I Said I'd Write A Ballot, But I Never Got The Time -- ILM Artist Poll #18 -- DEPECHE MODE (voting thread)

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/60887263/Depeche+Mode+depechemode+1982.png

We've done the Pet Shop Boys; now it's time for ILM to rep for the real synthpop heroes. (Fuck the haters.) This ain't no disco. This is where top-tier tunesmithery converges with clanging metal, screaming oscillators, breathing machines, questionable fashion decisions and awkward teenage goth poetry. What's not to love?

Here's a list of songs (I can't vouch for how complete it is/how recently it's been updated): http://www.voxonline.com/alternative/depeche_mode/complete.htm it includes the Martin Gore Counterfeit EP, so you can vote for songs off that if you want. I'll also accept Composition of Sound votes. But no Yazoo, no Erasure, no Recoil, no VCMG, no [whatever side project I'm forgetting here]. If you put an Erasure song on your ballot, it won't be counted.

• 20 Track Ballots, Scoring as usual: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12.
• Optionally you can include an additional list of your top 3 DM albums.
• Please send all ballots to ilxdepechepoll at gmail dot com. DO NOT ilxmail me your ballot because I won't get it.
• Voting ends Monday, April 30 at 11:59:59 Eastern time.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ADby3ellN08/Se7mTV4K-II/AAAAAAAAALs/feBsDXvyV6o/s320/Andrew+Fletcher.jpg

very excited, might actually vote in this one.

I hope I'm not the only one voting for the despised "But Not Tonight."

don't mind this band, but perhaps due to their frequent appearance on gay p0rn sndtracks I probably would've rather had sex with them than listen to them.

the despised "But Not Tonight."

what?!?!?! this is going to be my #1. I thought everyone loved that song, even if the band themselves consider it a throwaway.

If you put an Erasure song on your ballot, it won't be counted.

this is the greatest hardman proclamation in ilx history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aN21BT4Li4

not sure it this will make my cut, speaking of early stuff, so good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMml0GylZfI

Guess I better vote in this!

Good pic up top crüt. Marin Gore's gross pube beard...it's something.

I love "But Not Tonight," esp since they were mad at it being a single. "Hey we're dark now, ok? Just ignore this."

I voted, 80s singles heavy ballot, but also included this. I assume remixes will be tallied seperately?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSj60wOfKKM

yeah singles heavy for me too, I have probably listened to those singles albums MORE THAN ANY OTHER ALBUM EVER

shoutout here to their awesomely unfortunate early videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWK7QLvuI-I

love that they were too passive to point out Wilder is not the lead singer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEoU0pgnFNc

puppets!

VH1 had a Depeche Mode Weekend?

I housesat for an elderly coworker once who, for some reason, had a VHS taped of a MuchMusic Depeche Mode Weekend. Videos, interviews, and an veejay who seemed really annoyed to have to keep announcing that Weird Al was going to take over MuchMusic next weekend. Also a breaking announcement that Anthony Burgess just died. It was...the greatest!

it's weird with DM because the 7 inches/singles were sometimes edited versions of 12 inch mixes that were in a few cases q radically altered versions of the album tracks.
i'm thinking of Behind The Wheel and Question Of Time.

I'm finding this quite tough because beyond the singles, which I already know, the tracks are all blending into one lovely whole. I can't remember one track while another's playing, which is hopeless for ranking things (and sounds like more of a criticism than it really is!). I've got about 32 tracks primed, cutting beyond that seems virtually impossible.

Hopefully this will get a decent amount of votes. Amazing vocal and the strings at the end still give me chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65PQiFfsrU

seconded. one of gore's best vocals.

it's weird with DM because the 7 inches/singles were sometimes edited versions of 12 inch mixes that were in a few cases q radically altered versions of the album tracks.

I voted for both the 7" and album version of my favorite single of theirs. ha!

Blasphemous Rumours is rather hilarious and great

'But Not Tonight' will certainly not make my ballot, and neither will 'Enjoy The Silence' or 'Personal Jesus'.

I'm sorry!

only 7 days to do this? heckfire..

underrated CTA track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZcQSMOqksU

I'm sorry!

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, April 23, 2012 2:08 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

For what it's worth, Depeche Mode are one of my favourite bands and I love all three of those songs! In the case of 'Enjoy The Silence' and 'Personal Jesus', I figure that they'll be able to take care of themselves even if I don't vote for them. 'Enjoy The Silence' in particular is almost like the Queen Bee of Depeche Mode songs.

xpost:

I remember hearing that Alan Wilder was keen on having 'And Then...' as a single from Construction Time Again. There is a song from Construction Time Again that I feel should have been a single, and will make my ballot, but it's not 'And Then...'. In fact, Martin Gore didn't even write it.

If it's "The Landscape Is Changing" then I don't get you.

If it's "The Landscape Is Changing" then I don't get you.

― does Red Stripe work like poppers? (Abbbottt), Monday, April 23, 2012 2:40 PM (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It isn't! :D

Maybe we voted for the same one then.

Will be voting for at most two songs off the first three albums. Too plinky plonky amateur hour for my liking.

Ballot in!

The song list above is pretty much incomplete I think it ignores pretty much all their discography Exciter onwards.

