Exciter

5-18-16

Tiger Lily. Tim Biskup's daugther, yes?

Trying to listen to Exciter again. Red headed step child of an album. What is there to love? Dream on?

Most controversial Depeche Mode single of all time. The single that dosen't sound like Depeche Mode. I like the guitar. The glitch drums are intresting. Acoustic rock is not powerful enough. Compare it to "I Feel You" (1993) and "Barrel of a Gun." (1997) Dream On fails with it's vigor. It sounds like an intro to a long and boring anime. Gungrave? Some fantasy anime? Not sure. I think some Japanese like Depeche Mode in 2001. The Exciter sound is so bland. A ripoff of indietronic Radiohead stuff. Not DM. I guess that’s when they went to Playing the Angel. I have never heard Dream On played live after 2005. Funny.

What else is there? I like Shine. Shine is like a bastard variant of The Love Thiefs. Intresting intro. Nice hook. Calm song about reflection. The Machinedrum hits are catchy. And the "hoo-hoos." Kind of embarrassing with the "learning to fly" and "mystery ride” line. It’s in the song without a good purpose. However, the chorus is great. I hear DM in that. It feels like Shine could of been so much better if the producer was not Mark Bell. LFO is great band. But Bell can't hold the responsibilities for DM. 1999-2000 was just a bad year to make music. Sometimes I wished DM would quit at that point. That would also mean no Playing The Angel, Sounds of the Univerese, or Delta Machine. It’s just a period without Alan Wilder.

"The Sweetest Condition", "I Feel Loved" and "Freelove" sound very similar to "The Sweetest Perfection", "I Feel You" and “Strangelove." Concidence? Or regurgitate material? This might be another reason why the album was hated. I personally dislike I Feel Loved. I like the Danny Tenaglia mix though. That reminds me of Super Monkey Ball. The original is god-awful. DM looking to be hip and EDM-like. The Sweetest Condition reminds me of being lazy. A nice sound, not big enough. It feels like any other song on the album. Freelove is a good song the first time to give it a listen. The album version is too redundant. I prefer the Flood mix... Nice and danceable. Freelove, the album-cut, needs no guitar. It would sound so much out there.

Well, that's going on too much. The album is already retarded. The biggest problem of the album is the tracklist. I think I would appreciate the album much more if it was shorter. The mix style is odd. Why The Sweetest Condition to When the Body Speaks? Or Body Speaks to The Dead of Night? So ugly! There was no plan to track this album at all. A good thing about When The Body Speaks, it reminds me of Super Mario 64. Off topic.

Comotose is the best song on the album, a Martin Gore song. It's fantastic. This is only thing the experimental style did produce. It feels best suited for Gore. Exciter songs are either scattered drum machines or FX synths. No assemble at all. Bad minimal techno. An anti-Ultra sound.

I love Breathe too. Another Gore lazy track. That was the whole album, being lazy. The plan was to act like Radiohead. Intresting. Just not like DM. Was that the result of grunge rock? Indietronic? DM therefor jumps from grude rock into indietronic? No way.

I love “I Am You.” Massive Attack feel. Some energy I can feel. 

"Goodnight Lovers" is a bizarre single. Nothing is going on. Almost listening to nothing. The lost theme song to Reading Rainbow?

The Dead of Night would of been a better single. That song dosen't deserve to be on Exciter. The only "rock" song on the album. Goodnight Lovers is only known for that sprakle synth, and the humiliating push to get black people to like DM (see video). That's about it.

Another complaint: The album can be fitted onto single slab of vinyl. The 2X really ruins the album.

I can't say much more. Just getting through 20 mins of the album I have to turn it off. And this is right before bed!