Depeche Mode C or D/S& D

Had I been at this thing I would have completely lost my shit upon realizing what he was about to sing.

I like how there are two waves of audience reactions -- to the first notes of the music, then the opening lyrics.

Yeah, I noticed that too.

Still find it sort of cool that there were at least three of us at that rainy CNE show. Barry and I figured out years ago that we both count it as our first concert, but didn't know til this thread that Rob Bolton was there too. Any more?

I've been on a real Depeche Mode kick since the 101 documentary was aired on BBC 4 the other night. They're one of those bands that I only dig out every so often these days, but when I do I greet them like an old friend and always think "damn, I need to do this more often!"

SPEAK AND SPELL: ****
A BROKEN FRAME: ***
CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN: ***
SOME GREAT REWARD: ****
BLACK CELEBRATION: *****
MUSIC FOR THE MASSES: *****
VIOLATOR: *****
SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION: *****
ULTRA: ***.5
EXCITER: *
PLAYING THE ANGEL: ****
SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE: ****

Reasonably good rankings. I am one of two people that happily enjoys Exciter.

And wrote the AMG wreview!

sorry for wsilent w

I'll always have a special place in my heart for Speak & Spell, because it was the first Depeche Mode album I remember consciously hearing from front-to-back. This would have been back when my age was merely in single figures, and it would have been my dad's old tape copy of the album... but I do have some early memories of running around the living room with my younger sister while 'Photographic' was blasting out of the speakers. I also remember the 'sensation' I used to get when 'New Life' used to kick in, one of those early moments in life when I first became aware of how powerful music could be!

I suppose as an album it will always be remembered for being somewhat of an anomaly in Depeche Mode's catalogue, with most of the songs being written by Vince Clarke, and it having the bouncy (and probably the most-cited song from this era of the band) 'Just Can't Get Enough' on it. However, I was listening to it earlier and realised that, even though it's obviously less dark than pretty much every Depeche Mode album that came afterwards, there is still a hint of darkness in there. 'Puppets' for example, written by Vince, is obviously a song about addiction, and seems (to me, anyway) to be much, much less cheery in subject matter than a hell of a lot of what Vince would do later. 'Photographic', too, even though it may not have a dark subject matter, seems to have an atmosphere musically to it that I don't think Vince recaptured until select moments on Erasure's 'Chorus' album, while Depeche eventually built and built upon it until it resonated in stadiums the world over.

It does have its flaws: 'What's Your Name?' is a track I quite liked when I was a 6 year old, but I find it a little bit too sickly-cutesy these days. On the whole though, I think the overall sound of the album has held up well, with its 'clean' analogue sound, and I think it's a very well produced, very sharply-written pop record in its own right, even if it isn't the Depeche Mode that recorded, say, 'Ultra'.

After Vince Clarke left the band, I definitely think it took the band a couple of albums to find their feet again. A Broken Frame, to me, is an interesting record for many different reasons. It's not only the sound of Depeche Mode trying to prove themselves all over again post-Vince, but it also comes across to me as being a logical follow-up to Speak & Spell. The elements it shares with Speak & Spell are definitely not only in its analogue sound, but there also seem to be moments on the album which one could say were more than a touch 'Clarke-aping', for want of a better term, even if the band hadn't consciously set out to do that. So, obviously, what we end up with in A Broken Frame is an album with one foot in one place, and one foot in a slightly different place stylistically. Also, in A Broken Frame we also have a situation where Martin Gore, even though he's no stranger to writing songs at this early stage, is learning how to be the primary songwriter in Depeche Mode. Speak & Spell was a successful album in the UK in the early '80s, and as such, the band had already been 'defined' in the eyes of many and Gore's songwriting style was very (is) different to that of Clarke's - so there's this element of Gore's songs (some of which had actually been written pre-Depeche) being tailored to 'fit' Depeche Mode, while simultaneously giving hints of where his songwriting could take Depeche Mode on subsequent albums. It's a very interesting situation.

Obviously because of all the factors involved, A Broken Frame has many inconsistencies, and is certainly nowhere near as focused as Speak & Spell, but it is STILL quite listenable and has numerous keepers.

'Leave In Silence' and 'The Sun & The Rainfall', the opener and closer of the album, are in my opinion two magnificent songs that have held up very well. 'See You', too, while hardly as hard-hitting as, say, 'Stripped', is a gem of a song when taken on its own terms and has a hell of a lot of charm and a gorgeous melody, and I have a real soft spot for 'Nothing To Fear'.

'The Meaning Of Love' and 'A Photograph Of You' are probably two of the more obviously 'Clarke-aping' tracks, but if you have enough of a musical sweet-tooth they're pretty inoffensive and not the worst things here.

Of the rest of the tracks, there's a few 'experimental' (for this era of the band) moments: 'Monument' would be fine if it wasn't for the excruciating "anything passes when you need glasses" lyric, and 'Shouldn't Have Done That', lovely harmonies aside, doesn't do all that much for me. 'Satellite' seems like a pretty unsuccessful attempt at some kind of synth-reggae, and even on its own terms is, to me, a bit of a dud, and possibly one of Gore's worst songs overall.

