Paper Monsters

Dave Gahan - Paper Monsters

Paper Monsters
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details

Artist: Dave Gahan
Edition: Music CD
Format: CD+DVD, Limited Edition
CD Release Date: 2003-06-03
Music Label: Reprise
Soundtracks:
  1. Dirty Sticky Floors
  2. Hold On
  3. A Little Piece
  4. Bottle Living
  5. Black & Blue Again
  6. Stay
  7. I Need You
  8. Bitter Apple
  9. Hidden Houses
  10. Goodbye

Music reviews of Paper Monsters

Music Review: Just that good...
Rating: 4 Stars

As the singer/frontman for Depeche Mode, Dave Gahan has that same mystique that many lead singers have. Like Ian Curtis from Joy Division, or Michael Hutchence from INXS, he was a man too beautiful for words, too good a singer for the trappings of the genre he was in, and too troubled for his fans to see. The difference is...Dave Gahan survived, and now he presents us with his debut solo album to tell us about it.

"Paper Monsters" is a very personal album, with Dave giving us his account of the dangers of his past addictions and failed relationships, and how he lived through them to make it to the good place he's obviously in at this point in his life. It's an introspective album, but it's not depressing or boring. The music (which was co-written with fellow '80's survivor, Psychadelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler) is very well thought out, a combination of ambient electronics with punchy blues guitar. Songs like "Dirty Sticky Floors," "Bottle Living," and "Black and Blue Again" sound like some edgy new style of electro-blues, with Dave giving his voice the same edge he did on Depeche Mode's "Songs of Faith and Devotion." Then there are the softer moments, like "Stay," "Hold On," "A Little Piece," and "Bitter Apple," which show just what kind of range the man has (not just vocally, but emotionally). These are the kinds of songs that stick with you. They speak volumes not just about Gahan's life, but about everybody's lives. The themes are familiar, making this music one can relate to. There's something for everybody here.

It's not Depeche Mode...there are moments that are akin to Depeche's sound, but Dave Gahan has shown himself to be a versatile singer and performer, and this album shows us his human side apart from the image he conveys in the band. It's a great album to just "chill" to. It's not too abrasive, but it's not really easy-on-the-ears either. These songs will get to you, but in such a way that you'll be glad you heard it. The accompanying DVD is an excellent insight into how the album was made, and how Dave is approaching his life and his performance. I love Depeche Mode's music, and while I love "Ultra" and "Exciter," I don't think it was until this album that I really appreciated and felt grateful for the fact that Dave Gahan didn't become another casualty of the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll lifestyle. This album makes me happy he survived, and his words and music show that he's happy too. It's not happy music per se, but it comes from that good place that you just know the man has churned out his best work. I look forward to more from him, either solo or in Depeche Mode.

Check out "Paper Monsters." You won't be disappointed.

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Description of Paper Monsters

The solo debut of Depeche Mode frontman David Gahan has been a long time coming, so you'd expect the album to be brimming with messy ideas formulated while Gahan was forced to sing Vince Clarke and Martin Gore songs while his own were filed away. Yet Paper Monsters is not the wild work of someone newly liberated. These songs feel as if they were written over a short period, rather than plucked from 20-year-worth of unrecorded tunes. There are basically three types of track here: powerful Depeche-style glam ("Dirty Sticky Floors," "Bottle Living"); quiet, urban mood music ("A Little Piece," "Bitter Apple," "Stay"); and rumbling industrial tracks ("Black and Blue Again," "Hidden Houses," "Goodbye"). Lyrically autobiographical, songs deal with Gahan's trouble with relationships and intoxicants and, though they lack Gore's sense of drama and perversity, they do have a maudlin charm. --Dominic Wills

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