Rocktrospectiva: Depeche Mode's "A Question Of Time" Turns 40

Released on 11 August 1986 "A Question Of Time" was a song by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, as the third and final single from their fifth studio album, Black Celebration, following the similarly titled "A Question of Lust". The single was a top 20 hit in several European countries. The accompanying music video was the beginning of a long collaboration between Depeche Mode and Anton Corbijn.

Depeche Mode had entered the studio to record tracks for their album Black Celebration in November 1985, with recording of all album tracks starting at Westside Studios in London and final production and mixing moving to Hansa Studios in West Berlin by early 1986.

Depeche Mode released Black Celebration in mid-March 1986, and "A Question of Time" was the album's third and final single, released on 11 August 1986 by Mute Records in the US, Intercord Records in West Germany, and Sire Records in the US.

In the UK, commercial releases included a 7", a 12" and a limited 12" vinyl single, given catalogue numbers 7BONG12, 12BONG12 and L12BONG12, respectively. Mute also released the 7" and both 12" singles promotionally, with a unique mix on the 7" release.  In West Germany, Intercord Records released initial pressings of the 7" on red vinyl with catalogue number INT 111.841, as well as 12" and limited 12" releases that mirrored the UK release. In addition, Dischi Ricordi released a rare promotional 7" in Italy (catalogue number BONG12) that included a unique cover. After Black Celebration's first two singles, "Stripped" and "A Question of Lust", both featured black as the dominant color of its cover art, the 12" releases of "A Question of Time" got "optimistic" white covers.

Music producer Phil Harding remixed "A Question of Time" for the 12" single, and the B-side to both 12" releases were tracks recorded on 10 April 1986 in Birmingham, England, while the band was supporting the album with their Black Celebration Tour.

The music video for "A Question of Time" is the first Depeche Mode video to be directed by Anton Corbijn. Shot in Los Angeles in black and white and inspired by road movies, the video marked the beginning of a relationship that allowed Depeche Mode to craft the image they wanted. Said Alan Wilder later, "it wasn’t until Anton got involved in 1986, that we realised we could take more control over the cohesive image of the group." Corbijn had photographed the band back in 1981 for NME, and they had approached him to direct some of their music videos earlier in their career, but Corbijn had turned them down, saying "I didn't like their music much. They were kind of a teen band, and I was into serious music back then." The band liked Corbijn's video shoots because they were more intimate, sometimes just Corbijn and the band instead of having large video crews like their earlier videos.

 

A Question Of Time Track Listing: 

 

7": Mute/ 7Bong12 (UK)

 

1. A Question Of Time (Remix)

2. Black Celebration (Live)

 

12": Mute/ 12Bong12 (UK)

 

1. A Question Of Time (Extended Remix)

2. Black Celebration (live)

3. Something To Do (live)

4. Stripped (live) 

 

12": Mute/L12Bong12 (UK)

 

1. A Question Of Time (New Town Mix)

2. A Question Of Time (Live Remix)

3. A Black Celebration (Black Tulip Mix)

4. More Than A Party (live)

 

CD: Intercord/Mute INT 826.850 (West Germany)

 

1. A Question Of Time (Extended Remix)

2. Stripped (live)

3. Black Celebration (live)

4. Something To Do (live)

5. A Question Of Time (remix) 

Rocktrospectiva: The Experimental "Exciter" Turns 25

Released on 14 May 2001 "Exciter" was the 10th., studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode. The album was produced by Mark Bell, and was supported by the Exciter Tour, one of the band's most successful tours. The album spawned four singles "Dream On", "I Feel Loved", "Freelove" & "Goodnight To Lovers."

 

Exciter debuted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart and number eight on the Billboard 200, it was the only Depeche Mode album to debut higher in the United States than in the United Kingdom. 

The plant that appears on the cover is the Agave attenuata, a species of agave sometimes known as the "lion's tail", "swan's neck", or "foxtail" for its development of a curved stem, unusual among agaves.

 

Lyrically, the album covers many different subjects. Martin Gore said that "The Dead of Night" was inspired by a club in London where there were a lot of drugs and mayhem. Gore told MTV Europe that "I Feel Loved" is about when you "feel absolutely like shit, and you feel the worst you've ever felt in your life. Then somehow you think: 'the universe must like me, for making me feel like this'". 

 

Musically, Exciter can be described as a very atmospheric and electronic album. Gore had stated that he had been listening to more abstract electronic music in the lead up to recording Exciter, which could have influenced some of the more experimental soundscapes on the album. The group also often cited producer Mark Bell as a major inspiration in the making of Exciter as Gahan states that Mark Bell helped make him a more confident vocalist.  The band also worked with Paul Freegard and long-time collaborator Gareth Jones, who were involved with pre-production and programming. 

 

On top of the electronic soundscapes, Depeche Mode also added elements of traditional blues, retro funk, progressive rock, and orchestral pop to its arrangements. Bell told Keyboard magazine that they treated the acoustic and electronic sounds on the track "Dream On" the same. Gore felt that many songs of the album including "When the Body Speaks" have a 1950s or 1960s sound to them. "Comatose" was massively stripped down from the original demo since the band wanted a more minimalistic arrangement. "Freelove" was one of the final tracks to be completed on the album. "The Dead of Night" features a harsher sound compared to other tracks on the album, making heavy use of analogue synths such as the EMS Synthi AKS; the practice of largely using analogue synths would become common on later albums by the band. 

