LogFAQs > #967541359

Black_Crusher posted...

Thats cool you were able to see them in some capacity, I only had one chance years ago and of course the show sells out like nothing.

Oh, I've seen them in concert multiple times. I almost went to the Songs of Faith and Devotion tour concert (but a friend of mine kind of screwed that up for us), but I manged to catch them when they did the Singles tour in 98 (we were in like the 6th row back, Martin actually pointed out my friend at one point). Then again for the Exciter tour and Playing the Angel.

I also met them in person and got a signed copy of Playing the Angel when that tour was in Madison Square Garden - I wound up sitting on line for about 10 hours.

They were pretty much my favorite band for years. I got into them when Violator came out, worked my way back though all their old albums, then bought all their old singles. Bought a few posters, shirts, etc.

The problem is, much like you I kind of lost interest with their sound after Playing the Angel - to the point where I passed on opportunities to go see them on those tours (which, in retrospect, maybe I should have, because they still would have played some of/mostly the old songs). So while I'll still happily listen to the older stuff (and talk about it, or recommend it to people), there really isn't much on the last three albums I care all that much about. So Andrew dying doesn't feel like an ending to me, because it kind of feels like the band I cared about already ended years ago. Which is a shame.



Black_Crusher posted...

While I don't like every single one of their songs, they have a shit load of good songs. If I had to put together a top 10 or 15 it'd be pretty hard to do.

The trick with Depeche Mode is that they have very different sounds depending on which era you're listening to them in, which means even if you don't like one era it's entirely possible you might like another.

The first album is mostly written by Vince Clarke (who later went on to form Yaz and Erasure), and it has a much lighter feel in a lot of ways. Then after he leaves Martin mostly takes over writing and the songs get darker in tone and lyrics. Then the state of the band tends to affect the tone of the music - Songs of Faith and Devotion is a very dark album because pretty much everyone in the band was borderline self-destructing when they wrote it.

The first few albums are very electronic, then there's a strong industrial period (where they literally went to a construction site and sampled noises to program into the synths), then they kind of move into a more melodic phase. Then they move into a phase which is a bit more rock-influenced and mainstream-friendly (which is the period they got really popular in the US), then they go darker, then lighter, then into whatever you'd call their current phase.

Though I kind of feel like, at this point, while they may still put out another album or two, Dave and Martin might be more inclined to mostly just do solo stuff in the future. Or maybe retire entirely - because they are getting older, and neither of them really needs the money at this point.