Hourglass (Dave Gahan album)

Hourglass is the second solo studio album by English singer Dave Gahan, released on 17 October 2007 by Mute Records. It received generally favourable reviews; most critics complimented its electronica sound, while some criticised it for sounding too similar to Gahan's group Depeche Mode.^[1]

Hourglass
Studio album by Dave Gahan
Released	17 October 2007 (2007-10-17)
Recorded	Spring 2007
Studio	11th Floor (New York City)
Length	48:38
Label	Mute
Producer	Dave Gahan Christian Eigner Andrew Phillpott
Dave Gahan chronology
Paper Monsters (2003) Hourglass (2007) The Light the Dead See (2012)
Singles from Hourglass
"Kingdom" Released: 8 October 2007 "Saw Something" / "Deeper and Deeper" Released: 14 January 2008

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
The A.V. Club	B−^[4]
BBC	Positive^[5]
The Guardian	^[6]
musicOMH	^[7]
Now	2/5^[8]
Pitchfork	5.7/10^[9]
PopMatters	6/10^[10]
Rolling Stone	^[11]
Uncut	^[12]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 64, based on 18 critical reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[2]

Ben Hogwood of musicOMH wrote, "Gahan, it seems, is progressing into a well-rounded, mature songwriter who plays to all his strengths, and in particular the cracked voice, and its ability to move from a confidential whisper to a rabble-rousing bellow. These songs show him in a newly redemptive prime and will satisfy both short and long term devotees".^[13]

David Jeffries of Allmusic praised the album and felt the was "a more electronic, better built, and altogether better deal than Monsters, thanks mostly to the singer and-don't-you-forget-to-mention songwriter's better sense of self." "Hourglass doesn't have any overly urgent need to shake off Depeche Mode comparisons. Instead, it surrounds Gahan's serviceable writing skills with the dark electronic soundscapes he's obviously comfortable with." only criticising "Cringe-worthy couplets like "Miracle's "I don't believe in Jesus/But I'm praying anyway." find Gahan writing in the style of Gore and coming up short."^[14]

Marc Hawthorne of The A.V Club observed "Dave Gahan's second solo disc should find love from anyone who can recite from memory the albums after Songs Of Faith And Devotion. Everyone else will be indifferent. That doesn't mean it deserves to be ignored—two decades removed from his band's creative peak, Gahan has actually made one of the year's best-sounding electronic releases," concluding, "But when all is said and done, Hourglass simply lacks the exciting moments that got him here. A major exception is "A Little Lie," whose hook is like a mechanized version of the sax in The Psychedelic Furs' "Dumb Waiters." But trapped down at track nine, it feels like an anomaly."^[15]

Al Spicer of BBC praised Gahan's vocals saying, "Covering the emotional gamut from tearful regret to sated melancholy - at times with more reverb than strictly necessary - Dave’s voice is the album’s strongest, most memorable facet; the perfect vehicle with which to acknowledge one’s sins, invoke divine protection and beseech forgiveness. Gahan’s control and masterful delivery show that years of the rock star lifestyle left no lasting damage: if anything, the slight rasp of maturity lends an air of authentic experience that his work with Depeche Mode only hinted at."^[16]

Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave a 4 star rating saying "Dave Gahan's second solo outing is reliably bleak, probing the murk of his post-heroin-addiction mind as you'd expect, but achieving a kind of magnificence, too. A return from Paper Monsters' grungy guitars to uncompromising electronica works very well, elevating Gahan's morose thoughts into frigid symphonies. His remarkable voice fills in occasional gaps in the songwriting (the most nagging being a lack of hooks that contrasts unfavourably with the chorus-laden tunes of Depeche Mode's Martin Gore) and induces goosebumps, too."^[17]

Benjamin Boles of Now was more negative in his review saying "Depeche Mode frontman David Gahan's second solo disc is closer to the electro-pop vibe of his better known project than that of his first solo outing, for which DM fans will likely be grateful. Unfortunately, he's not as good a songwriter as Martin Gore, and this has a shortage of decent hooks." calling it "a bit of a mopefest" and saying "Some songs start out peppy and intriguing, but his moaning over top sucks all the life out of the groove."concluding, "Hardcore Depeche Mode fans will likely find more to like, but it's hard to imagine any but the most rabid really loving it."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott.

1. "Saw Something" – 5:14
2. "Kingdom" – 4:34
3. "Deeper and Deeper" – 4:34
4. "21 Days" – 4:35
5. "Miracles" – 4:38
6. "Use You" – 4:48
7. "Insoluble" – 4:57
8. "Endless" – 5:47
9. "A Little Lie" – 4:53
10. "Down" – 4:34

Bonus tracks

All bonus tracks appear on the iTunes edition of Hourglass.

