Depeche Mode - Rate and Discuss Your Favorite Albums

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Oct 6, 2016.

  1. Whoopycat

    Whoopycat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines
    I still have a soft spot for the People Are People quasi-compilation. It's not listed here and it's my fave. And DM used to be my favorite band back then.
     
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  2. Billy Infinity

    Billy Infinity Beloved aunt

    Location:
    US
    A Broken Frame. "The Sun and the Rainfall" is the strongest song they recorded before Alan officially joined. A stone cold classic with all the hallmarks of the better-known Mode material yet to come.
     
  3. skateaway

    skateaway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    I voted for Black Celebration & Violator.

    Most DM albums do little for me but Violator has always been a favourite, both from a content & SQ perspective. Black Celebration is a mood album for me and usually only gets a late night appearance at my place. Maybe I need to give Music For The Masses another listen as it is sandwiched between the two......
     
  4. 3Dman

    3Dman The Adventure Begins

    Location:
    MI
    My three favorite: Speak & Spell, Some Great Reward and Violator. Last one out was Black Celebration, very close, but I listen to Speak & Spell more. I know it's not their best album, and my ratings will reflect that, but it's a favorite.

    Speak & Spell - 4/5 (Vince melodies, harmony vocals, and a synth sound unlike any other)
    A Broken Frame - 3/5 (soft spot for Monument)
    Construction Time Again - 3.5/5 (15 years ago or so this would've been top 3)
    Some Great Reward - 4.5/5 (this one just keeps getting better to me, where it all started to come together)
    Black Celebration - 4.5/5 (so many Martin vocals, a good thing)
    Music For The Masses - 4/5 (really good, just never had that full connection most seem to have with it and doesn't get that much rotation here. I do love it though, I just like other albums more)
    Violator - 5/5 (this is the pinnacle for me, has it all: production, songs, great b-sides, everything)
    Songs Of Faith And Devotion - 4/5 (love many tracks, mmm Judas, but not quite holding up for me. Would've been a 5 when it first came out)
    Ultra - 4/5 (love the production on this one, I guess an upward 4 where SOFAD is a downward 4)
    Exciter - 3.5/5 (last album to really click with me unfortunately, expected a wee bit more when I found out Mark Bell was producing though)
    Playing The Angel 3/5 (where they got in a rut to me, didn't dig the harsh sound either)
    Sounds Of The Universe 3/5 (like the sound better, but not enough quality songs. Like Wrong more than anything since Ultra though)
    Delta Machine 2.5/5 (just couldn't get going on it at all, maybe I need to give it another shot)

    Songwriting has been the major thing for me on the last 3. I'll be there for the next one though, hoping. I've had enough of the gospel feeling too.
     
  5. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Black Celebration - 5/5 (Their masterpiece!)
    Speak and Spell - 4.5/5 (Their pop masterpiece!)
    Construction Time Again - 4.5/5 (Maybe a little underrated? "Told You So," "Love in Itself," and "Everything Counts" are exceptional)
    A Broken Frame - 4/5 (Probably underrated, but outstanding and resourceful)
    Some Great Reward - 3.5/5 (I think this one's a tad overrated)
    Music for the Masses - 3/5 (Pretty inconsistent, but has its moments)
    Violator - 3/5 (Not bad)
    (And I honestly don't care for any of their other albums)
     
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  6. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    Halo is the track that makes me love half of Violator. To me, Sweetest Perfection, Waiting for the Night, Blue Dress and Clean are really substandard DM tracks.

    If I e.g. compare Clean to Higher Love, than the latter is an epic track, while Clean just doesn't deliver, IMO. It starts out great, and shifting the groove half a bar when the singing begins is a nice musical joke. But the melody is just a bit nagging and there is no interesting track build-up. Higher Love starts more or less the same, to me the opening sets the same atmosphere. And when the vocals start it opens up and just sounds bigger and bigger until in ends a massive soundstage.
     
  7. ronm

    ronm audiofreak

    Location:
    southern colo.
    Not a Depeche mode fan in the least but "Policy of Truth" on a good stereo kicks ass.
     
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  8. Turntable

    Turntable Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Violator - Its perfect

    I like all Depeche albums but from 1986 to 1997 they were at the top of their game.
     
  9. Sordel

    Sordel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Switzerland
    Black Celebration is one of my favourite albums, so it's a solid 5/5 and easily the head of the list. At this time it seemed like an incredibly bold and exciting work; I still enjoy it now, especially the first half, but obviously it sounds more dated and less thrilling today than it did back in the day.

