Construction Time Again is the third studio album by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records. It was the band's first album to feature Alan Wilder as a member, who wrote two of the album's songs. The album's title comes from a verse of the track "Pipeline". It was recorded at John Foxx's The Garden studios in London, mixed at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, and supported by the Construction Time Again Tour in Europe, which ran from September 1983 through March 1984.

The album, which reached number 6 on the UK Albums Chart, was supported by two singles: "Everything Counts", which reached number 6 on the UK singles chart, and "Love, in Itself", which charted at number 21.

Background and recording

thumb|left|Depeche Mode in 1983; Construction Time Again was the band's first studio album with [[Alan Wilder, pictured on the far right.]]

Depeche Mode had released their previous album, A Broken Frame in September 1982 and supported it with their A Broken Frame Tour, which lasted until May 1983. In early 1983, while still on tour, the band started to plan how to approach recording their new material; according to producer Daniel Miller, it was "the first record where you could say we actually sat down before we started and really decided how we were going to utilize the technology that was available at the time." In April, while on the Asian leg of the tour in Thailand, the band were unsettled by the poverty and open child exploitation. Said Jones, "It turned out that we had compatible approaches to the studio. We all wanted to discover new sound worlds, and give a sense of depth, scale and edge to the songs and music." Wilder, as the new member of the band, felt he had to be diplomatic about how he asserted himself in the studio without appearing pushy, but the other members of the group appreciated Wilder's input, presence and classical music training, with Gore saying "I quite liked the fact that he was there. It was almost like having a teacher check your work before it goes out."

For the album, Wilder and Miller had brought both a Synclavier and an Emulator, which allowed the band to capture and manipulate sounds in a way they hadn't been able to prior. They were inspired to buy an expensive Synclavier after it was used to produce Michael Jackson's album Thriller (1982), which was on its way to becoming the best-selling album in history. The band found it cumbersome to use, but were happy with the results on their previous single, "Get the Balance Right!". To get a "tougher" sound out of their music, they often hooked up the synthesizer to amplifiers and recorded the sounds in the studio space, as Jones said, "we often recorded the sound of the space as well as the sound of the synthesizer". Miller recalled "Martin [Gore] would turn up with some toy or some other weird instrument and we just started recording it, sampling it, doing shit with it." He looked back on the recording process as one of the most enjoyable he has been through stating "I sit at home with my synthesizers making great noises, but when you can put those experiments into the pop form that's thrilling." Lead vocalist Dave Gahan explained that, as Hansa had the only 56 track mixing desk in the world at the time, "we had used so many channels on the recording that we couldn't possibly have mixed the record at the studio we recorded it [The Garden in London] – they only had a 24 track desk. Plus, we wanted to sample a different atmosphere. If you work in just the one place it can get quite boring." Gahan elaborated, saying "Martin [Gore], Andy [Fletcher], and I come from working-class backgrounds, and our lyrics are starting to reflect that." and a month later, Construction Time Again was released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records in the UK with catalogue number STUMM13. For the first time, the band had a stage concept for the show, which included podiums for the keyboardists and a light show from three lighting towers on stage. Following an initial leg of dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a second leg in December reached Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany.

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On the album's politically inclined lyrics, Anne Lambert of Number One wrote: "[Martin Gore]'s protest songs are serious and sharply observed, but they retain that distinctive ear for a commercial melody". She concludes: "It's impossible to pick out tracks, as the whole effect is sharp, tight, smooth and absolutely riveting!"

Commenting on the results of the band's new line-up, AllMusic's Ned Raggett considers Construction Time Again to be "a bit hit and miss... [although] when it does hit, it does so perfectly". Singling out "Love, in Itself", Raggett observes: "Depeche never sounded quite so thick with its sound before, with synths arranged into a mini-orchestra/horn section and real piano and acoustic guitar spliced in at strategic points." Regarding Wilder's songwriting, Raggett states: "Wilder's... songwriting contributions are fine musically, but lyrically, 'preachy' puts it mildly, especially the environment-friendly 'The Landscape Is Changing'."

Live performances

Most of the songs from Construction Time Again were performed extensively during Depeche Mode's 1983–1984 Construction Time Again Tour in support of the album. "More Than a Party" was played live on their 1986 Black Celebration Tour, a performance of which was released as the B-side to their 1986 single "A Question of Time". "Everything Counts" became a staple of their live shows, performed on the 1984 Some Great Reward Tour, the 1987–88 Music for the Masses Tour, the 1993–1994 Devotional Tour, the 2005–2006 Touring the Angel Tour, the 2017–2018 Global Spirit Tour, and the 2023–2024 Memento Mori World Tour. Performances from these tours were released on The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg (1985), 101 (1989), Devotional (1993), Touring the Angel: Live in Milan (2006), Spirits in the Forest (2019), and Depeche Mode: M (2025), respectively.

Track listing

2007 Collectors Edition CD + DVD

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Construction Time Again.

  • Daniel Miller – production
  • Depeche Mode – production
  • Andy Fletcher
  • Dave Gahan
  • Martin Gore
  • Alan Wilder
  • Gareth Jones – tonmeister
  • Corinne Simcock – engineering assistance on "Two Minute Warning"
  • Brian Griffin – cover photography
  • Ian Wright – illustrations
  • Martyn Atkins – design

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Construction Time Again

! scope="col" | Chart (1983)

! scope="col" | Peak<br />position

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! scope="row" | UK Independent Albums (MRIB)

| 1

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Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1983 year-end chart performance for Construction Time Again

! scope="col" | Chart (1983)

! scope="col" | Position

|-

! scope="row" | UK Albums (Gallup)

| 85

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1984 year-end chart performance for Construction Time Again

! scope="col" | Chart (1984)

! scope="col" | Position

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! scope="row" | German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 69

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Certifications

Notes

References

Works cited

  • Album information from the official Depeche Mode website
  • Official remaster info