The Toy Box: Depeche Mode

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Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses

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.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 12, 1981

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 12, 1987

Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - Black Celebration

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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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 9, 1982

Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again

With new member Alan Wilder onboard, work commenced on Depeche Mode's third studio album, 1983's Construction Time Again. The album saw yet another shift in musical direction from the band, which was mainly driven by Wilder and Martin Gore sampling real world sounds, which were then manipulated with the synclavier and E-mu Emulator.

Gore also took an interest in introducing an industrial sound to the group after attending an Einstürzende Neubauten concert. It's this latter, which is the most present in the direction of the album. Additionally, the lyrics took on a darker, and more politically charged tone. The overall end result is a very different Depeche Mode album from what one would have expected based on prior material.

The single, Everything Counts, would reach number six on the UK charts, as well as become a top thirty hit in Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, South Africa, and West Germany. However, once again, the band would fail to chart in the USA.

Playing through Construction Time Again, it definitely sounds...different. Sadly, not in an enjoyable way. It's as if the entire thing is literally just a bunch of sound effects thrown together to create songs. For me, it really doesn't work, and the song Pipeline, is a standout track for just how bad it can be. It's long, bloated in length, and depressing.

Even the single, Everything Counts, while okay, was nothing to really write home about. It wasn't even close to being among my favorites from Depeche Mode....but of course, I'll add it to my shuffle list because I don't know any better.

I'll also give a slight nod of approval to Told You So. However, overall, this album wasn't really my cup of tea. It more so fell into background noise as I lost interest in it.

As for Depeche Mode, things were only about to get bigger and better for them with their 1984 follow up, Some Great Reward. It would not only continue to boost their popularity across the globe, but garner their first US Billboard Hot 100 hit. I listened to that one quite a while ago, and when I did, wasn't sure what I thought. I stated in my initial review that I wanted to give it another playthrough, and well, now seems like the best time for that.

It continues the themes, and overall style from Construction Time Again, and having seen the evolution of their music up to this point, I can certainly appreciate it more than I did the first time around. Tracks Something To Do, Lie To Me, Stories Of Old, Somebody, and of course, People Are People stand out, and ultimately became the ones I added to my shuffle. Hearing this one again also helps to segue myself into their 1986 follow-up, Black Celebration, which I'll dive into tomorrow.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 10, 1983

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 10, 1988

Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - A Broken Flame

With the departure of predominant songwriter Vince Clarke, Depeche Mode turned to Melody Maker to find a replacement. Their ad was short, simple, and to the point, "Synth / Vocals needed for electronic pop group with UK & International commitments – must be under 21". Alan Wilder, despite being 22, was given the gig, and joined the band on stage for live and television performances. However, when it was time to begin work on their sophomore album, he was not invited. The main reason, the remaining three original members wanted to prove they didn't need Clarke to survive.

Martin Gore would step up to take on writing duties, working with David Gahan on crafting the songs which would ultimately become A Broken Flame. Prior to the album's release, See You would be selected as the first single, peaking at number six on the UK charts, and becoming their biggest to date. Prior to Flames release, two additional singles, The Meaning Of Love, and Leave In Silence, were released. During this time, Depeche Mode played their first USA shows, while in general, touring to support their new release.

As I played through it, the first thing I noticed was the very different shift in sound. Gone was the lighter bubblegum pop sound of their debut. In its place was the darker toned aspects which would become the band's own sound. Overall, it feels very experimental, and the end result is fantastic.

While I think the album is relatively good from start to finish, there are tracks which stand out as better than others. For me, those were Leave In Silence, My Secret Garden, See You, and The Meaning Of Love.

On a side note, I'll also say that watching the music videos from these early years of Depeche Mode are quite comical. David Gahan has a "unique" style to his dancing. Very....white boy...Hey may give R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe a run for his money as worst dancer. Yeesh!

Anyway...

Shortly after its release, Wilder would join Depeche Mode as a full fledge member. His first official release with the band was the 1983 non-album single, Get The Balance Right. It would later be included in their first greatest hits compilation, 1984's People Are People.

However, we're now getting too far ahead of the game. We first need to stop at their 1983 released, Construction Time Again, which I'll dive into tomorrow.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 9, 1989

Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell

While my buying of Depeche Mode albums initially started out with albums which I knew songs from, a rabbit hole soon formed, and down I went. I found myself exploring other tunes from them, mainly from the playlist of 10,000 80's songs I had discovered some time ago. This lead me to liking more and more from them, until there was only one album left from the 80's which I didn't own. Well, there was no point in that gap in my collection, so it too joined the fold.

Now with all these albums in my collection, you'd think it was time to start listening to them. Well, no. Truthfully, I've only made my way through their 1984 released, Some Great Reward. However, in retrospect of that review, I wasn't able to make a determination of the album at that time, and really didn't have much to say about it as a result. As such, I may need to revisit it during this process.