There's some memorable singles in their later material (Freelove, Dream On, John the Revelator, Pain that I'm Used to, Precious).

From Violator I'm picking two non-singles. Sweetest Perfection and Waiting for the Night, I don't know how popular they are amongst fans but they are definitely my favorite cuts from the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyLmV1yQJFg&feature=related

LIKE A HALO IN REVFERRRRRSE

People of ILX, please spare a thought for this "should have been THE A-side" gem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss0ou03e9lQ

the despised "But Not Tonight."

what?!?!?! this is going to be my #1. I thought everyone loved that song, even if the band themselves consider it a throwaway.

― crüt, Saturday, April 21, 2012 9:03 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Um, yeah mine too.

BNT is amazing. Acutally Crut probably could have guessed that would be my #1.

I listened to But Not Tonight so much my sophomore year in college that my then boyfriend finally asked me to layoff it for a while because he couldn't handle it anymore. It's near perfect imo. It makes me feel, yo.

I'm pretty excited for this now. Wait - is this like the movie ones where we nominate songs here?

no Yazoo, no Erasure

hmpf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depeche_mode_discography

this is not all listed in one place but is going to be more complete than the list linked in the first post

also here are some possibly-less-obvious songs I hope people are considering because they're fantastic:

"Tora! Tora! Tora!"
"Ice Machine"
"Pipeline"
"Shame"
"Lie To Me"
"Stories Of Old"
"Here Is the House"
"World Full of Nothing"
"The Things You Said"
"To Have and to Hold"
"Sea of Sin"
"Happiest Girl"
"Higher Love"
"Useless"
"Shine"
"Freelove"
"The Sinner in Me"
"Macro"
"I Want It All"
"The Darkest Star"
"In Chains"
"Hole to Feed"
"Corrupt"

I voted for at least one of those, which is one of my all-time Depeche Mode favourites.

man, 20 songs is really too few IMO

I feel like I'm picking my favorite twenty children

"Sea of Sin"

Will be somewhere between #2-#5 on my ballot.

I think I'll have three of those. Slightly disappointed to find that I think the best tracks are mostly the singles though.

holy shit I am reminding myself of "Shake the Disease"

this is fucking impossible

Shake the disease is great.

My list prob won't have anything post 1993 or so on it.

No! They were the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world there for a bit.

At least two songs from the 00s will be on my ballot (Martyr and John the Revelator).

"In Chains" is really, really, really great, as is "The Darkest Star"

I listened to But Not Tonight so much my sophomore year in college that my then boyfriend finally asked me to layoff it for a while because he couldn't handle it anymore. It's near perfect imo. It makes me feel, yo.

YES. The segue from the verses to "I haven't felt so alliiive. In years" is my favorite in the Depeche canon.

"But Not Tonight" really is kinda the last 'light' Depeche song I can think of, IE something that captures the breezier feeling of their earliest singles. Nothing else after that is anywhere near as giddy, for lack of a better term.

"Pleasure, Little Treasure"?

gah I have 19 spots taken and 10 more songs I want to vote for

xpost -- a little too harsh lyrically, I'd say.

holy shit I am reminding myself of "Shake the Disease"

this is fucking impossible

― I need new, hip khakis (DJP), Monday, April 23, 2012 6:18 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

An easy inclusion on my ballot, that one! :D

would it be silly to vote for both "Stripped" and "Breathing In Fumes"?

Can I give all my votes to "Shake The Disease"?

The uh bit in the song that goes "you know how hard is for me to shake the disease" sends chills down my spine - Dan, is there a really obvious name for the vocal technique they employ here?

I don't know if there is a specific term for that vocal technique. Most people I know would describe that line as "flipping into head voice".

Most singers have three separate registers where they can sing; chest voice is low to medium range (think most of Dave's DM vocals), head voice is high but still full voice (think the held "yooooooooou" in "Precious"), and falsetto or whisper voice is basically half-voiced super high (the first "I know" in "In Chains"). Where those register breaks are varies from person to person; people with a higher register break between chest and head voice are considered to be tenors (men) or sopranos (women) while people with lower register breaks are baritones/basses (men) or mezzo-sopranos/altos (women). (I'm leaving out the whole thing of men singing in women's ranges as countertenors because that's confusing.) Dave Gahan is a baritone; that line is him doing a big leap up from his chest voice into his head voice, which pushes his comfortable vocal range right on the text "hard it is for me". The strain, while controlled, adds an extra emotional dimension to the delivery of the text.

the idea of even making this list is making me all sorts of O_O

Alfred gets it.

Thanks for that explanation Dan. It's absurd how little I know about singing.

my "But Not Tonight" is "Somebody"

Somebody is just a teensy bit too schmaltzy for me. That said, I still love it a lot.

(ps - it is great for the purpose you used it for tho iirc)

"But Not Tonight" really is kinda the last 'light' Depeche song I can think of, IE something that captures the breezier feeling of their earliest singles. Nothing else after that is anywhere near as giddy, for lack of a better term.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, April 23, 2012 6:32 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

When I heard 'Lilian' from Playing The Angel for the first time, it came across as poppy in a way that Depeche hadn't been for years. I always thought it could have gone on one of Depeche's earlier albums. It's certainly not as 'light' as 'But Not Tonight', though, with it's 'pain and misery' lyric and everything.

