Songs of Faith & Devotion

Songs Of Faith And Devotion (in and towards the female sexuality) is my overall favorite album of Depeche Mode. Perhaps it contains not quite as many beautiful melodies as Music For The Masses but the music of Songs includes more layers of sound and its complex beauty ends up growing on me more. The progression of sound of Depeche Mode from let's say A Broken Frame (1982) all the way through their latest 2009 album is an art installation in itself. From the raw and simple synthesizer driven melodies to deafening elaborate textures of noise, we have had the taste of everything in between. The songs of Depeche Mode have dealt with the captivity of male spirit by its own desire for female nature for a very long time. That seems to be Martin's overall obsession lyric wise (although their latest album seems to be less dominated by the topic) most likely because the situation affects his personal life quite a bit (and Dave's as well). Martin Gore has dealt with his own conscience on many levels, and has helped many others to face the issue by the power of his songs. Again, most often his exposure reflects upon the areas of body love. His attitude towards the unknown was revealed in a very special way back in 1984 on Blasphemous Rumors, a truly beautiful song. Aside from that single incident the concept of Higher Power according to the lyrics of Depeche Mode had a lot to do with the desire for female warmth and gentleness. Then, in 1997 something else has happened. Martin Gore wrote a song called Insight in which we heard: 'wisdom of ages rush over me heighten my senses, enlighten me lead me on eternally' Only Martin Gore could confirm or reject my sense of his (or perhaps Dave Gahan's, because of the timing of his overdose accident) personal history, but my feeling is that the experience he is fully revealing to us 4 years following Insight on Shine and reconfirming 4 years after that on Suffer Well could have either been the answer to his cry for help carried by the spirit of Insight, or perhaps the spirit of that song is carrying the beginning of Martin's revelation. Search and you will find. Ask and it will be given to you. The laws of our spiritual world and its wisdom of ages are quite different from the ones we usually rely on. Being exposed to one single difference changes your life eternally. We may need some sign from the invisible world, not necessarily on the scale of the experience Martin shares with us. Once we understand our true reality the state of enlightenment is within our reach. My favorite songs by Depeche Mode are the following: When The Body Speaks, Somebody, Judas, Waiting For The Night, Precious, It Doesn't Matter two, Sister Of The Night, Walking In My Shoes, The Things You Said, Useless, Blasphemous Rumours, Sometimes, Shine, Insight, Freestate, Never Let Me Down Again.

​This Depeche Mode album, released in 1993 just before the band embarked on a massive, 18-month world tour, is the height of the band's creative output. That same tour cemented member Alan Wilder's resolve to leave the group, and Wilder is the instrumentalist and production mastermind behind the group's sound. They would never be the same again after this album. The music on this album is rough, organic, gritty, and dark. There is a life to the music that you will never find on another album. The instruments themselves seem to breathe in the air as the sound saturates your listening space. The voice of singer Dave Gahan has never sounded better, despite this record marking the beginning of his decent into a drug addiction that lasted a few years and saw him both die and perpetrate a suicide attempt. (Neither took, and he's with us to this day, even having beaten cancer recently with only a few weeks off the road.) He has credited the music on this album (all of it composed by songwriter Martin Gore) as being one of the only positive things in his life during this time that gave him any focus whatsoever. Luckily for music fans, Gahan has long since dealt with this painful period of his life, but the music remains as a haunting and stark monument to the power of art to overcome the evil of addiction. You'll find everything on this album from lush strings to evocative tonal landscapes that shift in musical fog to crackling blues guitar riffs. The songs range in style from soulful gospel-inflected tracks, to chamber music, to intense electronic assaults on the concept of remaining stationary and unmoved. Hands down my favorite album of all time, and the song 'In Your Room' has yet to be topped by anyone.

A few things had changed in the music industry since Depeche Mode released their hugely commercial successful album Violator in 1990. Of course, the rise of the Seattle grunge movement being the most obvious example so Depeche Mode's front man Dave Gahan changing shift in image from Goth master to a full fledged rock star with long hair and tattoos became what some would say was the singer trying too hard to be Bono or Trent Reznor. Weather that's the case or not, Gahan's suggestion to his band members that they make a rougher and heavier record took its toll during recording sessions and the long tour following it. Alan Wilder would leave the band after the tour, Martin Gore sunk into depression and Dave Gahan into heavy drug use. The process from making this album to supporting it on the road may have been a difficult time but what resulted from it is one of the band's greatest artistic achievements, if not their greatest. The band had never made a record quite like this before and has not made another one like it since. From the scratchy feedback that opens "I Feel You" to the dark intensity of "Walking In My Shoes" to the gospel influenced "Condemnation", the record is very cutting edge. This is still Depeche Mode with its complete technological sensibilities but it is louder and not just more guitar based but the bagpipes that open "Judas" is even more proof of the band's growing development. Some critics have said that they were trying to sound too much like Nine Inch Nails on tracks like "Rush" but I would compare it more to Achtung Baby era U2. To say that this record ruined the band wouldn't be completely accurate, Dave Gahan became clean in 1997 and the band still continue to make records to this day. This was a changing and growing experience and the fact that it became their first number 1. record on the charts, they are with us today maybe because of the experience. Hard and chaotic times truly can produce beautiful art you could say and for Depeche Mode, they won the battle.

EXCELENTE!!!

Buen prensado y gráfica ! Llegó a tiempo y sin detalles.

Sonido fantástico de uno de los mejores trabajos de Depeche Mode

1993年のオリジナル発売当時より星の数ほどの回数視聴した作品ですが、 まるで別のアルバムを聴いているような感動を覚えました。5.1チャンネル音源凄い。 複雑に作り込まれた音がキメ細かく耳に届きます。スタジオでの音の鳴りに近づいたのでしょうね。 「この曲のベースって、別々の音のパーツを繋いで構成されてたんだ！」みたいな発見が随所にあります。 また、他のサウンドと分離されたボーカル、コーラスの美しさ、生々しさを堪能できました。 他の5.1チャンネル音源も聴きたくて我慢できなくなりますよきっと。

Hier hat DM reife Arbeit geleistet! Leider hat Alan Wilder die Band nach diesem Album verlassen, hier kann man sich aber nochmal wirklich gute Kompositionen und Arrangements zu Gemüte führen. Ein durchgehend gutes, wenn auch etwas düsteres, komplex ausgearbeitetes Klangerlebnis. Auch wenn dieses Album vielleicht nicht die bekanntesten Songs enthält, ist es auf jeden Fall ein Hören wert.

A little slow to deliver, but that was more on the shipping side. Great album, great customer service!

Uno de los mejores discos de Depeche Mode. Para la colección!