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Album Review
by SashaS
3-6-2003
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| Dave Gahan's victory over paper monsters |
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Dave Gahan: 'Paper Monsters'
(Mute)
Dave Gahan: DM vocalist’s sterling solo effort
For many a year Dave Gahan has been a mouthpiece for his songwriting band members (Vince Clarke, Martin Gore) and, apparently, happy to be without an outlet to actually pen own lyrics. Despite that disadvantage, this solo disc by the Depeche Mode singer, ‘Paper Monsters’, that has been far-too-longed, turns out to be worth it. So, as DM take a break (Gore’s had his ‘Counterfeit2’ album of covers recently released), Gahan deals with some cathartic subjects and issues.
What Gahan knows is superstar lifestyle of addiction, fame and loss of control, plus that his strength is performing which is reflected in the songs that, one feels, will come doubly alive when he tours in July. Sure, this is a re-invention that will notably affect the band’s next album because this has an impressive depth, it is wide ranging and a sterling-solid disc; “What really hit me most was how happy and fulfilled it made me feel,” he’s commented and it is easy to hear why.
Opening with the current single, ‘Dirty Sticky Finger’, the 41-year-old instantly lets you know that it is not gonna be a singer-songwriters affair but an inner journey that relies on the musical language he is comfortable with. ‘Hold On’ is of a much darker disposition, almost a cyber-ballad but there are no set rules and its refrain is dreamily poppy; it gets Gothic during ‘A Little Piece’, almost as dark and haunting as Ian Curtis did with Joy Division.
‘Living For The Bottle’ is an industrial-rock-cum blues track that could be an ace show closer because it simply has just the right amount of epic ingredients to alight any venue! It is followed by orchestrated and monumental ‘Black And Blue Again’ (and later, ‘Bitter Apple’, in the similar mood), ambient (Bowie produced by Eno) are ‘Stay’ and a bit more spaced-out ‘Hidden House’ with ‘Goodbye’ bringing the rear like an eerily intonated kismet.
It is strange but some 7 years ago, almost to the day, 28 May actually, Gahan was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA as an OD casualty; he was later arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin. It is all long gone and ‘Paper Monsters’ presents a mature man and an artist who obviously had nothing to worry about a solo album over the 22-plus years of the band’s career.
Not only Depeche Mode’s devotees are bound to love it!
8/10
Show dates:
29 June – Glastonbury Festival
09 July – Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
10 July – Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
12 July – Move Festival, Manchester
13 July – Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
SashaS
15-10-2001
Dave Gahan’s album ‘Paper Monsters’ is released 02 June 2003 by Mute
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