Depeche Mode
People are People Cd single

THE REVIEW

If I had to give an emotional score to this single, I would give it a 5. If I had to score based on the electro-industrial matrix rich in embellishments down to the smallest sampling of Alan Wilder, I would give it a 4.

But perhaps that would be for the album "Some Great Reward," the first mini-revolution for the Basildon group, illuminated by the geniuses of Gore and Wilder. The former moves to Berlin during these years and has the opportunity to listen to electronic, industrial, and even metal. Wilder, in chaotic London, roams with a tape recorder to capture any imaginable city noise on tape. Damn, but I have to review the single, not the album, and the score (cruel on my part) is a 3.
A small anecdote: it's a single that Americans went crazy for back in the day, to the point where Mute, or Sire Reprise (whatever it's called) released a compilation in the U.S. market named "People Are People," which contained old hits, including a B-side like "Now, This Is Fun!" But let's get to the heart of the single.

"People Are People" is a song that oozes industrial electronics from every pore, a quintessential '80s song, on the theme of war and hatred in human relationships. It's a duet between Dave Gahan, whose voice is warmer and more baritone than ever, and the blond Gore, who speaks the poignant words "I don't understand what makes a man hate another man, help me understand," in a setting reminiscent of bombings and gunshots.
In the end, there's even a very country-western sound, which I think they could have spared, but it comes back forcefully in the Different Mix. Very, very interesting is the B-side of this single, called "In Your Memory." A masterpiece of electronics, excellent for a remix (the Slick exists), it catapults you into a Depeche Mode atmosphere, with synths and drum machines that take your breath away, and a Gahan in extraordinary form (I recommend a listen).

Bells, choruses, smash, crash... these are the industrial Depeche Mode of '84. It's a pity that the blond Gore disowns those times, since he claimed that dM have been making good music since "Black Celebration." Many fans would like to strangle him for such statements, others just want to understand why. I chose "People Are People" because it is the main defendant of Martin Gore. A song that until the '80s seemed to love to madness, today is a memory for nostalgics...

Not to mention "In Your Memory"...the best Electro-pop ever.... today in oblivion.