I really don't know what to do with Enjoy The Silence. I love it so dearly, it's one of the rare elite tracks I'd've'd no hesitation at calling best-tune-ever at some point in life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Q-wq_YRlM

This is just about my favourite clip ever. Dave is having such a good time! I once bought a white vest purely so I could strut about at the top of our stairs, emulating his stagecraft here. Also, I'd forgotten until tonight but when I was in charge of a society at University I designed its official letterhead round a screengrab of Dave-as-Canute from the video.

And yet ... I don't think it'd be my listen of choice today, so it wouldn't be my no.1. In which case giving it a minor placing feels so wrong. I may have to exclude it entirely and hope others pick up the slack.

surprisingly, "Enjoy The Silence" and "Personal Jesus" are not candidates for my ballot (neither are "People Are People" or "Blasphemous Rumours")

however, "The Things You Said", "World Full Of Nothing", "Shine" and "Stories of Old" are

It's not my place to tell you how to arrange your ballot, but that logic is bonkers.

eh, not really; the only one of those Big Four I would really consider is "Personal Jesus", which I'm kind of tired of

the other four, OTOH, are all personal favorites that were instant loves from the first time I heard them that I played just as often as the Big Four, only I haven't gotten tired of them

Sorry, I was referring to ismael's post.

that famous ten-minute mix of "Never Let Me Down" will make my ballot -- a better car song than "Route 66."

Sorry, I was referring to ismael's post.

oh lol

in that case: OTM, vote for your favorites IMO

ha, fair enough - bonkers logic is the lifeblood of these things imo

btw PAIN
WILL YOU RETURN IT
I WON'T SAY IT AGAIN

Dan waht? You are excluding some stone cold classics.

you're talking about a band with something like 75+ stone-cold classics!

I mean not that they'll need your vote but still.

right now I have 19 songs on my ballot:

9 from the 80s
4 from the 90s
6 from the 00s

A Broken Frame and Ultra are the only albums completely unrepresented

as long as "Pimpf" is on your ballot all's right with the world

oh dear

dammit I have to leave for work but "World Full Of Nothing" just started

er rehearsal rather

9 from the 80s
8 from the 90s
3 from the 00s

I keep forgetting Violator is 90s, not 80s; those totals seemed ridiculously unbalanced 'til I checked

... can't we just vote for 40?

Lol two of my fab DM songs are on a broken frame.

It has the best sleeve

I really only like "Shouldn't Have Done That" and "The Sun & The Rainfall" off that album but at least one of them really should be on my ballot

'Satellite' is such a beautiful little track

Satellite' is such a beautiful little track

― Ismael Klata, Monday, April 23, 2012 9:30 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Meh. It's down there as easily one of my least favourite tracks from A Broken Frame, and one of my least favourite Depeche Mode tracks full stop!

I really only like "Shouldn't Have Done That" and "The Sun & The Rainfall" off that album but at least one of them really should be on my ballot

― I need new, hip khakis (DJP), Monday, April 23, 2012 9:27 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Alan Wilder wanted Depeche Mode to do 'The Sun & The Rainfall' on the Devotional tour, but the others wouldn't go for it. I would have loved to have heard what the band would have done with the track at that point in time. One of my favourites.

My ballot goes something like:

13 from the 80s
6 from the 90s
1 from the 00s

Okay, that was long enough. Sent.

been listening/compiling chronologically, ballot is at 19 and i've only made it up to music for the masses.

If it's "The Landscape Is Changing" then I don't get you.

;_;

"Lilian" is the only post-Violator song that has any chance of making it onto my (still unfinished -- this is hard) ballot. Kudos to the people who already got their ballots sent in!

"Stories of Old" is one of the definitive Depeche songs imo. I think about that synth melody all the time.

also it doesn't get more Martin Gore than that whole "take a look at all selected cases..." soliloquy

I remember in high school being obsessed with Violator and Black Celebration, and I found a copy of A Broken Frame at the library. It pissed me the fuck off! Like I don't think I've ever been so MAD at an album. Just thinking about "My Secret Garden" would make send me into the fit of one who had been sold a bill of goods. I finally got over it this year but I had like 13 years of hate for it.

I wanted more bombast!

I love A Broken Frame. It has their best instrumental!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GztQLHanQc

I remember in high school being obsessed with Violator and Black Celebration, and I found a copy of A Broken Frame at the library. It pissed me the fuck off! Like I don't think I've ever been so MAD at an album. Just thinking about "My Secret Garden" would make send me into the fit of one who had been sold a bill of goods. I finally got over it this year but I had like 13 years of hate for it.

I wanted more bombast!

Everything about this post is OTM. I think I first heard A Broken Frame around 1988 and I stopped hating it around 2004.

full disclosure: after Violator the first thing I heard by Depeche Mode was a cassette of Catching Up With Depeche Mode (lol) and I ended up liking it/listening to it way more than Violator so I've always been more drawn to that earlier era. I may go down in history as the only person who will rep in earnest for "Flexible."

Nope, I love Flexible.

