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Home/Depeche & Dave/Words of Wisdom/Reviews/Picture Gallery/Playing the Angel/Share your stories & reviews
Question : what does it take for a band to last for decades in a world where many musical acts are nothing more than shooting stars? Answer : tremendous talent (that one's a given), but also a visionary approach to music that will always keep you ahead of everybody else. Oh, and also the ability to not take yourself too seriously. The bands that possess these qualities can be counted on one hand. And without a doubt, Depeche Mode, the quintessential electro-pop group, is one of them.
Well, what can I say? I've been a fan of Depeche Mode for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I only knew a couple of their songs (mostly the ones from Violator, including Enjoy the Silence which, to this day, remains my favorite DM song), but one day I decided to buy the compilation Singles 86-98. From that moment on, my appreciation for their music kept growing to a point where Depeche became my absolute favorite band. I think DM's biggest asset is their capacity through the years to adapt to the musical tastes of the moment. Every album they recorded, though not all of them can be considered mainstream, integrated sounds, styles and experimentations that not only reflected what was going on in the musical landscape of the time, but also put a new spin on it. This is why Depeche Mode belongs to that highly selective category of groups that constantly stay at the top of their game and become trendsetters instead of followers because they're never afraid to reinvent themselves and take their music to the next level. Their influence on other artists, from Marilyn Manson to Nine Inch Nails, has been tremendous, and all of this is greatly due to Martin Gore's incredible talent : he writes all of DM's songs and feels very much at home in a studio (more than he does on a stage anyway), where he can experiment and create a sound that naturally wraps itself around the lyrics, a sound that instantly becomes DM's own. Plus, I believe his voice complements Dave's extroardinarily well.
But of course, Depeche Mode wouldn't be Depeche Mode without my fave man, the one and only Dave Gahan.
This guy is pretty much like a god to me. Why? Because of his incredible and versatile baritone voice that can be menacing and powerful just as effectively as it can be soothing and angelic. Because even though he doesn't write DM's songs (well, he did write some songs for the new album, but...you know what I mean), coming out of his mouth, the words never sound as if they were shoved down his throat and he always sings them with the same burning intensity; the songs literally live through him. Because he is an extremely charismatic entertainer whose performances onstage are simply mindblowing; during concerts, he interacts with the audience like a guru summoning his disciples and exudes more raw energy, sensuality and intensity than you can take. Because he is hands down one of the sexiest men I have ever seen. Because he has a great sense of humor and likes to goof around (he's adorable when he does that). Because while Martin is the maestro and the backbone of Depeche Mode, Dave is the heart and soul, and the band simply wouldn't be the same without him. But most of all...because he is a wonderful human being.
How do I know that? Well, obviously I don't know Dave personally, but I think I've read enough articles and seen enough interviews to have a rather good idea of the kind of person Dave Gahan is. Yes, I am very well aware that he didn't exactly live like a saint, and that in the mid-90s, his penchant for alcohol and drugs nearly cost him his life. But even in these troubled times when his career probably was the least of his concerns, he never stopped giving his all with Depeche Mode (even though he claims the contrary). If you need proof, simply check out the Devotional tour DVD and the Songs of Faith and Devotion album. Of course, Dave wasn't a very happy man back then. But his overdose in 1996 seems to have been the wake-up call he needed to put the pieces of his life back together. Today, when I look at him, I can't help but be amazed by how peaceful he seems to be; his troubled years are definitely behind him. And this change can be heard on his solo debut, 2003's Paper Monsters. The songs on this album truly show how Dave has grown as a person and as an artist; with his defenses down, he seems to be able to acknowledge his past mistakes, accept them and even poke a little fun at himself (Dirty Sticky Floors is a tongue-in-cheek look at his former wild rockstar persona).In short, I admire and adore Dave Gahan not just because he is a great artist, but because he had the courage to face the facts and overcome his fears to become a better person. Anyone who can do that is an A+ in my book and deserves mad props and recognition. To me, Dave Gahan is the living proof that you can hit rock bottom but still come out of it stronger, and I think that people, especially teens, need more role models like him. The album was called Paper Monsters in reference to the fear that kept him from being who he wanted be and saying what he wanted to say. We all have paper monsters in our heads that don't need to be there. And if we believe in ourselves enough, we can all get rid of them. That's the message that Dave Gahan is sending out, and I really think that the world would be a better place if there were more people like him.
"...I was feeling love again...feeling the LOVE, the beauty of everything again"
"I'm figuring out that it's not about being perfect in any area. I read something from Salvador Dali where he said : "Forget perfection, you'll never reach it". I love that."
