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I’ll admit it upfront: Depeche Mode lost me for the longest time. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Violator, though there was stuff to like on that album. But it was the group’s 90s output - especially Ultra - that had me tuning them out. But at the risk of sounding a little too cheesy, I found Exciter much more exciting. This album sees Depeche Mode - and specifically core members David Gahan and Martin Gore - on the rebound from some of the events that helped the group hit that low ebb.

Gore’s songwriting acumen, which seemed to be on the decline, is back in full force with a number of fascinating and listenable tunes. And it helps that Gahan is back in fine form (and even better voice) for the first time since Violator. Normally I point out standout tracks, but the truth is, there’s little on Exciter to not enjoy. My personal favorites, however, have to be the dreamy “Comatose” - replete with the kind of mesmerising chords and structure that haven’t been a mainstay of the pop music landscape for decades, only with an updated sound and some of the best Gahan/Gore vocal harmonies ever - and the bouncy and slightly sarcastic “I Feel Loved”. Other highlights include the slinky Breathe and a thundering anthem to the goth generation, “The Dead Of Night”.

Overall, I’m thrilled with Exciter - this is the best thing Depeche Mode has done in years. When they started out, they were mavericks on the pop scene, abandoning any sign of traditional instrumentation for the innovative sounds they could coax out of the then-new synths and samplers available in the new wave days. Even though that field’s pretty crowded now, Depeche Mode surprised me with this album, which shows they’re still the innovators they were twenty years ago.

1. Dream On (4:19)
2. Shine (5:32)
3. The Sweetest Condition (3:42)
4. When The Body Speaks (6:01)
5. The Dead Of Night (4:50)
6. Lovetheme (2:02)
7. Freelove (6:10)
8. Comatose (3:20)
9. I Feel Loved (4:20)
10. Breathe (5:17)
11. Easy Tiger (2:05)
12. I Am You (5:10)
13. Goodnight Lovers (3:48)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 2001
Total running time: 56:48

I’ll admit, I’m less of a Simpsons fan than I once was. Why, I remember working at a Fox station back in the days when the Simpsons were on once a week, years before you could see it at least twice a day in syndication. The Simpsons and I go back a long way.

There have been three official Simpsons CDs thus far, and this is the only one that I’ve bothered with. Why? Because this one is a celebration of the music from the show itself, not some spinoff project (i.e. “Do The Bartman”) which was shoehorned back into the show itself. This CD is jam-packed with the original cast recordings, all backed by Alf Clausen’s brilliant musical scoring. As much as I may respect the work of latter-day cartoon tunesmiths like Richard Stone, I think it’s fair to say that Alf Clausen may be the worthiest descendant of the legacy of Carl Stalling. The similarities are numerous: an encyclopedic knowledge of musical pop culture references, a no-boundaries approach to arrangement and drastic re-arrangement, and an appreciation for just about every musical style under the sun.

Higlights include a medley from “Bart Sells His Soul” (featuring one of my all-time favorite moments from the series, in which Bart has subsituted his church’s hymnal sheet music with “In A Gadda Da Vida”), the bizarre, showstopping numbers from Springfield’s own stage musical version of Planet Of The Apes, and “We Do (The Stonecutters’ Song)” featuring none other than Patrick Stewart. The Itchy & Scratchy Theme is also included, as well as at least a dozen different specialty end-credit theme arrangements, spanning the musical spectrum from a Hill Street Blues pastiche to a spot-on homage to John Williams’ music from Oliver Stone’s JFK. The guest artists on here are stellar - Tony Bennett and the late Tito Puente, for cryin’ out loud - and there are numerous guest voices as well, including Jeff Goldblum, Beverly D’Angelo, and the sorely missed Phil Hartman.

I may never buckle down and get the Simpsons on DVD, but that’s okay - some of my favorite scenes from the show are immortalized here, and unlike trying to plow through any given whole season of episodes, there isn’t a clunker anywhere in the bunch. Bravo!

