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Rating: After the disenchanted album "Construction Time Again," Depeche Mode (Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder, Andrew Fletcher) did not rest on the laurels of songs like "Everything Counts" (just to name one), but set to work at the Music Works Studios in London and the Hansa Studios in Berlin with the previous producer Gareth Jones and their mentor Daniel Miller, boss of Mute. The result of their efforts is "Some Great Reward," a beautiful and unique album, written almost entirely by Martin Gore, which distances them even more from the carefree beginnings and in some episodes (like "Blasphemous Rumours," for example) turns out to be a sort of prelude to the subsequent dark "Black Celebration".
The tracklist opens with "Something To Do" and its relentless beat and metallic noises, almost a trademark of the album, which contrast with lyrics reflecting the harshness of working-class life and the desire for escape from it. Following is, in my opinion, one of the best tracks on the album, that "Lie To Me," from whose lyrics the album title is taken, interpreted by the sultry and warm voice of Dave Gahan inviting his partner to lie to him in a reflection on the importance of truth. With the third song "People Are People," we return to lighter atmospheres, musically speaking, while the words describe a story of misunderstanding leading to violence narrated by the singing of Gahan and Gore. A sweet love song follows, "It Doesn't Matter," with touching lyrics superbly rendered by the splendid voice of Martin Gore and an accompaniment of almost "ambient" sound. In the next "Stories Of Old," Gahan sings about the perplexities of a man who does not want to sacrifice anything for love, aware of the precariousness of this feeling, while track number six, "Somebody," is a burst of emotions that hits the heart directly and leaves one stunned by the disarming sincerity of the request for love and understanding expressed in it. Everything flips in the catchy and famous "Master And Servant" that follows, where sadomasochism is the main theme of a somewhat singular relationship between two people, with the "classic" voluntary submission of those who love to be dominated by another; nearing the end of the album, before the final masterpiece, there is the only piece signed by Alan Wilder, that "If You Want," which in my opinion lowers the level of the work a bit. Finally, here we reach the best song of the album, the previously mentioned "Blasphemous Rumours." It is an extraordinarily successful combination of music and lyrics, where dark and chilling metallic sounds accompany stories of failed suicides and tragedies all orchestrated by a God with "a strange sense of humor," according to DM's religious vision.
In my opinion, "Some Great Reward" is a fabulous album, to listen and relisten to while paying attention to how catchy sounds contrast with introspective lyrics. In conclusion, an album to rediscover more than twenty years after its release and unmissable for Depeche fans.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Something to Do (03:46)
My little girl
won't you come with me
come with me
tell me
Is there something to do
I'm going crazy with boredom
come with me
tell me
Grey sky over a black town
I can feel depression
all around
you've got your leather boots on
I can't stand another drink
it's surprising this town
doesn't sink
you've got your leather boots on
Your pretty dress is oil stained
from working too hard
for too little
you've got your leather boots on
You're feeling the boredom too
I'd gladly go with you
I'd put your leather boots on
I'd put your pretty dress on
02 Lie to Me (05:03)
Come on and lay with me
Come on and lie to me
Tell me you love me
Say I'm the only one
Experiences have a lasting impression
But words once spoken
Don't mean a lot now
Belief is the way
The way of the innocent
And when I say innocent
I should say naive
So lie to me
But do it with sincerity
Make me listen
Just for a minute
Make me think
There's some truth in it
Come on and lay with me
Come on and lie to me
Tell me you love me
Say I'm the only one
Promises made for convenience
Aren't necessarily
What we need
Truth is a word
That's lost its meaning
The truth has become
Merely half-truth
So lie to me
Like they do it in the factory
Make me think
That at the end of the day
Some great reward
Will be coming my way
Come on and lay with me
Come on and lie to me
Tell me you love me
Say I'm the only one
03 People Are People (03:52)
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
So we're different colours, and we're different creeds
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me, though I've done nothing wrong
I've never even met you, so what could I have done?
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
Now you're punching and you're kicking and you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced, but I'm sure it exists
It just take a while to travel from your head to your fist
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
05 Stories of Old (03:14)
Take a look at unselected cases
You'll find love has been wrecked
By both sides compromising
Amounting to a disastrous effect
You hear stories of old
Of princes bold
With riches untold
Happy souls
Casting it all aside
To take some bride
To have the girl of their dreams
At their side
But not me
I couldn't do that
Not me
I'm not like that
I couldn't sacrifice
Anything at all
To love
I really like you
I'm attracted to you
The way you move
The things you do
I'll probably burn in hell
For saying this
But I'm really in heaven
Whenever we kiss
But oh no!
You won't change me
You can try
For an eternity
I wouldn't sacrifice
Anything at all
To love
Take a look at unselected cases
You'll find love has been wrecked
By both sides compromising
Amounting to a disastrous effect
Now I've got things to do
You have too
And I've got to be me
You've got to be you
So take my hand
And feel these lips
And let's savor a kiss
Like we'd savor a sip
Of vintage wine
One more time
Let's surrender
To this love divine
But we won't sacrifice
Anything at all
To love
06 Somebody (04:27)
I want somebody to share
share the rest of my life
share my innermost thoughts
know my intimate details
someone who'll stand by my side
and give me support
and in return
she'll get my support
she will listen to me
when I want to speak
about the world we live in
and life in general
though my views may be wrong
they may even be perverted
she'll hear me out
and won't easily be converted
to my way of thinking
in fact she'll often disagree
but at the end of it all
she will understand me
I want somebody who cares
for me passionately
with every thought
and with every breath
someone who'll help me see things
in a different light
all the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
to anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to stay clear
of those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
who will put their arms around me
and kiss me tenderly
though things like this make me sick
in a case like this
I'll get away with it
07 Master and Servant (04:12)
There's a new game
We like to play you see
A game with added reality
You treat me like a dog
Get me down on my knees
We call it master and servant
We call it master and servant
It's a lot like life
This play between the sheets
With you on top and me underneath
Forget all about equality
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
It's a lot like life
And that's what's appealing
If you despise that throwaway feeling
From disposable fun
Then this is the one
Domination's the name of the game
In bed or in life
They're both just the same
Except in one you're fulfilled
At the end of the day
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
Come on master and servant
09 Blasphemous Rumours (06:22)
Girl of sixteen
Whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists
Bored with life
Didn't succeed
Thank the Lord
For small mercies
Fighting back the tears
Mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame
It's always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays
I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humour
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing
Girl of eighteen
Fell in love with everything
Found new life
In Jesus Christ
Hit by a car
Ended up
On a life support machine
Summer's day
As she passed away
Birds were singing
In the summer sky
Then came the rain
And once again
A tear fell
From her mother's eye
I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humour
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing
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Other reviews
By Treasure
"Master And Servant is the projection of certain dom/sub fantasies by Gore, but also of a disenchanted realism permeating all the lyrics from first to last."
"From it, astounding pieces will emerge, masterfully mixed with the aim of creating some of the most evocative atmospheres in all electronic music history."
