Playing the Angel
Encyclopedia
Playing the Angel is the eleventh studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by English electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 band Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...

, released in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2005 by Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...

 and in the United States and Canada on 18 October by Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...

 and Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...

. It was supported by the Touring the Angel
Touring the Angel
Touring the Angel was a 2005/2006 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the act's 11th studio album, Playing the Angel, which was released in October 2005....

 tour.

Overview

Playing the Angel is Depeche Mode's first album to feature Dave Gahan as co-writer. He wrote the lyrics to "Suffer Well
Suffer Well
"Suffer Well" is the third single off the album Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode, and their forty-third single overall. It was released in the UK on 27 March 2006.It is the first Depeche Mode single whose lyrics are written by Dave Gahan...

", "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible", while Christian Eigner
Christian Eigner
Christian Eigner is an Austrian drummer, composer, live and session musician.- Depeche Mode & Christian Eigner :...

 and Andrew Phillpott wrote the music. Gahan is the lead singer on all songs except for the instrumental "Introspectre", and Martin Gore
Martin Gore
Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...

-sung tracks "Macro" and "Damaged People". Gahan also sings backing vocals on "Macro", which was the first time he had sung backing on one of Gore's songs since Violator
Violator (album)
Violator is the seventh studio album by the English electronic group Depeche Mode, released by Mute Records on 19 March 1990.Preceded by the hit singles "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" , Violator propelled the band into international stardom. The album yielded two further hit singles,...

s "Sweetest Perfection".

The name "Playing the Angel" is taken from a lyric in the closing song "The Darkest Star". It is the fourth Depeche Mode album to get its name from a lyric in its album, the other three being Construction Time Again
Construction Time Again
Construction Time Again is the third studio album by the British electronic band Depeche Mode, released in 1983. This was the first Depeche Mode album with Alan Wilder, who composed the songs "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing"...

, Some Great Reward
Some Great Reward
Some Great Reward is the fourth album by the British electronic group Depeche Mode, released in 1984. The album peaked at #5 in the UK and at #51 in the US. The title comes from the last lines of the bridge in "Lie to Me" when it repeats near the end....

 and Black Celebration
Black Celebration
Black Celebration is the fifth studio album by Depeche Mode. Released by Mute Records on 17 March 1986, it further cemented the darkening sound that was initially hinted towards on their album Construction Time Again and Some Great Reward. Black Celebration was cited as one of the most influential...

.

The album has been called a more organic record for using more analog synths than digital ones. In addition, most of the soundscapes presented are harsher and groovier than the more mellow Exciter
Exciter (album)
Exciter is Depeche Mode's tenth studio album, which was released on 14 May 2001 in the UK and May 15 in the US. It uses more digital music technology compared to their other albums. It was produced by Mark Bell of Björk and LFO fame...

.

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.

Tracks recorded during the Playing the Angel sessions that did not make the album include "Martyr
Martyr (song)
"Martyr" is the 45th UK single by Depeche Mode. It was released as a non-album single intended to promote the new compilation, The Best Of, Volume 1, that was released on November 13, 2006. The single was released on October 30, 2006 in three formats: CD single, CD maxi and DVD single...

", 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.

The album was released as a Copy Control
Copy Control
Copy Control was the generic name of a copy prevention system, used from 2001 until 2006 on several digital audio disc releases by EMI Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment in several regions...

led CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 and a deluxe SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...

/DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 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
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 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 Angels documentary is far less extensive and also shorter than the classic ones.

The iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

 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
Pre-order
A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came when people found it hard to get popular items in stores due to their popularity. Companies were then given the idea to allow people to reserve their own personal copy, before the release, ...

 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
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an independent American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment...

.

