Some Great Reward and Masses were my favorites, but Violator is the one DM record EVERYONE can agree on, and as you stated rightly so. It really a great cumulation of all their prior styles through the peak of their songwriting craft. And as tired as it sounds, with the tracks flowing together it was like a Dark Side of the Moon for the 90s generation. I remember my playing Masses on tape in the car, and my hard rocking cousin who worked in a quarry in Indiana wanted to hear Personal Jesus thinking it was on the record - point being Violator was everywhere! Clean, Sweetest Perfection and Waiting for the Night to Fall were my favorites from this, but it’s a solid listen all the way through.
Great review. I fully agree that Violator is their best album. And it is very true what you say about the fact that it is the entire proposal (b-sides, remixes, etc.) that makes Violator a great experience. I was 16 when it came out. I still remember listening to "Waiting for the night" late at night when everyone was sleeping and there was an immense silence in the house. Incredible times. Favorite song at that time? Maybe "Halo." Now it would be "Clean". And "Sea of sin" my fav b-side. But... if I have to choose a DM album it would be MFTM. Maybe because it was the first album I heard from them, maybe because of its connection with 101, maybe because of its epic sound, etc, but it is the album that represents me the most.
We're of the same ilk...I was a senior in high school in 1990...the best time for music period...I think 101 and Disintegration came out close to each other as well...so I was still trying to get my head around both of those albums when Personal Jesus dropped in the fall. We saw them three nights in a row on that tour...I was at the Shoreline show...July 20th and 21st...and then in Sacramento on July 22nd....er...34 years ago today..... great times...
@@occasionalfeelgood23 Absolutely, still one of my favorite moments. Nitzer Ebb supported them throughout the tour. Electronic opened for them at the Dodgers Stadium shows. I may be mistaken, but for the New York show at Giant's stadium, it was The Jesus and Mary Chain and Front242 also played that bill.
Violator is number one in my entire life. Magic music. And since we are almost peers, it was incredibly interesting to get your own experience. Behind the iron curtain we were unable to access DM, and when I heard Violator at first time, I didn't even know what is it. But unfortunately, I can't reproduce that moment anymore. Miracle already happened :) Thanks for your channel (I hate "content" word)
Back then in 1990 in USSR we were lucky enough to have one man in a central mall who was selling tapes recorded from CDs he bought in Japan. He was (maybe) lazy to handwrite names of the all singles he had, but after "Violator" all the singles were sold under labels "1990-2" (because Violator was "1990-1" ;)), "1991-1" and so on. That's why all 29 remixes are familiar to me. Uno-Zwei-Trois-Four-...-Oziem were available also. We did not understand much about "singles" thus every record for us was an album, especially if it was on a whole side of tape. It was magic time: end of school & DM : ) Fav track - "Blue Dress", favorite album - SOFAD, Wilder made a masterpiece I can compare only with "06210311" in the sense of sound fabric or sound weaving ; )
Really enjoyed this talk - It was also a great time for me music wise 1990. I must be around the same age as you :) Violator is my favourite DM album - also agree, the singles and limited 12" singles from this album were quality!
you're right on 1990 , i was 9 in 1990 and music was going in crazy directions !! Even commercially .. but looking back as an adult that whole year was wild ... i'd say 1988-1994 might have been the best years of music as a whole, quality wise !!!
Hello again, Personally i like nearly all of D.M albums but my favourite three are MUSIC FOR THE MASSES , VIOLATOR , SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION. I think i`m probably a few years older than you so i started buying D.M 12" singles and albums when they were originally released. Over here in England right from the beginning their singles charted so you would often hear them on national radio and T.V. I can`t really choose between the three above mentioned albums which is my favourite because MUSIC FOR THE MASSES features the classics NEVER LET ME DOWN and BEHIND THE WHEEL , VIOLATOR features all the classics you mentioned and SONGS OF FAITH features I FEEL YOU , WALKING IN MY SHOES and IN YOUR ROOM. All of these songs and some of their 12" alternate mixes are unique classics in there own way. When i used to DJ i always played the AGGRO MIX of NEVER LET ME DOWN mixing it with the SPLIT MIX. That was electronic heaven. Personally i think VINCE CLARK leaving D.M was a blessing in disguise because it allowed Martin Gore to develop and evolve a darker edgier sound that i don`t think Clarke would ever have took them in. Also i think Alan Wilder leaving the band was one of the worst things that happened to D.M because from what i read and hear he had a big part in the darker, heavier, abstract sounds they used in their productions. Since he left their sound has been a bit more generic sounding and not as interesting. I currently own all the D.M 12" Box-Sets and would also recommend them to anyone who has an interest in collecting original sleeve art and mixes at an affordable price.. The only box-set i still need to get is the Exciter 12" box. If anyone is reading this comment and you have an interest in PRIMAL SCREAM and any of their SCREAMADELICA 12" singles they also released a SCREAMADELICA 12" BOX-SET. It`s very good quality featuring original sleeve art and mixes. Just thought i`d mention it. CHEERS FROM ENGLAND.