    Construction Time Again takes my number two spot: let's call that 5/5 as well. It's closer to their Pop roots, but songs like 'Pipeline' still sound quite adventurous, and I'm a sucker for 'Everything Counts'.

    Music For The Masses is my number three. 'Never Let Me Down' is fabulous and there are some other great dark tracks on it such as "Pimpf" and "Little 15" but it felt like a move back towards the mainstream after Black Celebration and that was a disappointment. Also, it hasn't aged well so I couldn't go above 4/5 for it.

    A Broken Frame and Some Great Reward are about equal for me ... let's call them 3/5 although I'd have rated Some Great Reward as 5/5 when it was released. A Broken Frame is obviously an electropop album and went badly out of fashion, but for me it's sort of come back into fashion and it probably merits reappraisal now that its synth patches sound relevant again. Some Great Reward sounded great at the time ("Blasphemous Rumours" was worth the price of admission and I can remember loving the ballads as well) but it all sounds rather trite today.

    Violator is for me when DM became a US phenomenon and stopped being 'my' band. Objectively it's difficult not to admit it's a pretty good album (the production is more weighty than the earlier albums) but I've never obsessed over "Personal Jesus" and that leaves "Enjoy The Silence" as the standout. 3/5 for me, and I'd have given it less than that on release.

    Playing The Angel is the last Depeche Mode studio album that I currently own and I bought it when Depeche Mode were no longer of much interest to me, but I think it's a very solid album and it certainly brings the drama back to the band's songs. Could be 4/5.

    I think I owned Songs Of Faith And Devotion at some point on cassette but can't remember anything about it. Speak & Spell I know a little and I doubt that I will ever own it.
     
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  10. Luca

    Luca Wolf under sheep clothing

    Location:
    Torino, Italy
    Longtime fan here... I have a tonful of singles (CD and vinyl), DVDs, albums, etc.... Seen them live countless times too.

    Speak & Spell - 3.5/5 (while the cheesiness and happy mood don't suit me, this is a definitely hooky and bouncy album full of vitality and creativity; it's fun, but it's not the DM that I like best)
    A Broken Frame - 3.5/5 (greatly overrated album, a very moody and autumnal atmosphere; the beginning of a darker kind of DM, although some cheesiness remains)
    Construction Time Again - 3/5 (while I appreciate the intent - industrial sound à la Einstuerzende Neubauten "light" - the actual melodies are not as catchy as the previous albums, and emotionally it leaves me a bit flat)
    Some Great Reward - 4/5 (the first attempt at greatness, it takes all the good things of the previous albums and it adds heart and emotion)
    Black Celebration - 4.5/5 (a bleak, multilayered masterpiece, although a step backwards in terms of pop catchiness)
    Music For The Masses - 4/5 (stuning singles, the best they had made up to then, but the rest of the songs are not up to them, making the album less even than BC; fuller, more bombastic "arena" sound)
    Violator - 5/5 (everything perfect, from the immensely influential "pop" singles to the darker and more intimate other songs, from the sparser but punchy sound to the great level of songrwriting)
    Songs Of Faith And Devotion - 4.5/5 (half a point less for the muddy sound, but probably even better and more daring than Violator; artistic creativity to the top, a fantastic set of songs)
    Ultra - 5/5 (I love this album and its sparse nocturnal sound, a complete change of pace compared to SOFAD; no other DM album clicks with me emotionally as much as this one, it's a truly underrated gem and the lyrics are the best ever)
    Exciter - 4/5 (not up to Ultra, but using the same minimal approach that I like very much; great lyrics, and Dave's vocals are some of the most elegant ever)
    Playing The Angel 4/5 (gritty and ugly, but powerful, and the very dark approach suits me fine; and even Dave's contributions are very good, in particular "Suffer Well")
    Sounds Of The Universe 3.5/5 (hated it at first, but it has grown on me: the synthy sound is very nice and retro, and the songs are good although with not many highlights; a couple of tracks could have IMHO been left out to give it a better flow)
    Delta Machine 2.5/5 (sorry, I tried and tried, but it sounds like a DM-imitation to me; often lifeless and boring, too generic, especially as it plods into its second half)
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2016
  11. Luca

    Luca Wolf under sheep clothing

    Location:
    Torino, Italy
    Of course my comment on "A broken frame" should have read "greatly UNDERrated album"....
     
