Depeche Mode revisited

mikemann

New member
Dug out some of my old fav CDs, and found the Depeche Mode Singles 81-85. Wondering if any other softies dig this unique electronica/synthpop band.

They produced quite a number of very good albums, with themes from light hearted to melancholic, plenty of feel.

I even remember that once (the live 101 boxset CD era), even ah bengs and ah lians totally dig it too.

Other notable bands from the founding member Vince Clark, Yazoo & Erasure. Also fantastic.

Heehee..... any lau ah bengs here???

Any possible revival?? Local electronica scene??
 
well i think almost everyone should should have heard of Depeche Mode's song Somebody :)
I too love Depeche Mode together with New Order and could i put The Cure in too.
 
Depeche mode rocks!

They were everyone's boyhood idols when I was growing up. But somehow their music turned very sombre and moody in the mid 90's. Abit too much for me and I stopped listening. Their earlier albums has lots of infectious tunes.

Erasure was great as well, although abit gay. New Order, Lightning Seeds, The cure etc were all good also. Those were the haydays of synth pop.

Speaking about this, I should ask my band guys to play some DM tunes. Strangelove instantly comes to mind. Hopefully no need guitars and I can idle abit during sets. ;)

Cheers!
 
Victorinox said:
Hopefully no need guitars and I can idle abit during sets. ;)

For those who are not aware, DM started off as a guitar band.
Martin Gore used to write the tunes after Vince left on a cheapo Casiotone type keyboard and/or a guitar.

Ex member Alan Wilder and Mute boss/occasional producer Daniel Miller were actually the ones who did the arrangements for the songs.
 
i love depeche mode :))) have been a fan since construction time again, stuck with them during the time they took a lot of flak releasing SOFAD (songs of faith in devotion '92) and after singer dave gahan's return from rehab, the ultra and exciter albums....

martin gore is a very intense, personal songwriter who is very much in touch with his darker side.. my favourite overall is the violator album (black celebration is a close second)

and yess, meeting some fellow music friends who are DM fans would be so nostalgic, and wonderful .... :wink:
 
You mean when grunge age kicks in. Even mid term album like "music for the masses", see some darker image.

Can you imagine from teenpop like Rick Ashley, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany & NKOTB (haha...new kids on the block). DM was something which breaks the mould.

The rest was what they call history, my influences turn to rock & metal, which became mainstay.
 
Dont miss this out

DM 101. Thats my fav. Everything was so beautifully mastered.

I am torn between Never Let Me Down and Condemnation.
 
mikemann said:
You mean when grunge age kicks in. Even mid term album like "music for the masses", see some darker image.

Can you imagine from teenpop like Rick Ashley, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany & NKOTB (haha...new kids on the block). DM was something which breaks the mould.

The rest was what they call history, my influences turn to rock & metal, which became mainstay.

yeah! i tend to agree with what lowjk said about DM originally being a guitar band, its quite true especially Gore's songwriting aspect. personally, i don't think SOFAD was grungy - i associate grunge with bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden (not completely, they were rather metal-influenced too) at that time, Dave stayed in LA, started hanging out with the likes of Jane's Addiction, Primal Scream, i'm thinking that had something to do with the sound they ended up with..?

i love almost everything they've ever put out.... guess that has mellowed over the years, nowadays i just take out a random disc out every now and then to listen when there's the mood...

recently they released Devotional - a DVD of the SOFAD tour. Watching Alan Wilder on drums again felt rather chilling - he reminds me of a butcher cleaving away methodologically...
 
Same here..a big DM fan here..too!! B4 listening to them, I was kinda reluctant to listen to non-guitar bands. This band changed my mind, really!! Stripped is so damn awesome...personal jesus has a very country guitar riff and of cos, strangelove..tat song was so familiar when I was growing up in the late 80`s. I remember my uncle playing tat intro tune on his keyboards back then when I was young..hehe...
 
wow!

Depeche mode... only converted a fan after Violator album
and was very surprise of the triumph of Songs, Faith and Devotion.

Ultra and Exciter are good as well.


heard a new album from them soon
 
My favorite album is Speak & Spell.
It was their later songs that I discovered and started listening to first, but when I went digging in the earlier stuff I really got hooked.
 
depeche mode

Hiya All!
Heh, I have been listening to Depeche Mode and that greatly influenced me to be involved in keyboards in one way or another.
Since the 80's I have made some 'composition' of the songs from DM. Worth listening to as it was done quite amateurly..heh.
Done one instrument after another, recording and saving and playing all at the same time to do a proper sequencing to them.
Would be posting some of the DM collections as well as plays on OM soon enough.
 
mikemann said:
Any possible revival??

Hello brother, we're going to revive Depeche Mode all right. Already gotten a repertoire of at least eleven songs. Doing stuffs such as:
1. A question of lust
2. A question of time
3. Enjoy the silence
4. Everything counts
5. Never let me down again
6. Policy of truth
7. Strange Love
8. Personal Jesus
9. Black Celebration
10. People Are People
11. Get the balance right

Hopefully we might be able to revive back DM, and the rest of the electrico bands :D

Cheers~
 
I think this album is quite different from the last two,ultra and exciter. The producer uses lots of soft synths appergiator sound, drums are in low fi sound in some songs. 1st song "pain that i'm used to" already got catchy chorus like 'shake the disease' or 'strange love' kind. Dave wrote about 2 songs i think. But one serious problem i can tell from the exit of Alan Wilder in Depeche mode songs nowadays is the lack of melodic tune. Alan used to create all this music when he's around. Depeche songs really lack some nice melody although Martin's songs are still as powerful. Cheers DM!

Mode fans since 83' (Construction time again)
 
DM always a great band for most of us living our teenage or college years in the 80s...remembered saving up the dollars to buy CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN during primary 4. and when 101 came out..my mum gave me some money to buy the double cassettes. 17 years later today...the songs remains a staple listen on my mp3 player...how nice

My fav has to be Songs of Faith and Devotion...cos of it's heavy sounds. Martin Gore always writes and sings 1-2 songs on every album...can't forget Judas and One Caress...so atmospheric and dense sounding. and yes Alan Wilder drums away like a hypnotic possessed person on the DEVOTIONAL video and Dave Gahan was a rock and roll monster. i kicked myself for not going to their concert here during that tour (was in army) but hope they make a tour here again

I can listen to SHAKE THE DISEASE whole time..anytime...DM at it's best..and ya...listen to LITTLE 15 also, DM at it's darkest best 8O
 
I would shout at DM honestly : BRING BACK ALAN WILDER!!!!! The music backbone of DM! But i doubt he will return,that guy is kind of attitude one i heard,boh pian ...
 
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