I agree with everything you said here. And guess what? I did a video on Primal Scream's "Screamadelica" last year, and the box set you mentioned. Go check it out!
I was 9 when Violator came out, and I hated the video for enjoy the silence, I was a hair metal and Rap music fan at that age. Its a perfect album and has my favorite depeche mode song "Halo" on it.
I have a complicated relationship with SOFAD. It's grown on me over the years, but still far from my favorite. I like its b-sides and remixes better than the album itself.
I heard the track Dangerous some years after this album came out and I love that song - it’s from the same recording sessions. Crazy to me to think they can just throw away a track like Dangerous from this album - although I can kind of understand as it doesn’t quite flow with the mood of the other tracks. But yeah, Violator is a stupendously good album.
Depeche are arguably less interesting today than they were 30yrs ago. My question to you is do you think Alan Wilder would ever return? And if he did would it make much of a difference to DM’s sound?
I don’t think he returns, but I absolutely think it would make them better if he did. He clearly was a massive part of their sound, and a damn good song writer in his own right.
Enjoy the Silence was the first DM song I ever heard in early 1990. I was 14 and that song meant a lot to me with how home life was at that moment. When the cassette was released it became the soundtrack to that summer. I would play it on my Sony dual cassette boom box that had a feature where the tape would auto play the next side at the end and I would let it loop for hours. Easily my favorite album and Halo is up there as one of the best songs ever produced and needs to be heard live (see One Night In Paris 2001 show). This album inspired me to buy all of their older stuff and singles. Speaking of singles... the Enjoy the Silence Maxi-CD single was an incredible wealth of music. The "Bass Line" remix and Memphisto were my faves. It appears most of that single is on the new singles collection now and not available on Spotify as the original release. Great review of the album(s)!
That “Violator” box set! My Gosh! As far as a favorite DM, it’s a toss up for me out of “Violator” and “Music for the Masses”. “Blue Dress” is probably my favorite song from “Violator”, though the first time I heard “Enjoy the Silence” my mind was blown! Gosh, BMG and Columbia House! I know someone who made out like a little bandit with those two companies. :)
1990 to 1994, im still digging into those years. Not a big fan of any kind, but Violator is cool, some reason I really like Exciter. Anyone listen to De/Vision? They give me similar vibes, really dug most of the early 2000s albums.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Violator is an amazing album, but it still doesn’t compare to Black Celebration for me. BC feels more vulnerable and raw, whilst Violator is more squeaky clean and formulaic. The best part about Violator was the emergence of Alan Wilder as the musical genius he always was in the background prior to Violator. Shame on Martin for not giving Alan co-song writing credit for Enjoy The Silence. To this very day, I still loath Personal Jesus. Clean is still my favorite track with Blue Dress being a close second. Oh, how I miss the non-vibrato days of Martin Gore. Someone should ask Richard Butler what’s his favorite DM album. I bet he’ll say Momento Mori. Hehe. 😂
Haha, I couldn't agree with you more on most of your comments. I never blamed Wilder for leaving, I totally understood it. I think he gave a lot of the biggest Gore tracks more body and depth, especially on Violator. Are you an old school fan of DM? I think a lot of fans from the 80s choose BC as their favorite. BC (in my opinion of course) is the most stark mixture of great songs and total garbage, haha. You have Fly On The Windscreen, then Here Is The House. You have Stripped, then you have World Full Of Nothing. I think most of it is great, but a few of the songs are crap. And But Not Tonight is fucking awful, haha. I know that wasn't technically on the original album, but it was here in the US, and what an awful song that is.
