Jase on Depeche Mode

The Singles 86>98

Here's a good compilation of DM singles for both fans and the casual listener. Fans get the superior single versions of "A Question of Time", "Strangelove", and "Behind the Wheel". "In Your Room" is the Zephyr Mix and the new single "Only When I Lose Myself" is here, so the compilation is more than simply hashing out old songs. The casual listener also gets a good retrospective of the band's music. As a two-CD set, however, it's a bit expensive for only 21 songs.

"Only When I Lose Myself"

A Depeche Mode fan like me might be tempted not to buy the "greatest hits" album. Why not just buy the single of "Only When I Lose Myself", the only new song? The record company, realizing this, opts not to put the original single version of the song on the single itself. So I buy a single, and the "single" isn't there - just a remix. Oh well. "Only When I Lose Myself" is a catchy track, but I doubt this one will burn up the charts. It's a slow tune akin to "Home".

Ultra

Ultra is Depeche Mode's first album following the departure of Alan Wilder. Unsurprisingly, the album's liner notes credit someone else doing the keyboard programming, as I doubt anybody else in the band really knows how to do it now. The album has a lot more guitar on it than on previous albums, and there are a lot fewer tinkly keyboard sequences. Martin Gore's songwriting shows vast improvement over the previous album, Songs of Faith and Devotion. Dave Gahan's voice has also improved considerably. The best song on the album is "Home", one of two tracks on which Martin sings lead. Interestingly, the band actually gives titles to their instrumental segues on this album ("Uselink" and "Jazz Thieves"), whereas they used to be just tacked on the end of songs on prior albums. Ultra is a good album worth buying.

Songs of Faith and Devotion

This album was a disappointing follow-up to Violator. A lot of the songs seem like they are missing something - like Martin didn't quite finish writing them. The best song on the album is "One Caress" which features Martin singing to an orchestral accompaniment. "Mercy in You" is another good song, but it too sounds like something is missing at the end of the song. It's not a terrible album, but they've certainly done better.

For some reason, the band released a live version of Songs of Faith and Devotion. Considering that this album wasn't their best, and (let's admit it) live recordings of Depeche Mode are typically boring, I didn't bother picking that one up.

"Walking in My Shoes"

The remixes of "Walking in My Shoes" are mostly forgettable on this single. They're all just long versions of the original. The b-side, "My Joy", is very good. It's definitely a b-side track, but it sounds a lot better than a lot of the Songs of Faith and Devotion album tracks.

Violator

Honestly, I didn't like Violator when I first bought it. I think maybe I like it so much now just because I've listened to it so much. Violator's production is much richer than prior Depeche Mode albums. The sound layers sound a lot deeper than before. I think this album was the band's first big commercial success in the United States. I think "Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's best single ever, although "Personal Jesus" was much more successful. My personal favorite is "Blue Dress", a beautiful song with soft guitar; "Blue Dress" is my all-time favorite Depeche Mode song. "Waiting for the Night" is an OK duet between Dave and Martin. The only really mediocre song on the album is "Clean". The best part of the "World Violation" Tour was when Martin Gore stood alone at the edge of the stage and, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, sang "I Want You Now" and "World Full of Nothing". This album and its support tour came out while I was in high school. This is when I liked Depeche Mode most. Violator is definitely worth buying.

The Cure covered "World in My Eyes" on the 1998 For the Masses tribute album.

"Personal Jesus"

This single actually came out several months before Violator came out. This is the first CD single that I ever bought. It was when I first started buying CDs. I had never seen a CD single before, and this one cost $5. At the time, that seemed like a lot of money. I hadn't heard the song on the radio yet. As I took the disc up to the register, I thought, "This better be a good song." Luckily, this is one of the best CD singles ever released. The Holier Than Thou Approach to "Personal Jesus" is a better-than-average extended mix. Better yet, the acoustic version of "Personal Jesus" is a raw recording of the song with acoustic guitar accompaniment only - very cool. "Dangerous" is one of Depeche Mode's best b-sides; with a little more production, this song could have easily been included on the album.

"Enjoy the Silence"

"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's best single. It has a catchy guitar riff, good lyrics, and a beautiful vocal duet during the chorus. This single includes the very cool Ricki Tik Tik remix and two Pimpf-esque b-sides. A nice addition is a Martin Gore vocal rendition of "Enjoy the Silence" accompanied by a harmonium. It's not as good as the acoustic version of "Personal Jesus", but it's a nice touch. The video to this song is good, too.

The remixes on this single are mostly forgettable. "Kaleid" is a good instrumental track, but I think I like the original version (available on European imports only) better.

"World in My Eyes"

This single was a nice release several months after the album came out. The two b-sides provided good songs to help quench a Depeche Mode thirst; I remember they received quite a bit of airplay on the alternative radio station in Phoenix (much more than "World in My Eyes"). The Tonal Mix of "Sea of Sin" and the Jack Mix of "Happiest Girl" sound the most like "original" versions.

Music for the Masses

I bought this album when it came out in 1987, and I thought it was weirdest thing I had ever heard in my life. I thought it was great. I loved they layered sound of each song, the lyrics, and the way many of the songs ran into each other. The only unfortunate part of the album is the mix of "Strangelove", which is a watered-down version of the much-better single version. I'm still proud of the fact that I can play "Pimpf" on the piano.

"Never Let Me Down Again"

This single isn't in and of itself bad, it's just kind of redundant. The Aggro Mix of "Never Let Me Down Again" and the Spanish Taster of "To Have and To Hold" are good, but since they're both on the album, the single is pretty useless.

"Little 15"

If you buy this single, its only for the instrumental b-side "St. Jarna". There certainly is nothing unusual about Alan Wilder's rendition of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", and "Little 15" is just the album version. "St. Jarna", like Martin Gore's other instrumentals, is interesting to listen to. I think he could write a good movie soundtrack someday. It is interesting to listen to the three songs in succession, too.

Black Celebration

Black Celebration is my favorite Depeche Mode album. The songs are very well written, and the production is very smooth. My favorite song on the album is "Here is the House", a beautiful vocal duet with Dave and Martin. The (slight) remix of "Fly on the Windscreen" is very good, too. The U.S. version includes the b-side to "Stripped", "But Not Tonight". (The European version includes a remixed version.) "But Not Tonight" is a great song, but I understand the band doesn't think too much of it.

"Stripped"

It looks like this single is going to be really good because it has three b-sides. In fact, however, "Breathing in Fumes" is just a remix of "Stripped", and "Black Day" is just a weird Martin Gore-sung version of "Black Celebration". The single isn't really too bad - just a bit of a disappointment.

Catching Up With Depeche Mode

Sire Records, Depeche Mode's U.S. label, decided to change the track listing for its singles collection, since the U.S. compilation People Are People had been released the previous year. Catching Up With Depeche Mode drops four songs from its European counterpart that were on the People Are People compilation. Catching Up With Depeche Mode does include two b-sides, "Flexible" and "Fly on the Windscreen", however. This version is slightly inferior to the European version, but it did work well for American audiences following the release of People Are People.

Some Great Reward

This was my first Depeche Mode album, and this is one of their best. Ironically enough, "People Are People" is probably my least favorite song because it has been (and continues to be) overplayed on the radio. I love "It Doesn't Matter" and "Something to Do". "If You Want" is also a good Alan Wilder-penned track.

"Remotivate Me", the b-side to "Master and Servant", is probably one of the group's best b-sides.

People Are People

This compilation, originally released only in the U.S., was an attempt to take advantage of the success of the single of the same name. The album actually borrows quite a few songs from Construction Time Again. It also includes the corny b-side "Work Hard" and an extended remix of "Everything Counts". "Get the Balance Right" is the best track on this CD.

Construction Time Again

Construction Time Again is the first full album with Alan Wilder as a member. The album is a vast improvement over A Broken Frame, with better songwriting and production. Two songs have terribly dumb lyrics ("More Than a Party" and "Told You So") and two were written by Alan Wilder ("Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape is Changing"). This album shows hints of the great things that Depeche Mode would do on their next studio album, Some Great Reward

The bonus "Everything Counts" track is oddly out of place on this CD. The original album has a short "Everything Counts" reprise right after "And Then..." to finish off the album. Here, the reprise comes on after "And Then..." and then the remix of "Everything Counts" comes on. It's a bit much.

Meat Beat Manifesto covered "Everything Counts" on the 1998 For the Masses tribute album.

"Love In Itself"

I'm not a big fan of "Love In Itself" (or "Love, In Itself" - with or without the comma). The fourth version on this single is funny, though. It's a honkey-tonk version with piano, guitar, and Dave singing like Elvis. "Fools", an Alan Wilder song, is a pretty good b-side.

"Get the Balance Right!"

"Get the Balance Right" is one of DM's most under-rated singles. This single was released between the albums A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again and was the first to feature Alan Wilder as a member of the band. The song's music is seemingly poppy but with an ironic lyric to accompany it. "The Great Outdoors!" is the first Martin Gore/Alan Wilder songwriting collaboration, but this instrumental pales when compared to their superior "Christmas Island" effort in 1986.

A Broken Frame

Vince Clarke leaving Depeche Mode was probably the best thing that ever happened to Depeche Mode. If he hadn't, the band would still be producing Speak & Spell-type albums, or they would have broken up. It took Vince Clarke leaving to force Martin Gore to become the great songwriter that he is today. Unfortunately, right after Vince Clarke left, Martin Gore wasn't exactly a great songwriter. This album was done by the same lineup that released Ultra. Although Alan Wilder had joined the band for touring, he did not help in the production of this album. "Nothing to Fear" is an OK instrumental, and "A Photograph of You" is acceptable as corny pop. "The Sun & the Rainfall" shows the most promise to what Depeche Mode would become.

I have the European version of this album. The U.S. version has an extra remix of "My Secret Garden" on it.

"See You"

This single offers nothing terribly interesting to those who have heard both of the songs before. Reviewing "Now This is Fun" does remind me that, yes, it is kind of fun!

"The Meaning of Love"

"The Meaning of Love" is one of DM's cheesiest songs, both in terms of music and lyrics. The b-side "Oberkorn" is a forgettable instrumental.

Speak & Spell (U.K.)

It is an interesting experience for an American who has only heard the domestic version of Speak & Spell to then hear the European version. The album suddenly sounds much better! Of course this album was made at the beginning of the British electronica revolution, so it's not great. It is nice to hear the instrumental version of "Any Second Now" and the b-sides "Ice Machine" and "Shout". "What's Your Name" still sucks, but the version of "Dreaming of Me" is slightly different than the single version (at the end). "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead" is a cool little tune, too, with an inexplicable title.

Speak & Spell (U.S.)

This album is an amusing example of early electronic music. All of the songs were written by Vince Clarke, except "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Big Muff" by Martin Gore. The best song is "Any Second Now", and the worst is (by far) "What's Your Name?". This album is an interesting visit to the pioneer techno band.

It's the "Schizo Mix" of "Just Can't Get Enough" on this U.S. version, and the single version of "Dreaming of Me".

Here's a little experiment that I made. Somebody posted mp3 files of Depeche Mode's December 12, 1998, performance for KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas concert. I downloaded all of them and put them together on an audio CD. The results are... well... marginal. First, the tracks weren't cut in exactly the same spot, so you can hear when the CD player advances to the next track. Next, although the sound quality is pretty good for a bootleg recording, the vocal mix wasn't done very well. That said, Martin's renditions of "Sister of Night" and "A Question of Lust", accompanied only by a piano, are fantastic. The version of "Enjoy the Silence" is pretty good, too.

In my latest incarnation of Life in the so-called space age (I make a new version every once in a while), I tried to gather a bunch of rare tracks. A lot of them came from mp3s I have found in various locations on the internet. I've included Dave's solo recording of "A Song for Europe" for a Roxy Music tribute, and Martin's version of "Coming Back to You" for a Leonard Cohen tribute. There are other non-Counterfeit recordings that Martin made, and demos of the unreleased tracks "Monghi" and "Cliché". The last six tracks are live recordings of the band made around 1981. For a Depeche Mode fan like myself, this collection is a treasure trove.

I made this b-side compilation to accompany the new singles collection. While some of these tracks show up on some albums, a lot of them are hard to find. Hopefully the band will put out an official b-side compilation someday.

Strange Too (video)

This video compilation isn't quite as cool as Anton's first Strange video, but it does have its moments. The vid for "Enjoy the Silence" is one of the best ever, with Dave wandering around enjoying the silence (what else?). This video is almost entirely in color, which proves disappointing after viewing the beautiful Strange videos in black and white.

This short black and white video is very cool. The band liked photographer Anton Corbijn's work on the "Question of Time" video, so they asked him to do the videos for the Music for the Masses singles. The videos soon developed a theme and were compiled here. Each video is linked though little segues of people in the band's desert "museum". The final video for "Pimpf" is a bit silly, but the entire package is visually stunning.

Some Great Videos (video)

Well, I don't know that I would have have used the word "great" to describe these videos, but...