Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Construction Time Again
1983 studio album by Depeche Mode From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Construction Time Again is the third studio album by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records. It was the band's first album to feature Alan Wilder as a member, who wrote the songs "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing". The album's title comes from the second line of the first verse of the track "Pipeline". It was recorded at John Foxx's The Garden studios in London, and was supported by the Construction Time Again Tour.
The album, which reached number 6 on the UK album charts, was supported by two singles: "Everything Counts", which reached number 6 on the UK Singles charts; and "Love, in Itself", which charted at number 21.
Remove ads
Background and recording
Summarize
Perspective
Depeche Mode had released their previous album, A Broken Frame in September 1982[4] and supported it with their A Broken Frame Tour, which lasted through May 1983.[5] In early 1983, while still on tour, the band started to plan how to approach recording their new material; according to producer Daniel Miller, it was "the first record where you could say we actually sat down before we started and really decided how we were going to utilize the technology that was available at the time."[6] This was the first Depeche Mode album to include Alan Wilder, who had been inducted into the band in late 1982, after their previous album had been recorded and released.[7] For the album, Wilder had brought both a Synclavier and an Emulator, which allowed the band to capture and manipulate sounds in a way they hadn't been able to prior.[6] They also had a portable Stellavox tape recorder, which allowed them to record sounds outside the studio for inclusion on the album.[6] In addition, in January 1983, songwriter Martin Gore attended a concert by the German experimental music group Einstürzende Neubauten, giving him the idea to experiment with the sounds of industrial music in the context of pop.[8]
Due to the band, as well as Miller, having an urge to change up their processes they decided to change where they recorded the album, and so the first time did not record at Blackwing Studios; instead they chose John Foxx's Garden Studios in London, where they worked with Gareth Jones as their sound technician, who had worked with Foxx on his debut solo studio album Metamatic (1980);[9] Jones had also worked with German New Wave band Ideal on their album Bi Nuu (1982).[6] Initially, Jones was reluctant to work with the group as he felt they were too commercial and viewed them as 'pop' and 'lightweight', which he saw as an issue.[9] However, Foxx had persuaded Jones to work with the band as he felt that due to his appreciation for Mute Records' musical output, such as Miller's "Warm Leatherette" the band would be worth while as Miller was their producer and they were a Mute label artist.[9]
Miller described the recording process as "a massive leap forward" from previous albums.[9] Although they had a reputation as an all-synth band, two tracks from the album incorporated guitar ("Love, in Itself" and "And Then..."), as had their previous single, "Get the Balance Right!",[10] which, despite having been recorded only a few months prior to the Construction sessions, was not included on the album, as the band felt that the song had little in common with the newer material they were recording.[11]
This album introduced a transition in lyrical content for the group; Construction Time Again would include a bevy of political themes, sparked by the poverty Gore had seen on a then-recent trip he had taken to Thailand.[8] Wilder wrote two of the songs on the album, "The Landscape is Changing" and "Two Minute Warning", both of which reflected the band's growing political and social lyrical focus.[12]
The band moved to Hansa Studios in Berlin to mix the album.[13] Lead vocalist Dave Gahan explained that, as Hansa had the only 56 track mixing desk in the world at the time, "we had used so many channels on the recording that we couldn't possibly have mixed the record at the studio we recorded it [The Garden in London] - they only had a 24 track desk. Plus, we wanted to sample a different atmosphere. If you work in just the one place it can get quite boring."[13]
With regards to the heavy amount of sampling, the band would sample various 'found' sounds, such as toy instruments or other objects like stones and objects found in construction sites which they would manipulate using the Synclavier. Wilder said, "You can take the purest voice in the world, and fool around with it digitally until it's the most evil, monstrous sound. Or you can take a moose fart and make it beautiful."[14] Miller recalled "Martin [Gore] would turn up with some toy or some other weird instrument and we just started recording it, sampling it, doing shit with it."[15] He looked back on the recording process as one of the most enjoyable he has been through stating "I sit at home with my synthesizers making great noises, but when you can put those experiments into the pop form that's thrilling."[14]
Remove ads
Release and promotion
Summarize
Perspective
"Everything Counts" was released as the lead single from the album in July 1983,[16] and a month later, Construction Time Again, which got its name from the lyrics of the album track "Pipeline",[12] was released on 22 August 1983 by Mute records in the UK with catalogue number STUMM13.[17][18][12] In Germany, Intercord records released the album (catalogue number INT 146.807) as well as a 'special edition' that came packaged with a poster and the 12" single for "Get the Balance Right!".[19]