When I was younger my parents were friends with another German couple who had a daughter a couple years older than me who I thought was the coolest girl I'd ever known. She would feather my bangs (this was the 80s on Long Island) and tell me about boys. Her favorite band was Depeche Mode and her room was plastered in posters of the gang. She made me a mix tape once that had Flexible on it and I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard.

She would feather my bangs (this was the 80s on Long Island) and tell me about boys.

That's a great sentence.

my favourite DM songs really stick out in my mind as being miles better than the rest, so a good half of my ballot is going to write itself.

Can we all agree that no one should vote for "It's Called A Heart"?

There's something beating here inside my body and it's called a shart

I like "It's Called A Heart"! I don't think it's going to make my ballot, though.

optional ballot of worst dm songs would have been interesting - "it's called a heart" wouldn't have been on mine. "get right with me" would have.

listening to SoF&D hot on the heels of Violator is interesting. Some great songs but seem to be utterly lacking in the details, the technical and emotional flourishes that lift Violator to the next level.

"I Feel You" doesn't suffer from any of those problems, though

My #1 is on SOFAD.

As is mine

"Walking in My Shoes" and "Mercy in You" are damn good. I remember a couple of interesting remixes of "In Your Room." Otherwise the rap on this album – Achtung Baby manqué – is correct imo

Ouch.

Yeah, no fan of SOFAD here. I don't even like the tracks people are saying are good.

well that's on you

Some tracks are superb, most are good, but at least half are far too long.

Like Gahan's hair.

lol I was able to get down to 50 tracks; I have no idea where I'm going from here

Refraining from voting in this cuz my ballot would be half Catching Up With (an important cassette for me circa 1986), 1/4 Music for the Masses and 1/4 Violator.

lol I was able to get down to 50 tracks; I have no idea where I'm going from here

― I need new, hip khakis (DJP), Tuesday, April 24, 2012 10:31 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

don't just cut the most popular tracks or you'll get a stern lecture on the ills of 'strategic voting'

That sounds like a pretty good ballot imo. xp

Refraining from voting in this cuz my ballot would be half Catching Up With (an important cassette for me circa 1986), 1/4 Music for the Masses and 1/4 Violator.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with that (although I would recommend listening to Construction Time Again, Black Celebration, Some Great Reward, Playing The Angel and Sounds of the Universe just on general principle)

don't just cut the most popular tracks or you'll get a stern lecture on the ills of 'strategic voting'

lol, weirdly this is a band where I'm kind of burnt out on the popular tracks so me cutting them is more in the vein of "I'm tired of this song now" rather than "this song doesn't need my help so I'm voting for something more obscure"

like, the reason why "Blasphemous Rumours" is likely to not appear on my ballot isn't because I really think other songs need the exposure, it's because after playing it on repeat for five years between the ages of 14 and 19 I'm kind of sick of it and never need to hear it again

ballot sent. didn't aim for it but got a neat split of 10 from the 80s, 10 from the 90s.

holy shit you guys, "New Life"

this is fucking impossible

this craziness about some ppl's #1 DM song being on SOFAD - my world is being turned on its head. and i like that album.

holy shit you guys, "New Life"

in high school we thought we were such wits by making up lines like:

copulating
masturbating
NEW LIFE
NEW LIFE

man, I wish Dave wasn't so sharp in the beginning of "Ice Machine" because otherwise that song would be perfect

it's kind of hilarious hearing how awkward his vocals were early on compared to now, even on his rougher live outings

oh man, you know what song no one really knows but is pretty fantastic, is "Comatose":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpE1Zo6XUEE

I like it's called a heart too.

I pretty much don't like anything after SoFAD though admittedly I haven't given it much of a shot.

Ultra is kind of boring with a couple of highlights, but starting with Exciter they started becoming a consistent album band again; I like Playing The Angel more than most of their classic period albums and the good songs on Sounds of the Universe are worth discussing with their famous favorites.

For context, I'd probably rank the albums something like:

Black Celebration
Playing the Angel
Construction Time Again
Music for the Masses
Some Great Reward
Violator
Exciter
Sounds of the Universe
Songs of Faith and Devotion
Speak and Spell
Ultra
A Broken Frame

E, you need to get hepped to Playing the Angel in short order.

"Precious" might make mine – their best single since "Walking in My Shoes."

E, have you seen the "Hole To Feed" video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i0TJtnyFj0

Nobody likes Barrel of a Gun? That's an extraordinary track.

It's an extraordinary track for Ultra, IMO.

(I do like it, I just think they've done better.)

They suffered the same trouble as the Pet Shop Boys. Their deepening craft got inversely proportional to their curiosity about interesting electronic rhythm tracks.

I don't think that's true at all, actually. Sounds of the Universe alone has "Hole To Feed", "Little Soul", "Spacewalker", "Jezebel" and "Corrupt" on it, none of which are what I would consider to be standard, uninteresting electronic rhythm tracks. Playing the Angel also has a bunch of tracks that are more interesting than your standard straight unsyncopated 4/4 beat ("John the Revelator", "The Sinner in Me", "Macro", "The Darkest Star") and several of the more straightforward tracks either use nonstandard percussion sounds ("I Want It All", "Damaged People") or a lot of offbeat rhythmic flourishes ("Nothing's Impossible").

