Does anyone here like Depeche Mode?

No

Originally posted by John Simmons No

Wow, deep!

Also, many of you claim that DM are a throwaway 80s pop act that are well past it. A lot of people, not me however, certainly say the same about NO.

Originally posted by pumped full of drugs i always thought Depeche Mode was kinda a joke that you shouldn't take seriously... pretentious cliches that gave electronic music a bad name, very superficial, and an insult to compare them to Joy Division and New Order. i always associate Depeche Mode with the posers, people not really all that much into music... saying that they liked Depeche Mode was just sort of like a fashion accessory for the club crowd before the rave and house scene really kicked in... at least in the USA. i always associate DM with the so-called "fag hag" crowd, the homely girls who hung out and went out with the more extreme gay guys, and always were so proud to tell everybody how cool and edgy and arty they were cause they liked Depeche Mode. you go girl!yeah... i'm harsh... honestly...i really don't feel much nostalgia at all for much of their stuff... i dunno... Never Let Me Down was kinda good i guess... Strangelove had a nice remix even if it was stupid song... Black Celebration was the only record that came close to sounding like a band album to me... Enjoy the Silence... bleh... my own personal jesus was nicely produced i guess...i'd just as soon hear the Safety dance and You Spin me around like a record baby again thou...

.... Aren't you mistaking them with Duran Duran???

Originally posted by Ben Aspinall Also, many of you claim that DM are a throwaway 80s pop act that are well past it. A lot of people, not me however, certainly say the same about NO.

Have to disagree with you there, Ben - DM draw this criticism because of their pretentious, Bono-like posturing live and in videos, something that NO are the antithesis of. Barn and co. don't whip crowds into a frenzy with showmanship and cliche-riddled 'lead singer' performances - they play their music and fall over occasionally. If DM were as music-focussed as NO, then the comparison would carry weight, but as it stands it's an utterly ridiculous comparison. These people you speak of saying this "throwaway 80s pop" comment about NO (not ever heard that comment myself) would do well to remove their heads from their arses. Better still, give them all 'Substance' or 'International' for Christmas. CTB

I used to like DM and have both their singles collection CDs but as has been said, I believe they peaked with Violator (the only DM album I've bought)

Enjoy the Silence is one of my all time fave songs. Maybe cos it sounds like they had Hooky guesting ;)

Originally posted by pumped full of drugs i always thought Depeche Mode was kinda a joke that you shouldn't take seriously... pretentious cliches that gave electronic music a bad name, very superficial, and an insult to compare them to Joy Division and New Order. i always associate Depeche Mode with the posers, people not really all that much into music... saying that they liked Depeche Mode was just sort of like a fashion accessory for the club crowd before the rave and house scene really kicked in... at least in the USA. i always associate DM with the so-called "fag hag" crowd, the homely girls who hung out and went out with the more extreme gay guys, and always were so proud to tell everybody how cool and edgy and arty they were cause they liked Depeche Mode. you go girl!yeah... i'm harsh... honestly...i really don't feel much nostalgia at all for much of their stuff... i dunno... Never Let Me Down was kinda good i guess... Strangelove had a nice remix even if it was stupid song... Black Celebration was the only record that came close to sounding like a band album to me... Enjoy the Silence... bleh... my own personal jesus was nicely produced i guess...i'd just as soon hear the Safety dance and You Spin me around like a record baby again thou...

Honestly, I was about 14 when I got into DM. At the time, it was the mid 90's and everyone I knew was into Green Day or anyother wannabe punk band out there. I was barely getting into the electronic pop type music, and I saw a video on VH1 for "Personal Jesus" and thought it was great. I know that the whole "retro" 80's pop thing is beginning trendy now, in fact, take a look at all the goth and emo kids that act like they are rock snobs that adore Joy Division... but it wasn't that way in the mid 90's. Everything had to be punk, metal, or rap to be "cool". If liking pop music makes me a "poser", whatever. I was never trying to be cool back then. I just wanted to find music that I enjoyed.

Nope, Depeche Mode are shite, pure and simple. The only New Order fans I've ever encountered who rate DM are all North Americans.

It's a totally different mindset over here. The type of fans the Order attract in the UK just aint into that pretentious bollocks. I'm still totally baffled as to why our friends accross the Atlantic seem to lump them together (sometimes along with Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys which is even more fucking worrrying!!!)

I've asked why this is the case on these very pages a few months ago. Still didn't get a satisfactory answer....