Album art

The character on the album cover is a little creature called "Tubby Goth" (by the band) and "Mister Feathers" (by the label, the webmaster and the fans). The cover design by Anton Corbijn is a tip of the hat to a famous still photograph of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

's Robert Smith
Robert Smith (musician)
Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...

 circa "Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (song)
"Boys Don't Cry" was the second single to be released by The Cure, released in June 1979. It was released in the UK as a stand-alone single, and was included as the title track on Boys Don't Cry, the American equivalent to Three Imaginary Boys....

".

Critical reception

Playing the Angel received mostly positive reviews. E! Online and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

 gave the album high scores. Indie music website Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 gave the album a positive review but criticized its lack of innovation. However, there are some negative reviews; Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

 magazine, historically unfriendly to Depeche Mode albums, rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, lower than the score received by Exciter.

The album was ranked number twenty on E! Online's Top 20 Albums of 2005 list and number sixty-eight on WOXY
WOXY (FM)
WOXY , is a radio station licensed to Mason, Ohio as part of the Cincinnati market. Nicknamed La Mega 97.7, the station now broadcasts a Spanish Variety music format, playing a mix of Spanish pop and rock, Regional Mexican, and tropical Latin music...

's Top 97 Albums of 2005.

The red book version of the album is considered by numerous fans to be poorly mastered
Loudness war
The loudness war or loudness race is a pejorative term for the apparent competition to digitally master and release recordings with increasing loudness.The phenomenon was first reported with respect to mastering practices for 7" singles...

, relying on heavy compression to intentionally and artificially boost the output, especially when compared with the vinyl version that has been mastered differently.

Commercial performance

Playing the Angel debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

, while in the United States, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 with first-week sales of 98,000 copies, staying sixteen weeks altogether on the chart. Both peak chart positions are improvements on the band's previous effort, Exciter
Exciter
Exciter may refer to:* The low-power RF stages of a radio transmitter* A component of an electrical generator* Exciter bulb, a light source for reading the optical soundtrack on motion picture film; see sound-on-film* Exciter , audio effect unit...

, which charted at number nine and eight, respectively, though Exciters US first-week sales of 115,000 units were greater. It has sold 418,000 copies in the US as of November 2007. According to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

, as of January 2007, the album has sold 1.6 million copies worldwide (excluding the US and Canada).

Track listing

All songs written by Martin Gore
Martin Gore
Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...

, except where noted.
  1. "A Pain That I'm Used To
    A Pain that I'm Used To
    "A Pain That I'm Used To" is the second single and opening track of the album Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode, and the forty-second DM single overall. The single was released on 12 December 2005 by Mute Records. The single contains remixes by UK Mute label mates Goldfrapp, and Jacques Lu Cont ....

    " – 4:11
  2. "John the Revelator
    John the Revelator / Lilian
    "John the Revelator"/"Lilian" is the second double A-side single by Depeche Mode and their forty-fourth single overall, released on 5 June 2006. Both songs are featured on Depeche Mode's 2005 album, Playing the Angel and serve as the fourth single from the album...

    " – 3:42
  3. "Suffer Well
    Suffer Well
    "Suffer Well" is the third single off the album Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode, and their forty-third single overall. It was released in the UK on 27 March 2006.It is the first Depeche Mode single whose lyrics are written by Dave Gahan...

    " (Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner
    Christian Eigner
    Christian Eigner is an Austrian drummer, composer, live and session musician.- Depeche Mode & 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" (Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott) – 6:09
  8. "Nothing's Impossible" (Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott) – 4:21
  9. "Introspectre" – 1:42
  10. "Damaged People" – 3:29
  11. "Lilian
    John the Revelator / Lilian
    "John the Revelator"/"Lilian" is the second double A-side single by Depeche Mode and their forty-fourth single overall, released on 5 June 2006. Both songs are featured on Depeche Mode's 2005 album, Playing the Angel and serve as the fourth single from the album...