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  12. sathvyre

    sathvyre formerly known as ABBAmaniac

    Location:
    Europe
    1983-1987 period for me. Great albums !!!
     
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  13. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Speak & Spell
    Black Celebration
    Violator
     
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  14. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Speak & Spell
    Black Celebration
    Violator
     
  15. Sammy Waslow

    Sammy Waslow Just watching the show

    Location:
    Ireland
    I went with Violator, Songs of Faith and Devotion and Ultra, the latter of which I have great affection for, partly conditioned by the fact that it's a miracle it got made at all. I've been very hard on what I regard as the weaker albums here. There's no point in me giving my favourite albums four or five points out of five, albums I prefer many, many times more than the weaker ones, if I'm not hard on those lesser records. The low points reflect this. I'm obviously a fan, but I need to be honest. I know the latter albums were all received fairly well, critically, but, personally, I don't rate them at all.

    Speak & Spell 3/5

    Okay, it's a very different beast to what they later became, and there's obviously much to ridicule and/or appreciate in a sort of ironic way, but there's still some excellent stuff on here: I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead, Puppets and Any Second Now (Voices) are all among my favourites of "the early years".
    A Broken Frame 3/5
    So, Martin grasps the reins and we start inching away from buoyant electropop into something a little more melancholy. Nothing to Fear and The Sun and the Rainfall are terrific (again, they'd be among my favourites from the first four albums). The cover art was a massive improvement, too. Something tells me that they might just survive Vince's departure after all.
    Construction Time Again 2/5
    This is the weakest of the first four albums for me: Everything Counts alone is really what's getting it its two stars. And Then... is fine too, but overall, it's like a step backwards for me, in terms of overall quality, and it lacks the emotional impact of its predecessor, which may have been their intent, but ends up feeling clinical. Kudos for the increased studio experimentation, though.
    Some Great Reward 4/5
    The best of the first four albums, where they really begin to have an identity. It Doesn't Matter, Stories of Old, Somebody. All magnificent. There was nobody like them in the UK and Irish charts at this point. Sure, they were in Smash Hits and doing mainstream TV, but Blasphemous Rumours? Master and Servant? They were inching towards darker lyrical territory.
    Black Celebration 4/5
    Obviously a key album in their catalogue, and the turning point, though I'm not as enamoured of it as most, in that I don't rate it in my top three. It's clearly superb, and there's no disputing the fact that Martin really delivers the goods, in terms of writing, as well as his numerous lead vocals. New Dress always felt out of place for me, in terms of the overall tone of the record, so the album goes out with a whimper, which is unfortunate.
    Music For The Masses 4/5
    I always view this as like a less dark, more "polished" version of Black Celebration, possibly conditioned by the unusually bright cover art. The upbeat tone (musically, if not lyrically) of some of the singles almost make me regard this album as being a strong contender for the best introduction to them to the uninitiated. Never Let Me Down Again has never left the set list since.
    Violator 5/5
    A real calling card, even more so than Black Celebration. This hangs together extremely well as an album. It has a real identity that copper-fastens the whole idea of what Depeche Mode is, even down to the Anton Corbijn design. Throw in one of the greatest singles of the decade in Enjoy the Silence, and its status is secured.
    Songs Of Faith And Devotion 5/5
    My favourite Depeche Mode album. Some bands were killed off by grunge, or struggled to adapt to changing trends. Depeche Mode decided, screw this, we can still be an "electronic band", but up the ante with more guitars and live drums and beat these kids at their own game. A phenomenal achievement. From the opening squeal of I Feel You, it's magnificent, intense, compelling stuff.
    Ultra 5/5
    It might be unusual to hold this in such high regard, but I just feel this works really well as an album. It's probably the last record of theirs that has any sort of overall, all-encompassing tone, and - if I'm being honest - it's their last great album outright. The songs themselves are solid and the arrangements are atmospheric but unobtrusive.
    Exciter 1/5
    There's no point in pulling punches here: I really dislike Exciter. I know Martin had writer's block prior to the sessions, but lyrically, it's awful, and even melodically, there's very little going on, with a few songs that literally just plod along, unimaginatively. At least three songs should have been ditched to regain some overall quality control and still deliver a forty minute album. Martin's lead vocals are bordering on self-parody. Comatose and Breathe are just appalling. Even the swimming pool photo as part of the artwork set the wrong tone. Ties with Delta Machine as their weakest, in my opinion.
    Playing The Angel 3/5
    This was almost a 2/5, in that I rarely feel the urge to actually listen to it, but I'm keeping it at 3/5, as it's much stronger than any of their other three 21st Century albums. It's certainly much better than Exciter, but that's not exactly complimentary. There are a couple of decent tracks on here - A Pain That I'm Used to is a great opener, Suffer Well is great, and Precious is their best post-Ultra single, by a long way - but, for me, this was the beginning of treading water: delivering perfectly albums with one or two highlights, but nothing to really match their peak. They were still phenomenal live, and the new songs always seemed to work better in a live context, but each album only delivered a handful of great tracks, if that.
    Sounds Of The Universe 2/5
    Very forgettable, and not an album I had any interest in revisiting once the tour was over, though the tour was incredible. Possibly the best time I've seen them.
    Delta Machine 1/5
    Like Exciter, I find this to be extremely poor lyrically, and very weak, melodically. I actually have memories of playing this in my car and repeatedly hitting the "next" button. A real disappointment.
     
