Depeche Mode - The Reaps Mixes - Volume One

Because I was gone for work, and missed my Tuesday post, I am giving you this extra post tonight.  It's the Reaps mixes of DM from 2012.  All are awesome, and you should get a kick out of the modern interpretations.  They are all worthy of the DM name.  Hope you enjoy!

Depeche Mode - The Reaps Mixes - Volume One

Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame - 1982

 

Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame - 1982

I got this album at the behest of a girl named Crystal in my English class my junior year.  I had just moved from Chicago and still having trouble adjusting to my new environment, when this hot girl who sat in front of me would turn around and talk, and we talked music and she said this was her favorite DM album.  Music For the Masses was still in my top 5 goto albums, and I had the People are People compilation, and a couple 12-inch singles, but at that time, that was about all the DM I had.  So, I went down and bought it.  Boy, was I disappointed. 

There's nothing wrong with the album.  It's got it's own style and mood and pacing.  The songwriting is fairly solid, and the execution is pretty tight.  I like the album, in it's own way.  I was just used to MftM and then I go back in time and listen to this.  Something of a letdown. I know that Martin had just started writing the music himself, so he was still learning.  Good for him.  It's surprising that he started like this, though, and then gave us MftM and Violator within 8 years.  Incredible.

It took me some time to get used to it.  Within a year, I had it memorized and singing along with Dave.  Monument is by far my favorite song, for some reason.  (Gusgus's version of it is killer)  The rest of the tracks, quite honestly, all tie for second.  There aren't any that I like more or less than the others.

When they released their deluxe versions, again, as with all the rest, I was pissed with what they gave us.  THIS is how it should have been.

Thanks, yet again, to Dreamtime.....

Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame - 1982

Depeche Mode - Ludwigshafen, Germany - 1984

Not much to say on this one.  I only saw DM once during the Violator Tour in 1990 in Pensacola Florida.  Hearing them when they are 6 years younger, post MFtM (a turning point, I feel) and it's amazing that the deep dark voice of Dave is coming out of that scrawny little body.  It would have been fun to see them before they became the legends they are now.

This is a great soundboard recording, but I only have it at 128kbps.  That being said, it probably sounds more like a cassette tape than anything.  But, it's still a great show, and every song is an absolute classic.

Depeche Mode - Ludwigshafen, Germany - 1984

Depeche Mode - Violator - 1990

Back in April of last year, I posted the mixes from this album.  If you read that post, you would know the story and experiences I had around the time I originally purchased the album.  Wonderful story, glorious times....   This is the very first CD I ever purchased, and I still have that exact same CD to this day.  Although, it's not my listening copy anymore.  I hung on to it for nostalgia's sake.

Due to the fact that I was young and didn't fully understand at the time that specific track arrangement meant something to the artist when an album is released, I did a lot of, shall I say, BOLD decisions when I arranged "my" album.  It's reflected here.  I still like to listen to it in this order.

Does ANYONE know if there are original mixes of Happiest Girl or Sea Of Sin out there?  A 7-inch single mix or album mix?  I think it would be good, if I could find them, if they exist, to include them on this mix rather than the remixes....

Obviously, I am still having some issues here at home.  Dealing with them has monopolized my time, and also really puts me in the mindframe of not being able to even make a coherent post (evidence, my last post on Cyndi Lauper.)  I don't want to air too much of my current dirty laundry (lord knows you guys know a lot of my past as it is) but, once I get through this, and given time, it will make an EXCELLENT story for my posts here.  Until then, bear with me....  Thanks for your patience.

Depeche Mode - Violator - 1990

Untitled - A Compilation

This is the track listing from the very first time I sat down to make a real mixtape.  I was probably 18 or 19, and had dabbled with taping my favorite songs off of the radio or other tapes.  But those other tapes were cobbled together with no rhyme or reason, just a hodge podge of miscellaneous tracks that I had put onto tape so I could listen to them in my Walkman when I was out.  I mean, you can't very well take a record player out with you.

