Gore’s second solo album comes in the shape of radically reworked tracks, originally made famous by the likes of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Kurt Weill, John Lennon, Brian Eno and David Essex. David Essex I hear you say? Yes, but this is Martin Gore remember? 'Stardus't sounds nothing like Essex original thankfully, and it takes of man of ingenious mental and physical creativity to turn this from a brown turd into a golden shower, yet Gore does just that. As you’ve probably guessed by now, 'Counterfeit 2' sees Gore take the opportunity to re-light a torch for several long lost items of personal musical memorabilia. The man has never been short of confidence, and by god you need it to take on the variety of artists that he has here. However, Gore has done a good job and the success of this album lies in the fact that, reworks or not, its simply an album of strong songs that are likely to hugely appeal to the electronic-loving fraternity.

Take, Nick Cave’s 'Loverman', Gore holds back from attempting the impossible, to mimic Cave’s hugely unique vocal, but instead concentrates on improving the song in every other way possible, whilst adding his very own unique dark electronic slant. Having said that, given the right conditions, Gore is a superb vocalist in his own right, and he takes the opportunity to use it brilliantly on Kurt Weill’s incredibly romantic 'Lost In The Stars'. 'Counterfeit 2' could almost be classed an ambient album, such is the mood of his downtempo song structures and patiently complex melodic programming. After Depeche Mode’s disappointing last album, and the success of this solo project, some might be wondering why the talented Gore doesn’t simply carry the torch for DM all by himself in future.