Depeche Mode Exciter Mute/Reprise Records * * * (three stars)
Leave it to Depeche Mode to remain an enigma to the ear. The cd was a conglomeration of harps, synthesizers techno beats, guitar feedback, slow, dark rhythms, and tranquil, droning voices. But wrap this in an album and name it Exciter? Inspiring, maybe. But pulse stimulating? Definitely not.
Exciter's strongest work is the opening track, "Dream On", which will leave your foot-tapping to the mix of techno,quasi-acoustic guitar, and fun-paced catchy and tongue-tying lyrics. The majority of Depeche Mode's tenth album is much more low-key. It fuses lead singer Dave Gahan's smooth and elegant voice into the velvety folds new-agey ballads, some with beautifully haunting lyrics that echo as if he sings among monks in a 13th century stone cathedral ("When you're born a lover/ You're born to suffer") and some that possess just the right amount of mellow urbaneness to be blaring from the speakers next time you check out that thirty-seven dollar poplin shirt at The Gap.
In the fifth track Depeche Mode even takes a crack at, for lack of a better term, "new age hard core", "The Dead of Night". By itself, the song is somewhat innovative, but is out of place with the flow of the rest of the album. Instead of fluid beats and mysterious harmonies, one hears guitar feedback coupled with noises that remind the listener of industrial-strength zippers running up and down teeth. Even more aurally painful are the opening lyrics: "We're the horniest boys/ With the corniest ploys/ Who take the easiest girls/ To our sleaziest worlds." Where'd that come from? Bad attempts at sounding tough aside, Depeche Mode is successful in weaving a multitude of sounds into a cool mix of tranquil voices and dark, mysterious melodies. Exciter may not get you pumped to run a 5K race, but we all need to unwind and have sweet dreams once in a while.
