Welcome back to the CD Odyssey!
These albums won’t listen to themselves, so let’s get on with the show.
Disc 699 is…. Violator
Artist: Depeche
Mode
Year of Release: 1990
What’s up with the Cover? Looks like a rose,
but I’m not sure why it is glistening. Maybe it was coated in wax or maybe it
just got all hot and bothered by all the sexy music on the album.
How I Came To Know It: Sheila introduced me to Depeche
Mode and this is her album. I was dubious at first when I heard it was
electronica but was quickly won over.
How It Stacks Up: We have three Depeche Mode albums. Of the three, I
had always planned to rank “Violator” first, but I very recently reviewed
“Black Celebration” back at Disc 680 and I liked it a lot. It made for a
tough choice, but I think I’ll still give the win to “Violator” by a hair.
Rating: 4 stars
“Violator” was the first Depeche Mode that I ever understood. Its
techno-beats and synthesized sound shouldn’t have appealed to me, but it was
done so well I couldn’t resist its siren’s call.
Siren’s call is appropriate, given the way Depeche Mode blends darkness
and danger with seductive allure. Dave Gahan’s voice is low and lascivious, and
drives these songs from under the melody, like an undertow during a change of
the tide. Even the songs that aren’t about sex on this album sound like they
are, and the double meaning provides a tension that is hard to resist.
It all begins with the music, which is driven first by bass and
percussion, such as on the rhythmic “Personal
Jesus” or “Halo.” These songs are
OK, but for me the better songs are the ones that develop the songs more
melodically, including “Waiting for the
Night” and “Enjoy the Silence.”
These songs bring in cool beats as well, but they ultimately support very
interesting musical progressions in the melody.
The whole effect makes you want to move your hips suggestively in a dark
night club. I listened to it in daylight on my walk to and from work, but
thankfully managed to avoid any publicly inappropriate hip motions.
Yet for all this, many of the songs have other important themes they are
exploring. On “Sweetest Perfection”
this theme is addiction, which creeps forward slowly and inexorably as it build
into ugly truths like:
“When I need a drug in me
And it brings out the thug in me
Feel something tugging me
Then I want the real thing not
tokens.”
It is the draw of something bad for you that you can’t resist. It felt
like the first half of the horror of drug addiction; that dreadful anticipation
of the high that is to come, whatever the costs after it is over. For the half
filled with regret and shame after the high, as the desire begins to dully grow
again I recommend Tool’s “Sober.”
“Violator” has a lot of range and it knows how to build tension that is
beautiful as well as dark. “Waiting for
the Night” is the tension of waiting for release. The light tinkling of the
organ in this song sounds a lot like Enya’s first album. It has that feeling of
Celtic faerie magic, infused with the sharp angles of the modern world
reflected in Depeche Mode’s electronica sound.
The second half of this record is where the gems reside. Right after “Waiting for the Night” at song five the
boys kick it up a notch with the nightclub dance track “Enjoy the Silence.” This is a mix of a slow wanton melody over the
top of a dance track that is so good it makes you almost forget just how bad
most club music was in 1990. At over six minutes long, “Enjoy the Silence” really lets you enjoy its lack of silence, yet never
drags.
Building off of that, we get the best song on the album with “Policy of Truth.” This song has it all;
a danceable beat, an irresistible hook and compelling lyrics. The latter covers
the realization that always blurting out the truth can sometimes be its own burden.
As Gahan sings:
“Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you’d only
lied.
It’s too late to change events
It’s time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth.”
The song seems clearly about infidelity, and not just because everything
Depeche Mode feels suffused with sex. Here the song is stronger for what it
doesn’t spell out, with only the implication of sin on lines like “never again is what you swore/the time
before.” You can tell that one lover is unfaithful, and the other knows it
full well. He just don’t want to be reminded of it in some guilt-ridden
confessional. It is a troubled song about a relationship in crisis and a preference
for a pretty lie over a sordid truth.
The whole record casts a spell of compromised ethics wrapped up in an
erotic package of unfolding melody and haunting back beats. It is thoughtful
and danceable, which is a pretty rare combination. If all electronica were this
good I’d be a happy man – and that’s the truth.
1 comment:
This album remains a favourite after all these years.
I have a particular love for Blue Dress (which doesn't actually mention the dress at all, but you know what's about)
"something so worthless
serves a purpose"
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