Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

A few years back, I wrote these words about a Depeche Mode compilation: "I should have just purchased a CD copy of 1990's Violator and been done with it." Well, I recently came across a used copy and here we are.

I think it's the group's best album without Vince Clarke, but let's see what the rabid fans astute reviewers over at Amazon have to say about it:

• "It is dark and bleak and examines personal demons and feelings of loneliness, despair and neediness. Heavy stuff that is usally [sic] only found in the everyday rotation of the clinically insane and depressed unless you are really in the mood." (ed. note: yikes!)
• "their last GOOD album"
• "Depeche Mode remains the pinnacle of gothic techno-beat producing mongols [sic] that they are surrounded by."
• "The music is very dated"
• "it's still very current sounding!"

In the latest list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time list, Violator ranked at #167. It was also included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2005): "Violator represents a group at the top of their game and still sounds effortlessly excellent today."

I listened to this album quite a bit when it was released but I haven't listened to the whole thing in over 30 years, so let's see what I remember.

Press of the time:

• Entertainment Weekly (B-): "drifts on a sea of unease. There’s a worm eating at Depeche Mode’s gut."
• Robert Christgau: C-
• Billboard: "much more accessible"
• Rolling Stone (★★½): "single-mindedly suffocating in Doorsy depression"
• Eight other contemporary reviews from Melody Maker, NME, Record Mirror, etc.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #7

Tracks: I will admit this album flows better as a continuous CD rather than split in half on a cassette. A fun trip down memory lane to a time when I was newly married but didn't yet have children. Of course, I remember the singles:

	Hot 100	Modern Rock	Dance
Personal Jesus	28	3	12
Enjoy The Silence	8	1	6
Policy Of Truth	15	1	2
Halo		21
World In My Eyes	52	17	6

Definitely some legitimate chart success there. My top pick back in '90 was Policy Of Truth, but today it's Personal Jesus. The other singles aren't far behind. I've only vague memories of the remaining four tracks. Sweetest Perfection isn't on the top shelf like the other tracks but that's not a bad batting average for an album.

On a related note, Johnny Cash recorded a beautiful, stripped-down version of Personal Jesus in 2002 that rivals the DM original.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In 1990, I started a middle school band director teaching job and one of the first things I did in my new position was authorize the purchase of a quality Denon rack stereo system for the band hall. I think I also refurbished some 4 ft high Klipsch speakers that were already there. It was probably a lot more equipment than was required - it had a pre-amp ferchrissakes - but it sounded fantastic. In an attempt to be the cool, young teacher on campus (I was 24), I played my Violator tape quite frequently before and after school as students would wander in and out of the band hall: "Hey, guys! I listen to the same music you do!" A pathetic attempt to be sure, but I think most young teachers probably go through similar experiences.

I left that middle school in 2000, it closed in 2011, and the building was finally demolished in 2020. In 2021, a new elementary school opened on the site. I wonder what happened to all that high-end audio equipment. Best case scenario: it was all moved to another campus. Worst case scenario: it's in a landfill. Most likely scenario: somebody "borrowed" it and now has a helluva vintage home system.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Singles 86>98 (1998)
Speak & Spell (1981)

Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (1981)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2006 reissue. EU import.

What gives, Mark? Weren't you once dismissive of a Depeche Mode compilation? And you say you're not much of a DM fan?

All that's true, but I am a fan of Vince Clarke and that makes all the difference with this CD. I once read this album described as "Yaz(oo) with Dave Gahan singing instead of Allison Moyet." Well, not exactly, but pretty darn close (particularly on track 10, Any Second Now). And that's fine with me because Clarke is one of the best synthpop songsmiths and has been proving that fact for 40+ years now, most of those years as a member of the duo Erasure.

This is a collection of three-or-four chord pop tunes that's very easy going down and it's made even better when you allow yourself to remember the band was around 19 years old when they wrote and sequenced/performed it. Many DM fans don't particularly care for it, much like Squeeze fans generally disregard their first album. I like it just fine, just don't ask me to interpret the album cover. I think the 7 out 10 rating from Smash Hits (below) is on the money.

Press of the time:

• Smash Hits (7 out of 10): "melody, uncluttered electronics and nice voices in humanising harmony"
• Trouser Press: "a simple, predictable sonic palette"
• Record Mirror (★★★★★): "a charming, cheeky collection of compulsive dance tunes"
• Rolling Stone (★★½): "PG-rated fluff"
• Stereo Review: "At its best, 'Speak and Spell' suggests what an AT&T switching station might sound like from inside the main transformer."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #192

"feisty synthesizers and wry lyric outlook"

Tracks:

• Meilleure mode: New Life, Just Can't Get Enough, What's Your Name?, Big Muff
• Bonne mode: I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead, Puppets, Nodisco, Dreaming Of Me
• Mauvaise mode: Boys Say Go!, Photographic, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Any Second Now (voices)

I feel that Puppets, Photographic, and Tora! Tora! Tora! would appeal to later Depeche Mode fans, but not much more than those.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. The 1981 edition of Mark probably wouldn't have enjoyed this as much as the 1983 edition, who would have absolutely loved it.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Singles 86>98 (1998)

Depeche Mode - The Singles 86>98 (1998)

If a little is good, more must be better, right? Well.....

Long story short: I should have just purchased a CD copy of 1990's Violator and been done with it. I found this two disc compilation in the used bin for a reason.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #38

Tracks: The best songs are on the first disc: Strangelove, Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence, Policy Of Truth, and World In My Eyes. That's 5 good tracks out of 21. Skip disc 2 entirely; even the somewhat decent live version of Everything Counts can't save it.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The first song I remember hearing from this group was People Are People in the summer of 1985. I hated it then and I'm still not a fan of that particular song. That explains why I don't have the earlier compilation, The Singles 81→85, even though it contains better songwriting from Vince Clarke.

I owned the aforementioned Violator album on cassette and, despite objections from my students, it got plenty of playing time in my classroom in 1990.