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  16. Gavinyl

    Gavinyl Remembering Member

    Violator... All I need !
     
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  17. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Fair enough. Thanks for explaining. Halo is one of their greatest songs, IMO. And man does it sound great!
     
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  18. spintheblack72

    spintheblack72 Forum Resident

    Violator 1990
    Black Celebration 1986
    Songs of Faith & Devotion 1993
     
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  19. Brian Barker

    Brian Barker "No matter where you go, there you are"

    I had to think this over a bit and it was a little difficult, but...

    #1 Violator. This just hit at the perfect time. I had been exposed to Depeche Mode already, my uncle had Some Great Reward and I had 101. Also, the first CD I ever owned. Great album.
    #2 Songs Of Faith And Devotion. The "monster rock" album, but not really. Strong songs and still riding high from Violator
    #3 Playing The Angel. A good return to form with great songs.

    Most underrated : I see why some don't care for it but I love Delta Machine. Bluesy and a bit different, I like it.
    Least favorite : Sounds Of The Universe. It's okay, but I just don't care for it as much as the others. It's been a while since I listened to it, so I'll give it another go soon, but I remember liking the remixes, bonus tracks and demo recordings on the deluxe edition better than the album, at least at the time.
     
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  20. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    Please don't be offended, to each his own. Mine is just one man's opinion. Depeche Mode is one of my favourite bands and I like many tracks and albums. Some just a bit more than others. ;)

    This thread and the discussion about Violator raised my interest again in making "my" definitive version using the b-sides of the singles. I think that Dangerous easily betters any non-single track on the album (except for Halo, maybe). And the single mix of Policy of Truth has a remixed intro that uses a build up of additional bass sounds and drums that makes is sounding awesome on gear with great low end performance.

    In fact, I'm going to get my singles out now. :righton:
     
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  21. ModernDayWarrior

    ModernDayWarrior Senior Member

    For me the top 3 are Music For The Masses, Violator and Ultra are my favorites.

    I have played those albums a lot and I love the dark vibe that they exude. My friend in high school introduced me to them and I first got into Masses and then when 101 came out they really took off for me. All my metal head friends used to give me $hit but I didn't care. I was very diverse in my musical tastes so one minute I could be listening to Slayer and the next R.E.M. and the next Public Enemy and so on...
     
  22. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    The stupid US mis-labeled the Policy of Truth single 'Pavlov's Dub' as the Trancentral Mix, (I completely forgot about that screw up) and the Singles box is quite compressed, thanks for the reminder, I just sourced a INDISC Euro for cheap
     
  23. Sammy Waslow

    Sammy Waslow Just watching the show

    Location:
    Ireland
    I really like Violator 2000, the unofficial remix album...

    [​IMG]
     
  24. Golden Richards

    Golden Richards Forum Rodent

    Violator, Songs of Faith and Devotion and Ultra are my three favorites.

    Aside from the two more obvious choices, Ultra contains more of my absolute favorite DM songs than any other album. Sister Of Night, Love Thieves, The Bottom Line, Useless, Home, and Barrel Of A Gun all rate among my top-20 DM songs.
     
  25. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Absolutely, no offense taken. I was just curious about your evaluation of Violator, so I am glad you said more about that.
     

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