 

Bell found working with the group fun but strange, stating he had listened to the group when he was 12 and found the band asking him for days off or "what they should eat". According to an interview with Gahan in 2003, Gore's lack of involvement with the production led to Bell feeling frustrated and that he was essentially creating the album for the band

 

Exciter received generally positive reviews. While many critics praised the album's experimental and digital soundscapes, some felt it was one of the weakest Depeche Mode albums. Some positive reviews wrote that "Not many long-running groups could make an album this fresh and confident in their 20th year, never mind one which bridges timeless soulman crooning and underground techno".  In contrast other criticised the sound of the record in which there was no emotion or remarkable tracks.

 

Exciter Track List: 

 

1. Dream On

2. Shine

3. The Sweetest Condition

4. When The Body Speaks

5. The Dead Of Night

6. Lovetheme

7. Freelove

8. Comatose

9. I Feel Loved

10. Breather

11. Easy Tiger

12. I Am You

13. Goodnight Lovers

Rocktrospectiva: The Influential Masterpiece "Black Celebration" Turns 40

Released on 17 March 1986 "Black Celebration" was the 5th., studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, it was produced by Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones. At the prompting of Miller, the band recorded the album using the "live the album" ethos inspired by the film director Werner Herzog, which led to considerable tension between the band and both Miller and Jones, resulting in neither being involved in the production of subsequent Depeche Mode albums.

The album was promoted by the singles "Stripped", "A Question of Lust", and "A Question of Time". In the US, "But Not Tonight" was released as a single instead of "Stripped". In support of the album, Depeche Mode embarked on the five-month-long Black Celebration Tour across Europe, North America, and Japan, which ran from early to mid-1986.

After touring through July 1985 in support of their previous album Some Great Reward (1984). Depeche Mode released two compilation albums in late 1985, The Singles 81→85 in the UK in October, and Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US in November. Both albums included two new tracks which were both issued as singles, "Shake the Disease" (single released April 1985) and "It's Called a Heart" (single released September 1985). On a personal level, singer Dave Gahan married his partner Jo Fox, songwriter Martin Gore was still living in West Berlin with his girlfriend Christina Friedrich, and Andy Fletcher and Alan Wilder had moved in with their girlfriends, Grainne Mullen and Jeri Young, respectively, in London. However, after their exhausting year of touring and recording, the band found themselves at odds when they reunited. Tensions within the band and their producer Daniel Miller had already come up during recording sessions earlier that year for "Shake the Disease".

Said Gahan, "If we were ever going to split up the band it was at the end of 1985. We were really in a state of turmoil. Constant arguing. Very intense. We weren't really sure where to go [musically] after Some Great Reward, so we decided to slow things down. But it left us with too much time on our hands. So we spent most of our time arguing. Sometimes, it seems incredible that we came out of that period with the band and our sanity intact." The inter-personal conflict within what was normally a tight-knit group led Gore to hide away with a friend at a farm for a week, with Gore later saying "I freaked out. I had to go away for a few days." Ultimately, the band agreed to reconvene in London in November to try to record their new material.

Depeche Mode entered Westside Studios in London in the first week of November 1985 to start recording their new album. In starting to work on the new album, producer Miller said that he "was a bit frustrated because [he] couldn't get the guys to think about working in different ways," and to that end, Miller asked the band to attend the studio every day to work on the production to "live the album", wanting "a kind of intensity". Miller was inspired by the history of German film director Werner Herzog, saying that Herzog had made historical films "and [the people involved in production of the movies] really lived the films, and it was a very intense way of working." The band agreed to this approach, and Gore moved back to London from West Germany, where he had been living since the Some Great Reward recording sessions of 1983–84.

Typical of Depeche Mode's previous few albums, Gore arrived at the sessions with demos of new songs for the album, and, determined to make their new album "a lot heavier, harder and darker [than their previous album]", brought in demos that were less structured and formal than he had in the past. Miller and the band's label, Mute Records, upon hearing the demos, were concerned about the morbid, slow demos, and worried that they lacked any radio-friendly singles. After a week-long standoff, Miller and the label relented, allowing the band to "make the record you want to make." This stand-off preceded a tense 120 days in the studio, with the band and producers working 14 hours a day to complete the album, with few days off. Adding to the tension was that both Miller and Gareth Jones returned in their production roles from the band's previous album, but alongside them was now Alan Wilder, who had grown into production responsibilities for their music over the past few years. With three co-producers sharing space at the production desk, Miller said "Alan [Wilder] was becoming very adept in that studio-bod role which I'd filled before. That left my own position less defined but I still had a very strong point of view. I think that created a lot of tension." 

In addition, the entire group worked under tight timelines, intending to finish recording and mixing all their material, as well as completing all artwork for their album and singles, by Christmas 1985, although they missed this deadline and ended up working into the first few months of 1986. Years later, Miller remembered that the Black Celebration sessions "turned in a nightmare ... There was definitely tension in the studio" as a result of the "live the album" ethos of recording. Alan Wilder said that the way the album was made, combined with Miller's brooding and Gore's dark songs, resulted in an "underlying darkness" in the material they created. In an attempt to cope with the stress of the album's production, the band and production crew smoked a lot of marijuana while recording the album, and this instilled a feeling of paranoia in the sessions.

