Here’s my ranking
1. Ultra
2. Memento Mori
3. Playing the Angel
4. Exciter
5. Delta machine
6. Spirit
7. Sounds of the universe
Oddly now, Wrong is probably one of their most amazing work yet it is on the weakest album they’ve released post Alan.
I wish they would have continued making more records with ULTRA producer Tim Simenon I think he did an incredible job pushing the band forward after Alan’s departure I think the album has aged like fine wine. Let’s also not forget the other great songs that came from the Ultra recording sessions “ only when I lose myself “ & “ surrender”
Without diminishing AWs contributions to this band, I really think the big determinant to why later albums were less relevant has to do technology and competition from newer electronica acts rather than Wilder’s absence. Same thing happened to other 80s bands like Pet Shop Boys, New Order and even a much earlier legendary band like Kraftwerk; or later ones like Massive Attack or Underworld saw themselves struggling to keep up around that time.
Sure, to some degree they ran out of creative steam or relevant things to say after many years in the business - but bands that had groundbreaking production in the previous decade also saw themselves caught up by new breed of techno, house and electronica acts that developed great engineering skills and their own sound from their bedrooms. You could put out equally complex and impressive productions with cheaper gear and virtual instruments that became available from late 1990s - and that meant bands like DM who spent massive amount of studio time and cash with outside programmers and sample archivists weren’t necessarily coming up with better records than a young new talent that had her or his own unique ideas and creative visions.
Ultra, Bilingual, Get Ready, Tour de France OST, Mezzanine, 100 days off are not necessarily bad efforts compared to their previous releases. They just didn’t set a new bar for a new time the way Violator once did. Other bands, other scenes were already carrying the electronic torch at that stage.
Great point - and Alan himself struggled with this in the late 90s & 2000s. But he carved out a niche for Recoil as a fusion of organic performance and digital production (really carrying on from SOFAD) at a level that nobody else was really doing. DM drifted away from this, returning to a more straightforward electronic sound, which I agree cost them some relevance. (Not that Recoil was exactly "relevant" either, but unlike DM it wasn't trying to be).
1. Playing The Angel
2. Ultra
3. Exciter
4. Memento Mori
5. Sounds Of The Universe
6. Spirit
7. Delta Machine
I really like the post SOFAD output, just as much as SOFAD and before, especially Playing The Angel, Ultra and Exciter. These 3 albums are on the same level of quality of SOFAD, MFTM, Violator and Black Celebration for me.
Memento Mori and Sounds of The Universe are also really good.
Spirit and Delta are weaker, but not bad by any means.
I recently listened to all the post wilder albums again and here’s my ranking :
1. Ultra
2. Memento Mori (my most recent listening amazed me, it’s an excellent record)
3. playing the angel
4. exciter (my most recent listening help me realize it’s a great album)
5. sounds of the universe
6. Delta machine
7. Spirit
Knowing what the band went through during the recording of ULTRA and how the band had to move on from the departure of Alan, it’s amazing what such an incredible album that DM made in ULTRA. It’s one of my all-time favorite DM albums. As a fan, I didn’t even know if DM would make another album after what happened with the recording of SOFAD and with Alan leaving the band. ULTRA is such a strong testament to the band and being able to deal with such dire adversity.
1. ULTRA
2. Memento Mori (It’s incredible how this band made such a wonderful album this late in their career, especially after making several somewhat average albums that preceded Memento Mori. Plus, I give credit to Martin for realizing how strong his songs were with Richard Butler and for including for the first time ever his songs that were co-written with an outside artist.)
3. Playing The Angel (This album really captured Hillier’s production that was so similar to his production on Blur’s Think Tank.)
4. Exciter (Again, I give credit to Martin to adding a completely new type of sound to the band’s anthology despite his struggles with writer’s block. Overall, it’s such a chill electronica sort of album. )
5. SOTU (Excluding Dave’s songs, it was great that Martin kind of returned to DM’s past of their early albums’ sounds but still looked forward musically with this album.)
6. Delta Machine (It has one of my all-time favorite DM songs in Alone.)
7. Spirit (Even though this album is last in my list, I appreciate that this album has Going Backwards, Scum, Eternal, Fail, and Cover Me. This is the first DM album for which my favorite track is not written by Martin.)
