depeche mode music for the masses cd cover
One of the bands that not only dominated the charts for most of the 80s, but they also typified the type of music that will be looked back on as ‘the sound of the 80s’. Their sometimes Germanic electronic pop became softer on this album. They were becoming more of a band, and they were ‘rockin’, just a little. Keyboards still dominated but the melody seemed less regimented. Vocalist Dave Gahan excelled, as his voice grew in power. In a year or two they would become stadium rock stars, and change forever. The reissued CD had a number of excellent bonus tracks including some interesting remixed material.
Recorded at Studio Guilliame Tell, Paris, France and Konk, London, England.
Depeche Mode: David Gahan (vocals); Martin Gore (vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer); Alan Wilder (keyboards, synthesizer, programming); Andrew Fletcher (keyboards, synthesizer).
Read more…
Tags: Depeche mode, Music For The Masses
Posted by admin on Oct 11, 2008 in
Dave Gahan,
Depeche mode,
Exciter,
Music 
“I Feel Loved” was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Dance Recording and for Best Remixed Recording.
With all its understated vocals, hushed instrumentals, and lyrical declarations of/investigations into love, EXCITER is undoubtedly the warmest and most “adult” Depeche Mode album to date. “When the Body Speaks” is an effectively poignant ballad complete with graceful string section. “Lovetheme” is a gentle ambient instrumental that wouldn’t sound out of place next to any German electronicat you care to mention. Later another, slightly more melodic, instrumental (“Easy Tiger”) pops up. “Goodnight Lovers” is a bittersweet tune full of open-hearted sentiment and heart-tugging melodicism.
While “Breathe” is underlaid with low-key breakbeats, the group largely sticks with the sonic language they helped create in the ’80s and early-’90s, leaving the trappings of latter-day electronica to the youngsters. With it’s club-worthy beat, “I Feel Loved” is certainly the most danceable track on EXCITER, but its complex lyrical scheme and gnarly synth textures make it unlikely house party fodder. The harsh, bluesy tone of “The Dead of Night” harks back to “Your Own Personal Jesus,” and finds David Gahan reveling in the kind of studied decadence that helped make the group’s reputation, but the song is an anomaly. EXCITER offers a kinder, gentler, seemingly wiser Depeche Mode that’s figured out how to grow up without growing old.
Read more…
Tags: Depeche mode, Exciter
Having proven his abilities as a pop craftsman on the previous year’s A BROKEN FRAME, DM main songwriter Martin Gore gets down to the business of developing a new sonic language for himself and his bandmates on CONSTRUCTION TIME. Earlier in its career, Depeche Mode tried to make its synthesizer-only arrangements seem warm and fuzzy, but here the band embraces the Kraftwerk-pioneered tradition of exploiting the synthesizer’s inherent inorganic qualities for their intrinsic beauty.
Read more…
Tags: Construction Time Again, Depeche mode
BLACK CELEBRATION, Depeche Mode’s fifth album not counting compilations, reflects a band coming into its own, exploring new sounds yet staying true to the electronic New Wave that catapulted the foursome to icon status. The production and arrangements move further into the atmospheric, somewhat industrial realm first tentatively explored on the preceding SOME GREAT REWARD, with more impressive results. “Fly On the Windscreen,” a song previewed in a much different arrangement on the singles compilation CATCHING UP WITH DEPECHE MODE, sounds more convincing in this form, and it’s one of the band’s best-ever efforts.
Read more…
Tags: Black Celebration, Depeche mode
Posted by admin on Oct 11, 2008 in
A Broken Frame,
Dave Gahan,
Depeche mode,
Music The first album on which Martin Gore stepped forward to fill the departed Vince Clarke’s songwriting shoes, taking his predecessor’s catchy electro-pop approach a step further.
When pop mastermind/main songwriter Vince Clarke departed DM after the group’s first album to form Yaz with Alison Moyet, it seemed like the end for the boys from Basildon, but it was really a new beginning. Martin Gore stepped forward to fill Clarke’s songwriting shoes, surprising the world by taking his predecessor’s catchy electro-pop approach a step further.
Read more…
Tags: cd, Depeche mode
Posted by admin on Oct 11, 2008 in
Dave Gahan,
Depeche mode,
Music,
Paper monsters More than two decades after Depeche Mode’s debut, mouthpiece Dave Gahan finally got around to releasing his solo debut in the shape of 2003’s PAPER MONSTERS. Having wrestled with more than his share of personal demons during his ascent to stardom, it’s no surprise that this Gahan fills the album with echoes of his inner struggle. Working with New York City-based multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler, the dour vocalist injects enough swirling synths, droning guitars, and oddly arranged strings to approximate a murder-ballad ambiance that brings to mind Nick Cave. This is particularly true on songs like the harrowing “Black and Blue Again” and the subtler, more ambient “Stay.”
Read more…
Tags: cd, Dave Gahan, Depeche mode
Posted by admin on Oct 11, 2008 in
Dave Gahan,
Depeche mode,
Live Monsters,
Music Dave Gahan is the lead singer from Depeche Mode. This fist solo DVD was filmed & recorded live at the Olympia in Paris, France and features songs from Gahan’s critically acclaimed solo CD “Paper Monsters.” Special bonus footage includes an Acoustic set of 3 songs from a radio promotion appearances and “Live Monsters“: a short film including interviews with all band members. 5.1 audio.
Read more…
Tags: Dave Gahan, Live Monsters