The band continued to use new, bespoke sampled sounds while recording Black Celebration, fed into the Synclavier the band had used on their previous two albums. Andy Fletcher said "we had this theory at the time that every sound must be different and you must never use the same sound twice."

By the end of their recording sessions, the band and producers Jones and Miller had moved back to Hansa Studios in West Berlin. Despite all the tension, Wilder later said that "the album's claustrophobic feel was probably down to the tension. I think it did add a chemistry to the sound of the record, more than any others we have done. It's one of my favourite records we have ever made."

One of the first songs the band recorded was "Stripped", which, according to Wilder, was one of the few songs that was "easy" to record for the album. "Stripped" incorporated the sound of Gahan's idling Porsche 911 and of a bottle rocket,

Wilder spoke about the way they approached sampling for the album, using the track "It Doesn't Matter Two" as an example: "There are a lot of choir samples on that. It would have been very easy to take just one sample and play it back polyphonically. But instead, we took a different sample for each choir note, so each note is slightly out from the others. It gives it a very realistic feel. We spent a long time getting that to work, so that it sounded human. That goes for all the stuff we do, not just that one track." Lyrically, Gore summarized "It Doesn't Matter Two" as a "very desperate [song]. Very very morbid." Of "Sometimes", he described it as "about someone who questions their surroundings and ends up becoming tiring and embarrassing and over apologetic." "Fly on the Windscreen", which was the b-side to Depeche Mode's previous single, "It's Called a Heart", was deemed by the band to be "too good" to remain just a b-side, so it was re-mixed and included on the album. Title song "Black Celebration" started with Miller's distorted voice saying the phrase "A brief period of rejoicing", taken from Winston Churchill's 8 May 1945 speech after the surrender of Germany to end World War II in Europe.

By 19 November 1985, the band was recording "A Question of Lust", one of four Gore-sung songs on the record, an all-time high for any Depeche Mode album to date. Alongside "Lust", Gore sang lead vocals on "Sometimes", "It Doesn't Matter Two" and "World Full of Nothing", saying "we've noticed that my voice is more suited to the softer and slower songs than Dave's [Gahan]". After a single day off for New Year's Day 1986, the band returned to the studio, and on 14 January 1986 they had mixed the album track "World Full of Nothing" as well as recorded and mixed one of the album's B-sides. 

The album continued to be a transition album for Wilder, whose final songwriting credit with the band was the instrumental B-side "Christmas Island"; after Black Celebration Wilder continued to transition to spend more time arranging and performing songs and producing and engineering the band's sound. Years later, Wilder said he stopped songwriting for the band because it didn't come naturally to him, and he struggled with the lyrics, saying "My interest is more about atmosphere and production and editing and all the other things."

The title "Black Celebration" was not a reference to Black mass or rituals of the Occult, but rather, it was meant to "[describe] the daily boredom of a dreary life without climaxes or hope for improvement." Said Gore, "Our songs from Black Celebration capture the idea: Make the most of what you have, and find consolation whereever you can." Gahan elaborated, "it's a common thing: at the end of a working day you go out and drown your sorrows no matter how shitty you feel or how bleak your future looks."

Reviews for Black Celebration in the British press were mixed. Some found Gore's lyrics "adolescent" and the record's overall mood "dark yet faintly ridiculous", conceded that "within their own parameters, Depeche Mode created a resonant, if undemonstrative techno-pop tapestry" with "a rich textured sheen that is not without a certain depth." He added, "When the songs address topics other than the composer's state of mind, others were impressed by the album's "weirder" approach of mixing "dark, mysterious percussive" songs and "sweet, fragile and rather sinister ballads". In the years to come Black Celebration has since been reappraised in retrospective reviews, some considered it a transitional work for Depeche Mode, moving away from their earlier "industrial-pop" sound and towards "a path that in many ways defined their sound to the present: emotionally extreme lyrics matched with amped-up tunes, as much anthemic rock as they are compelling dance, along with stark, low-key ballads." 

 

Black Celebration Track List:  

 

1. Black Celebration

2. Fly On The Windscreen - Final

3. A Question Of Lust

4. Sometimes

5. It Doesn't Matter Two

6. A Question Of Time

7. Stripped

8. Here Is The House

9. World Full Of Nothing

10. Dressed In Black

11. New Dress

12. Breathing In Fumes

13. But Not Tonight 

14. Black Day

New Music: Universal Soldier

           

The English electronic band Depeche Mode has just released the brand new track "Universal Soldier" via War Child Records. The track is out now as part of the charity compilation "HELP(2)", released last March 6, 2026, and is included alongside contributions from Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Cameron Winter, Damon Albarn, Dove Ellis, Ellie Rowsell, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon, Greentea Peng, Grian Chatten, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Oasis, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg and Young Fathers.

Rocktrospectiva: The Brilliant "Stripped" Turns 40

Released on 10 February 1986 "Stripped" was a song by the English electronic band Depeche Mode. It was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album Black Celebration. Written by the band's lead songwriter Martin Gore, "Stripped" incorporated various samples into the song; most notably, the sound of an idling car engine. It was the band's sixth consecutive single to enter the UK Top 20, peaking at number 15. Elsewhere, it peaked at No. 4 in Germany and reached the top 10 in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. 

