In praise of...Music for the Masses by Depeche Mode

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How come Depeche Mode can organise singles/remixes reissues so easily, but can never organise a decent remastered album series?

oh, and more praise for Ned

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 13 January 2005 16:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

How come Depeche Mode can organise singles/remixes reissues so easily, but can never organise a decent remastered album series?

This is one of those Great Mysteries.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 January 2005 16:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

Wow, Ned, nicely done. This makes me want to dust this album off and give her a spin. I actually was quite into Black Celebration more than this album (and, as you predicted, Violator), but you're spot-on about the BIG sound that permeates throughout.

Always wondered something: during the fade-out of "Never Let Me Down," Gore sings behind Gahan's repetion of the title. The lyrics sound something like....

See the stars are shining bright...

After that, I've never caught the end to the couplet. Any ideas?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 13 January 2005 17:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

...everything's all right tonight

Simple-sounding, but when you consider the song's about being in a drug-induced high, somehow appropriate.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 January 2005 17:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

after buying masses, i dug out black celebration ... and was rather unimpressed. i remembered it being dark and shadowy and angry; instead it seemed a bit weedy and plinky.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Thursday, 13 January 2005 19:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

a bit weedy and plinky.

Agreed. More like a Pinkish-Grey Celebration.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 13 January 2005 19:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'd have to strongly disagree, but Dan will be able to say more about this -- while there's nothing as completely wracked in terms of sound as well as mood as "To Have and to Hold" on there, say, the whole second half of the album is a pretty dour (and dourly pretty) wandering through the emotional wasteland.

Unexpected highlight joy of seeing them at Dodger Stadium in 1990 -- Martin Gore, solo with acoustic guitar, singing BC album track "Here is the House," never released as a single or anything...and the entirety of Dodger Stadium singing along word for word, as best as I could tell.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 January 2005 19:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

I used to have this on cassette in high school. My favorite track was "Pimpf". I may still have it somewhere, though I haven't played it in years. This thread is inspiring me to dig it out.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 13 January 2005 19:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

Unexpected highlight joy of seeing them at Dodger Stadium in 1990 -- Martin Gore, solo with acoustic guitar, singing BC album track "Here is the House,"

I think I have a bootleg recording of this show ... if not that exact show, then another one on the "Violator" tour when he performed that song (which was very rarely).

One weird thing about "Black Celebration" is that the saddest song on it ("World Full of Nothing") isn't a very dark-sounding song at all.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 13 January 2005 19:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'm also tempted to pull this out...I haven't listened to it in two years, save for Christmas Day when "Agent Orange" got stuck in my head out of nowhere...it seemed really appropriate.

Track by track:
Strangelove
The Things You Said
Little 15
Never Let Me Down Again
Nothing
Pimpf
Behind the Wheel
To Have and To Hold
Sacred
I Want You Now

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 13 January 2005 20:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

Nothing is tops for me!

― Grell (Grell), Thursday, 13 January 2005 20:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

I underrate this album as well, I think. But Ned's post was so great that I had to put it on again. It is very good, and the arrangements are often really ace. I think my favourite tracks are "Behind The Wheel" and "The Things You Said" - the restrained dancefloor minimalism on "Behind the Wheel" in particular works so fantastically, and it's a shame that they worked that angle so rarely (the other ace examples being "It's No Good" and "Personal Jesus", although the latter is sort of off in its own world). I find I always want DM to go darker and darker, more muscular and physical (but not necessarily rockier), so "Behind The Wheel" is just perfect for me. But I love the bonus remix tracks on this album as well for similar reasons.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 14 January 2005 03:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

But Ned's post was so great that I had to put it on again.

Well thank ya Tim, yours is a fine one in turn. :-) Those bonus tracks are certainly grand and maybe I'll do an adjunct post on them. Did you snare all the recent remixes that came out with the box set and the singles?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 January 2005 03:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

Kudos, Ned. Kudos. You've just brought back a flood of high school memories - good ones, too: my Mode-head first girlfriend, bugging the DJ to play "Behind The Wheel" at school dances, teaching myself to play all the bass and synth lines from "Strangelove" on piano (and marvelling at the 12-inch remixes of same).

Along with New Order, Depeche Mode left an INDELIBLE mark on my musical development - I've forgotten how many times I've referenced / cribbed / ripped them off wholesale over the years.(Oddly enough, I've never sampled either artist.) Even though my own work has become increasingly house- and techno- focused over the years, these guys are still relevant as fuck to me.