Yeah, I love it too, because it's so damn true...;)
"Somewhere in the darkness, I was able to find a lot of light in a lot of things again. And I wouldn't recommend going to the kind of depths that I went to when I was trying to find myself, whatever that's supposed to be. It's certainly not necessary; there are other roads to take."
I think this one can apply to many situations, don't ya think?
Praise the Lord!!! Playing the Angel is finally out! Now, the burning question is: after 4 years, was it worth the wait? The answer is... it depends. My impression is that people who didn't like Exciter (and God knows there are many of them) will have a hard time appreciating Playing the Angel, because this album is definitely the successor to DM's 2001 effort. Right from the beginning with the first seconds of A Pain That I'm Used To, we go: Oh dear, Dead of Night Part 2. As much as I love Exciter (one of the only people who do, it seems...), I think it would have been really disappointing if PTA sounded too much like it. Silly me. As if two Depeche Mode albums could sound exactly alike. But I was very quickly reassured. When I listened to PTA for the first time, I wasn't quite sure what was going on. I didn't have any kinds of expectations, but I don't think I was prepared to hear something like this. Very dark lyrics, lots of experimentations in terms of sounds and even with the vocals (Martin's Macro made me cringe from the very start)... Everything just made me very uncomfortable. And then, I decided that I could just not leave it at that, and I gave PTA a couple of other spins... until it finally happened. The moment came when could say I loved this album and that it was brilliant. And that's the beauty of Depeche Mode. Apart from Violator, their most accessible effort, each of their albums requires the listener a little while to really get acquainted with all the magic it contains. They constantly take you in a direction that you never would have expected, but once you're willing to make the trip with them, it's a one-way ticket to musical extasy. And the biggest surprise about this album is how well Dave's songs (I Want It All, Suffer Well and Nothing's Impossible) hold their own next to Martin's. His songs provide the fews moments of hope and light on the album, which is kind of a continuation of what he did with Paper Monsters. He was more than ready to do this, and he did an excellent job. Martin, on the other hand, remains the tortured soul of the group, sharing his inner demons and sending out desperate cries for love and help. Which, of course, makes for very deep, thought-provoking but somewhat depressing songs. But then again, that's always been Martin's style... Overall, a very good album...but you have to be willing to give it a chance.
Track listing for Playing the Angel
01. A Pain That I'm Used To
02. John the Revelator
03. Suffer Well
04. The Sinner In Me
05. Precious
06. Macro
07. I Want It All
08. Nothing's Impossible
09. Introspectre
10. Damaged People
11. Lillian
12. The Darkest Star
Furthermore, a tour to promote the album has been scheduled for Europe, and it will begin in January 2006; I believe that most of the shows are already sold out, though some dates have been added along the way. As for the North American leg of the tour, it kicked off on November 3nd in Tampa, FL (the Ft. Lauderdale show of Nov. 2nd was cancelled due to safety issues in the wake of hurricane Wilma), and will finish in Washington DC on December 9th. Fortunately, Canadian fans haven't been left out : Depeche will be visiting Vancouver and Toronto as well as Montreal (yay!!) on December 4th at the Bell Centre. Will I be there??? You betcha!
For all the details concerning the album and the tour and plenty of other fun DM stuff, visit depeche mode dot com. (Look for me on the message board...freelove77;)
In the meantime... some reviews of my favorite DM albums
You will notice that I didn't include albums from the early days. It's because prior to 1986, DM's music was a little too pop for me. Of course, this kind of electro-pop was exactly what people liked at the time. But times change, and so do people's tastes. That being said, many of DM's pre-1986 songs have stood the test of time pretty well, like Shake the Disease, Master and Servant, People are People, Everything Counts (though I prefer the live version from 1988) and Blasphemous Rumours, which are all still very enjoyable today. But the same cannot be said of most of the other stuff. Even their first big hit, Just Can't Get Enough, quickly became irritating to me. Anyways. So, without further ado, here they are...(drum roll, please) my favorite DM albums!
Violator
10/10
Don't try and tell me you didn't see that one coming. Violator is by far DM's best album ever. Sure it's their most commercial and their biggest selling effort - and I know that many other hardcore DM fans prefer Black Celebration or Music for the Masses - but to me, Violator represents a pinnacle in Depeche's career; when listening to the album, you truly feel that all the guys were in sync with one another. The mid-80s experimentation phase being out of the way, they had taken a path that would irrevocably make them leading figures of the electro/pop genre and a true influencial force to be reckoned with on the music scene. With simple yet touching and clever lyrics, extremely engaging and catchy melodies and clear, soulful vocals (Dave had toned down the overly dramatic voice he used on previous albums, like Black Celebration), you just couldn't ask for a better result. The best thing about Violator : it includes my favorite Depeche Mode song which is... (Ok guys, time to see if you've been paying attention;)...Enjoy the Silence. Another highlight is Waiting for the night, which is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. A must-have, obviously.