The recording for "Stripped" began the first week of November 1985 at Westside Studios in London. According to Alan Wilder, it was one of the few songs that was "easy" to record. As with their previous albums, Depeche Mode incorporated samples into their songs, which the band always created in-house. Gore's demo of "Stripped" incorporated the sound of an idling motorcycle; the album version instead sampled singer Dave Gahan's idling Porsche 911. They also included the sound of a bottle rocket in the song, as they were recording "Stripped" on Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November. To get the sound of the fireworks, they launched the rockets horizontally so that several microphones, set up in sequence, could capture the sound of the firework fizzing by. Final mixing for the song took place at Hansa Studios in early 1986.

While making the album, Andy Fletcher said that "the idea of 'Stripped' is to get away from technology and civilisation for a day and get back to basics in the country. It's about two people stripping down to their bare emotions. In the video we're seen demolishing a car and taking a TV apart... it's a bit, er, symbolic." Dave Gahan explained that "it's not about sex. It's to do with having nothing except yourself. The people in the song could strip off if they wanted to though."

For B-sides, the band deliberately wanted to move away from just doing "simple extended version[s]" of their singles, instead opting to include "experimental" tracks "Black Day" and "Breathing in Fumes", which were based off of album tracks "Black Celebration" and "Stripped", respectively. Also included as a B-side was "But Not Tonight", which the band's US label, Sire Records, included on the soundtrack to the movie Modern Girls (1986), in part because it was "the only optimistic and slightly upbeat track from the Black Celebration recording sessions."

In 1987, Gore said that "Stripped" was his favorite Depeche Mode song to date.

The band and label's hopes for the single were high, with Gahan saying that the song "excites me. It feels powerful to sing. The chorus is rousing and mob-like which I can get off on," and they were disappointed when it only made it to number 15 in the UK. In a 1998 interview, Gore said that the single marked a turning point for the band, saying "since the Black Celebration album we've started getting things right, and 'Stripped' is one of the best atmospheres we've ever captured."

In the US, label Sire Records decided that B-side "But Not Tonight" was a better choice for their American audience, and so "Stripped" was not released as a single in that country. Martin Gore expressed his frustration with the American release in the 2007 documentary The Songs Aren't Good Enough, There Aren't Any Singles and It'll Never Get Played on the Radio, saying, "The worst thing, though, about 'Stripped' was the Americans, who somehow decided to not release it at all and to put out the B-side, 'But Not Tonight,' because they got it into some dodgy film. For "Stripped", we took nine days mixing and God knows how long recording, and, you know, 'But Not Tonight' I think we did in about three hours. And the Americans in their wisdom decided to release that instead." Wilder echoed this sentiment, saying "I don't pretend to understand it but whenever we 'deliver' a product, they want something different that 'suits their market'," indicating a strained relationship between the band and their US label.

The music video for "Stripped" was directed by Peter Care and was filmed outside Hansa Studios in Berlin. A music video was also shot for "But Not Tonight", directed by Tamra Davis. The video, in which the band appeared bored while miming playing their instruments in a nameless film studio, was not released until the video collection The Videos 86–98+ (2002) was made available, leading to many fans not even knowing the video existed until 2002.

Track listings

7": Mute / 7Bong10 (UK)

    1. Stripped 

    2. But Not Tonight 

12": Mute / 12Bong10 (UK)

    1. Stripped (Highland Mix)

    2. But Not Tonight (Extended Remix)

    3. Breathing in Fumes

    4. Fly on the Windscreen (Quiet Mix)

    5. Black Day

CD: Mute / CDBong10 (UK)

    1. Stripped

    2. But Not Tonight

    3. Stripped (Highland Mix)

    4. But Not Tonight (Extended Remix)

    5. Breathing in Fumes

    6. Fly on the Windscreen (Quiet Mix)

    7. Black Day

The CD single was released in 1991 as part of the singles box set compilations.

7": Sire / 7-28564 (US)

    1. But Not Tonight

    2. Stripped 

12": Sire / 0-20578 (US)

    1. But Not Tonight (Extended Mix)

    2. Breathing in Fumes

    3. Stripped (Highland Mix)

    4. Black Day

Rocktrospectiva: Depeche Mode's Masterpiece "Violator" Turns 35

Released on 19 March, 1990, "Violator," was the seventh album by the iconic British band Depeche Mode, marked a turning point in their vibrant career. Ironically, its soft, dark, and melancholic sound would earn them more fame than its noisy predecessor.  

The album spawned four singles "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy The Silence", both peaked No. 10 in hte UK and USA, "Policy Of Truth" and "World In My Eyes". Violator reached number two on the UK Albums Chart, and was the band's first album to chart inside the top 10 of the Billboard 200, peaking at number seven. The album was supported by the World Violation Tour. 

 

The Basildon band had been building a solid career supported by the release of good and competitive albums that attracted fans to their cause, this caused the level of demand in production to grow, applying new practices that cemented their sound although without straying too far from synth pop, but the change was so significant with "Violator" that they came to cause a global impact. 

 

They had just released the iconic "101" that appealed to the 87-88 tour, and so it was that at the pinnacle of their career when they hired Flood for production, and the choice of Flood was more than appropriate, the guy came from working with New Order, Ministry, U2, Erasure, and Nick Cave, proving that he could change the sound to make it fabulous and indeed that was what happened in this album, which was a masterpiece and the most successful to date.  