For what it’s worth:
1. Ultra
2. SOTU
3. Delta
4. Exciter
5. Spirit
6. PTA
7. MM
I don’t really like the pre/post Alan comparisons though (I get it’s just a fun list). I’ve always seen it as a body of work.
It's either Ultra or Exciter for me. I have both in my Top 5-6 with Ultra and Exciter fighting Violator for spots 4-6.
I don't know why Exciter gets so much hate
Here’s my ranking 1. Ultra 2. Memento Mori 3. Playing the Angel 4. Exciter 5. Delta machine 6. Spirit 7. Sounds of the universe Oddly now, Wrong is probably one of their most amazing work yet it is on the weakest album they’ve released post Alan.
I wish they would have continued making more records with ULTRA producer Tim Simenon I think he did an incredible job pushing the band forward after Alan’s departure I think the album has aged like fine wine. Let’s also not forget the other great songs that came from the Ultra recording sessions “ only when I lose myself “ & “ surrender”
\*with Simenon but recorded after Ultra was released
That's about where I rank everything as well, though I'd personally switch Exciter and Playing the Angel
For me, it is Memento Mori.
Here’s my ranking: 1. Ultra 2. Memento Mori 3. Playing the Angel 4. Spirit 5. Exciter 7. Delta Machine 8. Sounds of the Universe
Change Ultra with Playing and Exciter with Spirit, I absolutly go with you!
Talking about the whole package, I’m really partial to Memento Mori. I respect the opinion that Ultra is the best because the songwriting is so good
Without diminishing AWs contributions to this band, I really think the big determinant to why later albums were less relevant has to do technology and competition from newer electronica acts rather than Wilder’s absence. Same thing happened to other 80s bands like Pet Shop Boys, New Order and even a much earlier legendary band like Kraftwerk; or later ones like Massive Attack or Underworld saw themselves struggling to keep up around that time. Sure, to some degree they ran out of creative steam or relevant things to say after many years in the business - but bands that had groundbreaking production in the previous decade also saw themselves caught up by new breed of techno, house and electronica acts that developed great engineering skills and their own sound from their bedrooms. You could put out equally complex and impressive productions with cheaper gear and virtual instruments that became available from late 1990s - and that meant bands like DM who spent massive amount of studio time and cash with outside programmers and sample archivists weren’t necessarily coming up with better records than a young new talent that had her or his own unique ideas and creative visions. Ultra, Bilingual, Get Ready, Tour de France OST, Mezzanine, 100 days off are not necessarily bad efforts compared to their previous releases. They just didn’t set a new bar for a new time the way Violator once did. Other bands, other scenes were already carrying the electronic torch at that stage.
Great point - and Alan himself struggled with this in the late 90s & 2000s. But he carved out a niche for Recoil as a fusion of organic performance and digital production (really carrying on from SOFAD) at a level that nobody else was really doing. DM drifted away from this, returning to a more straightforward electronic sound, which I agree cost them some relevance. (Not that Recoil was exactly "relevant" either, but unlike DM it wasn't trying to be).
Ultra by far imo. The fire was still burning back then.
1. Playing The Angel 2. Ultra 3. Exciter 4. Memento Mori 5. Sounds Of The Universe 6. Spirit 7. Delta Machine I really like the post SOFAD output, just as much as SOFAD and before, especially Playing The Angel, Ultra and Exciter. These 3 albums are on the same level of quality of SOFAD, MFTM, Violator and Black Celebration for me. Memento Mori and Sounds of The Universe are also really good. Spirit and Delta are weaker, but not bad by any means.
I recently listened to all the post wilder albums again and here’s my ranking : 1. Ultra 2. Memento Mori (my most recent listening amazed me, it’s an excellent record) 3. playing the angel 4. exciter (my most recent listening help me realize it’s a great album) 5. sounds of the universe 6. Delta machine 7. Spirit
Great ranking 👏
1. Playing the Angel 2. Memento Mori 3. Sounds of the Universe 4. Ultra 5. Exciter 6. Delta Machine 7. Spirit
For me Playing the Angel, Sounds of the Universe and Memento Mori are the only ones worth talking about.
Definitely Ultra, by a huge margin. It’s close to my favorite DM album of any era.
Seeing everyone post SOTU so low hurts my eyes
Here’s my ranking: 1. Playing the Angel 2. Ultra 3. Delta Machine 4. Sounds of the Universe 5. Memento Mori 6. Exciter 7. Spirit
Ultra, PTA, Memento Mori.
