a super duper cool entry about why I love SOTU!

Today, 16 years ago, Depeche Mode (DM) released their 12th studio album, and, quite frankly, one of their more controversial albums:

"Sounds of the Universe".

I first listened to "Sounds of the Universe (SOTU)"  back when I was trying to listen to all of the DM albums for the first time (still haven't managed that lolz) I was quite fed up with the previously released albums  - "Songs of Faith and Devotion (SOFAD)" became my least favourite album during that period; "Playing the Angel" was such a bore, I nearly gave up listening to it. I needed something special, a little something to make DM truly stand out to me.

Here came "Sounds of the Universe". 

I am not really sure what stood out to me. After all, most people would classify the album as their least favourite, so why? As I finished listened to it for the first time, my reasoning for ranking it quite high in my personal ranking was that it followed a 'theme'. It sounds bit ridiculous now, but that's what captivated me. I liked how it retained that specific type of electronic sound throughout the album, and that it stayed consistent within its sound. As the songs progressed through, I kept repeating how this is such a 'wow' album and that this was their best album as of far. I mean, you had 'Spacewalker' on the album - in no way this album was bad.

I guess my opinion has stayed the same throughout the years. I still firmly believe that SOTU is one of their better albums, although nowadays, I rank SOFAD higher than it (I was so insistent that I would hate that album forever, so I was annoyed with myself when I started to begrudgingly like it) I do understand why people might not like the album as some songs do fall short such as 'Peace', and the music videos are forgettable, but the album made an attempt and whether we like it or not, it is here to stay. You cannot simply ignore an album because each of them are impactful to the entirety of Depeche Mode. At the end of the day, an album you might hate has made a great impact towards a random person. That album to me is 'Sounds of the Universe'.

Further on, the album helped me get through some challenging times, in particular the song 'Wrong". I was feeling really physically unwell during that period, yet the song (and its live version, too) kept me in high spirits and for that, I am forever grateful. I treasure that song with my whole heart and to imagine it not existing would simply be weird. 

To end off in an informal manner, I really fucking love SOTU. People might diss and spit on it on social media or wherever they can, but what use there is to it? I am a firm believer that there is no bad album in Depeche Mode's discography and all you gotta do is to listen to each album with an open mind. I realize that I might have hated on SOFAD in its entirety because I really dislike 'I Feel You', which in return made me think that the entire album was shitty, but once you listen to it once or twice (and skip that song...), you might find yourself enjoying it! I am glad that I didn't know that SOTU was unpopular with the people because I might have not thought of it the way I do now. 

So, Happy 16th Anniversary, "Sounds of the Universe"! The original version of 'In Chains' is still the better version compared to the Alan Wilder Remix.