International Creative Network

Comments on Depeche Mode

Aug 13, 2007

• krafty says: 1984...Let's Play, Master & Servant
  
  ...And then the damn broke and DM flooded into America. With the release of the single "People Are People", which made it to #13 in the States, the lads from Basildon have been nearly unstoppable (except by themselves).
  
  They released a quasi-compilation album called "People are People" in July '84 to sort of let us Yanks know that they had in fact other songs before that one. But that album, as it were, was just a tease. 3 months later they unleashed what some will still call their greatest stand alone album to date, or the 1st with no let downs or weak points. "Some Great Reward" begs of you for Something to Do and doesn't stop til you've slit your wrists and God is laughing at you on high. Oh, the blasphemy. Teens loved it, parents feared it.
  
  Reccommended Tracks:
  Lie to Me
  Somebody
  Master & Servant
  Blasphemous Rumours
  
  Here's a remix and a classic German live TV video...
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Jun 03, 2007

• krafty says: 1983...Composition Time Again
  
  DM finds 2 things this year which help form their identidy as a band: sampling and black leather.
  
  "Get the Balance Right" accidentally becomes a huge hit in the Detroit club scene thanks to the help of DJ Derek May and the band (now with Alan as a full member) bang every piece of metal they can find to sample sounds and make their version of an industrial album, "Construction Time Again".
  
  Their visual presence is also strengthened by shedding their school boy button downs and bow ties for tight leather pants and hints of bondage.
  
  Reccommended Tracks:
  Everything Counts
  Told You So
  More Than a Party
  Fools
  Get the Balance Right
  
  

  
  
  

Apr 07, 2007

• krafty says: OMG...Now I know why...
  ....DM hasn't come to Japan in so long....
  
  

  
  
  notice 2 things:
  a) the studio band is playing A Question of Lust as they enter...in their own way
  b) how bored Dave looks when he has nothing to do but fake play drums

Mar 09, 2007

• nekoyuu says: DM Classics
  i've no idea why i didn't see this group till i left a message to another friendly alien in asoboo.... i used to play DM songs 24 hrs 20 years ago , my favourite album is 'Music for the Masses', tracks 'Strange Love' and 'The Things You Said'....time flies

Mar 02, 2007

• krafty says: 1982...Vince leaves in silence, Band says "See you!"
  
  Just as DM were about to embark on their next album, Vince Clarke decided he'd had enough of silly fan questions about what color sox he wore, so he quit. The remaining members ran an ad in a music mag seeking a replacement. Enter, Alan Wilder. A classically trained pianist, he instantly started to improve DM's live shows. He toured with them in 1982, but when they went to the studio to record their follow-up album, A Broken Frame, Alan was asked not to come. Ouch.
  
  The band wanted to 1st prove they could make an album without Vince, just the 3 of them. Martin was thrust into the full-time songwriter role. The result: sickly sweet melodies (The Meaning of Love) countered by the beginning of gloom pop (Leave in Silence).
  
  They wised up and made Alan a full member for the next album. Here is a live clip from 1982 at the somehwat famous Hammersmith Odeon show (if you are a DM junkie). I had heard it on bootleg a million times, but never saw it til just now. Thank the lord Dave stopped wearing flannel shirts on stage.
  
  Reccommended Tracks:
  Leave in Silence
  My Secret Garden
  Satellite
  The Sun & The Rainfall
  
  

  
  
  

  
  This is a fan's animated version of the album cover. sweetness...

Feb 10, 2007

• krafty says: 1981...Just the Beginning
  
  Depeche Mode formed in 1980 in Basildon, England under the name No Romance in China. Realizing that this sucked as a name, they borrowed the name of a French fashion magazine and re-named themselves. Smart move.
  
  The original line-up was Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke. Of those 4, 3 still remain as the core of the group to this day. Vince left the band after the 1st album for inane reasons, but he later had success with Alison Moyet in Yaz(oo), and after that with Andy Bell in Erasure.
  
  DM's 1st album, Speak & Spell, featured a number of big UK hits, including the unstoppable Just Can't Get Enough (and the embarrassing What's Your Name?). Of the songs from this album, only 2 have remained with the band. The above mentioned JCGE, and my fave Photographic. Here then are 2 clips: live ones from 1981 and a GAP ad using this classic. Enjoy the evolution...
  
  Reccommended Tracks:
  Just Can't Get Enough
  Photographic
  Tora! Tora! Tora!
  Puppets
  Ice Machine
  Shout (Rio Mix)
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

Jan 27, 2007

• krafty says: The Big Ones
  This is the funniest interview I've ever seen with them.
  
  Martin seems pretty drunk....
  
  
• krafty says: More Touring...
  
  Having Started this fan page, I feel compelled to add things often.
  
  I will start a retrospective history of DM soon...
  
  Until then, here are some more cool pics from the last tour...enjoy the silence....

Jan 24, 2007

• krafty says: Touring the Angel
  
  DM haven't graced Japanese shores in 17 years (since the World Violation Tour in 1990), but a few months ago I picked up their live CD from their most recent tour. This recording is special for several reasons:
  1) It was recorded on Cinquo de Mayo in Mexico City (5/5/06)
  2) The crowd sings Happy Birthday to Dave and then he lies about his age
  3) They perform the song Leave in Silence (ca. 1982) but the keyboards kick out and Martin has to sing it accapella
  4) and....all DM live recordings kick ass!
  
  I've been to see DM live 4 times, but not since 2001 in Boston and NYC.
  Come back to Japan!!!!!!