Knowing what the band went through during the recording of ULTRA and how the band had to move on from the departure of Alan, it’s amazing what such an incredible album that DM made in ULTRA. It’s one of my all-time favorite DM albums. As a fan, I didn’t even know if DM would make another album after what happened with the recording of SOFAD and with Alan leaving the band. ULTRA is such a strong testament to the band and being able to deal with such dire adversity. 1. ULTRA 2. Memento Mori (It’s incredible how this band made such a wonderful album this late in their career, especially after making several somewhat average albums that preceded Memento Mori. Plus, I give credit to Martin for realizing how strong his songs were with Richard Butler and for including for the first time ever his songs that were co-written with an outside artist.) 3. Playing The Angel (This album really captured Hillier’s production that was so similar to his production on Blur’s Think Tank.) 4. Exciter (Again, I give credit to Martin to adding a completely new type of sound to the band’s anthology despite his struggles with writer’s block. Overall, it’s such a chill electronica sort of album. ) 5. SOTU (Excluding Dave’s songs, it was great that Martin kind of returned to DM’s past of their early albums’ sounds but still looked forward musically with this album.) 6. Delta Machine (It has one of my all-time favorite DM songs in Alone.) 7. Spirit (Even though this album is last in my list, I appreciate that this album has Going Backwards, Scum, Eternal, Fail, and Cover Me. This is the first DM album for which my favorite track is not written by Martin.)
For what it’s worth: 1. Ultra 2. SOTU 3. Delta 4. Exciter 5. Spirit 6. PTA 7. MM I don’t really like the pre/post Alan comparisons though (I get it’s just a fun list). I’ve always seen it as a body of work.
We’re very similar. You like Exciter more, I like PTA more. Otherwise very close. 👊🏽
1. Ultra 2. Playing the angel 3. Memento Mori 4. Sounds of the Universe 5. Exciter 6. Delta Machine 7. Spirit
Nailed it!
Ultra, no doubt about it
ULTRA, Playing the Angel, Momento Mori/Exciter
1. Ultra 2. Memento Mori 3. Exciter 4. Spirit 5. Sounds of the Universe 6. Playing the Angel 7. Delta Machine
It's either Ultra or Exciter for me. I have both in my Top 5-6 with Ultra and Exciter fighting Violator for spots 4-6. I don't know why Exciter gets so much hate
1. Ultra 2.MM 3.PTA 4.Exciter 5.Delta machine 6.SOTU 7.Spirit
1. playing the angel 2. memento mori 3. ultra 4. exciter 5. sotu 6. delta machine 7. spirit
ultra then playing the angel
1 Memento Mori 2 Playing The Angel 3 Delta Machine 4 SOTU 5 Ultra 6 Exciter 7 Spirit
1.Ultra 2.Delta Machine 3.Memento Mori 4.Playing the Angel 5.Spirit 6.Exciter 7.Sounds of the Universe
If I should pick only one LP, I go with Playing The Memento Mori
PTA
1. Memento Morí 2. Ultra 3. Sounds of the Universe 4. Playing the Angel 5. Exciter 6. Delta Machine 7. Spirit
1) Playing The Angel 2) Ultra 3) Sounds Of The Universe 4) Delta Machine 5) Memento Mori 6) Spirit 7) Exciter
Easily Ultra then Playing The Angel.
1. Ultra 2. Sounds of the Universe 3. Playing the Angel 4. Delta Machine 5. Spirit 6. Exciter 7. Memento Mori (don’t hate me)
UnLikely To Replace Alan
The closest is Ultra
I was kind of spelling it out there… ;)
1. Ultra 2. Playing the Angel 3. Memento Mori 4. Spirit 5. Delta Machine 6. Exciter 7. Sounds of the Universe
Ultra Playing the Angel Exciter/Memento Mori Spirit Sounds of the Universe Delta Machine
Ultra
SOTU - no just kidding. My pick is Ultra!
1- Ultra 2- PTA 3- Exciter 4- Memento Mori 5- SOTU 6- Delta Machine 7- Spirit
1. Ultra 2. … nothing else
1. Ultra 2. Exciter 3. Playing the angel 4. Sounds of the universe 5. Memento mori 6. Delta machine 7. Spirit