 

The recording process was different and Wilder proposed to reduce the pre-production time, Gore presented demos, as long as the rest presented other ideas that would even allow to finish the song, and so came 1989 when the band began to record in Milan, with François Kevorkian a French DJ with whom they obtained the first song that would be the first single "Personal Jesus", which was released on August 29, a song that was promoted by a curious campaign that included classified ads with the phrase "Your Own Personal Jesus", there was a phone number that if you dialed you could listen to the entire song, this allowed the song to reach No. 13 in the United Kingdom and in the United States it was the best-selling single for the Warner label.  

 

Then came the incredible "Enjoy The Silence," whose imprint can be traced in previous releases. The song was a hit everywhere, around that time, a memorable event occurred related with the released of this album. To promote the album's release, the band, in collaboration with Los Angeles station KROQ, decided to hold an event at the Warehouse Records. They didn't expect much of a commotion, but everything got out of hand, with nearly 30,000 people showing up. So there was trouble, people were injured from cuts sustained when many were pushed into the store's window. So, to prevent further damage, Depeche Mode handed out limited-edition cassette tapes. But to this day, it remains one of the band's most iconic moments. 

 

Other fantastics tracks were "Policy of Truth," another huge one played everywhere late that 1990. It wasn't as successful but remains one of the key songs in the band's career. Another song called "World in My Eyes" was the final single. Videos were brilliant thanks to Anton Corbijn's direction, giving them a key visual aesthetic that ties the sound together. 

 

As for the rest of the tracks,  they are equally intense and sophisticated as the singles, you had the libidinous "Sweetest Perfection," the dramatic "Halo, the sexy and exquisite "Waiting for the Night," and finally, the album's closing "Clean," making this work something intense and sophisticated that was perfectly suited for that era. 

 

Now 35 years later, it still sounds so fresh and timeless, marking the band's defining moment and its peak performance to date, some critics called the album as the most arresting work to dat by the band, nothing out of place of this album, simply the best record of the band at their career peak, and of course a quintessential benchmark of pop, rock and of course electronic music. 

 

Violator Track List: 

 

1. World In My Eyes

2. Sweetest Perfection

3. Personal Jesus

4. Halo

5. Waiting For The Night

6. Enjoy The Silence

7. Policy Of Truth

8. Blue Dress

9. Clean 

Rocktrospectiva: The Remarkable And Developped "Some Great Reward" Turns 40

 

Released on 24 September 1984, "Some Great Reward" was the fourth studio album by Depeche Mode, the album was a huge success in the UK and the United States, spawning three singles "People Are People", "Master And Servant" & "Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody". 

 

The album is considered a landamark on the bands career, using samplers much like they did in their previous album, and this would mark the path to follow in their forthcoming albums, additionally it also saw the band addressing more personal themes such as sexual politics "Master and Servant", adulterous relationships "Lie to Me", and arbitrary divine justice "Blasphemous Rumours".

 

This was the first album where they achieved chart success in the US with the single "People Are People" which reached No. 13 on the charts in mid-1985 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was also the first album that peaked at a higher position on a chart that was not from the band's home country as it peaked at No. 1 in Germany. 

 

Considered one of the best electronic music albums yet recorded, Some Great Reward still sounds great, with the band's ever-evolving musical and production skills matching even more ambitious songwriting by Martin Gore. The brilliant "People Are People" was the first classic for the band unfortunately it was outclassed by some of Depeche Mode's undisputed classics, the moody, beautiful "Somebody,"  the ballad that mixes its wit and emotion skillfully; "Master and Servant," an amped-up, slamming dance track that conflates sexual and economic politics to sharp effect; and the closing "Blasphemous Rumors," a slow-building anthemic number supporting one of Gore's most cynical lyrics, addressing a suicidal teen who finds God only to die soon afterward. 

 

Other cool tracks are  "Lie to Me" and the weirdly dreamy "It Doesn't Matter" with a brilliant Alan Wilder arrangements and of course the singing style by Gahan on "Master And Servant" that will stick and use for the next ten years.

 

The critics loved the album and considered a truly remarkable development especially on Gahan's voice, also it was considered it a great record to feel the balance of powerful music and personal lyrics as well, making the combination of the bands strenght on vocals an delicacy sound as a trademark, on the other hand, there were some negative reviews considered the record as an under-rated Depeche Mode turn out, in which the real strenght on the singles rather than the album, even though, the album remains as the first real intention to conquer the world with consistent and perfectly crafted singles. 

 

Some Great Reward Track List: 

 

1. Something To Do

2. Lie To Me

3. People Are People

4. It Doesn't Matter

5. Stories Of Old

6. Somebody

7. Master And Servant

8. If You Want

9. Blasphemous Rumours

Rocktrospectiva: El Reinvidicado "Sounds Of The Universe" Cumple 15 Años

 

Lanzado el 17 de Abril del 2009, "Sounds Of The Universe" fue el 12avo., álbum de estudio de la banda Inglesa Depeche Mode y fue precedido por un largo tour que reivindicó el mismo, además de los tres singles que causaron revuelo, en especial "Wrong" por el curioso y violento video que llegó a ser considerado polémico en su momento.

Grabado tras el reencuentro con el estilo logrado en "Playing The Angel" y las grabaciones para el disco en solitario de Gaham, "Sounds Of The Universe" contó con tres temas de Gahan, Eigner y Philpott, mientras que Martin Gore se metió más de lleno en otros temas con Gahan, todo esto bajo el control de Ben Hillier gracias a que la banda quedó muy complacida con la producción del disco anterior, de hecho, las sesiones fueron muy productivas lanzando 22 temas que al final tuvieron que cortar, cosa que fue muy difícil pero que tuvieron que sacrificar al menos cinco temas de estos.

En su momento, llamó mucho la atención del uso masivo de sintetizadores del tipo análogo en el disco, como que volviendo a los viejos tiempos, se le considero al principio flojo para lo que se esperaba de una banda con una rica historia como Depeche Mode, pero conforme han pasado los años, el sonido se fue acomodando al oído y gusto de los fans y por ende la crítica, desde el abridor "In Chains" que marcaba la obsesión y devoción hacía alguien y que auguraba grandes cosas, para dar paso a "Hole To Fee" que sigue teniendo su estilo y clase, "Wrong" era el tema más apetecible del disco con Depeche Mode en plena esencia con su típica oscuridad, abatía, y dolor apoyado por un raro video de un hombre atado a un carro en neutro y en plena marcha y que destruyendo lo que encuentra a su paso para luego matarlo por el fuerte impacto de un pick-up, y que por curiosa razón, no lo tiene Youtube. Con "Fragile Tension" se apelaba a esos sentimientos gore y masoquista y así el disco iba dándonos sorpresas como "In Simpathy" con una gran melodía entre tanta desolación, las cosas parecían tranquilizarse con "Peace" para dar paso a "Comeback" y luego al que siempre he creído yo que es un desacierto con "Spacewalker" y que tras ese descalabro se venían temas como la utópica "Perfect" acerca de ese lugar donde se supone que todo es mejor pero que variar siempre es un sueño, y de vuelta a la realidad con "Miles Away/The Truth Is" acerca de enfrentar un delito no cometido, "Jezebel" y terminar con "Corrupt" muy en boga con los tiempos que desgraciadamente se vivían por aquel entonces y que pareciera que poco a cambiado 15 años después de la misma.

El disco gozó de cierta crítica positiva, para muchos la banda seguía sonando genuina y positivamente inspirada, con la habilidad de seguir creando temas pegajosos para una audiencia más joven y a la vez complacer a los fans de siempre.

Sounds Of The Universe Track List:

 

1. In Chains

2. Hole To Feed

3. Wrong

4. Fragile Tension

5. Little Soul

6. In Simpathy

7. Peace

8. Come Back

9. Spacewalker

10. Perfect

11. Miles Away/The Truth Is

12. Jezebel

13. Corrupt

Primicia: People Are Good

          

Uno de los mejores tracks de "Memento Mori" el tema "People Are Good" con una letra bastante intensa y reflexiva ha sido lanzado por la icónica banda Depeche Mode con un gran video en blanco y negro bajo la dirección de Rich Hall y la asesoría del gran Anton Corbijn, la banda sigue exprimiendo hasta la última gota del disco.

Rocktrospectiva: El Fenomenal Álbum En Directo "101" Cumple 35 Años

 

Lanzado el 13 de Marzo de 1989 "101" fue un álbum en directo de parte de la icónica banda Inglesa Depeche Mode, que venía estableciéndose de a poco durante los años 80's, si bien en el Reino Unido la banda ya tenía un buen número de seguidores, en los Estados Unidos su situación fue un poco más labrada, ya que con cada disco que lanzaban, la banda iba ganando más adeptos a su causa.

Y así se llegó a esa mágica época entre 1987/1988 cuando la banda venía de lanzar el increíble "Music For The Masses", logrando que su fama traspasara las fronteras logrando llenar estadios completos, esa gira fue filmada y se convirtió en el famoso directo y a la vez documental "101" nombre que hacía alusión a la cantidad de conciertos que dieron en esa recordada gira, en donde la banda fue filmada interpretando sus mejores temas hasta la fecha. Lanzado bajo el sello Mute un 13 de marzo de 1989, el directo detalla la parte final del "Music For The Masses Tour" y el show final realizado un 18 de Junio de 1988 en el Rose Bowl en Pasadena, California.

Bajo la dirección y producción de D.A. Pennebaker, el concepto original era el de mostrar como Depeche Mode poco a poco fue encajando en los 80's., pero tras las discusiones respectivas, se llegó a la conclusión que eso sería algo muy sin sentido y aburrido, por lo optaron en contar algo más interesantes y llamativo de la mano del renombrado director de documentales, quién pronto aceptó la idea, y tras un minucioso análisis, el filme se enfocó en lo que se consideraba el punto más fuerte de Depeche Mode, que eran los directos, así también capturar el espíritu de su fanaticada, de hecho el filme muestra a un grupo de afortunados fans viajando por todo Estados Unidos como los ganadores del "Be-in-a-Depeche Mode-movie-contest" y que culminaba con el concierto final en el Rose Bowl. 

A pesar que el filme no describe el show del Rose Bowl por completo, este no pierde fuerza gracias a la combinación de otros shows, los fanáticos, y demás situaciones a lo largo del tour, incluso para el relanzamiento del DVD en el 2003 se llegó agregar más tomas de conciertos, aunque tal y como afirma Pennebaker, el filme es eso, un documental y no el filme oficial de un concierto, por tal motivo no hay un concierto por completo como fue el caso del de "U2 Live From Sidney", para la época del Zoo TV Tour.

