Depeche Mode - Song By Song/Album By Album Discussion Thread.

Do you mean minus 5 out of 5?

 

Dangerous

I'm used to hearing the original 7" Dangerous more than any other mix, so I'll include it here. Even if it only differs a little bit from the Sensuous mix.



This to me is, like 'Now, This Is Fun', 'But Not Tonight', and 'Fools' is a great b-side that wouldn't really fit on the host album. It's catchy, and sounds interesting, and the bass line is simple but catchy. However, I can't imagine it on the album. At least not Violator. Which previous albums it would fit on I'm not sure. All the way back to ABF?

4.1/5

 

Yes, I'm being slightly flippant, but it's no good. 0/5

 

Dangerous

I would rank this one above Blue Dress and Clean, and I think this would have made a fantastic album closer. It has a haunting dark mood that would fit in nicely with other songs on the record, but singles need good B-sides too and not everything can go on the album proper. As far as remixes go, this is where I start losing interest in DM remixes. The originals are fantastic and the remixes, while nicely done, don't compel me to listen very often.

 

Yeah, Dangerous should've been on Violator, if not squeezed in, making it a solid 10-song album, then at least taking the place of Blue Dress.

 

Dangerous is great - but I don't agree with replacing Blue Dress - simply superb song.

Violator could have worked with 12 tracks and left the remixes and instrumental b-sides to the single releases.

 

Enjoy The Silence coming tomorrow... was going to be tonight, but time is not on my side today.

 

Wow my favourite song....

 

This is also my favorite song by Depeche Mode

 

Enjoy The Silence, second single from Violator, and very possibly the best Depeche Mode song ever was released in February 1990. It's a stone cold classic - I don't think anyone can argue with that (though undoubtedly, someone will!). It's also probably the most remixed Depeche song, with two single releases in 1990 and 2004, as well as appearing on every Depeche compilation since release, and in every setlist ever since. To be fair, it is really really good. In fact, it's probably the perfect Depeche song, with the perfect combination of melancholy, enigmatic structure (the title is only sung at the end of song), and a contemporary yet futuristic production that melds the best of Alan's atmospheric work with Martin's distinctive, memorable guitar tones, and Dave's vocals. Fletch wasn't present for sessions at Puk Studios in Denmark where most of Violator was recorded, which, combined with his diminishing live presence, does nothing to dispel any perception of Fletch's continued minimal input into the records. (http://shunt3.0.recoil.co.uk/editorials/8698/violator/violator_12.html)

It's also one of the Depeche songs where you can really see the extra, non-songwritery elements that Alan, Dave, and the production team brought to the song. In Fanclub magazine BONG (issue 37), Martin said "This was the only time ever in the studio when we thought we had a hit single. When I finished the demo of this song it was more of a ballad and sounded a bit like the harmonium version that came out on one of the formats. Alan had this idea to speed it up and make it a bit more disco which I was really averse to at first, because I thought ‘the song is called 'Enjoy The Silence' and it’s supposed to be about serenity, and serenity doesn’t go with the disco beat’. So I was sulking for about two days but after he sped it up, I got used to it and added the guitar part, which adds to the whole atmosphere. We could really hear that it had a crossover potential. I have to say that I was sulking for two days for no reason."

In 2019, Martin added : "So, originally the demo for ['Enjoy The Silence'] was just me singing along to a basic pad. And it was really Alan and Flood who suggested that we speed it up and put a beat to it. And I was dead against it. I remember, because I thought it went completely against the aesthetic of the words and the meaning behind the song. So, I sulked off for a little bit. and when I came back, yeah, it had a basic drum pattern and the baseline and that was all. And I still wasn’t convinced. But Flood said to me, ‘Could you just try playing some guitar along to it?’ So, I played along and then I came up with a guitar line for it. And then the kind of choir part. And then it kind of started making a bit more sense to me.

I’d like to take this moment to apologize to Alan and Flood. "

Alan added at http://shunt3.0.recoil.co.uk/editorials/8698/violator/violator_16.html : "Martin's demos always had a complete set of lyrics but musically they varied from sometimes being quite detailed to often very simplistic. I felt that to have taken the simple ballad approach for this song would have been to criminally pass on its massive commercial potential. It was a great tune crying out for the kind of treatment it eventually got. Flood and I worked on the backing track before calling Martin in to play the guitar riff. As the track came together, I think it dawned on everyone (even Martin, who had been the most reluctant about taking the up-tempo route) that we had a hit on our hands."

Daniel Miller mixed the 7" and main versions of the song. It's the only track on the album that Francois Kervorkian wasn't involved in on the LP mix. Alan : "Well, to be accurate, we mixed the LP together with Francois. Personally, I don't think there's much wrong with our mix of 'Enjoy The Silence'. The guitar sounds fine and the overall sound has a bit more sparkle. Daniel had a bee in his bonnet about the mix and felt very strongly that he could do better. We let him have a go and after 2 or 3 attempts (as you can see from the credits) decided that his mix was acceptable for the 7" version. Had he not pushed for it, I think we would have happily gone with the original mix. Funnily enough, our most successful single ever was one of the flattest, dullest sounding mixes with a snare drum that sounds like a sticky toffee pudding."