It goes without saying that the second of Depeche Mode's 'post-Clarke feet finding' albums, Construction Time Again, is a far more confident record than A Broken Frame, but in my opinion it still shares with A Broken Frame a kind of feeling of 'transition'. While Gore definitely seems to be more confident in his role as Depeche Mode's primary songwriter, he hasn't yet hit upon the sex/love/sin/religion/relationship angle of his songwriting that would become his lyrical trademark and instead is writing here about more world/political-oriented themes. This not only sets the album apart slightly from A Broken Frame, but virtually everything else that Gore has written since.

Construction Time Again is also, of course, the first record that the band made with Alan Wilder, whose contribution to Depeche Mode would increase and increase throughout the years and whom would prove to be the bands 'secret weapon'. Wilder also contributes a couple of songs here (although he would later claim to have been somewhat of a reluctant songwriter for the band), so what we have in Construction Time Again is a band and its new member still learning how to work together, under the supervision of label boss Daniel Miller and studio wizard Gareth Jones, having definitely moved away from Speak & Spell, but still nowhere near being the band that entertained the masses at the Rose Bowl in 101.

Construction Time Again is the first of the 'metal-bashing' Depeche albums; the first where the band made incredible use of sampling and attempted to go for more sophistication and depth in the production and arrangements, and production-wise it is definitely leaps and bounds away from the first two albums and sonically on the 'next level', as it were. This is an album that, for me, definitely works best with a set of headphones - there's plenty of 'ear candy' and 'layers' of sound in there, especially on 'Pipeline', which may not be a great song but as a series of noises is just incredible.

However, I also feel that the production on this record hasn't aged as well as, say, Black Celebration or even Speak & Spell, especially those synth-brass sounds that litter tracks like 'Love, In Itself', 'The Landscape Is Changing' and 'Told You So'.

'Everything Counts' remains a fantastic song, and is definitely my highlight here. 'Two Minute Warning', written by Wilder, is another favourite, and definitely my favourite out of all of the songs he contributed to Depeche Mode, and may have made a great third single from the album in my opinion.

As for the lowlights: I've never really been too taken with 'Shame', and I find the lyrics on Wilder's 'The Landscape Is Changing' a little bit on the preachy side, not to meant cringeworthy and a touch embarrassing. I also have to allow myself a little smile that the same Dave Gahan who had been "looking for a fight for a few days" in 101, and became this long-haired, tattooed rock god Jesus figure around the time Songs Of Faith And Devotion, is singing lyrics like 'keep telling us we're to have fun/then take all the ice cream so we've got none' in 'More Than A Party', which kinda now sounds like a prototype version of the far more successful 'Something To Do' from the next album.

So yes, Construction Time Again is definitely an advancement, but for me the big advancement would come with their next record.

Ah yes, Some Great Reward. Everything that everyone came to know and love about Depeche Mode in their classic incarnation of Gahan, Gore, Wilder and Fletcher pretty much begins here. Gore has mostly moved away from political themes and towards relationships and the links between love, sex and religion, and in doing so has found his trademark lyrical voice. Wilder is now more fully integrated into the group, and has also gelled with a returning Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones to form the main backbone of the production team, so this is indeed a very confident and focused record.

The 'metal-bashing' that made its debut on Construction Time Again is back, but its also more fully integrated into the songs, and what songs they are! No less than FOUR out of NINE tracks here were singles: the beautiful piano ballad 'Somebody', the massive hit 'People Are People', the kinky sex-infused 'Master And Servant' (with added whip samples!), and the god-bothering 'Blasphemous Rumours' (if this wasn't an influence on Trent Reznor, it definitely should have been), and all of them, to me, still stand up very well and are just great, great songs.

Of the rest of the tracks, there's the hard-hitting opener 'Something To Do', which is definitely a favourite of mine, and I've always had a soft spot for 'It Doesn't Matter'. I've always found the lyrics quite touching on that one.

The weakest moments on this record, for me at least, are Wilder's track 'If You Want' ('exercise your basic right/we could build a building site' indeed), which is definitely easier to stomach than 'The Landscape Is Changing', but also definitely nowhere near as good as 'Two Minute Warning', I think. I've also never been a massive fan of 'Lie To Me'. It must be said though, that I would easily take these two tracks over the weakest moments of A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again.

Some Great Reward remains, to me, a very good record, and I feel that this is definitely the record that sets the wheels of the 'Wilder era' in motion. From this moment until Wilder departed after the tour for Songs Of Faith And Devotion, I don't think that Depeche put out a studio album that was anything less than great, even if the odd B-side, or even standalone single (yes, I'm looking at you, 'It's Called A Heart') failed to live up to the high standards that this band had between 1984-1993. A fantastic near-decade of work.

REMEMBER WHEN.. The final moment of KROQ-landia, basically. "DAPASH MOOD!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt-UyIsWn_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moCbSWHacY

I love that footage. I still remember the day it all went down.