1. The Simpsons Main Title - Extended version (1:38)
2. We Do (The Stonecutters’ Song) (1:18)
3. Dancin’ Homer (1:43)
4. Homer & Apu (1:56)
5. ‘Round Springfield (2:55)
6. Oh, Streetcar! - The Musical (4:03)
7. Jingle Bells (0:45)
8. Springfield Medley (0:54)
9. Itchy & Scratchy Main Title (0:23)
10. Itchy & Scratchy End Credits (0:17)
11. The Day The Violence Died (1:50)
12. Senor Burns (1:16)
13. The Simpsons End Credits - Afro-Cuban version featuring Tito Puente (0:49)
14. Your Wife Don’t Understand You (1:35)
15. Kamp Krusty (2:19)
16. The Simpsons End Credits - Australian version (0:53)
17. The Simpsons End Credits - “Hill Street Blues” homage (0:47)
18. The Simpsons End Credits - “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” homage (0:49)
19. Treehouse Of Horror V (1:22)
20. Honey Roasted Peanuts (1:01)
21. Boy Scoutz N The Hood (3:43)
22. Two Dozen And One Greyhounds (1:59)
23. “Eye On Springfield” Theme (0:47)
24. Flaming Moe’s (1:01)
25. Homer’s Barbershop Quartet (1:37)
26. TV Sucks! (0:34)
27. A Fish Called Selma (3:07)
28. Send In The Clowns (1:06)
29. The Monorail Song (1:50)
30. In Search Of An Out Of Body Vibe (0:23)
31. Cool (0:42)
32. Bagged Me A Homer (2:18)
33. It Was A Very Good Beer (0:39)
34. Bart Sells His Soul (2:06)
35. Happy Birthday, Lisa (1:20)
36. The Simpsons Halloween Special End Credits - “Addams Family” homage (0:49)
37. Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One (0:55)
38. Lisa’s Wedding (0:53)
39. The Simpsons End Credits - “Dragnet” homage (1:05)

Released by: Rhino
Release date: 1998
Total running time: 55:55

In 1980, Steve Winwood carved out a persistent niche of the radio airwaves with several tunes from his Arc Of A Diver album - and that niche was well-deserved, given Winwood’s synth-driven (but still more rock ‘n’ roll than new wave) distinctive sound. Sadly, the follow-up to that, while it did yield hits of its own, lacked the “oomph” of Arc’s originality; if anything, it smacks in a few places of reheated leftovers.

If anyone remembers one song off of Talking Back To The Night, it’s bound to be Valerie, a great song with a soaring DX-7 synth solo and some much-misheard lyrics. I never have gotten around to liking “Big Girls Walk Away” in the 20 years I’ve had to listen to it. The title track is a virtual carbon copy of Arc Of A Diver’s lengthy “Night Train” single (a favorite of disc jockeys in gastric distress everywhere). The real gems aside from “Valerie” are “Still In The Game” and the joyful little number called “Help Me Angel”, which has a chord progression that just gives me a good feeling.

A mixed bag, but with the exception of “Still In The Game”, the good parts later appeared on Winwood’s Chronicles compilation, saving me the trouble of having to hear the rest of Talking Back To The Night again just to hear the good songs.

1. Valerie (4:05)
2. Big Girls Walk Away (3:51)
3. And I Go (4:12)
4. While There’s A Candle Burning (3:11)
5. Still In The Game (4:51)
6. It Was Happiness (4:58)
7. Help Me Angel (5:08)
8. Talking Back To The Night (5:44)
9. There’s A River (4:40)

Released by: Island
Release date: 1982
Total running time: 40:50

After losing me as a regular listener for most of the 90s (and y’know, I’m sure that loss just crushed the lads), U2 got me back on board with All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Returning to the compelling style of music that won them such an ardent fan base in the 1980s, U2 ditches some of the electronic production wizardry that drove some of us away in the next decade. And the result is a lovely thing to hear.

Sure, there are some revisitations to the 90s style (”Elevation” springs instantly to mind here), but for the most part U2 opts to let the simple beauty of the songs themselves shine through. “Stuck In A Moment” is a lovely ballad, “Wild Honey” is an almost folksy affair compared to the band’s usual output, and “Walk On” and “Beautiful Day” are a glorious return to that distinctly anthemic flavor of rock that caught everyone’s attention way back when on Unforgettable Fire.

The two songs that always stop me dead in my tracks, though, are “In A Little While” and “Kite”, two marvelous slow numbers that move along with a majestic gait and a combination of excellent lyrics and amazing musicianship. “In A Little While” in particular features some of Edge’s best guitar work (though it’s very simple and almost acoustic-sounding in places), and some of the sweetest notes ever to sneak out of Bono’s throat. The soaring chorus is instant classic sing-along material, even if you, like me, can’t really even try to hit those notes.

Stellar stuff from a band that, contrary to what I believed ten years ago, really has stood the test of time quite well.

1. Beautiful Day (4:09)
2. Stuck In A Moment (4:32)
3. Elevation (3:47)
4. Walk On (4:56)
5. Kite (4:26)
6. In A Little While (3:39)
7. Wild Honey (3:46)
8. Peace On Earth (4:48)
9. When I Look At The World (4:16)
10. New York (5:29)
11. Grace (5:31)

Released by: Interscope
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 49:42