My top three were Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, and Violator. So may standout tracks on those three, and even the non-album singles from this era (e.g., Shake The Disease, etc.) are really firing on all cylinders. For me, things dropped off pretty quickly after SOFAD, and I sort of lost touch with the band and their music. But this thread has convinced me I need to "modernize" -- at least a little bit. (Probably get Ultra and Playing The Angel, at least.)
Some Great Reward was the first album I listened to from DM. I liked it so much all their other albums paled in comparison.
Songs Of Faith And Devotion is a different album than Violator. It doesn't end the same way because it doesn't start the same way or continue the same way. "Sweetest Perfection", "Waiting for the Night", "Blue Dress", and "Clean" are all pretty integral and help form the kind of pervy concept to the album.
Although I'd have Speak nicking Construction at the wire, this post runs rather close to my POV. I suppose I'd bell-curve the 1-to-3 star blanket over the post-1984 records to a 2-to-3 star ranking - I admire their resolve after the rough middle nineties and I like all the characters in the band, things which I find help a little with enjoying the later records - but ultimately Depeche is a limited, if effective, talent.
For some reason I've been listening to DM more lately. I've realized that they have never really, in my opinion, made up for the loss of Alan. I think Martin has written a lot of good songs since SOFAD, even if the overall quality of the songwriting is weaker per album. But it also feels to me like there is some particular quality to the production and sound, especially on the albums Some Great Reward through SOFAD that was due to Alan's work and since he left, it is just missing which also brings down the overall quality of all post Alan albums. Plus they need to stop putting songs co-written by David on the albums and replace them with cool Gore instrumentals like the ones on his latest solo album. I'd be fine if they used Gahan's songs as b-sides. I'd go so far as to say I think I'd like the band better now if Gahan had left instead of Wilder. Don't get me wrong, I love his singing and the sound of his voice, but I'd also be ok if Martin just sang lead on all the tracks, and I think their albums sounded better and had a tighter feel to them when Alan was in the band. But the biggest thing is that I'd be willing to reluctantly give up David's vocals if that were the only way to get rid of his songwriting.
? Suffer Well, I Want It All and (Nothing's Impossible-My favorite from the album) are all excellent Dave co-writes As much as I enjoy Gore's vocals, I wouldn't want him full time. Counterfeit EP for me was enough
Agreed that Dave is an essential DM component. I also agree that Alan was as well. I don't mind Dave's writing that much, but perhaps that's because Martin has steadily lowered the bar in regard to his own writing after Ultra (in my opinion)
Ok, but you cited his best contributions here Cory. Want to brag about the three turds he submitted for SOTU?
You caught me, that album sucked. I don't even think they tried You know Jeff, I think I've only listened to a few times over the years I do enjoy In Sympathy and Perfect, I need to revisit
I wish there was a true audiophile mastering of the album, but musically it is one of my favorites. I have the UK first press 2xLP, it's cut loud as hell also. Dunno if the later reissue by Rhino/Mute was a bit more even handed or not.
Funny, because I just happened to listen to SOTU yesterday for the first time in years and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I guess anything sounds great after trying to force feed yourself Delta Machine for several years. Still love Should Be Higher though.
Couldn't agree more. The best songs on Delta Machine were Dave's songs. I also like SOTU. It's no Ultra but DM doesn't make bad albums.
This seems to be the perfect thread to praise the first Singles 81 -> 85 compilation CD. Last week I found one in the used CDs bin and it sounds so much better than the new Singles 81>85 compilation from 1998. Unbelievable! It's only that I like the artwork of the remaster better. PS. Why is the track listing on the back of the original compilation in the wrong order? I first thought I found a misprint, but then I learned that all the versions of this album have the mixed up track listing.
probably my favorite band overall. (and damn you for confining me to only 3 albums in the poll lol) I find everything released up to an including Violator to be virtually flawless. as Gahan (and the rest of the band) began to disintegrate in the period that coincided with SOFAD, things get a bit spotty. there's plenty of greatness in the DM catalog after 1990 - Ultra in particular is fantastic - but they never again reached the heights they did with Wilder (or Clarke for that matter; I picked Speak & Spell as one of my three albums for the poll).
Not all had it mixed up. The Vinyl editions in general had the "incorrect" list. The Intercord CDs in the 80s had the track list in order while later reissues of the INT 846.817 CDs returned to the mixed up ones.
To date "Black Celebration" is still the DM album with most Gore lead vocals: A stunning four: Question of Lust, Sometimes, It Doesn’t Matter Two, World Full of Nothing
I'm a massive fan. Discovered them with Some Great Reward at 14. Here are my honest scores in 2017 Speak & Spell (1981) 2.9. Didn't age well at all. UK edition is best as it includes "I Sometmes Wish..." A Broken Frame (1982) 2.9, my highlight "My Secret Garden" Construction Time Again (1983) 3.1, my highlight "The Landscape Is Changing" Some Great Reward (1984) 4.6, huge leap forward. Only version of "Somebody" to listen to. Black Celebration (1986) 4.8, US edition score, "But Not Tonight" a perfect album closer. Music for the Masses (1987) 4.4, "Nothing" a real gem here. Violator (1990) 5.0, one of my favorite side B's Ever. Love "Blue Dress" Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) 4.0. "Rush" is epic. Ultra (1997) 3.6, bit of a drop off but love "Useless" and "it's no good" Exciter (2001) 3.2, not my fave. Playing the Angel (2005), 4.1, their back. "Precious" and "Lillian" return to classic DM. Sounds of the Universe (2009) 3.3. Love "Wrong", "Come Back", "Corrupt" Delta Machine (2013), 3.2. Bit of a let down Spirit (2017) 3.9. A grower. Loved by most DM fans, hated by conservatives. "You Move" is amazing played very loudly.
The 'Black Celebration/Music For The Masses/Violator' run is imperious and my choice. One of the best 3 consecutive albums by any band ever. The albums before that were all consistently good with many great moments but they reached another level with 'Black Celebration' and held that for 3 albums. SOFAD was also very good, though a little drop off (but not much). Since then there has been a decent amount of good music with some strong songs but inconsistent albums for various reasons which we all know about. However the new one 'Spirit' is getting constant play from me, which has not happened for a good few albums so they may have managed to get back to the level of SOFAD which i did not expect to happen and is pretty great news really.