Violator!

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!

This thread inspired me to listen to the whole album end to end for the first time in god knows how long, and Jesus Christ it’s all killer isn’t it? The sound design is so much more detailed than I remember it, a weird collage of familiar 90s presets with textbook Fairlight sampling. And correct me if I’m wrong; but there weren’t many electronic bands at that point embracing 6/8 the way DM did?

Side note: me and a friend covered Policy of Truth for an 8-bit compilation a couple of years back: https://8bitoperators.bandcamp.com/track/policy-of-truth

it really does sound incredible... flood is an iron chef here.
i was thinking about that cascading feedback/e-bowing that closes "policy of truth".. it's an amazing sound and it's mixed so well.

Francois Kervorkian mixed the album and apparently he was really anal about it - there's stories about the band listening in to him mixing and all they can hear is a hi-hat or something and they're thinking "what is he doing!?"

*Kevorkian, sorry.

He also mixed Kraftwerk's Electric Cafe.

Violator is the last good Depeche Mode album

"Kervorkian" is the misspelling they used in the Violator liner notes iirc

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

― max, Wednesday, October 31, 2007 1:00 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Why because it footnote interstin

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, October 31, 2007 1:00 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i sang Policy of Truth at karaoke tonight....the song is just fuckin infectious

xxpost:

Yeah, it's understandable to think that. Violator represents a peak of sorts - the one it was all leading up to, and the one that everything after was in the shadow of. I still think Songs of Faith and Devotion and Ultra are great records, though - and generally see 1984-1998 as one long extended period of greatness. After that, it gets spotty.

As of last week, "Personal Jesus" is now thirty years old.

Your own
Middle-aged
Jesus

I have a good friend, a bit older than me, who used to be at least a casual fan of Depeche Mode throughout the '80s... until Violator! I can't really conceive of that album being the jump-ship point. He reserves a huge hunk of animus for "Personal Jesus," specifically.

There is a subset of DM fandom who went "ew guitars" on that song

That Rich Cotton Dub of Enjoy the Silence is so good.

All discerning Depeche Mode fans bailed after Violator. It was obvious on SoFAD that the band were done creatively and now it was just Junkie Dave thinking he's Jesus and over-singing every song. There's nothing essential released after 1990.

Er... no.

Yeah, that's...wrong.

There is a subset of DM fandom who went "ew guitars" on that song

"...you know there's guitars on "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Behind the Wheel," right?"

"NOT LISTENING!"

I was going to follow up with "these are, of course, the same morons who lose their shit when any given MFTM single pops up" but got distracted

I have a good friend, a bit older than me, who used to be at least a casual fan of Depeche Mode throughout the '80s... until Violator!

display names vmic

they peaked with Speak and Spell

more like peak and pell

lol

I hate the term “bucket list” but this band is one of my top “bucket list” bands to see live

Not that I haven’t had zillions of opportunities!!

All discerning Depeche Mode fans bailed after Violator. It was obvious on SoFAD that the band were done creatively and now it was just Junkie Dave thinking he's Jesus and over-singing every song. There's nothing essential released after 1990.

― brotherlovesdub

This is clearly trolling, and yet it describes my relationship with their music pretty accurately

I can sort of see why someone would think that Depeche Mode didn't do anything worthwhile after violator or that an 80s Depeche Mode fan would not like Personal Jesus, but I can't imagine why a Depeche Mode fan would not like something like World in my Eyes or sweetest perfection

can we post 50 reasons why we love "Halo" like we did in the Tusk thread?

I’ve said this before, but “Halo” is a proper second verse short of greatness.

Thirty years old today.

Happy birthday! The production on this has aged very well.

Yeah it really pops

Still one of the GOATs.

Celebrating the 30th birthday by blasting this today. What an album.

I have nothing bad to say about this album (except maybe ... 'undetectedly'?) Listening to the bonus tracks though makes it all the more remarkable, they are entirely lacking in whatever kind of magic was captured in the album proper.