I don't have my vinyl copy of this anymore, so it's time to go get this and Black Celebration in one shot.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 14 January 2005 03:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

But--does Ned like it or what?

Seriously, that was a plummy spew of love, and I don't say that lightly.

Still, I prefer Black Celebration--it has that goth Liza Minelli thing you just can't find enough of these days.

― igrey, Friday, 14 January 2005 05:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

i think this is OK, though i prefer the DM stuff before it (and violator).

"pimpf" really is a pretty silly song, though.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 14 January 2005 05:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

I too would like to voice my approbation to the Nedster for his fine essay. If I remember correctly, Music for the Masses was about the fourth album I purchased (I know I already had The The's Infected and the Pet Shop Boys' Please and Disco by that point), but it's not just nostalgia that causes me to regard it as one of my all-time top-ten albums (evah!), and my absolute favourite from the Mode canon.
Music for the Masses cast a particularly long shadow over the development of my musical tastes. It seems even now to have been a high-water mark in terms of imaginative songwriting and perfectionist studio-craft. (Would it have been such a triumph without the production and arrangement skills of Alan Wilder? I think not.)
101, the movie, brims over with arresting images, but a particular favourite is the scene in which one of the fans (the pretty blonde girl) dances to Nothing on the tourbus. She gyrates pertly as Dave intones that we must "learn to expect... nothing", and the congruence of sex and nihilism is so very Modish.
It's interesting that people assume that Little 15 is addressed to an adult. Maybe it's because I was about fifteen years old when I first heard the song, but I never imagined that Little 15's lover was anything other than a boy of her own age. Indeed, I don't think I've ever heard a song that so perfectly captures the all-consuming obsessiveness of the teenage love affair.

― Palomino (Palomino), Friday, 14 January 2005 19:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

It's interesting that people assume that Little 15 is addressed to an adult. Maybe it's because I was about fifteen years old when I first heard the song, but I never imagined that Little 15's lover was anything other than a boy of her own age. Indeed, I don't think I've ever heard a song that so perfectly captures the all-consuming obsessiveness of the teenage love affair.

I always thought Little 15 was about a mother and daughter, with the mother wanting to recapture her youth through her teenaged girl.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 14 January 2005 19:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

EDIT: Whereas "A Question Of Time" from Black Celebration is clearly about trolling for underage booty.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 14 January 2005 19:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sound quality on 101 DVD = Dud.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Friday, 14 January 2005 20:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

and then i picked up a copy for six francs when i was on holiday in france last september

er, ~~francs~~ euros, i meant. jesus, i'm a twat sometimes.

― grimly fiendish: noticing mistakes nine months after making them, Thursday, 13 October 2005 19:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

WELL JEEZ. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 October 2005 19:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm glad you cleared that up.

― KeefW (kmw), Thursday, 13 October 2005 20:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

HOOOO

PEEEEEMPF

HOOOOO

PEEEEEEEEEEPMF

HOOOOOOO

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMPF

― HOOOO, Thursday, 13 October 2005 20:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

Sound quality on 101 DVD = Dud.
-- Chris Ott (edito...), January 14th, 2005

really? how so? it sounds fine to me.

― piscesboy, Thursday, 13 October 2005 20:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

Everybody please rank DM's albums, so I know what order to buy them (or when to stop buying them). I just got Violator, and it's the greatest thing I've every heard. What next...?

― Super Cub (Debito), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'll leave out the new album, for even though I think it's one of their top two or three albums upon initial listens, it hasn't had time to sink in yet and be ranked along with the others. I'll also leave out the two live albums, just because.

Violator
Music For the Masses
Ultra
Black Celebration
Speak and Spell
Songs of Faith and Devotion
Some Great Reward
Construction Time Again
Exciter
A Broken Frame

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

You rate Black Celebration and Speak and Spell higher than Some Great Reward. Is that the consensus?

― Super Cub (Debito), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

I can't speak for others here, but most fans wouldn't rate Speak and Spell as high as I did. Many ILM'ers rate Construction Time Again very highly, but it's never been one of my favourites.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

I bought this album recently. For the first six tracks it is undoubtedly the Greatest Depeche Mode Album Ever but like Violator it does lose sa fair amount of steam towards the end (especially "Pimpf"--sorry, just can't get down with their weird medeival-goth instrumentals). Maybe I need more listens. The first six tracks (four of which I already knew going into it) do ensure this one total classic status regardless, though.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 24 October 2005 02:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

Some Great Reward is their best album!