Originally posted by Grahame Ferguson Nope, Depeche Mode are shite, pure and simple. The only New Order fans I've ever encountered who rate DM are all North Americans.It's a totally different mindset over here. The type of fans the Order attract in the UK just aint into that pretentious bollocks. I'm still totally baffled as to why our friends accross the Atlantic seem to lump them together (sometimes along with Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys which is even more fucking worrrying!!!)I've asked why this is the case on these very pages a few months ago. Still didn't get a satisfactory answer....

yeah, if said you like New Order in the USA early-mid90s it would be assumed by many that you must LOVE Depeche Mode.

about 1983-86, if you said that you liked New Order, people assumed that you loved suicide music, maybe even were "goth". (well, maybe Gillian's makeup was)

in the USA about 1990 New Order was lumped together (and often considered an inferior imitation) with Depeche Mode, Erasure, and the Pet Shop boys by lot of people who didn't really know much about New Order except a few dancefloor singles or anything about Joy Division. and then Electronic came out and the first single and album was marketed as a Marr/Tennant collab. with also one of the guys from the english synth-pop band New Order filling out the line-up... so a lot of people thought of New Order as a second rate Pet Shop boys then. by the mid 90s New Order's indie/alternative creds were pretty low in the USA, often just dismissed as that pre-house rave jungle stuff, lumped in with Depeche Mode, as a "follower" (ugh). you can tell that the US record companies have not exactly been excited about releasing New Order related stuff since the mid90s.

Originally posted by pumped full of drugs i always thought Depeche Mode was kinda a joke that you shouldn't take seriously... pretentious cliches that gave electronic music a bad name, very superficial, and an insult to compare them to Joy Division and New Order.

i always associate Depeche Mode with the posers, people not really all that much into music... saying that they liked Depeche Mode was just sort of like a fashion accessory for the club crowd before the rave and house scene really kicked in... at least in the USA. i always associate DM with the so-called "fag hag" crowd, the homely girls who hung out and went out with the more extreme gay guys, and always were so proud to tell everybody how cool and edgy and arty they were cause they liked Depeche Mode. you go girl! b]

Odd, I've never thought of DM in that way at all. I find it almost impossible to concieve of anyone saying they like DM in order to appear 'cool and edgy'. People wanting to appear cool and edgy generally name-drop totally obscure acts ('you won't have heard of them'), not the kind likely to appear on next week's Top of the Pops.

Its pop music for Crissakes, you know, for kids. Good pop music, IMO, but neither 'cool' nor claiming to be so. 'Pretentious' isn't a word I would have associated with them. 'Lightweight' and 'sugary' maybe, but not pretentious.

Originally posted by 404 error

Odd, I've never thought of DM in that way at all. I find it almost impossible to concieve of anyone saying they like DM in order to appear 'cool and edgy'. People wanting to appear cool and edgy generally name-drop totally obscure acts ('you won't have heard of them'), not the kind likely to appear on next week's Top of the Pops.

well, i didn't say they were smart, i said that they were posers... that is the absurdity of it... they had no idea what 98% of the stuff played in clubs was, they just had mostly heard of Depeche Mode.

I think DM are perceived very differently in different parts of the world. In the UK they are a synth pop band who have tried to live down their embarrassing past and are now largely irrelevant. In mainland Europe they are a very cool band who have a very loyal and fanatical following who take what the band do very seriously. In the US they are a stadium band who write and perform rock songs most of which happened to be played on synths. However, what Depeche Mode really ought to be remembered for is Martin Gore's excellent song-writing: his best songs (such as "Walking In My Shoes", "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy The Silence", "Master And Servant" and "People Are People") are on a par with those written by much more famous songwriters.

Originally posted by Fingers I think DM are perceived very differently in different parts of the world. In the UK they are a synth pop band who have tried to live down their embarrassing past and are now largely irrelevant. In mainland Europe they are a very cool band who have a very loyal and fanatical following who take what the band do very seriously. In the US they are a stadium band who write and perform rock songs most of which happened to be played on synths. However, what Depeche Mode really ought to be remembered for is Martin Gore's excellent song-writing: his best songs (such as "Walking In My Shoes", "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy The Silence", "Master And Servant" and "People Are People") are on a par with those written by much more famous songwriters.

Very good points there fingers, I enjoy DM just as a singles band (don't own any of their albums). It still is kind of mind boggling that they actually had a concert in the freakin'Rose Bowl, a testament to how popular they were back then in the 80s.

People are People is one of Martin's best songs? It's a lyrical nightmare, musically, meh, it's alright, but the lyrics are horrible.

DM's best lyrics are probably on SOFAD and Ultra.

Originally posted by Grahame Ferguson Nope, Depeche Mode are shite, pure and simple. The only New Order fans I've ever encountered who rate DM are all North Americans.It's a totally different mindset over here. The type of fans the Order attract in the UK just aint into that pretentious bollocks. I'm still totally baffled as to why our friends accross the Atlantic seem to lump them together (sometimes along with Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys which is even more fucking worrrying!!!)I've asked why this is the case on these very pages a few months ago. Still didn't get a satisfactory answer....

Well... I do like DM (it's my former fave band :D), NO is my fave band, but they're completely different in my opinion. Never would I compare them: not the same kind of music, not the same attitude. But I think they're both very good in their own styles.

Originally posted by Ben Aspinall People are People is one of Martin's best songs? It's a lyrical nightmare, musically, meh, it's alright, but the lyrics are horrible.DM's best lyrics are probably on SOFAD and Ultra.

Well, I think it's one of his best songs, primarily for its music but also for its lyrics which not only fit in with the feel of the music extremely well but express a complex idea in simple language that most people will understand. That song probably achieved more than most articles written in broadsheet newspapers, speeches given by politicians or debate programmes on TV and radio.

