Paper Monsters

Paper Monsters is the solo debut album by Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan. It was released by Mute Records on June 2, 2003 in Europe. The album was produced by Ken Thomas, who is best known for his work with Icelandic band Sigur Rós. Upon its debut, critical reception was generally mixed; while many complimented the album's personal subject matter, others described it as lacking depth. Paper Monsters became a modest success in the UK where it debuted at number thirty-six on the albums chart, but it was a big success in the German, Swedish and Swiss charts, reaching there the Top 10. In North America, the album was released on June 3, 2003; however, it failed to make much of an impact on the mainstream charts, although the tour "Paper Monsters Tour" had some impact, especially on Depeche Mode fans. One concert of the tour, the one on 4-5.07 in Paris at the Olympia, was recorded and released on a DVD called "Live Monsters".

From this album, four songs were released on three singles: "Dirty Sticky Floors", "I Need You" and "Bottle living" / "Hold on" (the last was a double A-side, so two album songs were released on the same single: "Bottle living" and "Hold on"). The three reached the UK Top 40.

Gahan first played with the idea of releasing a solo album after the release of Depeche Mode's Exciter in 2001, but approached the project slowly. It was not until he began writing music with friend and musician Knox Chandler that he gained the self-confidence he needed to begin to consider working on an album of his own material.

Read more about Paper MonstersTrack Listing, Critical Response, Singles, Release Details, Charts, Credits and Personnel