Depeche Mode
Violator

THE REVIEW

If in these times of greater or lesser (the opinion is absolutely impersonal) creative musical and artistic flourishing one asks what electronic music is in the melodic field, I believe that 90% would respond by mentioning a large number of names of DJs like Guetta, Sinclair, Tiesto, and why not, many would mention Lady GaGa. Well, I believe there is a notable difference between what is meant by electronic music and its direct derivatives and electro-pop/electro-dance/electro-house.

The Depeche Mode can, I believe, be unanimously considered the pioneers of electronic music in the strictest sense, with a career that is nothing short of enviable not so much for sales numbers, but rather for the quality and originality of their thirty-year repertoire. A rich, renewed, dense, creamy and full of passion repertoire, which began in the distant 1981 with the album Speak & Spell and the hit Just Can't Get Enough, continued with People Are People, Never Let Me Down Again, Personal Jesus, I Feel You, It's No Good, Precious, Wrong, just to remind the audience of some of the most famous songs of the British band. Despite countless problems encountered over these years of activity, from the loss of Wilder and Clarke, to the definitive collapse of Dave Gahan due to a deadly mix of drugs he had been consuming since the early '90s, Depeche Mode did not give up, they did not abandon their energy and power, continuing on a well-defined and compact musical learning path which managed to hold its own against all the pitfalls and crises encountered (see also the dark period of Songs Of Faith And Devotion edt.).

With this review, I am about to discuss the album of their consecration, their creative/artistic peak, their pride and joy, namely "Violator". To an audience ignorant about Depeche Mode, it is enough to just mention the songs Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence to get the idea. To this day, it is their most appreciated album, with more than 10 million copies sold (a result not achieved anymore in the years to follow) and represents the culmination of the second part of their career, the darker and "dark" one, a musical and image choice already undertaken in previous works such as Black Celebration and Music For The Masses. In Violator, Depeche Mode also attempt to add a precious element of theatricality that could make the work more uniform as a whole. 

It begins with World in My Eyes and one has the initial impression that the album's atmosphere is not as gloomy and dark as might have been expected: Gahan's voice is decisive, fluid, open, nothing indicates what is to come, already with Sweetest Perfection, performed by Gore, where you immerse yourself in a world of distorted, dark sounds, almost like a thriller/horror movie, with backgrounds that further highlight that dark theatricality mentioned.

With Personal Jesus, the emblematic song of the group, known, copied, and used as a sample in other songs by numerous other artists (Marilyn Manson...) one notices that original blend of electronics, rock, folk, country, and even a bit of funky as the background of a text that collectively analyzes themes of sex and religion (in this it recalls Madonna's Like a Prayer).

A sense of restlessness and general insecurity is also noted in Halo, while in the next two tracks the dark skies begin to clear and the clouds disperse. Perhaps not so much in Waiting For The Night, but certainly in the very famous Enjoy The Silence where it seems even as if the album is about to take a final turn dictated by a more concise serenity and cheerfulness. Enjoy The Silence is also the Depeche Mode song that comes closest to the dance-house sounds very popular in the early '90s.

While Policy Of Truth warms the hearts before the final shock with melodies that are, all things considered, calm and peaceful, without particular dark electronic distortions, you approach the end of the work (Violator contains only 9 tracks, few are the Depeche Mode albums where you find a large number of inserted songs).     Gore, with his interpretation of Blue Dress, resumes the dark atmospheres, but with less conviction than the previous tracks, inserting a pinch of lyricism.  The conclusion of the album is represented by Clean which seems to anticipate the sounds of the subsequent Songs Of Faith And Devotion, much more rockish than the previous ones, remembered above all as the crisis album.

"Violator" represents an important brick in the "Palace of Music", a cohesive work, compact and rich, despite the scarcity of songs, scarcity that is immediately compensated with a series of avant-garde sounds and melodies.