In the UK at least, the single has a three tier release pattern with one set of formats released a week for three weeks : the cassette, 12" and CD were released in the first week, the 7", remix 12" (yellow) and remix CD (yellow) the second week, and the third format was "The Quad:Final Mix", a single 16 minute medley mashup of four remixes of the song that ventured from early hiphop style mixes to a full classical arrangement with orchestra. Lots of remixes will be posted soon! To top things off, the video mix of the song contains an extra, exclusive mix that hasn't been released on any audio format with a different intro. Here it is, and I wish this mix was on the LP, as the intro to the video mix perfectly complements the end of the preceding track on the album.



Incidentally, the only line from the song Dave lipsyncs on the most common edit of the video is "words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm". Dave got fed up during filming and by the fifth day of carrying a deckchair up and down snowy mountains dressed as a king, refused, stayed in his hotel, a member of the crew got to be Stunt Dave Gahan for a day. There's an alternate edit with more lipsyncing.

The song has also been a staple of every Depeche live set and tour since release. 30 years later, it's still a crowdpleasing hit that is practically mandatory at every public Depeche show. It's probably been played about 1,000 times since, and everyone seems to love it.

Incidentally, you can hear Martin's demo here : https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/demos2018/34.mp3 which was later used as the basis for the officially released "Harmonium Mix".

On his Shunt website, Alan says "It is also probably right to say that from 'Violator' onwards, the final results bore less resemblance to the original demos than ever." (http://shunt3.0.recoil.co.uk/editorials/8698/violator/violator_06.html)

5/5, absolute classic.

 

Here's the first public performance of the song, miming to a mix of it on Peters Pop Show, 2nd December 1989 :

 

Here's an alternate studio recording with a Martin vocal, the "Harmonium Mix" released on the 2nd remix 12"/CD. It's an essential listen to hear what Alan and the production team brought to the song.

 

Here's the standard 1990 "Hands And Feet" remix, the nearest thing to an extended 12" version there is. This is taken from an unedited vinyl edition running 7m 21s. Many versions of this mix run 6m40s as it was edited by 41 seconds to meet British chart rules than a single had to have no more than 4 songs and be no more than 20/25 minutes in length. Not long after this, the BPI changed the rules, and you ended up with up to 8 remixes / 40 minute lengths for any one single.

 

And finally, here's a 25 minute "Ultimate Mix" I made a few years ago, that compiles many of the different remixes from 1990 into one epic arrangement.

Mixcloud

 

Enjoy the Silence

One could say a lot about this song. There are DM songs I like better but this is one that absolutely transcends all of their other material and really shows what can happen when everything is hitting on all cylinders. The remixes are good, but nothing that adds to or enhances the magic of the original. I like the fact that they released Harmonium because you can easily see what would have happened had Martin gotten his way with this tune from the get to. It would have gone the way of other tunes on records that some people like, but most would term forgettable. Funny how something as simple as a 'disco beat' can change all that. Every sound, every effect, is perfect, and although it's not one of Dave's more strenuous or complicated performances, his delivery is a 100% perfect fit for this tune. I also find it a bit humorous that with overt sexual imagery, gloom and religion being the bread and butter of Martin's songwriting, it is this lyrical poetry that has endured the most among their catalogue.

If I were ranking the tunes, this would be my only 5/5.

 

Enjoy the Silence

This is a fantastic song which, as said above, features all of the band doing what they do best.

I hadn't heard the original demo before. Even the Harmonium Mix has been taken massively ahead from the demo, even if mainly in subtle detail.

Everything just works on this. The song itself, the production and arrangement, the guitar, and vocals. Interesting and original while still massively catchy.

5/5

 

Yep, all the accolades for EtS are entirely accurate. It's definitely one of DM's best songs, if not the best song, and a rare things for so many fans and the band itself to agree on.

 

Enjoy the Silence is a perfect song, full stop. If you make a song like this, you can consider your mission accomplished. You can retire. You can never write another song, ever, if you so choose. I don’t know how many perfect songs there are, but there aren’t many, and this is one of them. It’s a great lyric, great melody, and great arrangement. I’m not sure there’s anything you could do to improve it. (A friend of mine recorded a cover of this song, which I feel is a pretty “doomed to fail” proposition.)

This is where I truly jumped on board the DM train, buying Violator on tape and the CD single of this song, where I probably first discovered the whole concept of “remixes”. Hearing this on the radio and seeing the (also perfect) video on MTV at the time, 15-year-old me was blown away. Trudging through the pop landscape of 1989-90, this was like an oasis. Finally, THIS was for me. I’ve been a fan ever since, even when recent albums have paled in comparison.

Live—well, I hate to say, but this song is among the obligatory ones that I just don’t have a lot of interest in anymore. I don’t think they ever replicated the tones or atmosphere in a live setting. It always just sounded a little “thin”. I certainly was thrilled to hear it the first time I saw them, but this song has become a bit more obligation than thrill over time. It usually signals the “home stretch” part of the show, and succeeds based on the visuals they use each tour. Otherwise, it’s a crowd sing-along. Which is fine, I suppose.

 

My favourite release.

USA pressings - jewel case and slip case.

 

French CD, LCD and XLCD.
This was the last set to have two pressings with grey centre and non grey centre.

 

Belgium Indisc CD, LCD and XLCD

 

UK and German CD, LCD and XLCD

 

Brazil and EU Labels release.

 

ETS - the greatest song ever released. Thank you DM.

 

The only thing I don’t like about Enjoy The Silence is the mono synth solo bit in the recent live versions. Sort of over-improvised with bum sounding notes on purpose, know what I mean?