    " – 4:49
  12. "The Darkest Star" – 6:55

Bonus tracks

  • "Free" – 5:11 (on the Japanese version of the album)
  • "Clean (Bare)" – 3:44 (on the DVD version of the album)
  • "Waiting for the Night (Bare)" (iTunes pre-order bonus track)

Limited edition bonus DVD

  1. Playing the Angel in 5.1 and Stereo -DTS 5.1 (24bit) -Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (24bit)-PCM Stereo (24bit)
  2. Making the Angel – PCM Stereo
  3. "Precious" (Video) – PCM Stereo
  4. "Clean (Bare)" – PCM Stereo
  5. Photo gallery – candid studio photos taken by Ben Hillier at the Santa Barbara/New York/London recording sessions

UMD bonus content

  1. Making the Angel – A Short Film
  2. "Precious" (Video)
  3. "Clean (Bare)"
  4. Photo gallery

Personnel

  • Dave Gahan – lead vocals (except "Macro" and "Damaged People"), backing vocals ("Macro"), songwriting
  • Andy Fletcher – keyboards, bass guitar
  • Martin Gore
    Martin Gore
    Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...

     – keyboards, guitar, bass guitar ("Suffer Well"), lap steel guitar ("The Darkest Star"), backing vocals, lead vocals ("Macro", "Damaged People"), songwriting
  • Ben Hillier
    Ben Hillier
    Ben Hillier is a British songwriter and pop-rock music producer who is part of the creative team 140dB. He has produced such popular and critically acclaimed albums as Playing the Angel and Sounds of the Universe by Depeche Mode, Think Tank by Blur, Some Cities by Doves and Cast of Thousands by...

     – producer, mixer, engineer
  • Steve Fitzmaurice – mixer
  • Dave McCracken
    Dave McCracken
    Dave McCracken is a British songwriter and music producer under the Roc Nation management. He is well known for his production on Ian Brown from The Stone Roses solo albums, Golden Greats, Music of the Spheres and Solarized...

     – keyboards, programming, piano ("The Darkest Star"; miscredited to "I Want it All" in booklet)
  • Richard Morris – programming, engineer
  • Christian Eigner
    Christian Eigner
    Christian Eigner is an Austrian drummer, composer, live and session musician.- Depeche Mode & Christian Eigner :...

     – drums, programming ("Suffer Well", "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible"), songwriting
  • Andrew Phillpott – programming ("Suffer Well", "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible"), songwriting

Weekly charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

45
Austrian Albums Chart 1
Belgian Albums Chart
Ultratop 50
Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...

 (Flanders)
4
Belgian Albums Chart
Ultratop 50
Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...

 (Wallonia)
1
Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...

3
Czech Albums Chart 1
Danish Albums Chart
IFPI Denmark
IFPI Denmark is the Danish branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Denmark.-Gold and platinum awards:...

1
Dutch Albums Chart
MegaCharts
MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top...

11
European Top 100 Albums
European Top 100 Albums
The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100...

1
Finnish Albums Chart 1
French Albums Chart
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...

1
German Albums Chart
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

1
Hungarian Albums Chart
Mahasz
Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....

1
Irish Albums Chart
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

15
Italian Albums Chart
Federation of the Italian Music Industry
The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy....

1
Japanese Albums Chart
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

104
Mexican Albums Chart 3
Norwegian Albums Chart
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

1
Polish Albums Chart
Polish Music Charts
The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies...

1
Portuguese Albums Chart
Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa
The Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa is currently the only recording industry association in Portugal. Created in 1989, it succeeded GPPFV and UNEVA ....

1
Spanish Albums Chart 2
Swedish Albums Chart
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....

1
Swiss Albums Chart
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

1
UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

6
US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

7
US Top Electronic Albums 1


Certifications

Year-end charts

Chart (2005) Position
Austrian Albums Chart 54
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) 53
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) 16
Danish Albums Chart 43
Finnish Albums Chart 26
French Albums Chart 57
German Albums Chart 22
Hungarian Albums Chart 27
Mexican Albums Chart 81
Swedish Albums Chart 40
Swiss Albums Chart 30
US Top Electronic Albums 2
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