Violator!

^^^^^^^^ true

That reminds me I need to download NO's "Republic"...

wow. tough poll. was leaning towards 'clean' but in the end went with 'enjoy the silence' - it really IS one of those perfect songs.

and for those who haven't seen the new re-issue companion DVDs, the guys clearly didn't have a lot of love for 'a broken frame'. martin was quite frank about it being his least favourite DM album. however daniel miller was right - 'sun & the rainfall' is a killer track, neatly tucked away at the end of the album...

Sweetest Perfection is grebt!

It is, but I don't know a single person who wouldn't put at least one other song on the album ahead of it.

So many of the songs on A Broken Frame are really great in isolation (ESPECIALLY "The Sun and the Rainfall" and "Shouldn't Have Done That") but listening to that whole album at once really makes my skin crawl.

it's really only "a photograph of you" that upsets me about ABF. the rest of it -- all of it -- i love. yes, even "see you". and TS&TR is just blinding, yes.

agree with ledge: there's not a moment on this album that is less than wonderful. maybe i should have gone with "enjoy the silence" after all ... but it's bound to win, and i really do think "waiting for the night" is the pivotal track.

I wanted to vote "Enjoy the Silence," but couldn't bring myself to do it when half the arrangement is just a reworking of "Stripped."

As this has become almost as much a "Broken Frame" thread as a "Violator" one, just let me add that "Leave In Silence" and "Nothing To Fear" are both absolutely and totally ace!

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.

soooo. any other "Blue Dress" voters?

*crickets*

John Justen, if he sees this thread.

oh by the way: i don't think this has been linked yet. it's definitely worth a read for those who haven't seen it before. Ned's top 136 albums of the '90s. Violator placed second. It's one of my favorite Ned pieces in the entire 136, really does a good job with the album: http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~tewing/ned/n2.html

Sure, "Halo" is the hidden highlight on that album. It's an absolutely beautiful song, my favourite on the album, and it is often cited as one of the most influential electronic tracks ever.

Blue Dress would be my no.2 vote. The interlude after it is a little gem too; all those strange clicks and whirrs and animal noises bookending a simple organ and vocal harmony piece. Hard to tell but is it Gahan and Gore both singing?

(incidentally: stephen, i can't find that thread anywhere. perhaps it was on the sandbox or something. annoying. sorry.)

enjoy the silence is one of their best and creepiest love songs

Poll closes November 05?! Goddamn why you set these things to run so long.

on the other hand i was listening to "personal jesus" while high the other day and i had a vision of wearing an all-black suit and driving a really fast black motorboat at sunset and generally being bad-ass

TS: Mode vs Cash vs Manson versions.

Just kidding. Cash's is alright I guess. Manson's is the one I have to sing along to on Singstar (but then they brought one out with Enjoy the Silence!!!)

i was listening to "enjoy the silence" while wearing an all-black suit and driving a really fast black motorboat at sunset and generally being bad-ass the other day and had a vision of ... no, this hasn't worked. forget it.

grimly: thx for looking

Absolutely has to be "Policy of Truth".

Policy of Truth doesn't get enough luv

-- Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, October 29, 2007 5:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

otm

even though there are so many great songs on this, i picked "policy of truth" because i think the lyrics are the height of gore's sleight of hand morality play and because of the guitar. i think i prefer the beatbox drums on the remix though.

Policy Of Truth.

Always did, always will.

Never again
Is what you swore
The time before

... Perfect.

Among other fine things about that song -- how it ends. Gore's concluding guitar parts are further evidence, as I muttered elsewhere, his ability at performing anti-solos.

Someone should start a Flood-as-producer poll. Certainly this album is the apex, despite considerable achievements. For all the deserved talk about the guitar on Violator, I've always admired how you can't distinguish between guitar and synths -- a tribute to the band and Flood. That's partly what made the three singles so unusual and extraordinary on Top 40 radio.

There was a period of time where I looked for Flood-produced albums, regardless of artist.

Haha yes, me too, or rather all the bands I liked seemed to be involved with him and Alan Wilder. What are these guys up to these days?

Flood's busy as sin. Alan Wilder does occasional Recoil stuff.

Seems like these two guys never really recovered from their early 90's glory days.

Wikipedia has more on Flood. I'm actually terribly amused by the fact he and Moulder worked on the Killer's last abomination of an album, because you just know Brandon Flowers was all "If only I could get them to work for me like they did for Depeche and NIN and the Smashing Pumpkins oh please oh please oh please..." I assume at some point Flood and Moulder exchanged looks of the 'well we can't polish a turd but here goes' variety.

Killers', obviously. Jerry Lee Lewis presumably does not need Flood.

although i for one would love to hear that ...

Who needs to hear the album, I just want to hear the studio chatter outtakes.

"I eat sunuvabitch limeys like you for BREAKFAST!"

oh god I need to buy so many of those albums (probably not The Killers tho)

I see Wilder is now married to Ms. Hallyday...

Damn, I've been talking about Alan Moulder all along!

i had trouble choising between 'halo' and 'world in my eyes'

the former was my initial (and long time favourite). the latter is the track i return to these days the most. i sometimes specifically play it for the 'that's all there is' bit :)

i listened to the whole thing this morning, incidentally, inspired by this thread. good god, it's a work of wonder.

i'm beginning to think i should have voted for "enjoy the silence" because it does approach perfection, but ... nah, i stand by my choice.

I'm listening to it right now!

I am remembering, again, just how much "Personal Jesus" just OWNED the radio -- at least, KROQ -- in 1989 when it first got released. It was Depeche but it was utterly unlike them at the same time, and that stomping beat was the key. Still is!

every time i listen to "personal jesus" i want to be in some kind of action movie

but i stand by "enjoy the silence" because i could write thesis about it

Why because it footnote interstin

the spooky coda of "Personal Jesus" is really the best moment on this record

as far as i can tell, "enjoy the silence" is basically just derrida's essay "violence and metaphysics," but with the opposite opinion. also a better beat and melody.

haha that makes me sound like an asshole. i stand by it.

Glad I'm waiting for the final bump. It's "Halo" at the moment.

My take on "Personal Jesus": Great verse, awful chorus!

John Justen in "not voting for Blue Dress" HI DERE-SHOCKA!

It was really really close though. Voted for "Clean", but it took about 20 minutes to decide between the two. Also, why don't I ever listen to this album anymore?

They were def. into NIN by then. "Rush" is the most obvious one. Of course "Pretty Hate Machine" was released in 1989, and also produced by Flood, just prior to "Violator," so chances are good they heard it pretty early and it might have made an impression. But then of course, "Pretty Hate Machine" clearly owes a lot to Depeche Mode.

Pretty Hate Machine is Depeche plus late 80s Ministry and that’s why it rules.

My god, it's full of samples

https://dmlive.wiki/wiki/List_of_Depeche_Mode_sample_sources_by_album/Violator

Hmm, at first I was surprised, but most of those samples are just kind of manipulated library sources, or otherwise just literally samples, in that a lot of the sounds weren't necessarily programmed or designed from scratch. Still pretty cool to learn, thanks! And yeah, some of the actual samples incorporated into this masterpiece are as inspired as they are invisible. Toni Halliday! Alan Moulder didn't engineer or mix "Violator," though, and I'm not sure they were a couple yet, so is that just a coincidence that she was (literally) in the mix?

It reminds me of how there aren’t many pet shop boys imitators taking on “behaviour”

true

xp yeah loads of emu library sounds but a few very interesting sources in amongst them - especially the uses of fleetwood mac, kraftwerk, and the bulgarian state female voice choir.

Very interesting to me too, a lot more samples of popular music than I expected