― dar1a g (daria g), Monday, 24 October 2005 02:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

and also this basic as hell guitar part which is ALL YOU NEED. It's like Gore loved playing anti-solos.

hey now, this may be true Ned, but if i'm remembering rightly this album was the first real use on DM records of any "guitar parts" full stop? and Martin was actually still learning to play i think, so it may have been basic as much from ability as intention. can't argue with the end result in any case though.

but, ah this just reminded me of some friends back in the day who always sang pimpf as "more..... beeer". brain surgeons, them.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 24 October 2005 02:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

and Martin was actually still learning to play i think

Martin learned how to play guitar when he was ten or so. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 October 2005 02:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

I like Black Celebration the best - despite its reputation for darkness I think it's their best pop album... it's much cheesier than most people give it credit for

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 24 October 2005 02:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

well i stand corrected then. (i was right about them not *using* them prev. to that tho?)

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 24 October 2005 03:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

The first guitar I can think of used on a Depeche track comes with a couple of brief bits during the instrumental break on "Love In Itself," beyond that I'm not sure.

By all accounts Martin composes most of his songs on acoustic or electric guitar, and he's well known for apparently always having a guitar with him or nearby, so it's not like he's afraid of the darn things. ;-) So in ways that's why I'm impressed with him as a guitarist -- he aims for the killer hook first and foremost, which in large part is why Depeche songs with guitar feature just that hook and nothing more, in that nothing more is needed. "Enjoy the Silence" is the almost paradigmatic example...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 October 2005 03:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

no waaaayyyyy, there's guitar in that song?! i'll have to relisten and get back to you.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 24 October 2005 12:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

Heh, it's quite clear! The break basically alternates between four 'acoustic' bits -- some piano, a little guitar filigree, more piano, and then a soft, glam-descend-like guitar bit, and then back to Dave. None of these parts is longer than a couple of seconds, but they're not buried, and they're great additions to the song.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 October 2005 13:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

Never close to my favourite album by Depeche Mode (as a matter of fact, the only album I like less is SOFAD), but I joined this thread to praise just one song: "The Things You Said" is one of the best things they ever did. An absolutely perfectly sad and desparate song, backed with synths that sounded like synths for once. One of their best ever moments.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 24 October 2005 14:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

As far as I'm concerned, Depeche Mode as an album band does not exist before Construction Time Again. I really really dislike those first two albums (even though there are some songs that exhibit the greatness they would grow into on there, listening to either of those albums in their entirety makes me want to scream).

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 October 2005 14:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

An absolutely perfectly sad and desparate song ... one of their best ever moments

yes. absolutely.

I really really dislike those first two albums

i have a soft spot for "speak and spell", although i think the non-album tracks that were later included on the CD (ice machine, shout, the instrumental any second now) are better than anything on the album proper. but there's an oddly beguiling mix of innocence and homo-eroticism about the whole affair that makes it more than the sum of its parts.

and "puppets" is quite simply ace.

i have "a broken frame" on cassette and "some great reward" on badly scratched vinyl, so those are the two i listen to the least (ie haven't listened to in years). the fact i've never bothered to get them on any other format says a lot; that said, my tastes have changed hugely since my early mode-buying days (14 years ago, mostly) so i know i should revisit them. IIRC there was one song towards the end of "broken frame" with an absolutely killer melody; and, as i think i said somewhere else, "precious" reminds me of it slightly.

i still don't own "ultra" and haven't heard it in its entirety. my bad.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ultra is easily the best of their 90s albums IMO; it's much more cohesive than SOFAD and it isn't completely forgettable two weeks later the way that Exciter is.

You should totally give Some Great Reward another spin, especially for "Lie To Me", "If You Want" and "Stories Of Old".

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

I still rate Violator over Ultra in terms of the nineties albums but Ultra is really something, keeps getting better every time I hear it. Some older thoughts.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

Violator is really, really excellent but there's something about the level of familiarity I have with it that may cause me to unfairly underrate it.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, you. *beats Dan down*

Strictly speaking I love all the Depeche albums YES THAT INCLUDES THE FIRST TWO but there are those that are clearly a cut above. Ultra is one, Playing the Angel is another.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ultra is a little bloated -- it's an hour in length and it feels like a LONG hour when you listen to it all the way through. Compared to their other great albums (including "Playing the Angel") the songs sound same-y. I'm sure they wanted to capture a particular mood that would seep throughout the whole album, but "Playing the Angel" shows that they can do that while still utilising a large palette of different sounds. while Some of those five/six minute tracks could lose a minute or two, and the album could stand to lose about two tracks and 10-15 minutes. It's the only DM album that I would criticise for being too long (I believe it is their longest?)

