It's interesting how bands, or artists in general, can be perceived very differently from country to country. For example, Depeche Mode reached a US audience predominantly fed up with soft rock dominating the airwaves, favoring the bands darker and deeper sounds. Whereas they were simply seen as teen idols amongst the synth pop crowd of Germany, France, and other European countries.
Black Celebration, released in 1986, the band's fifth overall studio album, saw another slight shift in the band's sound. Gone were the industrial elements which shaped Construction Time Again (1983), and Some Great Reward (1984). In its place was an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound. Writer, Martin Gore's lyrics also took a darker and more pessimistic tone.
Upon its release, the album was met with somewhat harsh reviews, essentially stating the band were trying to hard to be dark and edgy from an adolescent perspective. Retrospectively, its become a favorite among Depeche Mode fans, and touted as the inspiration behind Trent Reznor's writing of the Nine Inch Nails debut, Pretty Hate Machine.
Listening to it, I can definitely hear the immediate shift in musical styles. This initially wasn't working for me, and poised me early on to not particularly like what I was about to subject myself to. However, there were fortunately hidden moments of...well, not necessarily joy, or diamonds on the rough, but perhaps what we'll call, better than others.
In typing out that last sentence, I think it's finally struck me as to what word I'm looking for, mediocre. Black Celebration is nothing more (or less) mediocre. There's nothing here that I would call a, "must hear hit".
With that said, there were a handful of tracks I selected for my shuffle list, but, in doing so, I dare say I won't remember them by the time I finish this post. Those songs are, A Question Of Lust, Sometimes, A Question Of Time, Stripped, Here Is The House, and New Dress.
If bonus tracks are your thing, then you might be happy to hear that the CD release of Black Celebration contains three additional tracks not found on the cassette or LP versions. These include Breathing In Fumes, But Not Tonight (Extended Mix), and Black Day. I can only conclude these were added to the disc to accommodate the available space on the disc, and as I've said many times before, artists filling discs with the sole intentions of utilizing space led to the very bloated feeling of most albums in the CD age. These additional tracks add nothing to the overall listening experience beyond length.
Depeche Mode had one final album in them for the era, 1987's Music For The Masses, which I'll jump into tomorrow. So far, it's been an up and down journey for me. I've discovered some new tunes, enjoyed some old favorites, but in general, I wouldn't call myself a fan. It's just kind of been okay up to this point. Hopefully, they can finish out strong.
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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 9, 1982 |
