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After reviewing "Violator" by Depeche Mode, I now intend to focus on what I consider their second most important work and, I believe, the album representing the dark crisis that was already hovering over the band. A dark crisis that led to dire consequences: Alan Wilder's departure from the Mode and Gahan's near demise, saved at the last moment from an overdose caused by a lethal mix of drugs.
It is 1993, Gahan had begun heavily abusing drugs, and his personal image was dangerously shifting towards the doomed, devilish rocker, with long hair, a scruffy and unkempt beard, almost an imitator of some of his colleagues whose lives had ended tragically. But even in the rest of the group, things didn't seem so rosy: by the end of the World Violation Tour aimed at promoting "Violator", the physical and mental forces of Gahan, Gore, Wilder, and Fletcher had been dangerously undermined, with fatigue becoming a harsh reality to coexist with. Challenges that until then had been seriously downplayed to keep the momentum of approval that had multiplied with the previous record.
"Songs Of Faith"... represents the peak of the "dark" period of Gahan & Co., a period that had been inaugurated with Black Celebration and had managed to break into the strict mainstream with Personal Jesus, included in the aforementioned Violator. Anyone intending to retrace the biography of Depeche Mode and carefully focus on those difficult years should analyze or at least listen to "Devotion" ("Songs Of Faith And Devotion" shortened), to understand the reasons behind certain almost fatal events.
"Devotion" also represents a novelty: until 1990, the Mode had consistently released a studio album almost every year or at least new singles and live recordings. From this point, that extremely prolific musical production is limited to the release of new material about every four years, a practice that continues to this day, also motivated by Gahan's solo choices.
In this album, the Mode, so to speak, place synthesizers and pure electronics in the background and open the doors to rock. A drastic change of sound that is mainly present in I Feel You, Mercy In You, Get Right With Me, Rush and In Your Room. Powerful riffs and decisive electric guitar strumming are felt in the album's first extract, I Feel You, an excellent track that mixes electronics and rock, accompanied by Gahan's tortured, almost desperate voice. A vocal tone that in most of the songs on the album seems full of anger, pain, suffering, almost shouting to the world, the fans, the public his truth, the truth of the Mode. Never in any of their previous works had such darkness descended.
The "stand-out" track is Higher Love, the album's gem, a song dense with atmosphere, theatricality, and melancholy, where the angry rock of I Feel You softens and becomes much more melodic, relaxing, and gentle. Regarding this song, I want to express my disappointment with its placement in the album, being at the end of the record. Such a profound track deserved a superior placement, even at the beginning of the tracklist: just observe the exact start of the Devotional Tour contained in the eponymous live DVD during which Gahan, or rather his shadow hidden behind a curtain, intones the first notes of Higher Love, a moment that reaches a peak of immense atmosphere and theatricality. This demonstrates how the characteristics of this song were perfect for an ideal opening of the entire album, more lyrical and intimate than I Feel You, the actual opening track.
Another melodic and particularly intense track is Walking In My Shoes, the second single from the album. Depeche Mode do not give up on songs almost devoid of percussion and riffs, instrumental: this is noted in Judas, performed by Gore. Still on the subject, much less valid is One Caress in which Gore fails to venture much further and gets lost in a track that is too lyrical and "classical." Gahan & Co. intend to explore other musical sounds as well in Condemnation, a clever mix of soul, gospel, and rock, a song favored by Gahan himself.
A compact, rich, and dark work, "Devotion" is a point of arrival and departure for Depeche Mode: the peak of their darkness, the black crisis. But also the beginning of the new Depeche Mode, far from the carefree rhythms of the '80s, more mature and experimental, open to musical variety, exploring other sounds, while still remaining within their ancient "brand", that is, electronics.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 I Feel You (04:35)
I feel you
Your sun it shines
I feel you
Within my mind
You take me there
You take me where
The kingdom comes
You take me to
And lead me through Babylon
This is the morning of our love
It's just the dawning of our love
I feel you
Your heart it sings
I feel you
The joy it brings
Where heaven waits
Those golden gates
And back again
You take me to
And lead me through oblivion
This is the morning of our love
It's just the dawning of our love
I feel you
Your precious soul
And I am whole
I feel you
Your rising sun
My kingdom comes
I feel you
Each move you make
I feel you
Each breath you take
Where angels sing
And spread their wings
My love's on high
You take me home
To glory's throne
By and by
This is the morning of our love
It's just the dawning of our love
02 Walking in My Shoes (05:35)
I would tell you about the things they put me through
The pain I've been subjected to
But the Lord himself would blush
The countless feasts laid at my feet
Forbidden fruits for me to eat
But I think your pulse would start to rush
Now I'm not looking for absolution
Forgiveness for the things I do
But before you come to any conclusions
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
You'll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
If you try walking in my shoes
Morality would frown upon
Decency look down upon
The scapegoat fate's made of me
But I promise now, my judge and jurors
My intentions couldn't have been purer
My case is easy to see
I'm not looking for a clearer conscience
Peace of mind after what I've been through
And before we talk of any repentance
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
You'll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