"Barrel of a Gun" seemed bizarre and unpleasant to me at the time and, revisiting it recently, only moreso now

although i heard "It's No Good" today on the local alt-rock stations '90s at noon' block and it sounded alright

"it's No Good" is so fucking AWESOME, wld fit right in on Violator IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieEZ950d1I

freeerrrrm freerrrmmm freerrrmm frerrrrm freerrrrrrm frerrrrm freerrrrrrm
frrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The rhythm track on "It's No Good" is precisely what I dislike about the song.

What do you dislike about it?

I love pretty much all their singles and at least an additional third of their album tracks. I don't know how I could do this, but then, Led Zeppelin is pretty much all albums tracks, and it turned out OK there in the end.

god I need to stop listening to these albums, it's making my ballot expand rather than shrink ("Leave In Silence"!)

What do you dislike about it?

Because it's inert, there's more pressure on the vocals, melodies, and lyrics, none of which deliver. I couldn't have asked for anything less inspiring from a college radio stalwart in 1997.

The year of Be Here Now

Because it's inert, there's more pressure on the vocals, melodies, and lyrics, none of which deliver. I couldn't have asked for anything less inspiring from a college radio stalwart in 1997.

So... the rhythm track isn't precisely what you dislike about the song; it doesn't really sound like you like any of it!

It starts with the rhythm track though. That chugga-chugga-chugga program in 1997 was lame.

DJP that video is wild. I didn't like the song.

The one Abs posted is better.

Being reminded of the greatness of "But Not Tonight" is tipping me toward putting in enough effort to compile a ballot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uolAT4HqH5c

do want to echo the praise for playing the angel above, doing a cursory review before putting together my ballot i was struck by how strong that album is, to my ears the best album they or any of their big pre-nirvana modern rock radio hitmaker peers put out this century (and i'm far from a depeche mode obsessive). to anyone that lost the plot w/ these guys around the time of songs of faith i'd highly recommend you give 'precious' a listen at the very least.

really find it hard to *love* the late period give or take 1 or 2 numbers. was an absolute nut for this band, still adore the peak but just can't get it up for much after Songs Of Faith..

i like this though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzS4HQYd5Ak

also i'm not sure where curtis came down on the remix thing (i'd just pool it all together like pazz and jopp) but just in case, the 'depeche mode' track i definitely heard out the most by far this century:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAio7VoD-e4

five years ye gods

I'm going to be lumping all mixes of the same song in together, yeah. That doesn't mean people shouldn't vote for their favorite remixes, though.

(if anyone wants to resubmit his/her ballot with changes feel free)

oh might do that eh

if you disliked the rhythm track, dunno if this would change that but it's definitely a way different take

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IccOLT7CNFo

http://youtu.be/SbIo_pOatAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLafxu8guJQ

Also screaming ministry of sound but a nice reworking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfWSBSjCKGA

oh that "Dream On" mix is GREAT, I hadn't heard it before

I like that it was remixed by "Dave Clarke"

Want to rep again for Home
THIS SHIT IS BEAUTIFULK

I think my fave album cut of theirs is NOTHING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lt4KJaYe8U

Alright, after sending in my ballot I'm gonna listen to the post Ultra albums. Not expecting great things though, I've given them all a shot at least once before (although Wrong was in with a chance of making my ballot).

oh that "Dream On" mix is GREAT, I hadn't heard it before

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP)

It was on several 'chillout' compilations back in the day. It was the highlight of many of them imho.

I like that it was remixed by "Dave Clarke"

― crüt

What? I don't get it... are you referring to other dave clarke? this is the remixer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Clarke_%28techno_DJ%29

I guess he's saying it's appropriate: DAVE Gahan + Vince CLARKE.

An underrated SOFAD tracK. "When this world is trying it's hardest to leave me unimpressed" is such a classic Gore line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOfuB3e5rR4

yep, love that one. altho not enough for it to appear on my ballot.

These kind of ballot wars really make me...not question my own fandom, but wonder if I'm somehow off kilter for loving every album for its various strengths, and never thinking they've made a bad album.

I don't think they've made a bad album. I just personally can't get into their post-Violator effort as much as their earlier albums. I think the thing you touched on upthread about "But Not Tonight" being their last upbeat song has something to do with it.

I also don't think there's such a thing as being an "off kilter" fan - everyone likes different combinations of things.

see: Dan putting A Broken Frame at the bottom of his albums list whereas I'd list it at #2 or #3

"Upbeat" isn't an adjective that comes to mind when I think of Depeche Mode, tbh; I think The Cure is more reliable upbeat and chipper than they are. (This probably goes a long way towards explaining why DM's early twee side grates on me so much.)

the sinister edge is what seems to be missing from their later albums, for me - plus the interesting electronic details as noted by alfred upthread. something like 'sister of night' i just find really wimpy, and they continued moving in that direction.

Re that early twee side, is there another major band with their trajectory, where they really found their identity only after the original songwriter left?

the sinister edge is what seems to be missing from their later albums, for me

This makes zero sense to me; I think the one constant of Depeche Mode albums since Construction Time Again is an overabundance of sinister edge! (In fact, that's one of the things that makes Playing the Angel so great.)