Hehe that Wherehouse was my "local" record store for a few years - glad its posterity is insured

today is David Gahan birthday, he is 52 today. happy birthday David!

New video collection in November of just about every one they've done, plus a lot of commentary:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/depeche-mode-detail-massive-video-box-set-w439355

Sadly there is one fatal flaw -- the apparent absence of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzEQ5jPEQ68

Hahahaha! That video is all-time! It's fun to watch it back-to-back with footage of Depeche Mode circa 1992 to see how much of a difference 10 years made.

By "10 years" I think you mean "drugs"

Hehehehe... yeah, that too!

I get the same feeling when I listen to With Sympathy and Psalm 69 back-to-back.

No *blu-ray*?? Baffling to issue remastered sound on a DVD.

Also no 'Halo'!

No *blu-ray*?? Baffling to issue remastered sound on a DVD.

That did make me wonder. At the same time, they might be figuring more visuals than audio.

New album and tour next year, I'm guessing? It's getting to that time again!

Yeah, definitely!

It'll be 20 years since Ultra came out, too.

This is so good. In 1982 Alyson Marlow sent the band a big list of questions:favorite color, TV show, shoe size? All on it and more. Amazingly they replied in full, really is quite sweet. I can't imagine Coldplay doing the same. https://www.facebook.com/depechemode/posts/10155932580900329:0

https://scontent.flhr4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17795735_10155932580900329_7553565394514579705_n.jpg?oh=67dbbafeea8ca41928f9190a61db5ddf&oe=599567C8

Split Enz, eh?

Some funny answers in there in hindsight, like Fletch saying 'Leave in Silence' is his favourite video!

DM night on BBC4 tonight!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/programmes/schedules

21:00
Depeche Mode at the BBC

Including New Life, Just Can't Get Enough, Blasphemous Rumours and Personal Jesus.
View Programme information

22:00
The 6 Music Festival 2017, Depeche Mode

Highlights from Depeche Mode's headlining performance at the 6 Music Festival in Glasgow.
View Programme information

23:00
Depeche Mode: 101

Documentary about Depeche Mode's attempts to break America in 1989.

-

appalling description of 101 aside this all looks pretty good!

Christ, has it really been five years since BBC 4 last showed 101?

I always liked Little 15.

I also like this Priku edit of it, its a little shameless but it works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlD7oRqb9DQ

Many xposts:

Fletch and Wilder both confessing to be Daily Mail readers, though... oosh!

Thought this was a nice touch.

Eighties rockers Depeche Mode recoiled when white supremacist Richard Spencer dubbed them the “official band of the alt-right.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/10/the-alt-rights-proud-boys-love-fred-perry-polo-shirts-the-feeling-is-not-mutual/?tid=hybrid_collaborative_2_na&utm_term=.de55fb3937fb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNTxn7BcfGQ

Beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-06FSk1pBo

Is there any good bio of the band? I'm pretty familiar with the 90s tale of disintegration and redemption, but not really familiar with the internal dynamics during their imperial phase.

The Steve Malins book is still considered the best iirc.

thanks - that looks perfect

The Mute Records book with all the cover art in is also pretty essential. Not just for Mode stuff but all the artwork proofs etc. gave me nerdy goosebumps. Fascinating to see how much input Dan Miller had.

The Steve Malins book is good, but Stripped is the best book on Depeche Mode so far. The only problem is that it needs a revision, because it only goes up to around the time of Gahan's first solo album, when he started implying that he wasn't interested in Depeche Mode unless he had more of a creative say. Of course, there's been about 15 years and four more albums since. Malins' book only goes up to Ultra, iirc.

Malins has put out some revised editions since.

He has? I'll have to check those out. I wasn't sure if he was still writing or not, because I know he was managing Gary Numan for a while and then John Foxx... I think he's involved with Blancmange now?

He is indeed.

Who wrote ‘Stripped’?

Jonathan Miller. I haven't read it for years, which I guess is a good excuse to re-read it!

Jeremy Deller and Nick Abrahams' doco about eastern European DM fans, Our Hobby Is Depeche Mode (aka The Posters Came From The Walls) is up on Vimeo and apparently free to view this week

Deller's blurb: http://www.jeremydeller.org/OurHobbyIsDepechMode/OurHobbyIsDepecheMode_Video.php

also western Californian, and registered Maryland drivers

Great film, that -- forgot to say so last year when we caught it!

Meantime, a bit secondary to Depeche here, I admit, but last week I interviewed Gareth Jones, ie the guy who engineered the Depeche sessions from Construction Time Again through Black Celebration among a ton of other things to the present day, about his favorite albums. Fun chat!

https://thequietus.com/articles/29883-gareth-jones-interview-favourite-albums

So not directly about DM, but I did write about this...

https://thequietus.com/articles/30108-depeche-mode-anton-corbijn-taschen-book-review

pic.twitter.com/RlB7QM6ckW

— Depeche Mode (@depechemode) May 26, 2022