Depeche Mode
Music for the Masses

THE REVIEW

Seeing the previous reviews on "Music for the Masses"
Seeing that one is pitiful and the other good, but dry
Seeing that I have to enlighten some idiots
Seeing that I love Depeche Mode
Seeing that this album is in the Rolling Stone rankings (and not Breathing)
Seeing that repetition is never harmful
Seeing that the album has been released in remastered version

I DECREE "Music for the Masses" is a record that made Depeche Mode great, that made them great to the world, after the "Black Celebration Tour" of 1986, thanks to a gem that fuses refined electro-pop (no longer the playful sounds of the '80s bands, but dark sounds, Detroit-house, industrial reminiscences, electronic sampling, and even classical music à la Richard Wagner).

It's an album that opens with the hit "Never Let Me Down Again", a track that opens up to the desire to escape, together with the closest friend, the one that is inside us and wants to make us fly (forget about LSD!). Martin Gore had his illuminations on his own, without resorting to hallucinogens. A now mature psychology of Gore emerges, far from the sensitivities of "Some Great Reward" and the resignations of "Black Celebration." It's a restless Gore in the lyrics, the music does the rest. Memorable are the solutions of Alan Wilder, an unparalleled master of sampling (if you come back, Alan, you wouldn't commit a mortal sin, but what are you doing with Recoil? Like, nothing...).

The electronics are therefore masterful right from the immense opening track, almost a soundtrack, like many songs on the album ("Strangelove" for instance), a track tossed around in various remixes that not even Depeche Mode keep track of anymore. The epic nature of "Never Let Me Down Again" ends with two voices: Dave Gahan's desperate and shouted one, and Gore's gentle and ethereal one, saying "See the stars, they're shining bright, everything's alright tonight". You say to yourself: Damn, how far are the Depeche-mascots of "The Meaning of Love", all in jacket and tie, even Dave.
These guys have become dark, furious, mysterious, restless, studded from head to toe. Martin doesn't hesitate to wear the preacher hat that suits him so well and timidly grants himself to interviews with British and American media. The figure of Depeche Mode becomes darker and darker.... the Fab Four almost frighten you! At the closing of "Never Let Me Down Again" a delicate and subdued "The Things You Said" opens up, sung by Martin Gore, dragging his strengths for a melancholic and sentimental piece, excellent as well.

But the listener longs for track 3, "Strangelove", a hit-single in Italy since May '87, with the 14th position. Lively, cinematic, cool, edgy but not too much, with a Dave inspired by high-level pop. This too has undergone many surgical remix treatments. Then "Sacred" (which could convert even that blasphemous killgod and his wife), which takes off from high-pomp Gregorian chants and then unfolds into dark Depeche-style electronica that drives you crazy. Then there's "Little 15", classical, for which a video was also made by Corbijn, a single released in '88, makes the milk curdle a bit, but you must learn to love it. Here too is a Dave very much in the mood, as well as in "Behind the Wheel", considered by many the most beautiful of the album, which kicks off with the hard strikes of the drums, the sequence of the bass, and the deep tones of the flute. A remix of "Behind the Wheel" would still go strong today, surprising the rural DJs crowding our clubs (a cordial salute).

Then a pause for reflection with the sweet "I Want You Now", sung by Gore, reproducing the sound of breathing with the accordion! A song that ignites.... A radio in Russian.... and the anxieties of war return, sirens, "To Have and to Hold", a warning piece: Dave sings "The damage is done" - "The damage is done", hermetic and dark. "Nothing", on the other hand, takes breath from more optimistic tones and is a musical delight, for the arrangements by the aforementioned Alan Wilder (when you want, the door is open.....).
Then the album concludes majestically with "Pimpf". It's hard to define "Pimpf". What is it? An instrumental piece? Symphonic? Wagnerian? Martin Gore played dirty! He was inspired by a well-known pro-Nazi propaganda magazine to create a sumptuous symphony, which leaves you with a general sense of bewilderment at the end. The video makes you understand even less..... The lyrical voices dissolve along with "Pimpf". There is a very refined interlude "Mission Impossible", with classical musical inspiration (Martin...), where you can also hear footsteps, coffee cups.... Then there are the bonus tracks. "My Agent Orange" is an instrumental piece with reference to the war (sirens, Morse code meaning: Help!, anxiety, melancholy, exasperation). Agent Orange was the key chemical weapon in Vietnam, to deforest the jungles and cause irreparable damage... It's followed by the "Aggro Mix" of "Never Let Me Down Again", very different in sound from the original version, dark, and more than just for dancing (although it wasn't composed with that intent by Gore and company).

The "Spanish taste" of "To Have and to Hold", an instrumental version of the previously mentioned song, no less dark but with more breath. Finally, the Glitter Mix of the hedonistic "Pleasure, Little Treasure", great Depeche blockbuster during the late '80s live shows, the B-side of "Never Let Me Down Again". There's also a non-remixed version of this, the original one (2:53 min.). Significant are also other tracks, such as "Route 66", a fusion between a Nat King Cole cover and the theme of "Behind the Wheel", very beautiful and rock, despite the electronic label attached to Depeche. Then two instrumental tracks that might be cute but boring to most, "St. Jarna" and "Moonlight Sonata", both born from Gore's genius.

What to say? A record for the masses, to be shouted to the peoples with megaphones, a divulgative album, a warning, like war sirens, but with completely personal and psychological themes. Together with "Violator" and "Songs of Faith and Devotion" it's the best album of the most fashionable electronic band on the planet. Free space for comments and nonsense now.