The origins of Depeche Mode go back to 1977, when Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called No Romance In China. The two would go on to form the group, Composition Of Sound, in 1980. They would be joined by Martin Gore relatively early upon its inception, and Dave Gahan would be asked to join after being heard singing a rendition of David Bowie's Heroes by Clarke.

As Composition Of Sound, they would make their first appearance in June of 1980. However, the guys would soon start to rethink their band name, considering many others, but ultimately landing on French fashion magazine title, Dépêche Mode, after Gore mistranslated the title to mean "hurried fashion" or "fashion dispatch". However, the more accurate translation of the magazine's name turned out to be "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update".

Accidents aside, they would make their recording debut as Depeche Mode on the 1981 compilation album, Some Bizzare Album with the song Photographic. The track would later be re-recorded for use on their debut studio album, Speak & Spell.

Though the group was approached relatively early on for potential recording deals, they were more so interested in an offer from Mute Records founder, Daniel Miller, who wanted the boys to record a single for his label. The selected single, Dreaming Of Me, would be released in February 1981, and reach number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, they recorded and release the follow up single, New Life, which went even higher, reaching number 11. This success would also garner them an appearance on Top Of The Pops.

Their third single, Just Can't Get Enough, would break the top ten, and be followed by the release of their debut album, which peaked at number 10 on the UK album charts. Unfortunately, Clarke started to voice concerns with their sudden popularity, stating that because of all the photoshoots and interviews, he never had time to do anything else. He would leave the group in November of 1981. He would go on to join up with Alison Moyet, and form Yazoo, and then in 1985 form Erasure with Andy Bell.

Well, before we go any further, let's take a pause to dig into Speak & Spell.

It starts up with the hit, New Life, and from there continues to deliver delicious 80's synth pop. In addition to the first track, Boys Say Go, Nodisco, Photographic, and Tora! Tora! Tora all stood out. However, it was final track, I Just Can't Get Enough, which is what ultimately led me to buying the album, and my favorite from the bunch.

Speak & Spell is just a nice synth pop journey. It's experimental for its time, yet musically, simplistic in nature. There are a lot of layers hidden within each song, and this is perhaps its strongest point. Each tune is always delivering something for your ears to pick up on, keeping you invested as you try to take in every little bit.

It was also one of those occasions that I frequently long for when doing these play sessions. Wherein it leaves me excited to dive into the next release, and really broaden my horizons with an artist / band. I'm looking forward to 1982's A Broken Flame, and trying to resist firing it up even as I type this sentence. While I'm eager to hear it, I don't want to experience fatigue with Depeche Mode, another common mistake I make when doing these back to back discography reviews. I want each album to have an opportunity to breath. Leave its impact, so to speak, regardless of whether that's good or bad.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
September 8, 1984

Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - Violator

Depech Mode is often considered one of the greatest new wave bands of the 80's, yet it's ironic that their album, Violator from 1990, features their most memorable tracks. Songs like Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence and Policy Of Truth are often mistakenly considered 80's songs, when in fact, they are not, all being featured on Violator.

While it was great to hear these three songs again, as a whole, Violator was just an okay album. It really didn't have anything that stood out beyond these tracks. Don't get me wrong. I wanted it to be great. There were tunes that were grabbing me momentarily, but they never seemed to drive it home. I would either lose interest or simply just not be all the blown away in the long run.

After hearing this, I did go and do a search for more hits from the band. Unfortunately, as it turns out, I don't know many. As a result, I don't necessarily see myself putting much effort into tracking down much more from the band. I already have their 1984 release, Some Great Reward, and would consider their 1981 Speak & Spell, and possibly their 1986 Christmas Island, but that's about it.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm not a big fan. I wish there was more I could say, but short and sweet seems to be the best course of action.

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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.

Retro Spins: Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward

There's a bit of a history for this album with me. I added it to my want list quite a while ago, but never actually got around to bumping it up to the "priority" list. It was one of those, if I find it, I'll get it, CD's.

Fast forward to the Dave Hart Show from July of 2018. As I'm thumbing through CD Guy's (not his real name) massive selection of dollar CD's, I see the spine for this CD. Naturally, I nab it immediately, add it to my massive pile of discs I'm going to buy, and think nothing more of it until I get home. It's when I put it in my CD drive to rip it for iTunes that something goes awry.

The tracks being ripped aren't recognizable from the back of the cover. As I investigate further, I find the reason for this is because it's not actually the album, Some Great Reward. Instead, it's Depeche Mode's 1990 album, Violator. It's still a decent CD because it has their hit, Personal Jesus on it, but it's not the album I was hoping to have.

It wouldn't be until Christmas of 2018 that I would actually finally say, "Enough is enough," and actively track this CD down on ebay. I didn't pay a dollar for it, but it was still relatively cheap.

So with all of this legwork, how was the CD? Well...

I think I'm going to have to listen to this one again. Reason being, I don't know what my final verdict on it is just yet. After having my very first spin of it, I didn't necessarily hear any thing I didn't like. In fact, I was actually quite intrigued by it. However, the only thing memorable from it is the track I bought the album for in the first place, People Are People.

Not much of a review, I know.

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