Violator!

Halo's the heart of this album for me - not the best track necessarily but the most quintessentially Violator-ish.

^^^ yeah, in some strange way, a lot of the non-single tracks seem to be the most "quintessentially Violator-ish". Maybe that's because the singles are too familiar, or maybe it's because the album tracks are darker and therefore more representative of the album's overall mood.

"blue dress" is my hands-down favorite here

ok that 'halo' video is not what i was expecting.

um, so, i've been thinking about this a lot, and i'm just wondering: does anyone find it REALLY WEIRD that none of these dudes are gay? or at least not out? i mean, really....

as a heterosexual fan of this kind of music: why?

you've got it all wrong -- Martin Gore is a sexual deviant, not a homosexual.

half their songs are about balling chicks and their vids got hot chicks half the time plus they got alot of hot chick fans = red flag obv

OTM:

NOT ENOUGH LOVE FOR "HALO."

There's that awesome moment when the string swoop right before doubletracked Gahan sings "It will be worth it" that's my favorite DM moment ever.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, October 29, 2007 6:08 PM

Seriously, this makes no sense:

Halo 5

meaning it got 5 votes
an eventual fifth Halo video game would make sense

haha

"Never Let Me Down Again" is, like, one of the gayest pop songs ever. an old flame of mine used to do it to the fuckin track, ffs. DM are a bunch of closet cases.

not that this changes the fact that they rule, and i love them more than almost any other musical group of the past 30 years.

me personally: halo > world in my eyes > waiting for the night > policy of truth > enjoy the silence > clean > personal jesus > blue dress > sweetest perfection

this plus de la soul is dead plus goo = the music i learned to drive to

halo + waiting for the night for me
then the singles
then everything else

straight ppl do drugs also, not sure what's gay about 'never let me down again'

Hoping your best friend doesn't let you down again, which is such an odd sentiment (I'll ignore chatter that the "best friend" is a drug metaphor). I've always thought it was a sound in search of a song.

it's awkward and ungainly, despite the awesome mix and arrangement. The lyrics don't sound finished.

and i guess that i just don't know

AS LONG AS I REMEMBER WHO'S WEARING THE TROUSERS.

i dunno, it seems pretty explicit to me. maybe i'm just biased cuz i used to have great sex to that song all the time.

always thought that song was homoerotic

'I'm taking a ride with my best friend' ffs

The swagger of the arrangement is definitely two bros in a car.

I finished my run today with Halo coming on random. Great track and probably my favorite off Violator. Is there a better sounding live recording of that tour than the SF show?

Halo was robbed here. ROBBED.

i love this remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8onMJT7Os6g

As another Halo stan I'm looking forward to the Depeche Mode tracks poll in a few weeks

"Halo" is ace, no doubt about that.

I always found it a bit of an also-ran compared to the rest of the album. I just wasn't convinced by the lyrical imagery: "a halo in reverse", "a discomfort in your seat" (time to buy a new armchair?), and those terrible "lips of tragedy". I seem to have warmed to it over the years though and I can't criticise it musically - Alfred is certainly otm about that awesome moment when the string swoop right before doubletracked Gahan sings "It will be worth it".

halo is awesome, the end.

the strings!

"halo", along with the rest of this album, has incredible bass parts.

Happy 25th to "Personal Jesus" in particular.

http://nedraggett.tumblr.com/post/96459898922/as-i-mentioned-in-a-comment-on-facebook-last

I've been "Enjoying" the "Silence" of this band*!

*they're broken up

lol

How is "Blue Dress" not way, way higher?

add another vote to "Halo." have been listening a lot to this album lately.

Probably would've gone 'World In My Eyes'. Nothing approaching a dud on this album though.

Video of their LA concert, 25 years ago today:

http://archives.depechemode.com/video/archives_concert_series/900804_losangeles.html

Unfortunately there are no complete songs, just two minute clips, but still!

i was watching the 'closed circuit feed' clips from Pasadena 88 from the archive site this week. funny seeing the raw footage of that night. Alan Wilder looking a combination of bemused, terrified and thrilled all at once. they look so young too, just like kids almost. no wonder it sent them doolally.

https://vimeo.com/album/2186716/page:2/sort:preset/format:thumbnail

Wonder if the same person recorded Electronic's set from that LA show.

One of the best albums of all time, IMO.

I was at that Los Angeles show. Depeche mode were great, Electronic not so much.

prob the most popular 'modern rock' album for scoring gay pr0n in the '90s

this is my go to for "this thing is so and so many years old but so and so many years before that thomas edison invented the tampon." enjoy the silence my ass. the void is screaming back at you. time is fucked up seriously. there were at least full three cultural cycles in the 1980s by my count but this was barely one and a half cultural cycles ago? the beatles barely got off the plane yet two violators ago. three violators ago people were buying war bonds. this shit was just yesterday.

I've been spending so much time with Spirit this year that I've realised I haven't returned to Violator in a while. Listening to this with that in mind, I'm struck by how different both Gahan's and Gore's voices are now - and not neccessarily for the better either.

Like, Gahan's vocals on Violator are definitely untutored, but the overall sound of his voice is far easier on the ear, I think.

Oh yeah, and I'll always love the way 'Blue Dress' segues into 'Clean' via 'Interlude Nr. 3' ... this is one of those albums where side one is awesome and side two still manages to blow it out of the water.

yeah Gahan's singing is obviously more skilled now but I defintely prefer his old hoarse drone

good god i love "policy of truth"

Yeah, it's probably my favourite track on the album, although it's a tough choice!