & Brazil in 1983), but does keep the reprise.

The DVD includes a documentary on the album. The double-documentary discusses both "Get the Balance Right" and Construction Time Again, its two singles, the making of the cover, the lyrics, and the sampling technology used during the album's production. It also discusses Alan Wilder and Gareth Jones, a new member and a new engineer (respectively) and their impact on the band's sound. It also includes footage of the Construction Time Again tour from 1983, as well as excerpts from the music video for "Get the Balance Right".

The remastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl in April 2007 in Europe only.

Track listing

1983 release

LP: Mute / Stumm 13 (United Kingdom)

1. "Love, in Itself"  – 4:29
2. "More Than a Party"  – 4:23
3. "Pipeline"  – 6:15
4. "Everything Counts"  – 4:19
5. "Two Minute Warning"  – 4:13
6. "Shame"  – 3:50
7. "The Landscape Is Changing"  – 4:47
8. "Told You So"  – 4:24
9. "And Then..."  – 4:34
10. "Everything Counts (Reprise)"  – 1:05 [hidden track]

CD: Sire / 9 23900-2 (United States)

1. "Love, in Itself"  – 4:27
2. "More Than a Party"  – 4:30
3. "Pipeline"  – 6:08
4. "Everything Counts"  – 4:24
5. "Two Minute Warning"  – 4:10
6. "Shame"  – 3:50
7. "The Landscape Is Changing"  – 4:46
8. "Told You So"  – 4:25
9. "And Then..."  – 5:40
10. "Everything Counts (Long Version)"  – 7:23

• "Everything Counts (Reprise)" appears at the end of "And Then..." on this release, instead of appearing as its own track.

2007 re-release

CD: Mute / DM CD 3 (CD/SACD + DVD)

• Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer. Disc one also released as stand-alone CD (CDX STUMM 19)
• Disc 2 is a DVD which includes Construction Time Again in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material

1. "Love, in Itself"  – 4:29
2. "More Than a Party"  – 4:45
3. "Pipeline"  – 5:54
4. "Everything Counts"  – 4:19
5. "Two Minute Warning"  – 4:13
6. "Shame"  – 3:50
7. "The Landscape Is Changing"  – 4:47
8. "Told You So"  – 4:24
9. "And Then..."  – 4:34
10. "Everything Counts (Reprise)"  – 0:59 [hidden track]

Bonus Tracks (in PCM Stereo):

1. "Get the Balance Right!"
2. "The Great Outdoors!"
3. "Work Hard"
4. "Fools"
5. "Get the Balance Right (Combination Mix)"
6. "Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts)"
7. "Love, in Itself 4"

Additional Material:

1. "Depeche Mode 83 (Teenagers, growing up, bad government and all that stuff)" [31 Minute video]

• All songs were written by Martin L. Gore except "Two Minute Warning", "The Landscape Is Changing" and "Fools" written by Alan Wilder, "The Great Outdoors!" and "Work Hard" written by Gore & Wilder.
• David Gahan sings lead vocals on all songs except "Pipeline", which is sung by Gore.
• The "Everything Counts (Reprise)" on the original issue of the album is the tail end bit of the "In Larger Amounts" 12" version of "Everything Counts", faded in. It is not credited on the cover.
• "Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts)" is identical to the "Long Version" of the song.
• On the 2007 remastered edition, part of the intro to "Pipeline" is tacked onto the end of "More Than a Party", hence why the lengths of these two tracks differ from the original LP.
• "Told You So" was released as a promotional single in Spain only.
• The album version of "Love, In Itself" is also referred to as "Love, In Itself 1". "2" is the single version, "3" the remix, and "4" is a reworked acoustic version featuring guitar and piano played in a quasi-funky style.

Credits

• Andy Fletcher - sampler, backing vocals
• Dave Gahan - lead vocals, sampler
• Martin Gore - keyboards, guitar, sampler, recorder ("Shame"), melodica ("Everything Counts"), backing vocals, lead vocals ("Pipeline"), songwriting
• Alan Wilder - keyboards, sampler, piano ("Love, In Itself"), programming, backing vocals, songwriting

Produced by Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode
Tonmeister: Gareth Jones
Assistant engineer on "Two Minute Warning": Corinne Simcock

Recorded at The Garden, London
Mixed at Hansa Mischraum, Berlin

Cover Photography: Brian Griffin
Illustrations: Ian Wright
Design: Martyn Atkins

Charts and certifications

References

External links

• Construction Time Again at Depeche Mode discography