At the time I made this tape, you can look at the track listing and see that a lot of fantastic material had been released pretty much all at once.  I had my favorite tracks from every album release by these artists, and I wanted to listen to them all, without having to haul 10-12 tapes/CDs around with me, trading them out as each track ended.  So, I pulled my favorites, and sat listening to them, then arranging them in a way that sounded good.  Back then, you didn't have any music on your computer (if you even had a computer), so it wasn't like you could load the tracks in your WinAmp and hit shuffle.  No, this was a very careful and deliberate process that took a while for me to come up with the right arrangement.

I made the tape, though, and used it in my car, listened to it while I mowed the yard, and played it when I went to friends' houses.  It was pretty good.

I've rearranged some of the tracks as years have gone by - only added the Ian McCulloch about 1998 and traded the Cocteau Twins track from Heaven Or Las Vegas to Dials (and then plugged it on the end of the mix).  But, as for the rest, this is the same setup I made back in 1990-91.  And, I still listen to it about every other month or so, to this day.  To me, this comp represents the best these groups had to offer, at the peak of their popularity.  Every song is quintessential to what these groups/artists are.  They are all lush, romantic, and full of emotion.  They are perfectly written, and perfectly performed.

To this day, I still don't have a name for this collection.  It's still, to this very moment, Untitled.  But, to me, that might be the best way of describing it, too.

Untitled

Depeche Mode - Black Celebration Remixes - 1986

The first Depeche Mode album I ever bought was Music For the Masses.  Then I bought Martin Gore's first Counterfeit EP.  Then it was A Broken Frame, then Some Great Reward, THEN Black Celebration... followed a very short time later by the Personal Jesus single right before Violator came out.  So, that's the order I heard their music.  When you do it that way, you start to compare their progression as a band, and it's easier to see where they were then, and where they are now.  A Black Celebration was a unique one for me, and it's one I really think was a turning point for their sound. Was it Martin's turmoiled relationship that affected it?  Who knows.  But I feel that starting with this album, their music took a dramatic turn darker than their previous albums.

It's unfortunate that the two "unreleased tracks" Violence and I Feel No Guilt weren't actually DM songs, as the b-sides for the actual album were minimal.  The best of the additional material for this album was the remixes, which is what I've compiled here.  I know that I've left a couple mixes out (didn't I say that with INXS yesterday?) but I think the ones I've put on here are the best.  With the exception of the exceptional Dreamtime Mix of But Not Tonight, these are all official remixes.  Flood's mixes are obviously the best, but all of them really hit the mark.  This is a wonderful companion disc to the original album...  Good stuff!

Depeche Mode - Black Celebration Remixes - 1986

Depeche Mode - The Naweed Mixes - Volume One

So, my last post before the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to do something a little special.  I've compiled some of the remixes made by Naweed Wahla.  I can't say that I've compiled the best of his remixes, as he has about 50 mixes and I haven't even been able to listen to all of them yet.  But, of the ones I have listened to, these are pretty damn good.

A lot of times fan remixes are crap.  There are a lot of people out there who think they know what the hell they're doing.  But, every once in a while, someone with some talent comes along and can work some fantastic magic.  Naweed Wahla has taken songs from the entire spectrum of DM's discography and mixed them in a more modern, more dancey, more attractive package.  Although most of the songs on this comp are from the latter era of DM, he does a lot with the older tracks that I'll be posting later in January.  I like the second half of this album a lot because they are all songs that I generally didn't care for in their original form.  But now they've been crafted and molded in such a way, I can't help but enjoy them. 

The cover was a real task, as I wanted to use the latest DM logo for 2017.  But, I hated the font, so I switched that one around...  SO, with the paint swash logo, a pic of DM, a forest pic, and some paint circle clip art, I created something I think really is an homage to DM and Anton Corbijn's art.  I can't wait to make more.In January, I'll be posting more of Naweed's mixes, along with mixes by Reaps and Dominatrix, two more spectacular DM mixers, later on down the line.

Anyway, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you on Saturday night! 

Depeche Mode - The Naweed Mixes - Volume One

Marsheaux - A Broken Frame - 2015

OMG! Is that blasted watermark gone?!  Holy Shit!

