Strangelove
First
single, April 1987.
I'm going
to write this quite frequently, but I love this song. It has such an
irresistible melody, even the remixes are quite good, and the video is
memorable, too. For some reason, the band members don't like it too much – it
was a very surprising omission from The Singles 86>98 Tour setlist, and I
was thrilled to finally hear it live in 2009 (before it disappeared from the
set again halfway through the tour).
Pimpf
A very
sinister sounding instrumental on the B-side, the first of quite a few songs in
this era that starts out with a simple motif, and then just builds and builds
and builds.
Agent
Orange
An extra
instrumental B-side on the limited edition 12", and you may have guessed from
the title that it isn't a very happy one either, but I like it more than the
previous one.
Never Let
Me Down Again
Second
single, August 1987.
Another
signature tune, and probably the biggest sounding song in their catalogue, it
gets really monumental towards the end. Despite doing quite badly on the UK
singles chart (peaking outside the top 20), it quickly became a live classic,
and it's a highlight of every Depeche Mode concert to this very day. It's
almost needless to say how much I love it, it's definitely in my top 5 of all
DM songs. The video with the bubble car is quite iconic as well, and the split
mix and the aggro mix are also very enjoyable.
Pleasure,
Little Treasure
A not very
remarkable B-side, it's not too bad but I'm really happy it didn't make the
album. The live version was a very massive improvement.
MUSIC FOR
THE MASSES
September,
1987.
The four
albums released between 1986-1993 represent the golden era of the band, and I
have a particular soft spot for this one. It seems quite weird to me that some
people criticized it for sounding "too commercial", they probably didn't get
that the title was only a joke (that weirdly turned into a self fulfilling prophecy). It may have a few lighter moments (especially
compared to Black Celebration), but it's still very distinctively Depeche
Mode-sounding, which puts a limit to its mass appeal, and the majority of the album is surely not radio friendly. The artwork is also a particular favourite for me, the loudspeaker appearing on all album and single sleeves creates a cohesive look for the whole era.
Never Let
Me Down Again
Just like
the previous one, this album starts with the best song.
The Things
You Said
Sandwiched
between 2 great singles, this beautiful ballad sung by Martin still manages to
be memorable.
Strangelove
This song
was reworked quite significantly for the album, and I think I prefer this
version, the quieter opening works really well here, while the single version
is more immediate.
Sacred
A great,
melodic mid-tempo song with nice vocal harmonies in the chorus, one of my
favourite album tracks.
Little 15
This
heart-wrenching slower song is sung by Dave for a change, and it starts with a
simple motif and then builds… Yet another one of my favourites closes the
flawless side 1.
Behind The
Wheel
Another slowly
building track that became a live classic, it works very well despite the
slightly monotone vocals and lack of a chorus. Not a very obvious choice for a
single.
I Want You
Now
The second
Martin song is very unusual with all the weird noises, and it wasn't an instant
favourite, but I've always found it fascinating, and it spawned 2 very
distinctively different (and great) live versions.
To Have And
To Hold
A very dark
and brooding track about the need to get clean, released almost a decade before
Dave turned that into reality. Another hidden treasure on the album.
Nothing
A slightly
more accessible track, but not as good as Sacred in my opinion. The live
version, once again lifted it to another level, but it doesn't stand out on the
album full of great tracks.
Pimpf
The
instrumental lifted from the first single to close the album, and if you pay close
attention, you might notice that it's actually about 30 seconds shorter than
the single version, but that's the only difference. The song is followed by a
bit of silence, and there's a very short instrumental hidden track at the end
(titled Interlude #1 - Mission Impossible according to the official site). I
first heard the album on cassette, where it was immediately followed by Agent
Orange (the first of the extra tracks), and I thought it was the intro to that
song at the time. I was quite surprised when I got the single and it wasn't
there at the start of that song.
*
Never Turn
Your Back On Mother Earth
Probably
the least known studio recording by the band, this Sparks cover was released on
a fan club-only flexidisc as a Christmas present. It sounds pretty much like a
demo to the version that appeared on Martin's solo EP in 1989, and the song
even made it into the tour setlist on the last 2 legs.
Behind The
Wheel
Third
single, December 1987.
The song
was remixed by Shep Pettibone for the single, who added a more danceable
drumbeat and changed some other bits, but somehow made it even moodier than the
album version for me (which is not a bad thing, but probably wasn't his aim). His extended remix is also quite enjoyable, unlike the megamixes from the US releases.
Route 66
I very
rarely like covers, and this one is no exception to that rule, but it's quite
remarkable to hear their version being based on Behind The Wheel, effectively
creating a mashup way more than a decade before it became a fashionable thing
to do. The Beatmasters remix turned out way better than the 7" version, and became the basis of the live version performed in 1990.
Little 15
Fourth
single, May 1988.
The band
never planned to release this one as a single, but their French label persuaded
them to give it a try. It didn't set the charts alight, but it's one of my
favourite releases, with the two piano-based instrumentals, a very emotional
listening experience.
Stjarna
Often
mislabelled as "St. Jarna", actually named after the Swedish word for star (and
spelled correctly as "Stjärna") this is probably my favourite Depeche Mode
instrumental, with such a haunting melody (and once again, a song starting with
a simple motif and then building…) that it doesn't need any words.
Sonata No.
14 in c#m "Moonlight Sonata"
This
classical piece performed by Alan Wilder might seem a bit out of place on a DM
release, yet it fits very nicely on this one.
