Hourglass
Studio album by
Released17 October 2007 (2007-10-17)
RecordedSpring 2007
Studio11th Floor (New York City)
Length48:38
LabelMute
Producer
  • Dave Gahan
  • Christian Eigner
  • Andrew Phillpott
Dave Gahan chronology
Paper Monsters
(2003)
Hourglass
(2007)
The Light the Dead See
(2012)
Singles from Hourglass
  1. "Kingdom"
    Released: 8 October 2007
  2. "Saw Something / Deeper and Deeper"
    Released: 14 January 2008

Hourglass is the second solo studio album by English vocalist 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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic64/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubB−[4]
BBCPositive[5]
The Guardian[6]
musicOMH[7]
Now2/5[8]
Pitchfork5.7/10[9]
PopMatters6/10[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]

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.

  1. "Kingdom" (Digitalism Remix) – 5:36
  2. "Use You" (K10K Remix) – 6:03
  3. "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.[14]

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

Charts

Chart performance for Hourglass
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 6
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[18] 9
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[19] 16
French Albums (SNEP)[20] 18
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 2
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[22] 11
Irish Albums (IRMA)[23] 73
Italian Albums (FIMI)[24] 8
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[25] 7
Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] 85
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[27] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 24
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 5
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 50
US Billboard 200[31] 120
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[32] 1

Certifications and sales

Certifications for Hourglass
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV)[33] Gold 10,000*
Russia (NFPF)[34] Gold 10,000*
United States 8,000[35]

* 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 [36]
Europe 22 October 2007 Mute CDSTUMM288 [37]
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. ^ a b "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). "Dave Gahan: Hourglass review". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  11. ^ Rolling Stone review Archived 14 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Uncut review Archived 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 (liner notes). Dave Gahan. Mute Records. 1998. CDSTUMM288.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Lescharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  21. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  22. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2007. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Dave Gahan". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  28. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  29. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Dave Gahan – Hourglass". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  31. ^ "Dave Gahan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  32. ^ "Dave Gahan Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  33. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2007 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  34. ^ "Russian album certifications – Dave Gahan – Hourglass" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF). Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  35. ^ "Ask Billboard". Billboard. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  36. ^ "Hourglass : Dave Gahan". HMV Japan. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  37. ^ "Releases" Archived 18 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. DaveGahan.com. Retrieved 26 October 2007.