Counterfeit 2

Counterfeit²
Counterfeit²
Studio album by Martin L. Gore
Released	April 28, 2003
Recorded	Electric Ladyboy (Santa Barbara)
Genres	Alternative rock; electronica;
Length	42:59
Label	Mute
Producers	Andrew Phillpott; Paul Freegard;
Martin L. Gore chronology

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Blender
The Guardian
Mojo
Pitchfork	6.9/10
Q
Release Magazine	8/10
Uncut	6/10

Counterfeit 2 (stylized as Counterfeit²) is the first full-length studio album by Martin L. Gore, the primary songwriter for the band Depeche Mode, and his second release (his first being the Counterfeit EP in 1989).

Released April 28, 2003 in Europe and April 29, 2003 in the US, Counterfeit² is an album featuring 11 covers of songs that Gore considered influential to his own compositions for Depeche Mode. He recorded this album around the same time as Dave Gahan recorded his first solo album Paper Monsters, after the Exciter Tour ended, and around the same time Andy Fletcher produced Client's self-titled debut album. Counterfeit² is a very synth heavy album compared to Depeche Mode's prior two albums, Exciter and Ultra, and includes a song sung completely in German ("Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen").

Gore also went on a brief tour consisting of a few concerts in Europe and Los Angeles.

Track listing

CD: Mute / CDSTUMM214 (UK)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original artist	Length
1.	"In My Time of Dying"	Blind Willie Johnson	Blind Willie Johnson	4:24
2.	"Stardust"	David Essex	David Essex	3:08
3.	"I Cast a Lonesome Shadow"	Hank Thompson	Hank Thompson	4:51
4.	"In My Other World"	Julee Cruise Louis Tucci	Julee Cruise	3:53
5.	"Loverman"	Nick Cave	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	7:02
6.	"By This River"	Brian Eno Hans-Joachim Roedelius Dieter Moebius	Brian Eno	4:01
7.	"Lost in the Stars"	Maxwell Anderson Kurt Weill	From the musical Lost in the Stars	2:52
8.	"Oh My Love"	John Lennon Yoko Ono	John Lennon	3:33
9.	"Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen"	Werner R. Heymann Robert Gilbert	Hildegard Knef	5:25
10.	"Tiny Girls"	David Bowie Iggy Pop	Iggy Pop	3:20
11.	"Candy Says"	Lou Reed	The Velvet Underground	4:35
Total length:				42:59

Personnel

Andrew Phillpott – producer
Paul Freegard – producer
Anton Corbijn – art direction, sleeve photo
Jennifer Secord – supplementary photos
Peter Gordeno – piano on "Lost in the Stars", Fender Rhodes on "Das Lied Von Einsamen Mädchen" and backward solo on "Tiny Girls"
Martin L. Gore – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, arranger
Kris Solem – mastering

Singles

"Stardust"

A single for the track "Stardust" was released two weeks prior to the release of Counterfeit². It included the B-sides "Life Is Strange" and a video of "Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys" (both are two soul songs written by Marc Bolan from the 1973 T. Rex album Tanx), along with various remixes of "Stardust" and "I Cast a Lonesome Shadow".

Loverman EP²

After Counterfeit², saw the release of Loverman EP² which included mixes of "Loverman" and "Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen". There was also a version with a DVD which included footage of Gore's Milan show on April 30, 2003, and an interview. It was released in November in the UK and was not released in the US.

References

1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Martin Gore – Counterfeit²". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
↑ "COUNTERFEIT 2 by Martin L. Gore". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
↑ The musical treatment is Depeche Mode-lite, setting generally passionate songs in an antiseptic electronic context, and Gore's over-earnest voice lacks the presence to reinvigorate them. [May 2003, p.120]
↑ Lynskey, Dorian (25 April 2003). "CD: Martin L Gore: Counterfeit 2". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
↑ In part gripping.... But Gore doesn't always push his voice to its brilliantly effete/effeminate extremes. [May 2003, p.104]
↑ Pitchfork Media review
↑ While his taste is textbook classic, his arrangements are not. [May 2003, p.104]
↑ Huss, Mattias (17 March 2003). "Martin Gore: Counterfeit 2". releasemagazine.net. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
↑ Gore's brittle choirboy voice lacks the depth and grandeur of Gahan's, but he still gamely takes on some adventurous choices. [Jun 2003, p.108]

External links

Album information from the official Martin Gore website

[AllMusic-1] 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Martin Gore – Counterfeit²". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2015.

[MC-2] "COUNTERFEIT 2 by Martin L. Gore". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 June 2018.

[3] The musical treatment is Depeche Mode-lite, setting generally passionate songs in an antiseptic electronic context, and Gore's over-earnest voice lacks the presence to reinvigorate them. [May 2003, p.120]

[TG-4] Lynskey, Dorian (25 April 2003). "CD: Martin L Gore: Counterfeit 2". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

[5] In part gripping.... But Gore doesn't always push his voice to its brilliantly effete/effeminate extremes. [May 2003, p.104]

[6] Pitchfork Media review

[7] While his taste is textbook classic, his arrangements are not. [May 2003, p.104]

[8] Huss, Mattias (17 March 2003). "Martin Gore: Counterfeit 2". releasemagazine.net. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

[9] Gore's brittle choirboy voice lacks the depth and grandeur of Gahan's, but he still gamely takes on some adventurous choices. [Jun 2003, p.108]

v t e Martin Gore
Studio albums	Counterfeit² MG
EPs	Counterfeit EP Loverman The Third Chimpanzee
Singles	"Cross Whisper"
Related articles	Depeche Mode VCMG