Still, the good stuff on it is *fucking great* (the singles, THE BOTTOM LINE, Insight ...) so I love it despite its many flaws.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

You're weird sir. (More specifically, let's hear you name a couple of songs to drop -- the brief instrumental bits don't count. ;-) )

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

You could drop "The Love Thieves" and "Sister of Night" without hurting the album too much.

"Freestate" takes forever to get where it's going, but once it gets there, it's great. They could have chopped a minute or so out of "Home", as well.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm sure somebody will claim that "Sister of Night" is Dave's best vocal on the entire album. That may be true, but the song doesn't measure up to the other tracks on the record.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

If anything, they need to add about 27 minutes into "Home" and make it into "This Corrosion Pt II".

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 19 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

i love that you love this music so much

"Strangelove" is not the single version and that's a good thing, because I like the machine gear loop noise and that barely audible bell-like synth bit then BAM BAM BAM and it's suddenly bass and drums that in its brute simplicity could be, I dunno, Prince 1984 in Eastern Europe or something. Motown 1971 after the apocalypse when the robots took over. The guitar on this one is subtle compared to That Riff on "Never Let Me Down Again" but like on so many later songs it's this lovely shading hiding out amid the strident synth riff that's this unmissable nag nag nag. And the song's about circular codependency of extremism in 'love' or somesuch. I like how at the end there's a part where Gahan calls and responses and then suddenly where his voice 'should' be a sudden high synth bit squirrels across the mix.

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Monday, 6 November 2006 06:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

OMG is "A Question of Time" on this one? I'm not really a very big DM fan but that song still appears in my head sometimes at like 7 in the morning and things like that.

― All The Furniture Is In The Garage (Bimble...), Monday, 6 November 2006 06:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, it's Black Celebration isn't it? Sorry.

― All The Furniture Is In The Garage (Bimble...), Monday, 6 November 2006 06:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

i love that you love this music so much

I love you love me love

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 6 November 2006 07:05 (6 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

france didn't have francs in 2004 and if they did 6 francs would be almost less than $1 US. a record like 'music for the masses' wouldn't sell for that.

that said, fantastic album

'never let me down again' is an absolute tour de force. one of the most compelling opening tracks around. from there on the record mellows and explores different moods, but everything remains cohesive and intriguing, and on a sheer track by track level, things hold up very nicely. it's a bizarre sort of record, one that is on certain levels quite subtle and self-absorbed and on other levels grandiose and dramatic.

'nothing' is really very lyrically profound. understated in delivery to be sure, but the lyrics demand close atention

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

"The Things You Said" is fan-fucking-tastic, as Martin-led songs usually are. Sometimes it's my favorite DM song, but of course that changes every five minutes. :) Does it really have anything to do with the "joys of drug use" though??

I love love love this album. Not quite as flawless as Construction Time Again or Black Celebration but I have no complaints to speak of. It's got great beats.

― Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 1 March 2007 18:36 (6 years ago) Permalink

Oh and also "Nothing" is AMAZING. I really love the synth hook.

― Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 1 March 2007 18:50 (6 years ago) Permalink

Does it really have anything to do with the "joys of drug use" though??

Er, I was referring to "Never Let Me Down Again."

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 1 March 2007 18:51 (6 years ago) Permalink

Oh, yeah, duh.

― Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 1 March 2007 18:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

I still don't see it as my favourite Depeche Mode album. It is partly the entire 1987 aesthetic I dislike (electronic music in the midst of primimtive D50/M1 sampling machines and the DX7 - never liked the sound of those). I also feel like the album wears a bit thin towards the end.

Like I already said, I absolutely love "The Things You Said". I also have a soft spot for "Sacred" and "Nothing", and "Strangelove" sounds great in the album version (as opposed to the somewhat thin-sounding single version that predated it)

"Never Let Me Down Again" and "Behind The Wheel" are just too monotonous for me to enjoy them. I know they are loved by several fans, but I haven't quite gotten the grip. The too-authentic-sounding piano on "Never Let Me Down Again" also puts me off somewhat - somehow it just doesn't sound synthpop/electronic enough. "Behind The Wheel" sounded better in its 7 inch version btw.

