Playing the Angel

Playing the Angel
Studio album by Depeche Mode
Released 17 October 2005 (2005-10-17)
Recorded January–July 2005
Studio
Length 52:16
Label Mute
Producer Ben Hillier
Depeche Mode chronology
Exciter
(2001)Exciter2001		 Playing the Angel
(2005)		 Sounds of the Universe
(2009)Sounds of the Universe2009
Singles from Playing the Angel
  1. "Precious"
    Released: 3 October 2005
  2. "A Pain That I'm Used To"
    Released: 9 December 2005
  3. "Suffer Well"
    Released: 20 March 2006
  4. "John the Revelator"/"Lilian"
    Released: 4 June 2006

Playing the Angel is the eleventh studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 17 October 2005 in the UK by Mute Records and on 18 October in the United States, Mexico and Canada by Sire Records and Reprise Records. It was supported by the Touring the Angel tour.

Overview

Playing the Angel is the first Depeche Mode album to feature lead singer Dave Gahan as co-writer.[1] 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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
The Guardian[5]
The Independent[6]
Mojo[7]
NME5/10[8]
Pitchfork7.0/10[9]
Q[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
The Times[12]

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,[13][14] 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.[15] In the United States, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 98,000 copies.[16] 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.[16] Playing the Angel had sold 418,000 copies in the US as of November 2007.[17] By January 2007, the album had sold 1.6 million copies worldwide (excluding the US and Canada), according to EMI.[18]

Track listing

All songs written by Martin Gore, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Pain That I'm Used To" 4:11
2."John the Revelator" 3:42
3."Suffer Well"Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott3:49
4."The Sinner in Me" 4:56
5."Precious" 4:10
6."Macro" 4:03
7."I Want It All"Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott6:09
8."Nothing's Impossible"Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott4:21
9."Introspectre" 1:42
10."Damaged People" 3:29
11."Lilian" 4:49
12."The Darkest Star" 6:55

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.[19]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[66] Gold 20,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[67] Gold 15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[68] Gold 50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[69] Gold 20,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[70] Gold 16,777[70]
France (SNEP)[71] Platinum 212,900[72]
Germany (BVMI)[73] 2× Platinum 400,000^
Hungary (MAHASZ)[74] Platinum  
Mexico (AMPROFON)[36] Gold 50,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[75] Platinum 20,000*
Portugal (AFP)[76] Gold 10,000^
Russia (NFPF)[77] 3× Platinum 60,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[78] Platinum 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[79] Gold 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[80] Gold 100,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[81] Platinum 1,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ Quan, Denise (13 May 2009). "A Sobering Interview with Depeche Mode". CNN. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "Reviews for Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode". Metacritic. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Playing the Angel – Depeche Mode". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Fiore, Raymond (28 October 2005). "Playing the Angel". Entertainment Weekly. No. 847. New York. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  5. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (14 October 2005). "Depeche Mode, Playing the Angel". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Gill, Andy (14 October 2005). "Depeche Mode: Playing the Angel". The Independent. London.
  7. ↑ Buckley, David (November 2005). "Depeche Mode: Playing the Angel". Mojo. No. 144. London. p. 104. ISSN 1351-0193.
  8. ↑ "Depeche Mode: Playing the Angel". NME. London. 12 November 2005. p. 45. ISSN 0028-6362.
  9. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh (19 October 2005). "Depeche Mode: Playing the Angel". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  10. ↑ Mulholland, Garry (November 2005). "Black Magic". Q. No. 232. London. p. 127. ISSN 0955-4955.
  11. ↑ Edwards, Gavin (20 October 2005). "Depeche Mode: Playing The Angel". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Depeche Mode: Playing the Angel". The Times. London. 15 October 2005.
  13. ↑ "Another victim of the loudness race". brianstagg.co.uk. 20 October 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2011
  14. ↑ "The Loudness War" sharoma.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  15. ↑ Jones, Alan (24 October 2005). "Sales dip despite big debuts". Music Week. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  16. 1 2 Whitmire, Margo (26 October 2005). "Simpson Strikes Back: Ashlee Scores 2nd No. 1". Billboard.
  17. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (16 November 2007). "Ask Billboard: Tick, Tick, Tick". Billboard. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  18. ↑ Cashmere, Paul (13 January 2007). "EMI Share Price Drops On Restructure Announcement". Undercover.fm. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  19. ↑ Playing the Angel (CD liner notes). Depeche Mode. Mute Records. 2005. CDSTUMM260.
  20. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Depeche Mode – Playing the Angel". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  21. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Depeche Mode – Playing the Angel" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
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  38. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
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  51. ↑ The first list is the list of best-selling domestic albums of 2005 in Finland and the second is that of the best-selling foreign albums:
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