Nöjesguiden, March 31st 1997
The 10th or the 15th time the video for "Barrel of a
Gun" is being played on ZTV (a swedish music channel), I'm
wondering if people really hear what Dave Gahan is singing.
"This horny creep, set upon weary feet/who looks in need of
sleep that doesn't come. This twisted, tortured mess, this bed of
sinfulness/longing for some rest and feeling numb, vicious
appetite visits me every night/and won't be satisfied, won't be
denied/an unbearable pain, a beating in my brain/that leaves the
mark of Cain, right here inside/What am I supposed to do?"
An abstinence-gorging settlement with agony of death and
desperation. Come on everybody, join in the chorus, one, two,
three... It's hardly the first time that Martin Gore puts drastic
lines in Gahans mouth, but it has never been so nakedly effective
as now. And it is a completely brilliant song, probably one of
the best singles of the year.
The rest of Ultra isn't as suggestive and strong. But coming
from a band that really shouldn't exist, it's undeniably an
impressive restart.
And it really is a restart, musically. The overworked rock
from "Songs of Faith and Devotion" is gone, in aid for
a much simpler, more peeled off sound, with definite echos from
the past. Songs like "It's no good" and "Sister of
Night" could almost be taken from "Some great
Reward" or "Construction Time Again". And it even
happened in the beginning, during the majestically sweeping
"The Love Thieves", that I took out the cassette and
checked that it wasn't the promotape of Prefab Sprouts new album
that was in the tape recorder. The arrangements are simple, but
effective like when a pedal steel-guitar strikes the tone in
"The Bottom Line" - and Gahan sings the straight,
rythmic lyrics with a dignity that's pretty awesome.
I can, occasionally, miss some of the variation from U2's
latest achievement (Pop). But, as I said previously, coming from
a band that's been down for 9, it's a very convincing victory on
points.
Nöjesguiden, March 31st 1997
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