Music For The Masses Tour
Pimpf –
intro
Behind The
Wheel
Strangelove
Sacred
Something
To Do
Blasphemous
Rumours
Stripped
Pipeline
The Things
You Said / It Doesn't Matter
Black
Celebration
Shake The
Disease
Nothing
Pleasure, Little
Treasure / Just Can't Get Enough
People Are
People
A Question
Of Time
Never Let
Me Down Again
A Question
Of Lust
Master And
Servant
Everything
Counts
Europe October
– November 1987
North
America December 1987
UK January
1988
Europe
February – March 1988
This
incredible tour marked a lot of firsts for the band: the first time Martin
played guitar on stage (during Behind The Wheel, Pipeline, Nothing and
Pleasure, Little Treasure), the first time they had song changes when they
performed more than once at the same venue (It Doesn't Matter – a live debut
for that song in its original version - and Just Can't Get Enough were only played on
those occasions during these legs of the tour), the first time with 3 songs
sung by Martin, and the first time with 2 separate legs in both Europe and
North America.
At the
start of the tour (all October dates, plus one final occasion during the second
Paris gig in November), People Are People was played in a slightly longer
version, with an extra instrumental part before the second verse. Pipeline was
completely rearranged, borrowing elements from Stripped.
An
incredible set with a few surprising choices, including older album tracks and
even a B-side. The whole set has a nice flow, and every single song sounds
great. The song selection concentrates on the 1984-87 era, with the first 2 albums almost completely ignored (Leave In Silence and Photographic were gone from the live set for 20 years, and Just Can't Get Enough was only played on a few selected dates), and the 3rd only represented by a Martin song (a quite surprising choice) plus a hit at the very end of the show, while containing non-singles from both Some Great Reward (Something To Do) and Black Celebration (the title track).
The last few dates of the second European leg are quite noteworthy: they are one of the very few "western" acts ever to play in East-Berlin (still seperated by the wall at the time), then they played 2 nights in Budapest (returning to a city beyond the iron curtain after their first visit in 1985, and even adding en extra date where most acts didn't even consider to go), followed by their first gig in Prague (capital city of Czechoslovakia at the time) and finishing with their first show in Vienna, Austria.
Pimpf –
intro
Behind The
Wheel
Strangelove
Sacred
Something
To Do
Blasphemous
Rumours
Stripped
Never Turn
Your Back On Mother Earth / Somebody
The Things
You Said / It Doesn't Matter
Black
Celebration
Shake The
Disease
Nothing
Pleasure,
Little Treasure
Master And
Servant / People Are People
A Question
Of Time
Never Let
Me Down Again
A Question
Of Lust
Just Can't
Get Enough / Master And Servant
Everything
Counts
Far East
& North America April – June 1988
For the
last 2 legs, the band made a few changes to the setlist: the ending of Behind
The Wheel was slightly extended, Pipeline was replaced first by Never Turn Your
Back On Mother Earth, which later gave way to Somebody, but the really weird
change came with skipping their biggest hit at the time, People Are People in
favour of an ancient hit (actually, Master And Servant took its place in the
main set, and Just Can't Get Enough inherited the abandoned encore position),
which wasn't a rarity or even a band favourite, so I have absolutely no idea
why they did it. Luckily, People Are People returned to the set for one last
time at the very last show of the tour, which was recorded for a live album, but it hasn't been played ever since.
*
Strangelove
Single, August 1988 (North America only)
After the
tour, the US label re-released Strangelove as a single (usually referred to as "Strangelove '88" to avoid confusion with the first release, but that's not the actual title of the single). It was remixed by Tim
Simenon and Mark Saunders (notable for including a vocal line by Martin not
used in the original song, and also for being quite good), and Justin Strauss
remixed Nothing for the B-side. The full length 12" mixes, plus the 7" edit of
Nothing were included on various versions of the next worldwide single, the dub
version of Nothing remains exclusive to this release.
Everything
Counts
Single,
February 1989
The live
album was promoted by the final song from the show released as a single. The
first 12" also included the 3 songs from the show which were omitted from the vinyl
version of the live album (due to time constraints I guess), the limited
edition 12" included a brand new remix (by Tim Simenon and Mark Saunders) of
Everything Counts, plus Strangelove and Nothing taken from the US single. An
extra special numbered 10" was also released, with an additional (and really
enjoyable) remix by Alan Moulder (who mixed the live album).
101
March,
1989
As
mentioned earlier, my favourite album of all time. This album is a very good starting point for anyone who'd like to get to know Depeche Mode. The extended versions of Stripped, Never Let Me Down Again and Everything Counts are incredible, the only live version doing justice to A Question Of Time is here, Something To Do and Master And Servant both sound less rough compared to the original versions but just as energetic, Nothing and Pleasure, Little Treasure both sound way better then their studio counterparts, the new intro of People Are People is even more effective than the original one, and even Just Can't Get Enough sounds a bit more "grown up" than usual. And lest we forget about Black Celebration, or how beautiful the 3 Martin songs are, or what a great opener Behind The Wheel is... and now I feel bad for the songs I haven't mentioned, because they're all wonderful.
I'm not too fond of the movie, I would have preferred to see the complete gig, and I didn't feel the fans represented us well, but if you make a movie with fans in it, you'll get the type that wants to be in a movie. The end result is mostly OK though.
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