@@occasionalfeelgood23 Right on. Yeah, I prefer old school DM (81 - 97). Anything after Ultra is mostly shit and their live shows are a joke. Just my opinion. In re to BC, I don’t think the tracks you listed are poor. They’re somber gems. Especially World Full Of Nothing. New Dress > Personal Jesus. I know, I know, I’m cray cray. Hehe. But Not Tonight is a cute and lovely song. It’s as if Speak & Spell had a baby with Violator. 😅
There's a lot to unpack here. I've been busy with life for the past week or so and have missed your last few posts. I did watch your latest one about the state of your channel. Let me be the first to say that you are appreciated. So many music related channels on UA-cam are wasted space, with people who don't know what the fuck they are talking about. Your passion and knowledge are evident. As someone who is less than a year younger than you, I grew up in the same era, listening to the same albums, going to the same kind of venues, DJing in the clubs. Dude, I would kill for your hairline, lol! Anyone who has anything to say about the way you look can straghtup go f-ck themselves. I'm here for the love of music and to listen to your opinions. I thought I was well schooled in music history, and open minded about alot of genres, but you have still opened my eyes to some artists I had dismissed or overlooked, and I totally appreciate you for that. Enough ass-kissing. I did not have 'Violator' as my top DM album. I tend to revisit 'Music for the Masses' more often. That being said, I still hold it in high regard. Hell, I lost my virginity in the back seat of a Mustang to the 'Enjoy the Silence' single. 😆 Probably my favorite single release of theirs as well. Those remixes... oof. With other great tracks like 'Policy of Truth', 'Halo' and 'World in My Eyes', with some of the best production you could ask for, you can't argue that it's not a front to back classic. I'm going to go back and listen to this one today at work after I go through your other new posts. Keep your head up high 🤜 🤛 Looking forward to your future vids. 👍
Thanks, dude! I appreciate your kind words, really. It's a tough thing to explain, but I just don't want my channel to be a place where I go to feel badly about myself. When the comments started coming in about my looks months ago I just laughed them off. But now it's like, jesus christ, what is this? It wears me down. I'll keep going, but I just don't feel comfortable showing my face any more. My hands will be my face from here on out, haha.
Hell yes!!! Great video (haven’t even seen all of it yet :-)) -90..? Yeah, went to a school trip to London(!), from Sweden.. it was huuuge. Purchased a couple of albums. Violator was one of them (Tower Records Flagship store if I remember correctly). Went on to Greenwich on the way back to the ferry to Belgium(?), one of my classmates pronunciation of cucumber when ordering a sandwich there still makes me cringe 😂 Haha! Good times for sure.
Great video and agree with every word. The remaster of Violator is hideous. They totally botched the bit on Personal Jesus where it cuts from the song to the instrumental breakdown taken from the 12" version although, annoyingly, loads of people don't notice it, even when played side-by-side with the original version.
Oh, totally, I noticed several odd defects during my play-through of it. The record companies don't even try, and they don't need to -- most people who buy records can't tell the difference anyway. I don't think most people buy new records for sound quality anyway, they just want this thing in their hands that they've been told is cool.
Blue Dress…what a tune!!!! Agree on Personal Jesus. I would swap it with Freestate from Ultra and the album is 11 out 10. Please, can you do Exciter review?
''A dangerously perfect album''. You have summed up this record wonderfully. Thank you.
Some Great Reward and Masses were my favorites, but Violator is the one DM record EVERYONE can agree on, and as you stated rightly so.
It really a great cumulation of all their prior styles through the peak of their songwriting craft. And as tired as it sounds, with the tracks flowing together it was like a Dark Side of the Moon for the 90s generation.
I remember my playing Masses on tape in the car, and my hard rocking cousin who worked in a quarry in Indiana wanted to hear Personal Jesus thinking it was on the record - point being Violator was everywhere!
Clean, Sweetest Perfection and Waiting for the Night to Fall were my favorites from this, but it’s a solid listen all the way through.