The album cover was designed by Martin Atkyns and photographed by Brian Griffin, both of whom had worked with Depeche Mode on the earlier album and single covers.[20] The cover, with its "worker-with-sledgehammer design", was a continuation of the concept started by their earlier single, "Get the Balance Right!".[20] Atkins would explain the cover as influenced by socialist realism: "that kind of political look at things was more fashion than specific statement. It was exciting-looking stuff and I think that nobody had really exploited it, had never marketed it in an everyday product like a record."[20] Griffin took the cover image in Zermatt, Switzerland to shoot the model with the Matterhorn in the background.[20]
The band also evolved their look over the course of the album's release, moving away from "respectable pull-overs and checked shirts" and towards wearing black; Gore started wearing fetish leather harnesses in photoshoots, which became part of the band's image over the next few years.[20]
At the end of 1983, RCA Records released the album track "Told You So" as a promo single on 7" vinyl under catalogue number ESP-611, and in early 1984, Warner Records in the US released a rare promotional cassette sealed inside a soft drink can that contained the 12" remix of "Everything Counts" as well as select tracks by other contemporary artists such as The Smiths and The Cure (catalogue number SR-1A).[21]
Tour
The Construction Time Again Tour, which took place in Europe, began in September 1983 in Hitchin, England.[22] Following an initial leg of dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a second leg in December reached Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany.[22] In March 1984, the group performed its first dates in Italy and Spain.[22] The final show of the tour was a one-off show in June supporting Elton John in Ludwigshafen, West Germany.[22] The BBC recorded and broadcast the show on 6 October 1983 on BBC Radio 1 and later released a 7-track sampler from that show on promotional vinyl (catalogue number CN 4304/S).[21] The group avoided playing in the US on this tour, as they felt that attendance at their previous A Broken Frame Tour had been underwhelming; they would tour the US again in 1985 as part of their Some Great Reward Tour.[23]
Remove ads
Critical reception
Summarize
Perspective
On the album's politically inclined lyrics, Anne Lambert of Number One wrote: "[Martin Gore]'s protest songs are serious and sharply observed, but they retain that distinctive ear for a commercial melody". She concludes: "It's impossible to pick out tracks, as the whole effect is sharp, tight, smooth and absolutely riveting!"[25] In Smash Hits, Peter Martin notes that the band's attention is now turned "outwards to the world (and all its problems)", pointing out the Russian, European and Oriental influences apparent in the music. He goes on: "The songs are still electronically based, but the brilliantly melodic and bouncy edge is contrasted by a brooding 'Tin Drum'-type sparseness." Summing up, Martin calls the album "[a] brave departure."[31]
NME hailed the album, saying that "Everything Counts" "is Mode's best ever single [...] It sold because it combines edgy and poignant melodies held in thrilling tension; a tough, urgent dancebeat; and a gleamingly modern sound with an element of quirkiness to mark it out in the crowd. And the same goes for every other track on the album." Reviewer Mat Snow qualified Wilder's composition "Two Minute Warning" as "a haunting melody whose transition from verse to chorus explodes in one of those breathtakingly uplifting moments" and concluded that Depeche Mode "have made a bold and lovely pop record. Simple as that."[33]
Commenting on the results of the band's new line-up, AllMusic's Ned Raggett considers Construction Time Again to be "a bit hit and miss... [although] when it does hit, it does so perfectly". Singling out "Love, in Itself", Raggett observes: "Depeche never sounded quite so thick with its sound before, with synths arranged into a mini-orchestra/horn section and real piano and acoustic guitar spliced in at strategic points." Regarding Wilder's songwriting, Raggett states: "Wilder's... songwriting contributions are fine musically, but lyrically, 'preachy' puts it mildly, especially the environment-friendly 'The Landscape Is Changing'."[18]
PopMatters reviewer Michael Keefe claimed it "marked the shift of this movement away from the band's bouncier beginnings. Leaving behind the perky synth pop of 'Just Can't Get Enough' (from Speak & Spell) and 'See You' (of A Broken Frame), 'Love, in Itself' consented to offer a beat you could dance to, but it bore a heart of darkness. Martin Gore expressed his gloomy view on the redemptive potential of love to cure 'All of the absurdities that lay before us / All of the doubts and uncertainties that lay in store for us.' The track 'Pipeline', meanwhile, is unrelentingly depressing. It's also overly lethargic. 'More Than a Party' is up-tempo, but far from upbeat. It's seething, pre-industrial groove prefigured the following album's musically similar, yet vastly superior, 'Master and Servant'."[34]
Remove ads
Track listing
Summarize
Perspective
All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted. All lead vocals by Dave Gahan, except where noted.
2007 Collectors Edition (CD + DVD)
Remove ads
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Construction Time Again.[35]
- Daniel Miller – production
- Depeche Mode – production
- Gareth Jones – tonmeister
- Corinne Simcock – engineering assistance on "Two Minute Warning"
- Brian Griffin – cover photography
- Ian Wright – illustrations
- Martyn Atkins – design
Charts
Remove ads
Certifications
References
Bibliography
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads