Depeche Mode: Electro-Innovators in a "Fashion"
[From "Tower Guide to Dance and Electronic Music", Tower Records, 2001. Words: Kurt B. Reighley. Pictures: Sheila Rock / Anton Corbijn.]
In 1981, when Depeche Mode released its debut single, "Dreaming of Me", critics were already predicting the band's music would remain fashionable for about as long as its skyscraping hairdos. Despite its seemingly portentous name (roughly translated as "fast fashion"), the skinny British quartet stuck around. Its unerringly catchy songs made the group a fixture on the European charts and MTV throughout the '80s, while its initial insistence on making music exclusively with electronics left a profound mark on techno pioneers like Derrick May and Juan Atkins.
The first test of the band's resilience came on the heels of its earliest successes, at the close of 1981. Vince Clarke, who had penned the debut Speak & Spell, split the group to form Yazoo, and later, Erasure. Yet the remaining trio rallied, as Martin Gore assumed the songwriter's reins for the subdued but equally tuneful A Broken Frame (Reprise). With the addition of new member Alan Wilder, the band charted more experimental territory with 1983's Construction Time Again, incorporating politics into its lyrics and increasingly bizarre timbres into its sparse arrangements.
Beginning with "People Are People", from 1985's Some Great Reward [1], Depeche Mode's popularity in America began to catch up to, then overtake, its fame at home, culminating with 1990's Violator. Yet by 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion (Reprise), the weaknesses first evident on Black Celebration and Music For The Masses (1986 and 1987, respectively; both on Reprise) were now in full bloom. Leaden, self-indulgent numbers like "Walking in My Shoes" jettisoned the catchy hooks, while stressing the group's shortcomings: Dave Gahan's histrionic yet unaffecting baritone and Gore's moribund, lovelorn lyrics. None of this deterred the legions of sullen teens and ageing new wavers who pushed the album to No. 1, making the group's artistic nadir the apex of its U.S. success. [2]
The remainder of the decade saw Depeche Mode struggling to remain relevant - or even entertaining - in the world of post-Nirvana alternative rock, despite the obvious debt owed to the group by glum acts like Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails. Wilder split in 1995, while Gahan made headlines with a suicide attempt, followed by a near-fatal drug overdose. 1997's Ultra (Reprise), the band's first full-length as a trio, was unrightfully trumpeted as a return to form. Regardless, the single "It's No Good" managed to become an unstoppable dance floor smash thanks to a timely remix by Club 69's Peter Rauhofer.
The selection of Rauhofer is just one of many indicators that DM still has its finger on the pulse; in recent years, the group has roped in electronic innovators from Bomb the Bass and Kruder & Dorfmeister to Kid 606 to help out with production and remix duties. And tapping Bjork producer Mark Bell to helm its latest full-length, Exciter, has yielded the band's most consistent album in a decade. So much for the naysayers who expected the band's discs to be gathering dust by now. The silly haircuts might be a thing of the past, but Depeche Mode's appeal still stands up.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
[1] SPEAK & SPELL REPRISE
Minimal as a miniskirt, and just as unexpectedly enduring in popularity, DM's debut juxtaposes upbeat fare like "Boys Say Go" with darker entries including "Tora Tora Tora" and "Photographic".
[2] CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN REPRISE
DM wrestles successfully with its growing pains by embracing quasi-Socialist lyrics ("Everything Counts"), slower tempos and the integration of strange but ear-catching samples.
[3] SOME GREAT REWARD REPRISE
Marrying killer hooks with its increasing fondness for aural oddities, the band tempers the political "People Are People" with the mildly controversial "Master And Servant" and "Blasphemous Rumours". DM's finest hour.
[4] VIOLATOR REPRISE
Boasting three Top 40 hits ("Personal Jesus", "Enjoy The Silence", "Policy of Truth"), the record that made DM a household name is its finest of the '90s. [3]
[5] EXCITER REPRISE
The group's subtlest album since A Broken Frame benefits from a pared-down sound and Gahan's late emergence as a sensitive singer.
[From "Tower Guide to Dance and Electronic Music", Tower Records, 2001. Words: Kurt B. Reighley. Pictures: Sheila Rock / Anton Corbijn.]
In 1981, when Depeche Mode released its debut single, "Dreaming of Me", critics were already predicting the band's music would remain fashionable for about as long as its skyscraping hairdos. Despite its seemingly portentous name (roughly translated as "fast fashion"), the skinny British quartet stuck around. Its unerringly catchy songs made the group a fixture on the European charts and MTV throughout the '80s, while its initial insistence on making music exclusively with electronics left a profound mark on techno pioneers like Derrick May and Juan Atkins.
The first test of the band's resilience came on the heels of its earliest successes, at the close of 1981. Vince Clarke, who had penned the debut Speak & Spell, split the group to form Yazoo, and later, Erasure. Yet the remaining trio rallied, as Martin Gore assumed the songwriter's reins for the subdued but equally tuneful A Broken Frame (Reprise). With the addition of new member Alan Wilder, the band charted more experimental territory with 1983's Construction Time Again, incorporating politics into its lyrics and increasingly bizarre timbres into its sparse arrangements.
Beginning with "People Are People", from 1985's Some Great Reward [1], Depeche Mode's popularity in America began to catch up to, then overtake, its fame at home, culminating with 1990's Violator. Yet by 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion (Reprise), the weaknesses first evident on Black Celebration and Music For The Masses (1986 and 1987, respectively; both on Reprise) were now in full bloom. Leaden, self-indulgent numbers like "Walking in My Shoes" jettisoned the catchy hooks, while stressing the group's shortcomings: Dave Gahan's histrionic yet unaffecting baritone and Gore's moribund, lovelorn lyrics. None of this deterred the legions of sullen teens and ageing new wavers who pushed the album to No. 1, making the group's artistic nadir the apex of its U.S. success. [2]
The remainder of the decade saw Depeche Mode struggling to remain relevant - or even entertaining - in the world of post-Nirvana alternative rock, despite the obvious debt owed to the group by glum acts like Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails. Wilder split in 1995, while Gahan made headlines with a suicide attempt, followed by a near-fatal drug overdose. 1997's Ultra (Reprise), the band's first full-length as a trio, was unrightfully trumpeted as a return to form. Regardless, the single "It's No Good" managed to become an unstoppable dance floor smash thanks to a timely remix by Club 69's Peter Rauhofer.
The selection of Rauhofer is just one of many indicators that DM still has its finger on the pulse; in recent years, the group has roped in electronic innovators from Bomb the Bass and Kruder & Dorfmeister to Kid 606 to help out with production and remix duties. And tapping Bjork producer Mark Bell to helm its latest full-length, Exciter, has yielded the band's most consistent album in a decade. So much for the naysayers who expected the band's discs to be gathering dust by now. The silly haircuts might be a thing of the past, but Depeche Mode's appeal still stands up.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
[1] SPEAK & SPELL REPRISE
Minimal as a miniskirt, and just as unexpectedly enduring in popularity, DM's debut juxtaposes upbeat fare like "Boys Say Go" with darker entries including "Tora Tora Tora" and "Photographic".
[2] CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN REPRISE
DM wrestles successfully with its growing pains by embracing quasi-Socialist lyrics ("Everything Counts"), slower tempos and the integration of strange but ear-catching samples.
[3] SOME GREAT REWARD REPRISE
Marrying killer hooks with its increasing fondness for aural oddities, the band tempers the political "People Are People" with the mildly controversial "Master And Servant" and "Blasphemous Rumours". DM's finest hour.
[4] VIOLATOR REPRISE
Boasting three Top 40 hits ("Personal Jesus", "Enjoy The Silence", "Policy of Truth"), the record that made DM a household name is its finest of the '90s. [3]
[5] EXCITER REPRISE
The group's subtlest album since A Broken Frame benefits from a pared-down sound and Gahan's late emergence as a sensitive singer.