Depeche Mode and Me

For quite a long time, I was content to listen to whatever came on the radio. In the middle to late 1980s, that started changing when I first had a job and it occurred to me that I might want to buy music. I stuck with stuff that was fairly New Romantic/Synthpop sounding stuff---after buying U2's The Joshua Tree and Def Leppard's Hysteria, I quickly found my way to slightly older Duran Duran and a-ha stuff, and I loved it.

We did have one radio station out of Houston that actually played some fairly progressive, New Wave stuff, and I think that's where I first heard "Strangelove" back in 1987. It didn't take me long to track down Depeche Mode's Music for the Masses, "Strangelove"'s home, and pick it up.

That started what has been at times an almost obsessive musical appreciation. I quickly tracked down their backcatalog (which in 1987 wasn't yet that extensive, but which still had five other full CDs as well as two collections), maxi-singles, t-shirts and posters. For a long time, if anyone asked me what my favorite music was, I'd say Depeche Mode (honestly, I might still) with a nod towards their obvious imitators, who were popping up at a dime a dozen (Red Flag, Camouflage, Seven Red Seven, Cause & Effect, etc. to say nothing of later imitators Mesh and De/Vision who sometimes out-Depeche Mode Depeche Mode themselves these days.) The evolution from the Vince Clark-penned days of Speak & Spell to the darker and harsher sounds of songs of Music For the Masses was fascinating to me.

In late 1989 when the first preview hints of Violator started coming out (notably, the "Personal Jesus" CD Single) I was again captivated, although the hoaky guitar sounds surprised me. I didn't expect "Pleasure, Little Treasure" to have been the preview of things to come. When the full CD came out, I was initially quite disappointed; I thought "Enjoy the Silence" was the only truly excellent song on it, and there were better versions on the CD single than on the album! Despite this disappointment, I still didn't hate it, by any means, and I continued as a slightly warier DM fan. Songs of Faith and Devotion further emphasized the things that I didn't like about Violator, and added yet more elements that I didn't like (although it still has a number of very excellent songs) and my regard slipped even more.

When Ultra was poised to come out, I warily picked up the "Barrel of a Gun" single… and didn't like it.

It took me years to buy Ultra. In fact, I didn't get it until after Playing the Angel was out, and after I got it, I still didn't really listen to it for a long time either. I've changed; I don't have time to sit around listening to music, and even when I do, I don't concentrate on it; I'm usually doing something else at the same time.

Now, I've got all the DM albums, and although I'm still not as familiar with Ultra, Exciter or Playing the Angel as I am with the older ones, I can recognize some value in all of them. Ultra in particular I judged unfairly for a long time; I don't think it's any worse than Songs of Faith and Devotion, at least, and my disappointment with that album (and Violator) are much softened by the passing of the years. They've grown on me, perhaps. Exciter is still spectacularly misnamed, as I don't much like it at all---I can tolerate it, and a few songs aren't bad at all---"Shine", "The Dead of Night", "Freelove" and even "Goodnight Lovers" all aren't bad.

I also have an mp3 player; have had for some time now. Granted, mine's old, cheap and small---it barely holds half a gig of songs, which is a little over half Depeche Mode's collection. But, I listen to it pretty extensively while I commute, which means at least a solid hour a day; longer if I take a break during the day out in my car, or if I pull the mp3 player inside to listen to while I'm working or reading or whatever. To revisit some of my CDs, which I was finding I didn't have the opportunity to listen to anymore, I loaded up my favorite era of DM first---Some Great Reward, Black Celebration and Music For the Masses, and listened to them over an over again for several weeks. Because I still had room, I ended up adding the first three CDs as well; Speak & Spell, A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again. I passed on Catching Up With Depeche Mode and People are People because of the high preponderance of repeat tracks. I still had a bit more room, so I added Violator to the tail end of that.

It was particularly interesting to hear all those CDs in order and watch their evolution. It was also particularly interesting to finish Violator and start over with Speak & Spell and hear the rather remarkable contrast between those two CDs which were less than 10 years apart.

After doing that for some time, I wanted to load up the more recent CDs, especially since I honestly wasn't all that familiar with the last three, not having listened to them very often. I had to take albums off to fit, but I currently have Music For the Masses (which, due to it being the first DM album that I "discovered" as well as it's position musically makes a nice hinge-point between "old" and "new" Depeche Mode) through Playing the Angel, with the single version of "Martyr" thrown on at the end for good measure.

There's not as much evolution, in some ways (Playing the Angel kinda brings DM back to where they were in the early 90s after wandering "lost" for a time after Alan Wilder's departure. I still don't think this era is Depeche Mode's strongest, although some darn good songs came out of it, and I've discovered that Ultra and Exciter (particularly Ultra) are actually quite a bit better than I gave them credit for.

Word on the street is that Depeche Mode are returning to the studio in 2008 for a new album. Which means that they'll probably tour again.

Which means I'll be there, wearing my Touring the Angel t-shirt (and no doubt buying another one while I'm at it) and cheering happily away, especially to whatever older songs they throw our way.