I don't see Vince Clarke-era Depeche Mode any "less" Depeche Mode than what came afterwards, to be honest. It all very much sounds like Depeche Mode music to me, even if their gradual evolution into what most people would call the 'typical Depeche Mode style' is very apparent from album to album.

xp that's on the playlist for tomorrow; surface impression of 'sounds of the universe' today was that it was definitely lacking in edge. could be it's mostly the electronic depth i'm missing tho. all the songs on violator sound like incredible machines, the thrill i get listening to them is not dissimilar to what i get reading sci-fi. everything after that, even if they're good songs, they just sound like regular old songs. i could imagine any band performing them, any band having written them even.

To me, the difference between the later albums and the earlier albums is that on those later albums Depeche Mode have more of an idea of who they are and what they do. They're aware that they've forged a 'Depeche Mode style', and they make their music with that kind of thinking in mind. Whereas on the albums from when Gore took over as songwriter on A Broken Frame up until Violator, they seemed to have less of idea, and it made the results more interesting. Songs Of Faith And Devotion, I guess was an attempt to consciously try and do something different, but since Alan Wilder's departure they've been quite content to make what I'd call 'typical Depeche Mode music'. There's some great songs on Ultra, Playing The Angel and Sounds Of The Universe (I find Exciter very bland), but they seem to have settled into a groove of making music that is more reminiscent of their Violator era, while in places retaining some of the grit of Songs Of Faith And Devotion... and of course, the usual lyrical crutches: sin, suffering, pain, misery, devotion, God, religion, knees...

Then there's this video from 2009, not sinister at all! (Granted, video != song necessarily but come on.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvfcnpJRf0Q

xpost:

In other words, they know what works, and they're not as big on fucking with the formula to the same degree as what they used to. A lot was made of Dave Gahan making contributions to the songwriting on Playing The Angel and Sounds Of The Universe, but because Dave himself has been in Depeche Mode since the beginning, it's pretty inevitable that he's going to be heavily influenced by Martin's songs, and it doesn't really offer that much of a 'new' dimension to Depeche Mode albums. 'Suffer Well' especially sounds like a typical Depeche track.

I don't see Vince Clarke-era Depeche Mode any "less" Depeche Mode than what came afterwards, to be honest.

I love the Vince Clarke singles, myself. It's just an interesting thing to me, that the guy who wrote like 90 percent of the material leaves, and that opens space for the band to become this whole other thing.

I honestly don't see how you can't be overwhelmed the relentless sci-fi machinism of stuff like "In Chains", "Hole To Feed", "Wrong" and "Corrupt"

Our friend comes as close as anyone to explaining what happens to bands at a certain age.

I love the Vince Clarke singles, myself. It's just an interesting thing to me, that the guy who wrote like 90 percent of the material leaves, and that opens space for the band to become this whole other thing.

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, April 25, 2012 3:28 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I know what you mean. But what's interesting to me about Vince leaving the band, and knowing what Depeche Mode would turn into, is that the evolution was still quite gradual. You'd think there's be a massive leap between Speak & Spell and A Broken Frame, and there isn't really. That's not to say there aren't noticeable changes, because there are, but it's not like they went from, say, 'Just Can't Get Enough' directly into 'Blasphemous Rumours', y'know? It's like they had to get stuff like 'A Photograph Of You', 'The Meaning Of Love' etc. out of their system first. And not to mention the lyrical content of Construction Time Again, which is a side of Martin's songwriting that he hasn't really touched upon since.

The main band that comes to mind with regards to different songwriters and different periods of success is Fleetwood Mac, who were very successful in the UK in their Peter Green incarnation, then had a period of transition, and then became this whole other thing with Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks while also managing to be even more successful than they had been beforehand, and on a worldwide scale.

xxp idk it just sounds like a pale echo of violator machinism to me? i can't really pin down in words or thoughts even exactly what it is i think they've lost (yeah maybe nabisco manages it in that review) but i guess i could be glad that other people think they still have it :)

the 'wrong' vid is indeed amazing and it's one of the few later tracks that still have something of that edge. imo.

Genesis or Pink Floyd, maybe? Seems like the sort of element that really enhances these polls, actually.

Yeah, Pink Floyd is another good example. I don't think it's as extreme a change as Fleetwood Mac going from a UK blues band to morphing into Californian soft-rock titans, but it's still a very good example.

New Order too.

Nabisco's piece there is terrific. These polls have been great for encouraging me to discover bands' later stuff. It's nearly all surprisingly good, but definitely all 'suffers' from what he's identified, that there's lots to admire but what you really love are the big hooks and poses from your and their youth ... and who's got the time to admire pop music anyway?

Paul Simon's the exception, actually - he's as loveable as he ever was. Possibly because the hooks and the poses were never the whole point - it was always the words, and they're as great as always. I guess it's easier to find a fresh perspective in words than in music.

It's nearly all surprisingly good, but definitely all 'suffers' from what he's identified, that there's lots to admire but what you really love are the big hooks and poses from your and their youth ... and who's got the time to admire pop music anyway?

... People who actually like music?

That's the point though isn't it? These bands already have their fans, and might attract ILM types I guess, but they're unlikely to blow up among the general public thirty years into their career.

