Playing the Angel

Playing the Angel is the eleventh studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 13 October 2005 through Mute Records internationally, and through Sire Records and Reprise Records in the United States. It was supported by the Touring the Angel tour and the four singles "Precious", "A Pain That I'm Used To", "Suffer Well", and "John the Revelator" / "Lilian". The album reached number one in over 10 countries and entered the top 10 in the United Kingdom and United States.

Playing the Angel
Studio album by Depeche Mode
Released	13 October 2005 (2005-10-13)
Recorded	January–July 2005
Studio	Sound Design, Santa Barbara, California Stratosphere Sound, New York City Whitfield Street, London
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	52:16
Label	Mute
Producer	Ben Hillier
Depeche Mode chronology
Exciter (2001) Playing the Angel (2005) Sounds of the Universe (2009)
Singles from Playing the Angel
"Precious" Released: 3 October 2005 "A Pain That I'm Used To" Released: 9 December 2005 "Suffer Well" Released: 20 March 2006 "John the Revelator" / "Lilian" Released: 4 June 2006

Composition

Playing the Angel is the first Depeche Mode album to feature lead singer Dave Gahan as co-writer.[1] He wrote the lyrics to "Suffer Well", "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible", while Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott wrote the music. Gahan is the lead singer on all songs except for the instrumental "Introspectre", and Martin Gore-sung tracks "Macro" and "Damaged People". Gahan also sings backing vocals on "Macro", which was the first time he had sung backing vocals on a song sung by Gore. The title Playing the Angel is taken from a lyric in the closing song "The Darkest Star". It is the third Depeche Mode album to take its name from a lyric in one of its songs, the other two being Construction Time Again and Some Great Reward.

Gillian Telling of Rolling Stone described the album's sound as featuring "the band's classic blend of synth-pop beats, heavy guitar riffs and dark lyrics".[2] The album has been called a more organic record for using more analogue synths than digital ones. In addition, most of the soundscapes presented are harsher and groovier than the more mellow Exciter.

Tracks recorded during the Playing the Angel sessions that did not make the album include "Martyr", which was originally planned to be the lead single but was eventually deemed too poppy for the album and saved for The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1. Other songs include "Free", which ended up on the "Precious" single and the Japanese version of Playing the Angel.

Release

In mid-July 2005, the unfinished video for "Precious" was leaked online. It is believed to have been leaked through the website of the production team that helped make the video.

The album was released as a Copy Controlled CD and a deluxe SACD/DVD version (CD/DVD version in the United States) which includes the album on hybrid multi-channel SACD as the main disc and a bonus DVD featuring an exclusive studio performance of "Clean" (from Violator), the video for "Precious", a photo gallery and a 5.1 mix of the album. There is also a documentary on the making of the album. All ten of the earlier Depeche Mode albums were re-released in similar format to Playing the Angel, a CD/SACD hybrid (in the US simply a remastered CD) with a DVD featuring a 5.1 mix of each album and a documentary, though Playing the Angel's documentary is far less extensive and also shorter than the classic ones. The album was also released on vinyl as double LP housed in gatefold sleeve.

The iTunes deluxe edition of the album has several bonuses, including another "bare" version of a Violator track, "Waiting for the Night", and the music video for "Precious". People who placed the album on pre-order were eligible to participate in a ticket pre-sale for most Touring the Angel concerts, the first time such an offer was made by iTunes and Ticketmaster.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B[5]
The Guardian	[6]
The Independent	[7]
Mojo	[8]
NME	5/10[9]
Pitchfork	7.0/10[10]
Q	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
The Times	[13]

Critical

Playing the Angel received positive reviews. E! Online and Entertainment Weekly gave the album high scores. Pitchfork gave the album a positive review, but criticized its lack of innovation. However, there are some negative reviews; Rolling Stone magazine rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, lower than the score received by Exciter.

The album was ranked number 20 on E! Online's Top 20 Albums of 2005 list and number 68 on WOXY's Top 97 Albums of 2005.

The Red Book version of the album is considered by numerous fans to be poorly mastered,[14][15] relying on heavy compression to intentionally and artificially boost the output, especially when compared with the vinyl version that was mastered differently.

Commercial

Playing the Angel debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 32,505 copies in its first week.[16] In the United States, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 98,000 copies.[17] Both peak chart positions are improvements on the band's previous album, Exciter, which charted at number nine and eight, respectively, although Exciter attained larger US first-week sales of 115,000 units.[17] Playing the Angel had sold 418,000 copies in the US as of November 2007.[18] By January 2007, the album had sold 1.6 million copies worldwide (excluding the US and Canada), according to EMI.[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted.

