Depeche Mode
Remixes 2: 81–11

For more than a decade, the veteran Depeche Mode have preferred an alternation of studio work, compilations, and assorted greatest hits, occasionally with some impromptu solo albums by Gahan and Gore. After completing the promotion of Sounds of the Universe with a related world tour, the Mode give their most ardent fans another "time-biding" remix curriculum during the long and desperate wait (and now getting longer) for new tracks.

The formula for "Remixes 2: 81 - 11" (a collection reaching the thirtieth anniversary since the debut of Speak & Spell) faithfully replicates that of its predecessor 81 - 04: heavily extending their biggest triumphs (Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, Everything Counts, Never Let Me Down Again, I Feel You) and lesser hits (Corrupt, The Darkest Star, Higher Love, Fly on the Windscreen) with additional electronic embellishments crafted by illustrious colleagues in terms of synths and distortions (Tim Simenon aka Bomb The Bass, Jacques Lu Cont/Stuart Price, Sixtoes, Eric Prydz, Trentemøller, and Stargate, to name just the most prominent ones) to shape a "revisitation" tour de force within which the classic, traditional Depeche style intertwines with trance, electro-ambient, lounge, techno, house, and alternative dance explorations/expansions, just to add an extra touch to an otherwise full and simmering cauldron. To provide a distinctive flavor compared to the previous remix collection are the collaborations with former members Alan Wilder and Vince Clarke, the vast diversity of the catalog available to listeners (37 tracks when considering the triple edition), and the particular attention given to the last two studio albums (Playing The Angel and Sounds Of The Universe).

In this veritable cornucopia, there's something for everyone, Depeche-addicted or not: particularly noteworthy are the deafening and pleasant techno-dubstep mix of Never Let Me Down (Digitalism Remix), the tribal-trance flavor of Walking In My Shoes (Anandamidic Mix), the dance reinterpretation by Trentemøller for the recent Wrong, the nostalgic nineties house/lounge in Higher Love (Adrenaline Mix Edit), and the intercalating club vibe of I Want It All (Roland M. Dill Remix). Also interesting are the "robotic" re-edition created by Alan Wilder of the ballad In Chains, the psychedelic house of I Feel You (Helmet At The Helm Mix), the amusing eurodance of A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix), the minimal-trance "corruption" of Corrupt (Efdemin Remix), and the marriage of furious synths in Everything Counts (Oliver Huntemann & Stephan Bodzin Mix). However, the Europop-like remix by the Stargate team of Personal Jesus is barely impactful, far too frivolous and banal for what is unanimously considered the pearl of the thirty-year Depeche Mode discography.

A squalid hyper-commercial ploy or a timid appeasement for the staunchest supporters of the electronic pioneers? While waiting with great patience and fervor for the successor to "Sounds Of The Universe", there’s nothing left but to once again embrace the immense lineup of the ineffable and incomparable English trio.