Construction Time Again

Construction Time Again
Studio album by Depeche Mode
Released 22 August 1983
Genre
Length 42:26
Label Mute/Sire
Producer
Depeche Mode chronology
A Broken Frame
(1982)		 Construction Time Again
(1983)		 Some Great Reward
(1984)
Singles from Construction Time Again
  1. "Everything Counts"
    Released: 11 July 1983
  2. "Love, in Itself"
    Released: 19 September 1983
  3. "Told You So"
    Released: January 1984 (Spain; promotional only)

Construction Time Again is the third studio album by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records.[3] This was the first Depeche Mode album with Alan Wilder as a full band member, who wrote the songs "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing", as well as the B-side "Fools". The title comes from the second line of the first verse of the track "Pipeline". It was supported by the Construction Time Again Tour.

The album was recorded at John Foxx's Garden Studios in London, engineered by Gareth Jones (who had also engineered Foxx's 1980 album Metamatic) and mixed at the Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin.

Background and themes

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.[4]

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.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Austin Chronicle[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
PopMatters5/10[7]
Q[8]
Record Mirror[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Smash Hits7/10[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide2/10[13]

On the album's politically-inclined lyrics, Anne Lambert in No 1 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!"[14] 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."[15]

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."[16]

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." As regards Alan 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'."[17]

Track listing

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

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Love, in Itself"4:29
2."More Than a Party"4:45
3."Pipeline"5:54
4."Everything Counts"4:20
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Two Minute Warning" (writer: Alan Wilder)4:13
2."Shame"3:51
3."The Landscape Is Changing" (writer: Wilder)4:49
4."Told You So"4:26
5."And Then..."5:39

2007 collector's edition bonus DVD

A short film
No.TitleLength
1."Depeche Mode: 1983 (Teenagers Growing Up, Bad Government, and All That Stuff)" (written and produced by Roland Brown; directed by Ross Hallard and Phil Michael Lane)38:56
Construction Time Again (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo)
No.TitleLength
2."Love, in Itself"4:29
3."More Than a Party"4:46
4."Pipeline"5:55
5."Everything Counts"4:21
6."Two Minute Warning" (writer: Wilder)4:13
7."Shame"3:52
8."The Landscape Is Changing" (writer: Wilder)4:49
9."Told You So"4:27
10."And Then..."4:40
11."Everything Counts (Reprise)" (hidden track)0:59
Additional tracks (PCM Stereo)
No.TitleLength
12."Get the Balance Right!"3:17
13."The Great Outdoors!" (writers: Gore, Wilder)5:04
14."Work Hard" (writers: Gore, Wilder)4:24
15."Fools" (writer: Wilder)4:17
16."Get the Balance Right!" (Combination Mix)8:01
17."Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts)"7:22
18."Love, in Itself.4"4:40

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Construction Time Again.[18]

  • Depeche Mode – production
  • Martyn Atkins – design
  • Brian Griffin – cover photography
  • Gareth Jones – tonmeister
  • Daniel Miller – production
  • Corinne Simcock – assistant engineering ("Two Minute Warning")
  • Ian Wright – illustrations

Charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[19] 82
Dutch Albums Chart[20] 32
French Albums Chart[21] 16
German Albums Chart[22] 7
New Zealand Albums Chart[23] 44
Swedish Albums Chart[24] 12
Swiss Albums Chart[25] 21
UK Albums Chart[26] 6

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Germany (BVMI)[27] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh (20 July 2006). "Depeche Mode: Speak & Spell / Music for the Masses / Violator Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Reed, Alexander S. (5 June 2013). Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music. Oxford University Press. p. 231. ISBN 9780199832606.
  3. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Construction Time Again – Depeche Mode". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 Thompson, Dave (14 January 2005). "The Landscape Is Changing". Q: 78–83. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Gray, Christopher (15 June 2007). "Reissues". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  7. ↑ Keefe, Michael (9 May 2007). "Depeche Mode: Black Celebration / Construction Time Again". PopMatters. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "Depeche Mode: Construction Time Again". Q. London (107): 138–39. August 1995.
  9. ↑ Page, Betty (27 August 1983). "Depeche Mode: Construction Time Again". Record Mirror. London.
  10. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (April 2007). "Into the Mode". Rolling Stone. New York: 66.
  11. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Depeche Mode". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 229–30. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  12. ↑ Martin, Peter (30 September 1982). "Depeche Mode: Construction Time Again". Smash Hits. London. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  13. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  14. ↑ Lambert, Anne (27 August, 1983). "Riveting Stuff." No 1.
  15. ↑ Martin, Peter. (1st-14th September, 1983). Smash Hits.
  16. ↑ Snow, Mat (27 August 1983). "Uplifting New Buildings". NME. London.
  17. ↑ Raggett, Ned. Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again. AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September, 2017.
  18. ↑ Construction Time Again (LP liner notes). Depeche Mode. Mute Records. 1983. STUMM 13.
  19. ↑ "RPM 100 Albums". RPM. 39 (9). 29 October 1983. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  20. ↑ "Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original (select "DEPECHE MODE" and click "OK") on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  22. ↑ "Depeche Mode, Construction Time Again" (in German). charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  25. ↑ "Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  26. ↑ "1983 Top 40 Official Albums Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company. 3 September 1983. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  27. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Depeche Mode; 'Construction Time Again')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  28. ↑ "British album certifications – Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again". British Phonographic Industry. 10 November 1983. Retrieved 14 June 2014. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Enter Construction Time Again in the search field and then press Enter.
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