Nothing else to add about this album! 👍
Great review. I fully agree that Violator is their best album. And it is very true what you say about the fact that it is the entire proposal (b-sides, remixes, etc.) that makes Violator a great experience. I was 16 when it came out. I still remember listening to "Waiting for the night" late at night when everyone was sleeping and there was an immense silence in the house. Incredible times. Favorite song at that time? Maybe "Halo." Now it would be "Clean". And "Sea of sin" my fav b-side. But... if I have to choose a DM album it would be MFTM. Maybe because it was the first album I heard from them, maybe because of its connection with 101, maybe because of its epic sound, etc, but it is the album that represents me the most.
We're of the same ilk...I was a senior in high school in 1990...the best time for music period...I think 101 and Disintegration came out close to each other as well...so I was still trying to get my head around both of those albums when Personal Jesus dropped in the fall. We saw them three nights in a row on that tour...I was at the Shoreline show...July 20th and 21st...and then in Sacramento on July 22nd....er...34 years ago today..... great times...
@@greyroom6730 Nice! What a great live show that was.
@@occasionalfeelgood23 Absolutely, still one of my favorite moments. Nitzer Ebb supported them throughout the tour. Electronic opened for them at the Dodgers Stadium shows. I may be mistaken, but for the New York show at Giant's stadium, it was The Jesus and Mary Chain and Front242 also played that bill.
Violator is number one in my entire life. Magic music. And since we are almost peers, it was incredibly interesting to get your own experience. Behind the iron curtain we were unable to access DM, and when I heard Violator at first time, I didn't even know what is it. But unfortunately, I can't reproduce that moment anymore. Miracle already happened :) Thanks for your channel (I hate "content" word)
Depeche is pretty huge in Russia, right? Thanks for your comment!
@@occasionalfeelgood23 As far as I know yes, but I'm from Ukraine
Back then in 1990 in USSR we were lucky enough to have one man in a central mall who was selling tapes recorded from CDs he bought in Japan. He was (maybe) lazy to handwrite names of the all singles he had, but after "Violator" all the singles were sold under labels "1990-2" (because Violator was "1990-1" ;)), "1991-1" and so on. That's why all 29 remixes are familiar to me. Uno-Zwei-Trois-Four-...-Oziem were available also.
We did not understand much about "singles" thus every record for us was an album, especially if it was on a whole side of tape.
It was magic time: end of school & DM : )
Fav track - "Blue Dress", favorite album - SOFAD, Wilder made a masterpiece I can compare only with "06210311" in the sense of sound fabric or sound weaving ; )
Really enjoyed this talk - It was also a great time for me music wise 1990. I must be around the same age as you :) Violator is my favourite DM album - also agree, the singles and limited 12" singles from this album were quality!
@@twangology Thank you for watching. Hard to go wrong with Violator and its singles.
you're right on 1990 , i was 9 in 1990 and music was going in crazy directions !! Even commercially .. but looking back as an adult that whole year was wild ... i'd say 1988-1994 might have been the best years of music as a whole, quality wise !!!
I am glad you feel this way about this album. Every track works wonderfully together.
Your MBM video lead this GenXer here. I recently started uploading shorts of my vinyl listening room and Enjoy The Silence is on my to do list!
definetly my fave as well.
Hello again,
Personally i like nearly all of D.M albums but my favourite three are MUSIC FOR THE MASSES , VIOLATOR , SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION. I think i`m probably a few years older than you so i started buying D.M 12" singles and albums when they were originally released. Over here in England right from the beginning their singles charted so you would often hear them on national radio and T.V.
I can`t really choose between the three above mentioned albums which is my favourite because MUSIC FOR THE MASSES features the classics NEVER LET ME DOWN and BEHIND THE WHEEL , VIOLATOR features all the classics you mentioned and SONGS OF FAITH features I FEEL YOU , WALKING IN MY SHOES and IN YOUR ROOM. All of these songs and some of their 12" alternate mixes are unique classics in there own way. When i used to DJ i always played the AGGRO MIX of NEVER LET ME DOWN mixing it with the SPLIT MIX. That was electronic heaven.
