Heard Here

Depeche Mode
Exciter

Some bands burn out, some fade away and some do both and still manage to make some decent music. Depeche Mode is of the latter category. 
After nine albums in their first 10 years, culminating in the brilliant Violator, this is only the third new DM album in the last decade, and the first since 1997’s critical and commercial flop, Ultra. So DM on this album faced the same challenge that two similarly successful bands of the ’80s –– R.E.M. and U2 –– have faced in making their latest efforts. Namely, how to a.) recover from a flop, b.) stay fresh and c.) not be re-treads. 
Like the other two, DM is entering their third decade together; however, the crises facing the kings of electric rock over the years have been more, um, substance-based than style-based. By and large the band has stuck to its guns in terms of general sound and approach. And on Exciter, it still manages to work.
The album is by and large a more optimistic effort than previous DM albums. The dark, sometimes nearly demonic quality of earlier albums pops up on only a few songs, “The Dead of Night” most of all (though it does rock). But the album is stylistically and lyrically a coming into the light from darkness. On “Freelove,” one of the sweeter and airier tunes on the album, Dave Gahan sings, “If you’ve suffered enough I can understand what you’re thinking of/ I can see the pain you’re frightened of.” Rather than the addict’s nightmare of previous years, he is sympathetic. Similarly, on “I Feel Loved” he expresses inner struggles and triumphs: “From the depths of my emptiness/Comes a feeling of inner bliss/I feel wanted, I feel desired/I can feel my soul on fire.” 
Depeche Mode on Exciter doesn’t attempt anything all too ambitious or grandiose; but that’s fine. The album is a thoroughly good listen, and brightens up a rainy day. 

-Jacob Kramer-Duffield

R.E.M.
Reveal

The key for any band entering their third decade together is to somehow remain fresh and new without sacrificing the musical ideals and talents that got them through the first two decades. The challenge is more so for successful bands; and even more for those who go through personnel changes; and even more when the band is seen as having already departed from longtime style and approach. Such was the case for R.E.M in putting together their 11th and latest album, Reveal, awaited by many fans with a combination of excitement and apprehension.
And thankfully –– well, for fans thankfully –– Reveal sees R.E.M. approach their music with a sense of new discovery. As opposed to the mostly dour Up, Reveal is more typically R.E.M. in general feel if not specific sound. It is a bittersweet album, and while it doesn’t “rock” in the ways that many of R.E.M.’s better efforts do, it is nonetheless a satisfying experience. Not that the band is or ever has been necessarily about “rocking,” but the distinctive “R.E.M. sound” of jangling guitars and mumbled lyrics is not mostly absent from Reveal.
The album opens with that sense of new discovery both musically and figuratively with “The Lifting,” one of the finer efforts on Reveal. As always, Buck, Mills and Stipe toe the line between pretentious and profound lyrics with just enough tongue-in-cheek and awareness that they are, when the day is done, just a rock band. 
Most of the album is an exercise in contemplation, with only “The Lifting,” “All the Way to Reno” and “Imitation of Life” (the first single) qualifying in tempo and tone to be the archetypal R.E.M. pop standards. But ultimately, this fact is where the album shows its strength most of all. By refusing to either hash out cookie-cutter “R.E.M. songs” or change their sound to accommodate contemporary (read: bad) tastes, R.E.M. turns in an altogether satisfying piece of work.

-Jacob Kramer-Duffield 

Weezer 
Weezer

Finally, Weezer has given us a release that, while decidedly problematic in numerous respects, is a charming, brief disc with a cute little picture of the band gracing the front. Even more clever is the naming of the album which copies the title of their first release, though this one is tagged the “green album” while that one was the almighty “blue album.” Don’t be fooled, however — the green album cannot and will not stand up to whatever notions of rock you formed back in junior high, listening to Weezer’s critically hailed first album and daydreaming of love and rock stardom. This new effort sounds much too formulaic and relies too heavily on exhausted power-pop melodies to be much more than a commercial success.
This is not to say that Weezer is not a really fun album. With ten songs packed into 28 minutes and 34 seconds, the focus here is pure rock melody and any music fan can enjoy the simple instrumentation. Lead singer and main songwriter Rivers Cuomo has claimed that the lyrics are not the focus of this album, which instead aims for short, sweet and infectious snippets of sound. Weezer does accomplish this, especially on songs like the opening “Don’t Let Go,” which immediately assures fans that the new release shares with 1996’s Pinkerton none of that album’s sappy, hopeless grunge-pop inspirations (which is almost unfortunate, since that album produced great songs, like “El Scorcho”). Singing, “But if there comes a day/You should turn your heart away/I’ll be down on my knees/Begging for that girl to stay,” the song is happy, spirited and loud — using lots of poppy distorted guitars that laid the foundation for Weezer’s popular sound. 
The album’s first single, “Hash Pipe,” has been successful on MTV and radio stations but is disappointing if you ignore its overdone harmonies and gratuitious guitar solos. “Come on and kick me/You’ve got your problems/I’ve got my hash pipe,” sings Cuomo as bassist Mikey Welsh and guitarist Brian Bell chime in the background with way too much “ooh ooh”-ing. The structure of this song is all-too typical of most power-pop groups, and is one that fans probably never thought Weezer would explore. Every song insists on a short guitar solo at the halfway point, but is always a replica of the song’s melody; unfortunately, there are none of the turbulently emotional, Kiss-inspired licks of the blue album.
Songs like “Hash Pipe” take up about half of the album, and 14 minutes is not so long to wait for the really good stuff on the album. Again, nothing here is new, untried or innovative, necessarily. But Weezer does know how to rock, and though they may overdo the “we wanna be pop stars” thing, they have made a solid album that’s kinda a new-age, rock version of MTV’s Party To Go series. Ignoring the dumbing down of Weezer’s overall sound, Weezer is a smashing album.

-Kari Wethington