11. "Kingdom" (Digitalism Remix) – 5:36
12. "Use You" (K10K Remix) – 6:03
13. "Deeper and Deeper" (SHRUBBN!! Dub) – 4:43

DVD

1. "Hourglass – A Short Film" – 17:52
2. "Kingdom" (promotional video) – 4:33
3. "Hourglass – The Studio Sessions" – 20:03
   1. "Saw Something"
   2. "Miracles"
   3. "Kingdom"
   4. "A Little Lie"
4. "Endless from Hourglass. The Studio Sessions" – 3:44

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Hourglass.^[18]

Musicians

• Dave Gahan – vocals
• John Frusciante – guitar solo (track 1)
• Graham Finn – bass (track 2); guitar (track 4)
• Tony Hoffer – guitar (track 9)
• Niko Stoessl – additional guitar (tracks 2, 6); backing vocals (track 6)
• Kevin Murphy – cello on "Saw Something" (track 1)
• Jenni Muldaur – backing vocals (track 10)
• Karl Ritter – Dobro (track 10)

Technical

• Dave Gahan – production
• Christian Eigner – production
• Andrew Phillpott – production
• Tony Hoffer – mixing^[a] (all tracks); engineering (track 9)
• Andy Marcinkowski – mixing assistance (all tracks); engineering (track 9)
• Ryan Hewitt – recording (track 1)
• Niko Stoessl – additional editing (tracks 2, 6)
• Kurt Uenala (K10K) – additional editing, additional engineering
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering^[b]

Artwork

• Dave Gahan – design
• Tom Hingston Studio – design
• Anton Corbijn – photography, Hourglass logo design

Charts

Chart performance for Hourglass

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[19]	15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[20]	50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[21]	6
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[22]	9
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[23]	16
French Albums (SNEP)^[24]	18
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[25]	2
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)^[26]	11
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[27]	73
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[28]	8
Polish Albums (ZPAV)^[29]	7
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[30]	85
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[31]	18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[32]	24
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[33]	5
UK Albums (OCC)^[34]	50
US Billboard 200^[35]	120
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)^[36]	1

Certifications and sales

Certifications for Hourglass

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV)^[37]	Gold	10,000^*
Russia (NFPF)^[38]	Gold	10,000^*
United States	—	8,000^[39]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for Hourglass

Region	Date	Format	Edition	Label	Cat. no.	Ref.
Japan	17 October 2007	CD	Standard	Toshiba EMI	TOCP-66717	^[40]
Europe	22 October 2007			Mute	CDSTUMM288	^[41]
		LP + CD			STUMM288
		CD + DVD	Limited		LCDSTUMM288
North America	23 October 2007	CD	Standard	Virgin	5099950872121
		LP + CD			5099950872213
		CD + DVD	Limited		5099950872329

Notes

1. Mixed at Chung King Studios (New York City)
2. Mastered at Marcussen Mastering (Hollywood, California)

References

1. "Dave Gahan: Hourglass (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
2. "Hourglass by Dave Gahan". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
3. Jeffries, David. Hourglass at AllMusic
4. Hawthorne, Marc (30 October 2007). "Hourglass Music review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
5. Spicer, Al (19 October 2007). "Welcome back to Dave's deliciously dark world... Hourglass review". BBC. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
6. Sullivan, Caroline (19 October 2007). "Dave Gahan, Hourglass Rock CD review". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
7. Hogwood, Ben (21 October 2007). "Dave Gahan - Hourglass | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
8. Bolen, Benjamin (8 November 2007). "David Gahan Album review". Now. Vol. 27, no. 10. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
9. Abebe, Mitsuh (25 October 2007). "Dave Gahan: Hourglass Album review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
10. O'Neil, Tim (6 November 2007). . PopMatters. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
11. Rolling Stone review 14 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
12. Uncut review 5 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. Hogwood, Ben (22 October 2007). "Dave Gahan – Hourglass (Mute, including the single Kingdom)". musicOMH. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
14. Hourglass - Dave Gahan | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 26 May 2024
15. "Dave Gahan: Hourglass". The A.V. Club. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
16. Spicer, Al. "BBC - Music - Review of Dave Gahan - Hourglass". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
17. Sullivan, Caroline (18 October 2007). "Dave Gahan, Hourglass". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
18. Hourglass (liner notes). Dave Gahan. Mute Records. 1998. CDSTUMM288.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
19. "Austriancharts.at – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
20. "Ultratop.be – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
21. "Ultratop.be – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
22. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 44.Týden 2007 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
23. "Danishcharts.dk – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
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25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
26. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2007. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
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28. "Italiancharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
29. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
30. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
31. "Spanishcharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
32. "Swedishcharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
33. "Swisscharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
34. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
35. "Dave Gahan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
36. "Dave Gahan Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
37. "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2007 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
38. (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF). Retrieved 17 May 2019.
39. "Ask Billboard". Billboard. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
40. "Hourglass : Dave Gahan". HMV Japan. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
41. "Releases" 18 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. DaveGahan.com. Retrieved 26 October 2007.