Except the ILM audience, based on feedback I'm reading in this thread, is rejecting their newer output on grounds of it not being shiny and new enough, almost in spite of how shiny and new their more recent output may actually be.

late period Mode really *plods* IMO. there's not much snappiness, vigour, pep, whatever. it all just sorta.. goes on a bit. i guess one exception is
I Feel Loved. i wish there was a load more of that.

Meantime, there is going to be a new album and the official website released this clip today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sFr8EVxNV3w

^^cool! Saw the band live for the first time at the end of Tour of the Universe in Düsseldorf. They're so great live. Played a couple of albums (don't have/know all of them) during last week's commute, Playing the Angel has a career highlight in the form of "Precious", what a transcending couple of minutes. Great remixes, too: the aforementioned Villalobos remix, Michael Mayer's Balearic remix of "Precious", Robag Wruhme's "Lilian".

late period Mode really *plods* IMO.

yeah, this is my big problem. the rhythm tracks lost their punchiness; the melodies lost their playfulness and emotion.

Voted

jesus that was impossible; voted

for those curious, here are the ten tracks that ended up at 21-30, just missing my ballot:

Here Is The House
The Things You Said
Wrong
Policy of Truth
And Then...
New Life
Everything Counts
Dream On
Something To Do
The Sun and the Rainfall

four of those are in my 21-30 too, tough luck lads

Doing my ballad right now - three of those are going to be in it

well, I just knew I was voting for at least three of those when I was making my shortlist, and then I started ranking songs and they kept sinking down and down and I was all "nooooooooo but I love that song I wanna vote for it"

I almost submitted a 50 song ballot because there were 50 songs I could have easily voted for; culling was torture

I just voted. Half my ballot ended up being Music for the Masses + Violator era stuff, despite me enjoying pretty much all of their albums.

so i have my 20 songs, just need to put them in order. surprised at how many singles i selected.

i also have a great Depeche Mode story, will try to get dates and post in the roll out thread.

Not a huge DM fan but I love Violator, Music for the Masses plus bits and bobs of the earlier stuff - managed to put together a 20 I'm happy with, hoping the results might point me towards some songs I might have missed.

OK so I did vote. This poll was fun because in actually thinking about DM, I realized how much of their stuff I like and how much I had absorbed over the years without really noticing. My ballot is very heavy on singles, but across a wider span than I first thought.

Also crüt will be happy because "Flexible" is on there.

(I love the almost-country-western vibe of "Flexible," like Martin Gore had a Wall of Voodoo tape in his car or something. Also somewhat prefigures "Personal Jesus," imo.)

if we'd had 50 song ballots, "Flexible" would have been on mine at 40

i've said this before, but i really think that these polls for really long-running and/or prolific acts should allow for more than 20 songs per ballot -- i did 40 for the Timbaland poll and will prob do at least that many for Jay-Z.

even if 25 became the standard low end of the spectrum i think that'd be an improvement.

If/when we actually get to my Dylan poll, I'm definitely allowing at least 40. Maybe 50.

Going to do a ballot this weekend. I've been listening to DM on Spotify all week and it's very gratifying how many friends have been making comments about loving them.

xp crüüüüüüüüüüüttt...

Ballot sent. It looks a bit weird to me: the tracks I assumed would be right at the top ended up in the lower reaches of the top ten.

Just to be clear before sending my ballot...one Gore solo and one Gahan solo track are okay, right? I mean, they probably won't make the results anyway, but I can't not vote for them.

Oh if had included their solo stuff I still wouldn't have a ballot

I sent it. Treat it kindly, crüt.

one of the things i love about ilm is seeing a poll like this pop up of a band i never really thought twice about since 1983, reading posts and becoming interested, acquiring copies of random albums (black celebration, a broken frame) and finding out i was wrong. really liking the synth programming and drum sounds in particular....and looking forward to some results

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpR_JeeYuAk

get those ballots in!

i have 20 songs. just ordering them and will send them across shortly.

I'm extending the deadline to Wednesday evening at 11:59:59 PM EST.

aw

was really hoping the results would roll out this week

jesus that was impossible; voted

for those curious, here are the ten tracks that ended up at 21-30, just missing my ballot:

Here Is The House
The Things You Said
Wrong
Policy of Truth
And Then...
New Life
Everything Counts
Dream On
Something To Do
The Sun and the Rainfall

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Thursday, April 26, 2012 9:10 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Some excellent tracks there.... some of which may or may not have appeared on my ballot!

sent!

thanks for the extension

I voted for three of the tracks DJP couldn't fit on his ballot.

three of djp's cuts are in my top 6

man I want to sock the hell out of this poll, just because the process of going through all of those songs was so fun

also I managed to start liking Ultra again

Ultra has some of my favourite Dave Gahan vocal performances on it. Even though he was obviously in bad health at the time and it was affecting his voice, the production team really helped Dave pull some great vocal tracks out of the bag on that. Marvellously, the record sounds as if Dave is at his vocal peak, even though the reality of it is that he was at his lowest and the vocals were heavily comp'd.

'The Love Thieves', for example. I've never really rated it as a song, but I remember listening to it for the first time and being blown away by the singing.

