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.
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".
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.