"To Have and To Hold" is kind of interesting in a weird way, as is definitely "I Want You Now". Both could have done with a better arrangement, as could definitely "Little 15" - a wonderful ballad that is somehow partly spoiled by a nagging and irritating backing track (particularly at the beginning)

Which leaves us with "Little 15" - probably the most pointless thing they ever did. Would have been better off having been replaced by "Pleasure Little Treasure"; and let me add that I am no fan of "Pleasure Little Treasure" either.

― Geir Hongro, Sunday, 4 March 2007 00:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

PRE-D50/M1 sampling machines, is what I was supposed to write in that paranthesis up there.

― Geir Hongro, Sunday, 4 March 2007 00:49 (6 years ago) Permalink

Tedious reverence around them aside, when it comes to the music and performances of it, it just bugs, like an itch you can't scratch. I don't find much in the way of personal connection there, in fact really none, maybe a song or two aside.

― gershy, Sunday, 4 March 2007 02:21 (6 years ago) Permalink

5 years pass...

Ultra is easily the best of their 90s albums IMO; it's much more cohesive than SOFAD and it isn't completely forgettable two weeks later the way that Exciter is.

funny how 7 years later I don't really like Ultra all that much and am really, really, really bullish on Exciter (which still isn't as good as Violator)

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Friday, 27 April 2012 17:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

also, "Never Let Me Down", "Strangelove" and "The Things You Said" all own hardcore

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Friday, 27 April 2012 17:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

Especially in their various album mixes.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 27 April 2012 17:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh yeah, the single version of "Strangelove" is TERRIBLE and embarrassing tbh

I don't think there's a version of "Never Let Me Down Again" that I've heard that I've disliked, though

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Friday, 27 April 2012 17:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

There is not one song on this album that I dislike.

― Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Friday, 27 April 2012 18:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

I like the remix of "Behind the Wheel" that was on the single more than the album version (probably because I heard the single first)

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Friday, 27 April 2012 18:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

I had all of the remixes back in the day on a cassette tape, but I couldn't even tell you what they sounded like now.

― Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Friday, 27 April 2012 19:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

I like this record but still prefer Violator even if I think about it for more than a few seconds the later album has as much filler.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 April 2012 19:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

violator is the ne plus ultra of zero filler albums!

― Touché Gödel (ledge), Friday, 27 April 2012 19:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

don't like "Blue Dress" or "Clean"

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 April 2012 19:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

well that's just crazy

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Friday, 27 April 2012 20:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

Great thread, yawl. What a magnificent op too. Love the love for Agent Orange, I keep going back to it. They have some very pretty instrumentals.

Ned, I hope you're going to vote in this one.

― Ismael Klata, Friday, 27 April 2012 21:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

Alas, you'll have to make do without me.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 27 April 2012 21:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

booooooooooooooooooooo

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Friday, 27 April 2012 22:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

it would be politically and philosophically incorrect to know Ned's top 20 songs by any of his favorite bands. he gave us Ned's Nineties and anyone who dares connect the dots further from there is on their own.

― pizza pizza and cult jam (crüt), Friday, 27 April 2012 23:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Our loss that any alliterative decades are a long ways off (unless he has a Scooby Doo-style change of heart in 28 years and brings us Raggett's Rirties).

― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Friday, 27 April 2012 23:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

Now that would be a vision.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 27 April 2012 23:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

run rundred rirty eight best ralbums

― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Friday, 27 April 2012 23:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

I always tend to prefer the album mixes of Depeche tracks over their single versions. For me, the single versions of 'Strangelove' and 'A Question Of Time' seem to lack the power that the album versions have. I suppose the Zephyr mix of 'In Your Room' is an interesting and different take on the song, but for me there is nothing more powerful than the 6-minute dark and atmospheric-as-fuck album version.

My favourite version of 'Never Let Me Down Again' is the one on 101 where they segue into the remix briefly for the middle section. I often find myself listening to it and wishing that they could have put that pulsing bass synth section into the album version.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 00:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've always found 'Blue Dress' and 'Clean' closes the Violator album perfectly. Granted, neither of them are as anthemic as many of the tracks that came before, but those songs are definitely in the right place on the tracklist. The way that 'Blue Dress' segues into 'Clean' via that interlude piece is one of the highlights of the album for me!

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 00:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

Love the video for the album mix of Strangelove. They look so fucking bored in it.

― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 01:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

Also I love that they're projecting this big heart shape on everything but stretched out it's like they're illuminated by a big nutsack.

― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 01:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

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