Reading Khayem's post today on the always-excellent Dubhed, regarding The Anchoress's cover of Enjoy The Silence, it suddenly occurred to me that I had somehow omitted a very important album from the EHSHO masterlist. Specifically, Depeche Mode's 1990 high watermark, Violator.
Since Khayem has already featured Silence, here's another example of what makes this album so bloody good.
And to prove that it's the very definition of all killer, no filler, here's another track from Violator but this time one that wasn't also a top twenty hit in the singles chart. Sweetest Perfection is, on the face of it, all about a doomed love for the perfect (but wrong) woman ... but is really bleaker still, a doomed love for a darker but equally addicting drug. It's all persistent minor chords, hammer-blow drums and jagged industrial synth noises - the brightly-suited, fresh-faced Basildon boys of Just Can't Get Enough are a distant memory.
I played Violator to death in the early 90s. I think it is Depeche Mode's best album, and thoroughly deserves its place in every home.
For completeness, you can find the Every Home Should Have One masterlist here. 
'Personal Jesus' is such a corker, I'm not sure I really appreciated it at the time. I don't own a single thing by Depeche Mode but perhaps I should rectify that; a quick run through my mind of all the tracks I like by them (and that's just the ones I currently know) could certainly make enough for a decent sized comp anyway!
ReplyDeleteNot a single thing? Violator is definitely the place to start, in my view. Am also now wondering whether there has been a DM ICA over at The Vinyl Villain...
DeleteOoh, good idea - you should do one if you have chance (even if there's one already, it could be quite different.)
DeleteOr you should...?
DeleteI'm really not qualified on this occasion, but you are!
DeleteWe opened our 2022 Vinyl Sessions series with Violator. A 5* album and no mistake.
ReplyDeletePersonal Jesus is one of many standout tracks, for sure; also covered by acts as diverse as Johnny Cash and Def Leppard.
I never tire of this record. It reminds me of better times.
JM
And doesn't sound 33yrs old either, does it? Has aged really well.
DeleteThanks for the kind words and link, Martin, right back at you! I was one of those Depeche Mode fans who loved (& bought) their singles but was less impressed by the albums. Black Celebration was the one that changed things for me but Violator was the one that my friend - a fervent U2 fan - bought, which I think illustrates the next level crossover appeal DM ascended to. Music For The Masses is another high water mark for me.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the next level crossover - big tunes, big videos, big stadia... And you're so right about Music For The Masses.
DeleteSuperb album,superb songs. A stand out for me is Policy of Truth. Saw them circa 1993 in Arras,France at an outdoor gig in the main square-amazing gig I'll always remember. A band I too often overlook nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a top gig, mate.
Delete