Construction Time Again
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=A Broken Frame1982People Are People1984studioConstruction Time AgainDepeche Mode - Construction Time Again.pngDepeche Mode22 August 1983* The Garden (London)
- Hansa Mischraum (Berlin)* Synth-pop<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- industrial<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- new wave<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>42:26Mute* Depeche Mode
- Daniel Millerx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}
Construction Time Again is the third studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="allmusic"/> 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 was preceded by the single "Everything Counts", released on 11 July and reached No. 6 on the UK Charts and was also promoted by the single "Love, in Itself", which was released on 19 September and reached No. 21 on the UK Charts.
Background and recordingEdit
In January 1983, shortly before the release of the "Get the Balance Right!" single, songwriter Martin Gore attended an Einstürzende Neubauten concert, giving him the idea to experiment with the sounds of industrial music in the context of pop.<ref name="qmag">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
{{#invoke:Listen|main}} 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.<ref name="qmag"/>
Producer Daniel Miller, has explained the recording process as "a massive leap forward".<ref name="dm83">Template:Citation</ref> Due to the band, as well as Miller, having an urge to change up their processes they decided to change which studio they would work in, which was decided to be John Foxx's Garden Studios in London, and they also met Gareth Jones, who had worked with Foxx on his album Metamatic (1980).<ref name="dm83" /> 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.<ref name="dm83" /> 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.<ref name="dm83" /> The band moved to Hansa Studios in Berlin to mix the album.<ref name="dmdt">Template:Cite book</ref> Singer 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."<ref name="dmdt" />
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. Band member Alan 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."<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref name=":0" />
TourEdit
The Construction Time Again Tour, which took place in Europe, began in September 1983 in Hitchin, England.<ref name="ctat">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="ctat" /> In March 1984, the group performed its first dates in Italy and Spain.<ref name="ctat" /> The final show of the tour was a one-off show in June supporting Elton John in Ludwigshafen, West Germany.<ref name="ctat" />
Critical receptionEdit
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!"<ref name="numberone"/> 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 Template:'Tin DrumTemplate:'-type sparseness." Summing up, Martin calls the album "[a] brave departure."<ref name="smashhits"/>
New Musical Express 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 Alan 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."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
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'."<ref name="allmusic"/>
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'."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Track listingEdit
2007 Collectors Edition (CD + DVD)Edit
PersonnelEdit
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Construction Time Again.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
- 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
ChartsEdit
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
Weekly chartsEdit
Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Independent Albums (MRIB)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 1 |
Year-end chartsEdit
| Chart (1983) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (Gallup)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 85 |
| Chart (1984) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
69 |
CertificationsEdit
Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom