Today wraps up my 80's journey through Depeche Mode. It's been an okay one, filled with moments of discovery, finding new music, while also hearing some old favorites. I wouldn't call myself a Depeche Mode fan at this point, but I'm happy to have their albums in my collection.
Depeche Mode delivered one final studio album in 1987, Music For The Masses, and then embarked on a massive world tour, all documented in the live album / video documentary, 101. While the singles, Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again, and Behind The Wheel faired well in Germany, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland, often reaching the top ten, they failed to garner much attention in the UK. This was quite the contrary to the bands prior successes. However, the album, as a whole, did serve as another breakthrough for the US, reaching 35 on the Billboard 200.
Though it received relatively favorable reviews upon its release, retrospectively, Music For The Masses has been elevated higher, even being noted on the 2006 list of 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die. Seemingly, it appears to be considered one of the best albums from the band, and apparently a must hear in your lifetime release. Well, that's an incredibly high bar to set, so let's just see if things are indeed as amazing as professed.
Mmm...no. If I knew someone on their deathbed, this wouldn't be one I'd tell someone to hold on just a little longer to hear before passing. Mind you, it's not terrible, but amazing it is also not.
It's also another album that suffers from the bloat of the CD age. Wherein the original LP is ten tracks, but crammed on the CD and cassette are four additional tracks. It takes an already long, forty-five minute record, and expands it to just shy of an hour.
Taking just the first ten songs, I would personally say that the standout was Strangelove, and honestly, that's it. Maybe at this point it's just Depeche Mode fatigue, but this one just didn't resonate with me. I found it slow paced, to the point of droning on.
Just to torture myself further, I did try to give the four "bonus" tracks a shot. Nah, those too were an easy pass for me.
Overall, what I got from Music For The Masses was that Depeche Mode wanted to take me on a deep, dark, and depressing journey with them, and frankly, I wasn't interested in the trip. At the end of the day, I don't see the hype or retrospective must hear mentality on this one.
The band were far from done when the 80's ended, and continue to release albums and tour to date. However, it hasn't been a straight forward journey for the four members who made up the core group since their third album. Ironically, it would be Alan Wilder, who replaced founding member Vince Clarke in 1982 who would depart in 1995. Wilder would state -
"Since joining in 1982, I have continually striven to give total energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the furthering of the group's success, and in spite of a consistent imbalance in the distribution of the workload, willingly offered this. Unfortunately, within the group, this level of input never received the respect and acknowledgement that it warrants."
Either he's saying his contributions were never appreciated, or he was basically told to sit down, and wait to be told what to do, or both.
Meanwhile, lead singer, and co-writer, David Ganan was heavily addicted to cocaine and heroin, resulting in recording sessions in 1995 coming to a grinding halt. Things got so bad that co-writer / singer, Martin Gore considered taking his material and using it for a solo project. After a near-fatal overdose, Ganan was court ordered to rehabilitation, where he finally was able to get clean and return to the studio.
Depeche Mode continued as the trio of remaining founding members until the sudden and unexpected death of Andy Fletcher in 2022. Gore and Ganan would return to the studio for 2023's Memento Mori, and continue to keep the band alive as a duo.
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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 12, 1981 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 12, 1987 |
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