El proceso fue un poco laboriosa y Pennebaker utilizó su experiencia en el proyecto como nunca, pero tal y como el decía, cada vez que uno editaba se venían nuevos cambios, sin embargo, la banda fue muy paciente y respetuosa al respecto, destacando además la similitud que existía entre los fans de Bowie por ejemplo con los de Depeche Mode, quienes no jugaban sino que se tomaban muy en serio su papel al respecto de ir  más allá de simples fans. Es curioso pero los más famosos "bus kids" tuvieron una curiosa prominencia en el filme y sin saberlo, este concepto impresionaría mucho a MTV quienes desgraciadamente lo usarían a su antojo en los primeros realities que invadirían el canal a partir de 1992 tales como "The Real World" y el aburridisimo "Road Rules", y que marcarían el inicio del fin de MTV tal y como solía gustarnos. 

Dicho lanzamiento mantenía ocupados a los fans, mientra la banda se preparaba para entregar el mega disco "Violator" aparecido a finales de ese grandioso 1989, el disco se volvería a re-lanzar en formato DVD en el 2003, con dos discos siendo el primero el filme completo y segundo traía como novedad, la situación actual y los nuevos proyectos de los tres miembros restantes del cuarteto original, además de entrevistas con el manager de la banda, y tres miembros originales de los "bus kids", además de una inédita toma del concierto en Rose Bowl.

101 Track list:

Disco 1:

 

1. Pimpf

2. Behind The Wheel

3. Strangelove

4. Sacred

5- Something To Do

6. Blasphemous Rumours

7. Stripped

8. Somebody

9. Things You Said

Disco 2: 

1. Black Celebration

2. Shake The Disease

3. Nothing

4. Pleasure Little Treasure

5. People Are People

6. A Question Of Time

7. Never Let Me Down Again

8. A Question Of Lust

9. Master And Servant

10. Just Can't Get Enough

11. Everything Counts

Primicia: Before We Drown

          

Depeche Mode reaparece con este nuevo single "Before We Drown" uno de los últimos cortes que se desprende del formidable "Memento Mori" lanzado el año pasado, para la ocasión nos entregan un tema que funciona como catarsis y a la vez esperanzador con un clip a cargo del iconico Anton Corbijn sobre un hombre que se mete en el mar y se deja llevar.

Primicia: My Favourite Stranger

            

La mítica banda Depeche Mode nos presenta el clip oficial del single "My Favourite Stranger" nuevo corte del formidable "Memento Mori", una canción bastante fría y oscura y de hecho es uno de los mejores cortes del disco, el clip muestra a una chica disfrazada de hombre vagando por las calles según el concepto que el legendario Anton Corbijn nos ha mostrado.

Rocktrospectiva: El Bellamente Imperfecto "Construction Time Again" Cumple 40 Años

 

Lanzado el 22 de Agosto de 1983 "Construction Time Again" fue el 3er., álbum de estudio de la banda Inglesa Depeche Mode, aunque para mucho se siente como si hubiera sido el primero por el cambio en cuanto a sonido y estética significó, además que para la banda fue muy representativo ya que marcó la llegada de Alan Wilder como cuarto miembro oficial de la banda y quien aportó dos tracks al disco, de este se lanzaron dos singles "Everything Counts y "Love, In Itself". 

 

El disco fue producido por Daniel Miller quien comentó que el proceso de producción fue un gran avance para la banda, de parte de Martin Fore, el se vio influenciado por un concierto en el Einstürzende Neubauten lo que le dio la idea de experimentar con sonidos industriales en el contexto del pop, además de usar letras sobre temas políticos y sociales. El disco se nutrió de muchos samples de cualquier tipo desde sonidos de juguetes o de objetos que encontraron en algunos sitios de construcción, además del uso de Synclavier, con el que modificaron sus voces y que ayudo mucho a la gestación de varios temas.

 

Es por eso que muchos fanáticos lograron conectar con la banda con este disco, el cual es mucho más fuerte que los dos anteriores, por las novedades sonoras que usaron, un ejemplo era el tema "Love, In Itself" acerca de ciertos amores y que musicalmente tenía un sonido mucho más lleno gracias al uso de guitarras y sintetizadores para entregar un ritmo más potente, con "More Than A Party", nos metíamos de lleno a lo social sobre la desilusión política y más o menos con un sonido similar iban "Pipeline" y "Shame" de nuevo buscando el contexto político del momento aunque musicalmente tenía su lado experimental. 

 

Pero sin duda, el hit del disco era "Everything Counts", acerca de sus experiencias musicales en el negocio hasta el momento, el tema era la esencia de la banda, con letras personales y melodías inspiradoras que hasta usaron marimba, muy pegajosa y hasta la fecha sigue siendo de las preferidas,  también estaba la inspirada en el poema de William Blake "Jerusalem" aquí renombrada "Told You So", un tema más poderoso y con un coros pegajosos, "The Landscape Is Changing" era su himno ecologíco para luego pasar a la ansiedad nuclear en "Two Minute Warning", y así se llegaba al final con "And Then.." que iba más orientada al lado juvenil con cierto optimismo de que el mundo se puede volver a reiniciar. 

 

Por tales motivos, podemos decir que este disco es hermoso e imperfecto, ya que representa el potencial y la promesa que en ese entonces era Depeche Mode, en los singles se podía apreciar esa chispa que estaba por prender esa racha de seis discos en donde la banda iría progresando de a poco hasta convertirse en una fuerza a nivel mundial, y por eso fue que la crítica apreció el hecho de que ahora como cuarteto el grupo tenía más solidez que nunca y con un sonido más expansivo y potente que en sus dos primeras entregas.

