Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses

Must have album!

If you like Depeche Mode then buy these 4 albums:

Some Great Reward
Black Celebration
Music for the Masses
Violator

These albums were released between 1985-1990 in consecutive order & have all of their best songs. Their other albums are also good but would only recommend for die hard fans. These 4 albums are their classic albums. November 27, 2007

THIS IS HOW THE mid80s SOUNDED - AND THEY SOUNDED GREAT!!!

MTV had been already established as mainstream, the BOSS was getting soft in the Tunnel of Love, BON JOVI were more about the hair than ever - and the British invented Alternative music. Two such post-punk groups, THE CURE and DEPECHE MODE, better than most others, were able to grasp the decade's vibrations and broadcast them back as UNBELIEVABLE MUSIC. Whereas the CURE were mostly edges, the DEPECHE MODE were mostly technopoetry.

This was the first album I ever bought as a CD - and I remember bringing it home to my new JVC HiFi, anxious to listen to the "crisp, digital sound" (little did I know that, only some years later, we would come to miss the fullness and richness of the old vinyl records). I was right to be anxious though: this was ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS - EVER!

MUSIC FOR THE MASSES is one of those rare albums that can be listened to from start to finish. No filler material here. The voices are atavisticly haunting; the keys persistently penetrating; and the lyrics stay with you for ever.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! October 30, 2007

Depeche Mode's Most Accomplished Album

For years I overlooked this album, in favor of other Depeche Mode classics like Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion. Yet many of the tracks from "Music for the Masses" kept popping up. Recently viewing a Depeche Mode documentary on Joost (check it out if you haven't), I realized what I'd been missing and picked it up immediately. Today, I can't get enough of it.

"Music for the Masses" is the band's most accomplished album without a doubt. When they recorded it, they were already entrenched into the dark synth-based sound that would characterize the second half of their career, away from the more catchy pop songs that were the norm in their music early on.

Every track in the album is a piece of art that collectively make the whole production sound as current and powerful at the time of this writing as it did twenty years ago, when it was released. May 26, 2007

The albums on either side of it were arguably better, but still...

"Never Let Me Down Again" is your basic work of genius, and "The Things You Said" and "Little 15" aren't far behind.

Things get a bit spottier from there, but I'm thinking you'll forgive. April 10, 2007

Bringing the Synthesizer to Stadiums

As a huge Depeche Mode fan this wasn't honestly an initial favorite. I found the "bonus" tracks weighed down the material and that some of the songs were more self-indulgent than the album's title suggested. But that doesn't mean that there was not any selling points and there are some real classics in here. Or maybe it's because there's nothing like "Some Great Reward" or "Black Celebration", even "Violator" after it.

But "Music for the Masses" is a great creative point and it's great how this got them so big. And the music really is as ambitious as the title. "Never Let Me Down Again" sets the tone for the record, first with guitars and into its keyboard hooks and a more moody chorus, even if some lyrics are a bit WTF ("Promise me I'm as safe as houses/As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers" - and Gore is usually tops at this sort of thing). But the rest of the song more than makes up for it. I always wish they had used the Split Mix over the original. I suggest you look for it if you don't have it yet.

"Strangelove" is the album's real shining star, though. It has a more reflective and personal feel like the rest of the album. Yet it is also very moving. Not as immediately catchy as some of the poppier earlier stuff. "Behind the Wheel" shows the group's continued love for industrial that began with "Construction Time Again." It is as moving as the driving title and builds up quite nicely. It seems quirky at first but is also an accessible moment of the album.

But the three singles, great as they are, aren't the only thunder on the album. "The Things You Said," sung by Gore, is just gorgeous and warrants repeat listens. I like the double-tracked vocals in the chorus, too. "To Have and to Hold" is a black sheep of the album. At first I couldn't get into it because of the distraction of that Russian broadcast thing, but it got better as I heard it. It is a very deep track that specifically longs for love. The thing about this one as opposed to most DM songs is that instead of following a verse/chorus format, it is just one long verse. There is music ascending and descending from the point but that verse is the meat of the song. Deftones did the song some real justice about a decade later. "Pimpf" shows that the choral samples didn't end with the last album and it continued at times. I can see why they opened with the track even if it was the closer on the inital album.

"Sacred" is where Martin puts religion more into songs and you hear Dave and him singing together on the chorus, which usually works quite well. Not one of the best songs here but definitely worthy of listens. I also enjoy the more standard album track "Nothing," which is translated better in its live versions. A simple message but a nice track to listen to during the middling feelings of your day. But where a song like "Something to Do" is more lively, this is more like a bored goth wallowing in the moment.

I'm still not too fond of "Little 15" which while it may be some grand epic has always bored me. Apparently the guys aren't fond of it either and haven't performed it live. "I Want You Now" just doesn't do it for me, even after getting over the whole breathing/double entendre background. Some moments are just hard to embrace. At least it's not the bulk of the album.

The "bonus tracks" aren't really that special, honestly. "Pleasure, Little Treasure" isn't listed as its actual Glitter Mix and honestly the regular version was better. It's still decent here though. "Agent Orange" is an amazing example of their experimenting.

I personally recommend many of their albums over this one, but it is still quality material. Some fans like it considerably more than I, but I suggest to maybe check others out first. Mid-late '80's' greatest synth act, although it doesn't properly fit a true label. September 16, 2006

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