Standard edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Pain That I'm Used To"	4:11
2.	"John the Revelator"	3:42
3.	"Suffer Well" (writers: Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott)	3:49
4.	"The Sinner in Me"	4:56
5.	"Precious"	4:10
6.	"Macro"	4:03
7.	"I Want It All" (writers: Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott)	6:09
8.	"Nothing's Impossible" (writers: Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott)	4:21
9.	"Introspectre"	1:42
10.	"Damaged People"	3:29
11.	"Lilian"	4:49
12.	"The Darkest Star"	6:55
Total length:		52:16

Limited edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Playing the Angel (In 5.1 and Stereo)"	52:40
2.	"Making the Angel" (short film)	8:25
3.	"Precious" (music video)	4:04
4.	"Clean" (Bare)	3:45
Total length:		121:10

• The bonus DVD also includes a photo gallery. The UMD release of the album contains the same material as the bonus DVD excluding the "5.1 and Stereo" mix of the album.

iTunes pre-order bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Waiting for the Night" (Bare)	4:19
Total length:		56:35

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Free"	5:13
Total length:		57:24

Personnel

Credits for adapted from the liner notes of Playing the Angel.[20]

Depeche Mode

• Andy Fletcher
• Dave Gahan
• Martin Gore

Additional musicians

• Dave McCracken – programming (all tracks); piano (track 12; miscredited to track 7 in the booklet)
• Richard Morris – programming
• Christian Eigner – original programming (tracks 3, 7, 8)
• Andrew Phillpott – original programming (tracks 3, 7, 8)

Technical

• Ben Hillier – production, mixing, engineering
• Steve Fitzmaurice – mixing
• Richard Morris – engineering
• Nick Sevilla – recording assistance
• Arjun Agerwala – recording assistance
• Rudyard Lee Cullers – recording assistance
• Devin Workman – recording assistance, mixing assistance
• Kt Rangnick – recording assistance, mixing assistance
• Emily Lazar – mastering
• Sarah Register – mastering assistance

Artwork

• Anton Corbijn – art direction, photography, cover design
• Four5one.com – design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2005) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 45 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 1 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 3 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[26] 1 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[27] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 11 European Albums (Billboard)[29] 1 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 1 French Albums (SNEP)[31] 1 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[33] 1 Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 15 Italian Albums (FIMI)[35] 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[36] 104 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[37] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 1 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[39] 1 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[40] 1 Scottish Albums (OCC)[41] 9 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[42] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[45] 6 US Billboard 200[46] 7 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[47] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[48] 54 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[49] 53 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[50] 16 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[51] 78 French Albums (SNEP)[52] 57 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[53] 22 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[54] 27 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[37] 81 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[55] 40 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[56] 30 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[57] 2 Chart (2006) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[58] 95 European Albums (Billboard)[59] 54 French Albums (SNEP)[60] 115 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[61] 44 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[62] 100 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[63] 95 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[64] 5

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[65]	Gold	15,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)[66]	Gold	50,000^^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[67]	Gold	20,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[68]	Gold	16,777[68]
France (SNEP)[69]	Platinum	200,000^*
Germany (BVMI)[70]	2× Platinum	400,000^^
Hungary (MAHASZ)[71]	Platinum
Italy sales in 2005	—	168,000[72]
Mexico (AMPROFON)[37]	Gold	50,000^^
Poland (ZPAV)[73]	Platinum	20,000^*
Portugal (AFP)[74]	Gold	10,000^^
Russia (NFPF)[75]	3× Platinum	60,000^*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[76]	Platinum	100,000^^
Sweden (GLF)[77]	Gold	30,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[78]	Gold	100,000^^
United States	—	418,000[18]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[79]	Platinum	1,000,000^*
Worldwide	—	1,600,000[19]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

• List of European number-one hits of 2005
• List of number-one albums of 2005 (Poland)
• List of number-one electronic albums of 2005 (U.S.)
• List of number-one hits of 2005 (France)
• List of number-one hits of 2005 (Italy)

References

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61. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 2006" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
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67. "Platin til The Four Jacks" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. 2 December 2005. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
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78. "British album certifications – Depeche Mode – Playing the Angel". British Phonographic Industry. 14 October 2005. Retrieved 21 March 2011. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Playing the Angel in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
79. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2005". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 January 2017.

External links

• Album information from the official Depeche Mode website