Construction Time Again Track List:

1. Love, in Itself

2. More Than A Party

3. Pipeline

4. Everything Counts

5. Two Minute Warning

6. Shame

7. The Landscape Is Changing

8. Told You So

9. And Then

Primicia: Wagging Tongue

           

Depeche Mode estrena el clip oficial de su tercer single "Wagging Tongue" dirigido por The Sacred Egg y bajo la dirección creativa de Anton Corbijn, el clip trata sobre un universo cinemático en donde las reglas que gobiernan la comunicación interpersonal son estrictas y surreales, protagonizado por una pareja joven de un remota y pequeña villa que se une a sus vecinos para un ritual confrontativo, a la cita asiste de todo, abogados, hombres de negocios, curas, pastores, policías y hasta nuestros dos héroes Martin Gore y Dave Gahan.

Discos: Memento Mori

Lanzado oficialmente el 24 de Marzo del 2023, "Memento Mori" es el 15avo., álbum de estudio de la legendaria banda Inglesa ahora convertida en dueto Depeche Mode, es el primer disco que la banda lanza tras el fallecimiento del entrañable Andy Fletcher fallecido el 26 de Mayo del 2022. 

 

Gore comentó que entre varios colaboradores destaco la presencia de Richard Butler quien escribió siete temas del disco, no fue nada fortuito sino que esto se dio en Abril del 2020 en plena pandemia cuando Butler se unió a Gore para escribir temas juntos, y la química se dio. Depeche Mode siempre ha sobrevivido a cambios pero pese a ello ha salido adelante, a veces de manera natural y otras veces impuesto, la banda siempre resurge y sin duda este tiempo lo fue, tal y como Gahan lo dijo, las circunstancias obligaron a la banda a cambiar y eso los unío más a él y a Martin Gore.

 

El título "Memento Mori" traducido del latín "Recuerda Que Vas A Morir" ha tenido mucho simbolismo en el occidente cristiano, mejor título no pudieron haber encontrado para el nuevo disco del dueto, como un testamento del contexto cultural, de las etapas de la vida y de la amargura que ha formado el nexo temporal en este disco, cuando "Fletch" falleció, el nuevo disco ya estaba en forma, y tras la inesperada partida de su colega, decidieron continuar con el mismo como una reflexión sobre la belleza y fragilidad de la vida en luces de sus limites.

 

No es la primera vez que la banda nos ofrece una probada de la tradición cristiana en su música, muchos de sus temas han venido marcados con ese contexto, desde aquel "Personal Jesus" en donde la banda nos hacía reflexionar entre la codicia material y el significado de algo más duradero y espiritual, y este disco refleja un poco de esa vibra, el álbum abre con el single "My Cosmos Is Mine" lleno de cajas de ritmos y con Gahan siendo arropado por el bajo del tema interpretando un tema en donde advierte que no se metan con su mundo, su mente, su tiempo y espacio, su cosmos le pertenece, un tipo de declaración quizás pero prepara el ambiente para "Wagging Tongue" un tema formidable y que nos deja con ganas de seguir atentos a lo que sigue, que es la brillante "Ghost Again" tema con el sello de la casa, en donde la banda reflexiona sobre como nosotros inevitablemente nos volvemos fantasmas, espectros fragmentados espantando en el panorama, tema lleno de synthpop y dark wave en su máxima expresión. 

 

Con "Don't Say You Love Me", una oda de como la búsqueda de la intimidad es una de las primeras presentaciones hacia los limites de las cosas, un tema vulnerable con un pasaje paradójico entre alegría y amargura, mientras que "Soul With Me" es cuando encontramos el deseo de agenciarnos de algo en medio de un destino que no podemos evitar, "Before We Drown" es un tema que habla sobre cuando las aguas no atrapan, de esos problemas que traen inestabilidad a nuestra vidas y de una forma u otra hay que ver como se sale de eso, la intoxicante "Caroline's Monkey", es un tema movido lleno de efectos ochenteros y con influencias de new wave, en donde la metáfora del mono se para frente al caos eminente que el orden nunca puede sacudir desde atrás, o "Speak To Me" un tema sombrío meditativo y construido por medio de un ritmo discordante mezclando estática y disonancia eléctrica y que termina de manera abrupta.

 

El disco va cambiando de un tono a otro, explorando los limites y llenando de misterio al oyente en el mensaje que se puede ir reconociendo a lo largo del disco, la voz de Gahan vibra mejor que nunca, y el sonido es más que evidente, un testamento poderoso lleno de arte que nos llama a ver con más claridad en la ausencia de la resolución, un disco que surge durante la pandemia y la amargura de una perdida personal, la banda a pesar de todo siempre ha manejado nuestra visión de belleza del momento en disolución, un testamento a la continua relevancia y la incógnita inesperada obligo a la banda a cambiar de nuevo o quedarse en el camino. 

 

Memento Mori Track List:

 

1. My Cosmos Is Mine

2. Wagging Tongue

3. Ghosts Again

4. Don't Say You Love Me

5. My Favourite Strange

6. Soul With Me

7. Caroline's Monkey 

8. Before We Drown

9. People Are Good

10. Always You

11. Never Let Me Go

12. Speak To Me