Alright, I will admit I'm a little embarassed to be posting this one.  I haven't ever been a fan of Marsheaux, I don't care for their music, really.  But, this IS a Depeche Mode album, even if it's just a cover version.  What's almost as embarassing is that I'm posting this version of A Broken Frame before I've posted the actual ABF.

BUT...  I heard a couple of the songs from this one, and they grew on me.  So, I listened to the whole thing and I found something great.  With indirect translations, they've done a pretty good job interpreting the originals as their own.  They maintain a lot of the original elements that made the originals great, but have added enough to make this dancefloor-prone.  I've read many different reviews on this one, and the best that I've read have said exactly what I've felt -  Marsheaux have taken the nostalgic synth past that I've always loved from a bygone era, and brought it into the modern day, to be relived, and reloved all over again.

My version differs from the original as I've included the non-album tracks and the remixes.  Other than that, you get it as intended.  Hopefully it will help you see the album in a new light as it did me.

Marsheaux - A Broken Frame - 2015

Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith & Devotion - 1993

 We've got a big post today!  I've been working on a compilation of fan mixes this week, and I came across a huge cache of excellent Depeche Mode mixes from mixers I hadn't heard of before.  I was so inspired by DM, I had to up this post by a couple weeks because of it.

DM's follow-up to Violator, I felt this album had been heavily inspired by the increased popularity of Grunge and Industrial bands in the US.  It's really DM's first hard album, a lot harder than any other album they ever released.  Being really into NIN at the time this album came out, I was really taken by it.  Honestly, it is beautifully written, and really captures the essence of what DM was at the time.

Unfortunately, it was Alan Wilder's last album, and on future releases it became readily apparent that he was the master designer behind the art of the other three.  He brought them together to make the work beautiful, and it really shows here.

Best songs on the album would include Walking In My Shoes, Judas, In Your Room, Rush and Higher Love.  They all contained strong intensity in their lyric and performance, work to be admired.

The remixes were, in some cases, better than the album tracks.  William Orbit's mix of WIMS is spectacular, and the Zephyr Mix of In Your Room really leads the pack, blowing the original out of the water.

I never cared for I Feel You.  It's a grinding dirge of sorts.  Really grates on my nerves....

Such a good album produced one of the best tours of the year.  Excellent performances that really show that they aren't just studio artists, they can handle and execute perfection on the stage.  I had gone to the Violator Tour in 1990, but I missed this one.  Really kicking myself on it now, it would've been great.  Many jealous kudos to those who were able to see this one!!!

I played this album and the mixes for years.  Long after others had faded away into the depths of my collection.  Not even Ultra stopped this one.  It's not my favorite DM album, but it was their last great one.  The rest have been marginal at best...

Master Edition

Remixed Edition

Live @ Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, USA

Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again - 1983

Here's post 3 of 4 awesome posts in a row...  Depeche Mode's Construction Time Again...

My senior year in High School and I was in love with Music For the Masses, and Violator hadn't been released yet.  I remember getting this album on cassette from the used section in at the music store.  At that time I was infatuated with a girl named Crystal, and she loved this album, so therefore I had to love the album too.  I never told her I had a crush on her, as she was in a different social class than I was, and already had a boyfriend.  But, we were friends and shared a love of Depeche Mode.

I'm honestly not that in love with the album.  I hate Pipeline and Work Hard, and the rest of the album is alright.  Of course, with Get the Balance and Everything Counts, though, you are dealing with two of DM's BEST songs ever.  In fact, I would put Everything Counts in their top ten songs, and Get the Balance in the top twenty.

As the tracks are concerned, you can see I've added Get the Balance even though it wasn't an album track.  It came out the same year, and fits in perfectly with the album's sound.  The remix disc has several fan mixes that fit my strict criteria, as well as a perfect Dreamtime Mix.

The cover of the album is actually a desktop wallpaper from a DM fan named ID Alizes from Devian Tart (devientart.com) It is beautiful and works perfectly as an album cover.  I've been waiting to use this one specifically.  He's got a bunch, so you may want to go to deviant art and check him out.

Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again - 1983

Depeche Mode - Construction MIXES Again - 1983

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe - 2009

I think that the last good album DM released was Ultra.  In this new millennium, they just haven't been able to pull a good one out, telling me that they've outlived their usefulness and ideas.  Honestly, it's a sad thing when VNV Nation and De-Vision sound more like Depeche Mode than Depeche Mode does.

This album, though, was an interesting listen, with equally interesting b-sides to boot.  It showed maturity and growth, and was an album written to represent the ages of the men performing them.  I found it almost sad, remembering the days when I was young and going ape-shit over any new material that they released, and knowing that as I grow older, so do all of my idols and rock gods. 

On that note, it behooves me to say that if a group wants to remain relevant, distinguished and at least respected, they need to write music that represents their ages.  Let your sound mature as you do.  Some examples...

Performers whose music has matured and represents them accordingly -
U2
Sting
Peter Gabriel
A-ha
Tears For Fears
Erasure
Pet Shop Boys

Performers whose music has not matured, and does NOT represent the artists' age -
Duran Duran
Cure
New Order
Depeche Mode

What's funny (not in a hahaha way) is that the four groups I put in the stagnant non-growth immature category are my top four groups as it is.  In fact, 1, 2, 3, 4 in order, just like that.

But, I digress.

I think that this is DM's last good album.  It should have been their swan song.  It's unfortunate that it wasn't.  They've tortured us with one more stale, agonizingly dull album.  As it is, maybe they aren't done yet.  There's always hope for one more...

The entire album, the b-sides, and Gahan's guest vocal on Nostalgia.  Probably my favorite non-DM song by Gahan.  Maybe I'll do the remixes later, not sure, none of them were very good anyway...

Disc 1

Disc 2

Depeche Mode - Shake-Flexible-Heart - 1985

As I was discovering DM and collecting their work, these slabs of vinyl were the ones I came across second, after MftM.  I found the 12" Maxi Singles at the mall record store, and I remember specifically running home to get money out of my stash to go get them.  It was like Raiders of the Lost Ark and I had found the Golden Statue, I almost had heart palpitations.   It's weird how moments like that can stick with you your whole life.

Of course, within a single playing, I loved both Shake the Disease and It's Called A Heart.  Both well crafted and traditional Mode all the way.  I almost instantly hated Flexible.  At first, I thought it would grow on me, so I listened and listened.  I really tried, I did.  But, I dislike the song to this day.  It's to fast, to country.  The harmonica sound is irritating.

I originally, for years, just had the single songs and their one extended mix.  But, fortunately over the last 5-6 years, new official remixes and one Dreamtime Fan Mix popped up, which increased the tracklisting considerably.  And, I am very grateful for that.  I will say, though, that I always return to the original extended mixes, because they are the mixes that I grew up with and are very dear to my heart.

The cover art is flawless, and perfect.  So, a single sleeve was all that was needed, and I think it would make a fine addition on the shelf between SGR and BC.

Enjoy, this is a good one...

Depeche Mode - Shake-Flexible-Heart - 1985

Depeche Mode - Live - Violation Tour - 1990

And, because I wasn't able to post anything last night, I though I'd throw on one extra post tonight.

Depeche Mode.  Violation Tour 1990.  Double Disc.  Soundboard.  Can it get any better? 

I put both track listings on the same sleeve, so you can either cram 2 discs into one case with one sleeve, or print up 2 sleeves and cross off the disc it's NOT.  Too confusing?

What amazes me is their sound translates well from studio to stage.  Dave's voice is hypnotic and so very full of emotion.  It's sad that this is about the time he started losing it.  I'm just glad his body didn't succumb and we still have his voice to hear on album after album...

Anyway, this was a great show, and I loved every moment of it.  I saw them in Pensacola, Florida later in the year, so hearing this brings back a lot of good memories.

Depeche Mode - Live - Violation Tour - 1990

Dave Gahan - Paper Monsters - 2003

After Exciter, I pretty much gave up on Depeche Mode.  They sounded tired and trying way too hard.  It just wasn't working anymore.  So, when I saw this album along with Gore's second solo album, I thought they had decided the same thing.  Needless to say, they've had three more albums since then, of which only one was even halfway good.

