Counterfeit2

1	Compulsion 5:29
2	In a Manner of Speaking 4:21
3	Smile in the Crowd 5:05
4	Gone 3:32
5	Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth 3:07
6	Motherless Child 2:49

Barnes & Noble

It may seem curious for the principal songwriter behind the world's best-known synth-pop band to record a solo album of darkly introspective covers, but this disc makes incongruity its calling card. Depeche Mode won global popularity with tunes that explored life's painful and seedy underbelly, and that's the aspect of Gore's interest that rises to the fore on Counterfeit², which arrives 14 years after its predecessor, the Counterfeit EP. His song selection paints a music fan whose interests span decades of underground rock back to old blues and country gems -- check his reading of the aching "In My Time of Dying" (which has been recorded by Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin) over a bleak electronic backdrop. No matter the source, Gore applies a similar technique: crafting richly textured, synth-based settings that reveal a link to the bedroom noodlings of Aphex Twin and Autechre, and applying his unadorned, evocative vocals. This works with equal effect on the Velvet Underground's self-loathing "Candy Says" and the meditative "Below the Surface" by Brian Eno, surely a huge influence on Gore's work here. He stretches out on a dramatic interpretation of Kurt Weill's "Lost in the Stars," sings in German on Nico's "Das Lied vom Einsamen Madchen," and offers a ray of optimism in this otherwise bleak universe on John Lennon's wide-eyed ode "Oh My Love." There's nothing counterfeit about Gore's devotion to these songs, or his passion for challenging fans and detractors alike. Lydia Vanderloo

All Music Guide

Depeche Mode's evolution from trendy synthesized pinup boys to platinum-selling synth-rock superstars probably came as a shock for those who first heard the band's British hits "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough" in the early '80s. The band's 1981 debut album Speak and Spell was a disposable but entertaining collection of frothy dance tunes that made the Human League sound like Joy Division. Founding member Vince Clarke left the band prior to the recording of its second album, leaving songwriting duties to Martin Gore, who took the band in an entirely different direction on albums like Some Great Reward and the band's masterstroke, Black Celebration. The synthesizers and dancefloor elements were still there, but the material was considerably more downbeat and definitely more substantial. Songs like the S&M-inspired "Master and Servant" and the self-explanatory "Blasphemous Rumors" became Depeche Mode classics, earning the group a huge following of alienated teenage outcasts and college radio fans. Following the release of Music for the Masses in 1987, Depeche Mode took an extended hiatus, and Gore released his first solo album, Counterfeit, in 1989.

Although Gore has written almost every song in Depeche Mode's catalog since the band's second album A Broken Frame (1982), his first solo effort is an EP of remakes. Counterfeit's opening track "Compulsion" is a bouncy pop confection that wouldn't sound out of place on Speak and Spell, but he slows things down for the rest of the album, which includes material previously recorded by Sparks ("Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth") and the Comsat Angels ("Gone"). Gore's voice is only heard in a handful of Depeche tunes like "A Question of Lust" and "People Are People," but he is a much better singer than Depeche frontman David Gahan, possessing a sweet tenor that has more range than Gahan's robotic barking.

Despite the wide variety of sources (the traditional "Motherless Child" is the most surprising cover here), Gore's underwhelming arrangements undermine the material, making Counterfeit sound like an album of Depeche Mode demos. But at least he is able to inject his own personality into the music, which is often quite beautiful. While not an essential purchase for the casual listener, Counterfeit is a must for Depeche Mode fans, since it allows the band's true creative mastermind to step up front for a change. William Cooper