Personally i think VINCE CLARK leaving D.M was a blessing in disguise because it allowed Martin Gore to develop and evolve a darker edgier sound that i don`t think Clarke would ever have took them in. Also i think Alan Wilder leaving the band was one of the worst things that happened to D.M because from what i read and hear he had a big part in the darker, heavier, abstract sounds they used in their productions. Since he left their sound has been a bit more generic sounding and not as interesting.
I currently own all the D.M 12" Box-Sets and would also recommend them to anyone who has an interest in collecting original sleeve art and mixes at an affordable price.. The only box-set i still need to get is the Exciter 12" box.
If anyone is reading this comment and you have an interest in PRIMAL SCREAM and any of their SCREAMADELICA 12" singles they also released a SCREAMADELICA 12" BOX-SET. It`s very good quality featuring original sleeve art and mixes. Just thought i`d mention it.
CHEERS FROM ENGLAND.
I agree with everything you said here. And guess what? I did a video on Primal Scream's "Screamadelica" last year, and the box set you mentioned. Go check it out!
@@occasionalfeelgood23 I will definitely check it out later tonight when i get back from the pub. Cheers mate.
I was 9 when Violator came out, and I hated the video for enjoy the silence, I was a hair metal and Rap music fan at that age. Its a perfect album and has my favorite depeche mode song "Halo" on it.
SOFAD is my favorite depche mode album. I love the B sides of violator.
I have a complicated relationship with SOFAD. It's grown on me over the years, but still far from my favorite. I like its b-sides and remixes better than the album itself.
I heard the track Dangerous some years after this album came out and I love that song - it’s from the same recording sessions. Crazy to me to think they can just throw away a track like Dangerous from this album - although I can kind of understand as it doesn’t quite flow with the mood of the other tracks. But yeah, Violator is a stupendously good album.
Depeche are arguably less interesting today than they were 30yrs ago. My question to you is do you think Alan Wilder would ever return? And if he did would it make much of a difference to DM’s sound?
I don’t think he returns, but I absolutely think it would make them better if he did. He clearly was a massive part of their sound, and a damn good song writer in his own right.
Enjoy the Silence was the first DM song I ever heard in early 1990. I was 14 and that song meant a lot to me with how home life was at that moment. When the cassette was released it became the soundtrack to that summer. I would play it on my Sony dual cassette boom box that had a feature where the tape would auto play the next side at the end and I would let it loop for hours. Easily my favorite album and Halo is up there as one of the best songs ever produced and needs to be heard live (see One Night In Paris 2001 show). This album inspired me to buy all of their older stuff and singles. Speaking of singles... the Enjoy the Silence Maxi-CD single was an incredible wealth of music. The "Bass Line" remix and Memphisto were my faves. It appears most of that single is on the new singles collection now and not available on Spotify as the original release. Great review of the album(s)!
That “Violator” box set! My Gosh! As far as a favorite DM, it’s a toss up for me out of “Violator” and “Music for the Masses”. “Blue Dress” is probably my favorite song from “Violator”, though the first time I heard “Enjoy the Silence” my mind was blown! Gosh, BMG and Columbia House! I know someone who made out like a little bandit with those two companies. :)
Blue Dress, my fav too. See my comment above.
1990 to 1994, im still digging into those years. Not a big fan of any kind, but Violator is cool, some reason I really like Exciter. Anyone listen to De/Vision? They give me similar vibes, really dug most of the early 2000s albums.
I always loved testing systems with The Crystal Method : Vegas
I like Exciter, that was produced by Mark Bell (LFO guy). Musically brilliant, lyrically weak.
Definitely the best Depeche Mode album along with the singles.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Violator is an amazing album, but it still doesn’t compare to Black Celebration for me. BC feels more vulnerable and raw, whilst Violator is more squeaky clean and formulaic. The best part about Violator was the emergence of Alan Wilder as the musical genius he always was in the background prior to Violator. Shame on Martin for not giving Alan co-song writing credit for Enjoy The Silence. To this very day, I still loath Personal Jesus. Clean is still my favorite track with Blue Dress being a close second. Oh, how I miss the non-vibrato days of Martin Gore. Someone should ask Richard Butler what’s his favorite DM album. I bet he’ll say Momento Mori. Hehe. 😂
Haha, I couldn't agree with you more on most of your comments. I never blamed Wilder for leaving, I totally understood it. I think he gave a lot of the biggest Gore tracks more body and depth, especially on Violator. Are you an old school fan of DM? I think a lot of fans from the 80s choose BC as their favorite. BC (in my opinion of course) is the most stark mixture of great songs and total garbage, haha. You have Fly On The Windscreen, then Here Is The House. You have Stripped, then you have World Full Of Nothing. I think most of it is great, but a few of the songs are crap. And But Not Tonight is fucking awful, haha. I know that wasn't technically on the original album, but it was here in the US, and what an awful song that is.