But, after listening to this one two or three times, I think he did a pretty good job.  Songs that you can sing along with, they keep you listening, none of them would get skipped.  You could definitely tell that Gore wasn't writing any of the tracks, they were of their own sound, despite having Gahan's vocals.  The only tracks that really stood out for me were I Need You and Bitter Apple.  But, for you completists, here you go...

I've put all of the b-sides on, intermingled with the album tracks toward the middle of the album.  I've also included Reload, which was a guest vocal by Gahan on a JunkieXL song that came out at the same time.  The Junkie XL track kicks more ass than the rest of the album, unfortunately. 

Never liked the cover as that stupid Paper Monsters logo looked like shit.  Simply used some Corbin photos from the same sessions, and changed up the font.  Looks good.

Dave Gahan - Paper Monsters - 2003

Depeche Mode - Mixes From Violator - 1990

My Senior year in High School, I am President of our Business Club, and we are headed off to our regional convention.  I had just purchased this nice fat-ass Fisher Boom Box with a CD Player.  It was so sweet.  And the very first CD I purchased, was Violator. 
We got on that bus, I popped in my DM and turned it up.  Everyone loved it.  -  They loved it up until the sixth or seventh time I played it and then they had to tell me to shut it off.  Too bad for them. 
We stayed in a hotel with students from all over the midwest.  Thousands of high school kids in a hotel with minimal parental supervision.  At night, after the events of the day and the lame dance sponsered by the teachers, some of us - a lot of us - went off and did our own thing.  I still remember that girl from Southeast HS, who was the President of HER school's Business Club...
Long story short, and probably needless to say, but I did great things to DM's Violator.  Great things...

This is in response to Aid00 posting Violator on his site.  Nice little disc to round it out...

Depeche Mode - Mixes From Violator

Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward - 1984

In 1984 I had no idea who Depeche Mode was.  Not a clue.  I was too busy listening to Duran Duran, Michael Jackson and Footloose to know who Depeche Mode was.  But, in 1984, Depeche Mode released Some Great Reward, a delicate balance of Post Punk and Synth Pop that did spawn at least one single that I remember from the time, People Are People.  I didn't hear this album until 1989.

I have often tried to rank these early Depeche Mode albums to see which ones were better than others.  But, it's hard.  Hell, in the nineties and into the new millennium it's easy to rank, as most of them were crap.  Starting with the luke warm psuedo industrial Songs of Faith & Devotion, the albums went down hill from there.  But, each of the eighties albums were different.  They each have their own cohesive sound that differentiates them from each other.  Compare a track from Some Great Reward to a track from Black Celebration to a track from Music for the Masses.  They all sound uniquely different.  Therefore, it makes them impossible to grade against each other.  They each have their own pluses and minuses.

I absolutely LOVE the picture sleeve for Master & Servant.  The balance of color and the chain and the hearts.  Even the typography.  It all pulled together to make a perfect cover.

I dropped the b-sides between the two "sides" and finished the album with the better of the mixes.  And, it all looks like something that could've/should've been officially released.

As for the demo/unreleased tracks, I know that there is an Alan Wilder demo tape out there with 4 tracks on it.  I used to have a bootleg with two of the tracks on it, and I've heard the other two, but all four of the songs lack the type of structure and recording quality that the rest of the album has.  To include ANY of them as part of the album would seem odd and out of place.  If you really want to hear them, go look them up on Youtube.

Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward - 1984

Depeche Mode - Music For the Masses - 1987

As I mentioned in my last post, 1987 was a very special year for me musically, as I started to really listen to and explore the music that I introduced into my life.  Along with New Order, I also started listening to Depeche Mode.  I was also heavily influenced by the Cure's Kiss Me 3 album, but that's for another post.

My version of Depeche Mode's Music For the Masses is pretty straight forward.  I eliminated all of the remixes, with the exception of Fpmip (which really isn't a remix, per se).  I then added all of the B-sides to the singles, in order, after the album tracks.  Yes, this arrangement makes for a somewhat boring end, with the exception of Pleasure Little Treasure, but I couldn't bear to chop up the album itself to insert the b-sides.  The album itself is a masterpiece.
Depeche Mode - Music For the Masses - 1987