Originally posted by pumped full of drugs i always thought Depeche Mode was kinda a joke that you shouldn't take seriously... pretentious cliches that gave electronic music a bad name, very superficial, and an insult to compare them to Joy Division and New Order.

Couldn't agree more, well said!

Totally up their own a*ses! Puts me right off the sub-standard wish-wash music they produce.

Originally posted by Fingers > Originally posted by Ben Aspinall> People are People is one of Martin's best songs? It's a lyrical nightmare, musically, meh, it's alright, but the lyrics are horrible.> > DM's best lyrics are probably on SOFAD and Ultra.

Well, I think it's one of his best songs, primarily for its music but also for its lyrics which not only fit in with the feel of the music extremely well but express a complex idea in simple language that most people will understand. That song probably achieved more than most articles written in broadsheet newspapers, speeches given by politicians or debate programmes on TV and radio.

Hmmm, yes its up there with Culture Club's 'the war song'.

Exactly 404, it's a horrible, embarrassing song. "Judas" probably has the deepest DM message, I dunno, I'd have to think about it for a bit to think of a detailed answer.

I like them. I'm not going to list reasons/albums/songs here because this is not a Depeche Mode forum.

I disagree with those that lump them in with New Order here in the US (a product of Warner Bros. marketing them to the same audience) but I also disagree with those that dismiss them for not being comparable to New Order.

I happen to like many bands (too numerous to mention here) that sound nothing like New Order.

In terms of good "typical" songs by DM on their early (US) releases:

1. Speak & Spell (remastered version) New Life, I Sometime Wish I Was Dead, Just Can't Get Enough, Dreaming of Me, Shout

2. Broken Frame Leave in Silence, See You

3. Construction Time Again Everything Counts, Told You So

4. Some Great Reward People are People, Master and Servant, Blasphemous Rumours

Note that some singles like "Get the Balance Right" were never released on albums (not even on the US version).

I have read that DM in general had a small fan following up until "Music For the Masses" when their sound began to draw a mainstream appeal. We are well to consider that their existence to US audiences was not heralded until "People are People" hit the radio in 1984 (1983?). This might account for some differences in perception across the atlantic.

As far as my personal tastes, I never warmed to their mid-later stuff; for every good track on Violator, Black Celebration, and MFTM, there was at least 1.5 bad. As a previous poster noted, they have never produced a consistently solid album. I personally prefer the overall feel of the earlier stuff - perhaps because it is more "techno-pop" oriented. In many ways they were the most successful European group to advance the Kraftwerk sound (after Gary Numan opened it all up). In Asia, the Yellow Magic Orchestra's contribution (and parallel invention) of techno-pop can not be underestimated. Their music bridged Kraftwerk and managed to invent 80's J-POP (all in 6 years time)! DM should be envious of both their commercial success, and their (consistent) quality catalogue.

Originally posted by 404 error > Originally posted by Fingers> > > > Originally posted by Ben Aspinall> > People are People is one of Martin's best songs? It's a lyrical nightmare, musically, meh, it's alright, but the lyrics are horrible.> > > > DM's best lyrics are probably on SOFAD and Ultra.>

Well, I think it's one of his best songs, primarily for its music but also for its lyrics which not only fit in with the feel of the music extremely well but express a complex idea in simple language that most people will understand. That song probably achieved more than most articles written in broadsheet newspapers, speeches given by politicians or debate programmes on TV and radio.

Hmmm, yes its up there with Culture Club's 'the war song'.

No, if it was up there with Culture Club's "The War Song" it would have been called "The Racist Song" and have included lines like "Key there kids, racism's wrong/That's what we're telling you in this song".

Depeche Mode have always divided opinion havent they? I have two of their albums - Violator, and Songs of Faith and Devotion. Having only familiarised myself with these two, I can't think of two more different sounding records by the band! One is electronic and very minimal (and I think it's pretty good), whilst the other is their take on stadium rock - with all the trimmings if you like.

I remember this was the time when the band - especially singer Dave - started going mad with their drug phase - and I recall him being annoyed when Kurt Cobain killed himself (didn't he say something like: "I was really pissed off - cos I really wanted to be the guy who did that" - tragic figure of fun or what?...)

Haven't bothered with their albums after that, but like I said, the two I did get hold of I think are pretty good. Never seen them live though.

Violator. Music for the Masses is also tops.

i like themm a lot, but less so then in the past...New Dress is one of their best songs, Violator an excellent album

Originally posted by Alberto Timmy DM is my favourite band, I recommend you "Black Celebration", I think it's their better album. I like every album except the first (Speak & Spell), it's composed almost completely by D. Clarke, who then left (thanks God). If you want to start to know them, get "The singles 86-98", but I recommend you every disc except the first and the last, "Exciter" (it's very good, but not as good as the others). Listen also to "Recoil" - it's the solo project of A. Wilder.

It's not D. Clarke but V. Clarke (Vince). But the singer is D. Gahan (Dave).

i just picked up the 86-98+ double dvd pack. fun stuff to watch though i'm pretty sure its missing a couple of videos and it doesnt have anything from Exciter :|

It's normal ! this dvd is called the videos from 86 to 98. Exciter was released in 2001.