Exciter
9/10
I have to say that I was quite shocked when I found out that many people were disappointed by Exciter. Why is that? I'll tell you why : because people keep expecting glorious, stadium-shaking electronic anthems à la Never Let Me Down Again. Ever since Alan left the band, many fans and critics just can't seem to get over the fact that DM is a different band without him; they just won't let them evolve and take new directions with their music. As far as I'm concerned, Ultra and Exciter are just as good as any other DM album, perhaps even more so. On Exciter, the special chemistry between Martin, Dave and Andrew could be heard again, and Martin found himself excelling at the art of telling stories like never before, with many of the songs being lyrical tour-de-forces, and Dave is clearly back in shape here (in GREAT shape, I might add). Overall, a smooth, relaxing and textured electronic album punctuated by a few booming tracks (The Dead of Night, most notably, a horny bastards anthem that clearly doesn't take itself seriously). Almost every song is a highlight, but my personal favorite (at the moment, at least) has to be Goodnight Lovers. If you were wondering what I meant earlier when I was talking about how angelic and beautiful Dave's voice could be, just listen to this song and you'll know.
Music for the Masses
8/10
DM's greatest effort of the 80s decade (in my humble opinion, of course), Music for the Masses spawned unforgettable classics such as Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again (which is always a climactic moment of audience participation when performed onstage) and Behind the Wheel. Described as the culminating point of their experimentative period, Masses, to me, is a destabilizing album (in a good way), because while they form a consistant whole, some songs really clash with the others : some of them, like Strangelove for example, were tailor-made for the dancefloor and are really radio-friendly, while tracks like Pimpf and To Have and To Hold seem to belong more in the goth category. But then again, Depeche have accustomed us to always expect the unexpected...
Black Celebration
8/10
I once read a review for Music for the masses stating that the album was more informed by Goth than techno. Well, in my opinion, this affirmation, while being true to a certain extent, is also suitable for Black Celebration. With dramatic vocals and arrangements and a certain undertone of fatalism, Celebration is what you could call a dark, claustrophobic album, the one that cemented DM's reputation as a very pessimistic band. While the gloominess of their music can't be denied, I believe that there is also a very subtle humor that simply gets overshadowed by the predominant complaints.
Songs of Faith and Devotion
8/10
So there it is... the beginning of the chaotic mid-90's and the first of two albums (with Ultra) that failed to live up to the expectations...again, that's the critics opinion. Personally, I believe that some reviewers were way too harsh on this one. Because, while Songs may not be Depeche Mode's best album, I think that the guys all managed to take advantage of the situation pretty well, under the circumstances. We all know about Dave's trials and tribulations, the discordances among the guys and how they took their toll on the group (coincidentally, Songs was the last album before Alan Wilder's departure). But the way I look at it, this album reflects these troubled times in a masterful way, making for an aggressively haunting and powerful effort. And since the predominant theme here is religion and spirituality, you could almost say that Songs of Faith and Devotion was DM's (and Dave's more than the others) way to acknowledge their sinful lives as rock stars, while never making any apologies and never "asking for absolution", as Walking in my Shoes so brilliantly and bluntly demonstrates. Plus, Songs is the album that really fueled my interest for DM in the first place; I remember watching the videos for I Feel You and Walking in my Shoes, completely fascinated by Dave's presence, his booming vocals and the hypnotic music. My favorite track : In Your Room (the chorus is simply wicked).
Ultra
7/10
Cruelly underrated. That's all I can say. Ok, so maybe it's tad less inspired that other DM efforts. But I try to look at it as a transitional album: Given the fact that the band was coming back from a very chaotic journey (which included Dave's overdose in 1996 and Alan Wilder's departure), it's obvious to me that the guys were trying to catch their breath here; maybe that's why this album isn't as groundbreaking as previous ones. That being said, there's no denying the fact that there are true gems on Ultra; among them, we have Freestate (the lyrics have a really deep meaning to me), Home, It's No Good and Love Thieves. In my mind, Ultra is to Depeche Mode what Pop was to U2 : a very good album that simply got overlooked because critics and certain fans failed to take it as an independant musical entity and, instead, compared it to the rest of the group's discography. If you're one of them, well...you don't know what you're missing.
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