If you try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
Now I'm not looking for absolution
Forgiveness for the things I do
But before you come to any conclusions
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
You'll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
You'll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
If you try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
03 Condemnation (03:20)
Condemnation
Tried
Here on the stand
With the book in my hand
Truth on my side
Accusations
Lies
Hand me my sentence
I'll show no repentance
I'll suffer with pride
If for honesty
You want apologies
I don't sympathize
If for kindness
You substitute blindness
Please open your eyes
Condemnation
Why
Because my duty
Was always to beauty
And that was my crime
Feel elation
High
To know I can trust this
Fix of injustice
Time after time
If you see purity
As immaturity
Well it's no surprise
If for kindness
You substitute blindness
Please open your eyes
04 Mercy in You (04:17)
You know what I need
When my heart bleeds
I suffer from greed
A longing to feed
On the mercy in you
I can't conceal
The way I'm healed
The pleasure I feel
When I have to deal
With the mercy in you
I would do it all again
Lose my way and fall again
Just so I could call again
On the mercy in you
When here in my mind
I feel inclined
To wrongly treat you unkind
I have faith I will find
The mercy in you
I would lose my way again
Be led hopelessly astray again
Just so I could pray again
For the mercy in you
When here in my mind
I have been blind
Emotionally behind
I have faith I will find
The mercy in you
05 Judas (05:14)
Is simplicity best
Or simply the easiest
The narrowest path
Is always the holiest
So walk on barefoot for me
Suffer som misery
If you want my love
If you want my love
Man will survive
The harshest conditions
And stay alive
Through difficult decisions
So make up you mind for me
Walk the line for me
If you want my love
If you want my love
Idle talk
And hollow promises
Cheating Judases
Doubting Thomases
Don't just stand there and
shout it
Do something about it
You can fulfil
Your wildest ambitions
And I'm sure you will
Lose your inhibitions
So open yourself for me
Risk your health for me
If you want my love
If you want my love
If you want my love
If you want my love
06 In Your Room (06:26)
In your room
Where time stands still
Or moves at your will
Will you let the morning come soon
Or will you leave me lying here
In your favourite darkness
Your favourite half-light
Your favourite consciousness
Your favourite slave
In your room
Where souls disappear
Only you exist here
Will you lead me to your armchair
Or leave me lying here
Your favourite innocence
Your favourite prize
Your favourite smile
Your favourite slave
I'm hanging on your words
Living on your breath
Feeling with your skin
Will I always be here
In your room
Your burning eyes
Cause flames to arise
Will you let the fire die down soon
Or will I always be here
Your favourite passion
Your favourite game
Your favourite mirror
Your favourite slave
I'm hanging on your words
Living on your breath
Feeling with your skin
Will I always be here
Will I always be here
08 Rush (04:37)
Walk with me
Open your sensitive mouth
And talk to me
Hold out your delicate hands
And feel me
Couldn't make any plans
To conceal me
Open your sensitive mouth
Hold out your delicate hands
With such a sensitive mouth
I'm easy to see through
When I come up
When I rush
I rush for you
Cry for you
Seen the tears
Roll down from my eyes for you
Heard my truth
Distorted to lies for you
Watched my love
Becoming a prize for you
Seen the tears in my eyes
Heard my truth turn to lies
Seen the tears in my eyes
I'm not proud of what I do
When I come up
When I rush
I rush for you
I come up to meet you
Up there somewhere
When I rush to greet you
My soul is bared
Gave more for you
Dropped my crutches
And crawled on the floor for you
Went looking behind every door for you
And because of the things
That I saw for you
I spiritually grew
When I come up
When I rush
I rush for you
09 One Caress (03:32)
Well I'm down on my knees again
And I pray to the only one
Who has the strength to bear the pain
To forgive all the things that I've done
Oh girl lead me into your darkness
When this world is trying it's hardest
To leave me unimpressed
Just one caress
From you and I'm blessed
When you think you've tried every road,
every avenue
Take one more look at what you found old
And in it you'll find something new
Oh girl lead me into your darkness
When this world is trying it's hardest
To leave me unimpressed
Just one caress
From you and I'm blessed
I'm shying from the light
I always loved the night
And now you offer me eternal
darkness
I have to belive that sin
Can make a better man
Well it's the mood that I am in
That's left us back where we began
Oh girl lead me into your darkness
When this world is trying it's hardest
To leave me unimpressed
Just one caress
From you and I'm blessed
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Other reviews
By egebamyasi
The album sounds dark, menacing, oppressive, but above all much more 'rock' and less electronic than the previous ones.
'In Your Room' is a jewel of rare beauty, and perhaps the best track in Depeche Mode’s history.
By Umberto
"Songs Of Faith And Devotion surprises by being extremely varied in its contents but at the same time incredibly homogeneous."
"Gahan surpasses himself, delivering one of the finest performances of his career."
By Nickmasies
"Songs of Faith And Devotion represents a point of no return for Depeche Mode, a sort of culmination of their musical style."
"'Walking in my Shoes' perhaps represents the most successful song of Depeche Mode’s entire career, with a mystical arrangement that invites deep reflection."
By Ago
"The electronic epicness is, in my opinion, the absolute protagonist."
"Walking In My Shoes represents the pinnacle of electronic symphony, and a music video that interprets its spirit to perfection."
By Alevox
"It was indeed a painful birth, that of 'Songs of Faith and Devotion,' but also labor from which a beautiful creature would be born."
"Much of the album can indeed almost be interpreted as a kind of prayer. For God, for a woman, or for oneself."