I get what you're saying but I really think he's been on an upward trajectory since then (esp. when you look at songs like "Precious" and "In Chains", the latter especially as I think that's the greatest thing he's sung post-"Strangelove")

I'd agree that 'Precious' isn't a bad vocal. On the whole though, I've noticed that Dave generally seems to do this croaky thing at the beginning of every lyric these days, which drives me crazy! It seems to be a bit of a vocal trait of his on the last couple of albums especially, I never really noticed it too much before.

This still gives me the giggles...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIE7HKE8WsM

Can I rep for this weird, dirgey Gore-sung Enjoy The Silence?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_5hX_mnWd8

Yeah, that was a recording based on his original demo -- came out as a B-side on the single release.

Voted. Ta for the extension.

everybody get your ballots in by tonight!!

I will! Doing mine at work this morning. :)

Sent. No deep cuts. All singles (I think) Nothing after 1993, lol.

I'll be interested to see how many post-93 tracks do well. Pretty much all these polls overlook later albums.

pretty much no poll with 20 songs or fewer per ballot will ever find room for post-peak period material (sorry, beating a dead horse, but i really think that's what happens)

^^^ OTM

If we ever do a New Order poll I wonder how many participants would consider "Regret" or "Crystal" post-peak.

i certainly would.

Even extending the ballot probably wouldn't help much. Extending the countdown might help a bit - but probably only an e.g. 'Rolling Stones 1980-present' poll would solve it, and who bar me would want to vote in that?

Alfred would have been all over that one.

like cream cheese on a bagel

i always find it interesting to see where the "peak" tracks pop up in relation to themselves. you always know they're coming, but there's the occasional curveball as to when exactly.

some bands have post-peak songs that there's a pretty strong consensus around -- "Beautiful Day" did well in the U2 poll, "Eminence Front" will probably do well in the Who poll. i don't know if the Stones or Depeche or a lot of other long-running acts have a song like that.

is "Start Me Up" post-peak? I'd say it isn't.

Tattoo You isn't necessarily considered part of their peak period, but when people talk about the point after which there's not much consensus they generally say "post-Tattoo You"

Sure. I've also heard "post-Some Girls" just as often. I'd say Bowie has the same trouble: "post-Scary Monsters" or "post-Let's Dance."

Post-first-crappy-demo Bon Jovi. Actually make that post-founding-of-band Bon Jovi...

Maybe it's a shortage of standout tracks - Depeche and Bowie have made solid albums past their peak but they don't feature big consensus singles.

I expect "Precious" and "Wrong" to do well on this poll, with at least one of them cracking the top 20

Post-first-crappy-demo Bon Jovi. Actually make that post-founding-of-band Bon Jovi...

Ned Raggett, bad medicine is what you need

I've done my part to ensure "Precious" does well.

xpost -- I have this image of being interrogated by the ghost of Sam Kinison holding a crappy 8mm camera...

I think Precious is a big contender - that was my only post-93 pick. It's also one of their few attempts at going outside their guilt/pain comfort zone and addressing genuinely adult emotion. My major issue with their later albums isn't the music so much as the lyrical tail-chasing.

Sent. No deep cuts. All singles (I think) Nothing after 1993, lol.

― pandemic, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 7:39 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They're a great singles band!! I have nothing after 1993 either and for very good reason.

Also mine will look similar. I think I may have two songs that weren't singles. Maybe.

ok barely on this site these days but I bookmarked this thread thinking I'd somehow find time to put together a ballot & missed the deadline but if it's still open maybe I can fling one together today. I just wanted enough time to listen through the oeuvre but I know what I like already (i.e. Music for the Masses b-sides) & it won't take long I suppose.

My major issue with their later albums isn't the music so much as the lyrical tail-chasing.

I don't really see their later lyrics as being demonstrably worse as their earlier lyrics.

I mean, we're talking about a band who, in the smack middle of their artistic peak, released a single that opens with the lyric "There's something beating here inside my body and it's called a heart"

that's not a bad lyric in itself

I voted for at least five post-93 tracks

well then how about "I take pictures/Photographic pictures"?

Even allowing for the fact that most lyrics scan as dumb when you remove them from the context of the song, Depeche Mode still has some remarkably stupid ones scattered all throughout their career. I still love the band, but come on.

oh they're totally dumb. the "photographic" lyric is a better example.

Oh yeah, of course they were often dumb but they were dumb in lots of different directions. The range of themes on Construction through Masses is impressive, even when they got it catastrophically wrong. The later lyrics are oppressively competent, dwelling on the same basket of themes. Before Violator DM felt like a band trying to work out what they were doing, experimenting furiously en route. After Violator they felt like they'd decided on their sound and themes and have spent the last 20 years gently tweaking them - a rockier one, a quieter one, a darker one. SOFAD was the last significant development in their sound and songwriting imo, much though I enjoy parts of the subsequent albums.

ok threw one together, fuck yeah "Stjarna"

What is the stupidest Depeche Mode song?

i voted!

Sent!

CRUTIS I just sent to your hotmail!!!

Errr I mean gmail.

Oh and the poll-specific one I now see we were meant to send to in the first place.

If we ever do a New Order poll I wonder how many participants would consider "Regret" or "Crystal" post-peak.

i'm set up to do New Order poll at number 37

VOTED

poll is closed. will try to get results thread started by Thursday afternoon.