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"You survived the Songs of Faith and Devotion Tour!"
With this plaque ironically handed out by Daryl Bamonte (Fletcher's substitute at the end of the tour) to the rest of the band, the most gruelling period in Depeche Mode's history comes to a close.
It's 1993 and three years have passed since the worldwide success of "Violator."
A new album needs to be made, there is an obsession with matching the dizzying sales of the previous one, and there's a certain air of latent crisis. Depeche Mode lock themselves in a facility in Madrid transformed into a recording studio. Alan, Andy, Martin, and Dave, all of them. They would make music and live together as they hadn't done in a long time. They didn't call each other and rarely met, with some being here and others there. They faced a very painful experience that would leave a permanent mark on their career. In a positive way, but above all, in a negative way. It was indeed a painful birth, that of "Songs of Faith and Devotion," but also labor from which a beautiful creature would be born.
The situation at the beginning is not at all the best. When Daniel Miller, the boss of Mute, arrives for an inspection, he finds a state of complete desolation. Dave, already a heroin addict, is shut in his room painting candles; Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher are reading the newspaper; Alan Wilder is somewhere playing the drums; and the sound engineer is peacefully asleep with his feet on the counter. One way or another, however, they push on.
What to say... how many adjectives can be given to an album like this? Spiritual, melancholic, dark and bright, each one is insufficient to describe its intensity. There is no doubt, however, that it is a work born in the context of great difficulties. And this is reflected more than ever in its musical construction.
Depeche Mode get a lot dirtier than usual. And if there was already a taste of this in "Violator" with the lethal "Personal Jesus," now it gets even more serious. This is clear right from the start with "I Feel You," which already forcefully breaks the ice with its terrific riff. Dave is not well, but when he raises his voice, he enchants everyone, companions included. Rare pieces indeed preserve such great passion as "Condemnation." The singing becomes almost a lament, against prejudice and falsehood, a lament that seems to cry for help. Much of the album can indeed almost be interpreted as a kind of prayer. For God, for a woman, or for oneself, interpret this depending on your feelings and emotions.
What is certain is that the sound changes radically. Alongside the unexpected yet magnificent gospel of "Get Right with Me," "Judas," and indeed "Condemnation," more rock melodies are introduced. Synthesizers decline, and real drums make their entrance, as in "In Your Room" or the obsessive "Rush." What about the series of strings in the sweet "One Caress" sung by Gore? Nothing like it had been seen until then.
The album unexpectedly soars in the charts and to this day remains one of the group's best sellers. Then begins the Devotional Tour, a show as big and imposing as it is exhausting for anyone involved. Nerves are tense, Andy is replaced in the last part, and it is still unclear how Gahan managed to survive it all until the end.
The Devotional is over, everything is over, or almost. Gahan's problems are just beginning, and a few years later, we'll find him in a coma on a clinic bed after a suicide attempt. He will miraculously be saved. In 1995, however, Wilder leaves the band, no longer feeling up to continuing.
What does "Songs of Faith and Devotion" represent, then? Certainly a big departure, both from the band's previous and subsequent productions. But in particular, a sort of gateway from which there could never be a return.
The story of Depeche Mode will continue nonetheless, and it will keep shining.
See you soon from your Alevox!
Tracklist Lyrics 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 Darius
"Songs Of Faith And Devotion... represents the peak of the 'dark' period of Gahan & Co.,"
"A vocal tone... full of anger, pain, suffering, almost shouting to the world, the fans, the public his truth."