@@occasionalfeelgood23 Right on. Yeah, I prefer old school DM (81 - 97). Anything after Ultra is mostly shit and their live shows are a joke. Just my opinion. In re to BC, I don’t think the tracks you listed are poor. They’re somber gems. Especially World Full Of Nothing. New Dress > Personal Jesus. I know, I know, I’m cray cray. Hehe. But Not Tonight is a cute and lovely song. It’s as if Speak & Spell had a baby with Violator. 😅
Graduated 86 so Black Celebration was my Violater
There's a lot to unpack here. I've been busy with life for the past week or so and have missed your last few posts. I did watch your latest one about the state of your channel. Let me be the first to say that you are appreciated. So many music related channels on UA-cam are wasted space, with people who don't know what the fuck they are talking about. Your passion and knowledge are evident. As someone who is less than a year younger than you, I grew up in the same era, listening to the same albums, going to the same kind of venues, DJing in the clubs. Dude, I would kill for your hairline, lol! Anyone who has anything to say about the way you look can straghtup go f-ck themselves. I'm here for the love of music and to listen to your opinions. I thought I was well schooled in music history, and open minded about alot of genres, but you have still opened my eyes to some artists I had dismissed or overlooked, and I totally appreciate you for that.
Enough ass-kissing. I did not have 'Violator' as my top DM album. I tend to revisit 'Music for the Masses' more often. That being said, I still hold it in high regard. Hell, I lost my virginity in the back seat of a Mustang to the 'Enjoy the Silence' single. 😆 Probably my favorite single release of theirs as well. Those remixes... oof. With other great tracks like 'Policy of Truth', 'Halo' and 'World in My Eyes', with some of the best production you could ask for, you can't argue that it's not a front to back classic. I'm going to go back and listen to this one today at work after I go through your other new posts. Keep your head up high 🤜 🤛
Looking forward to your future vids. 👍
Thanks, dude! I appreciate your kind words, really. It's a tough thing to explain, but I just don't want my channel to be a place where I go to feel badly about myself. When the comments started coming in about my looks months ago I just laughed them off. But now it's like, jesus christ, what is this? It wears me down. I'll keep going, but I just don't feel comfortable showing my face any more. My hands will be my face from here on out, haha.
Hell yes!!! Great video (haven’t even seen all of it yet :-)) -90..? Yeah, went to a school trip to London(!), from Sweden.. it was huuuge. Purchased a couple of albums. Violator was one of them (Tower Records Flagship store if I remember correctly). Went on to Greenwich on the way back to the ferry to Belgium(?), one of my classmates pronunciation of cucumber when ordering a sandwich there still makes me cringe 😂 Haha! Good times for sure.
Great video and agree with every word. The remaster of Violator is hideous. They totally botched the bit on Personal Jesus where it cuts from the song to the instrumental breakdown taken from the 12" version although, annoyingly, loads of people don't notice it, even when played side-by-side with the original version.
Oh, totally, I noticed several odd defects during my play-through of it. The record companies don't even try, and they don't need to -- most people who buy records can't tell the difference anyway. I don't think most people buy new records for sound quality anyway, they just want this thing in their hands that they've been told is cool.
The nutty thing is, the 5.1 remix done at the same time as the remaster sounds amazing - and that glitch in Personal Jesus isn't there.
Blue Dress…what a tune!!!! Agree on Personal Jesus. I would swap it with Freestate from Ultra and the album is 11 out 10. Please, can you do Exciter review?
Okay! I definitely will.
Brilliant!! Thank you.
Dig it !!! Great vid ....
Enjoy the Silence The best New Order song that wasn’t made by New Order.