Violator - Depeche Mode
Track List:
World in My Eyes
Sweetest Perfection
Personal Jesus
Halo
Waiting for the night
Enjoy the Silence
Policy of Truth
Blue Dress
Clean
Songs I have heard before this listening:
Personal Jesus - This has been covered a variety of times that I have heard. I have heard the original but am more familiar with other versions.
Other artists this reminds me of:
NIN - Industrial beats, drum machine/synths
Marilyn Manson - Vocals and song style
Notes on the music:
So I picked this album because as a teen one of my favorite artists was Marilyn Manson and I loved his cover of Personal Jesus. I have never really listened to Depeche Mode with any real intent, maybe hearing a song here or there. I figured trying this album now may give me some appreciation for a band I've not been overly interested in before.
Sweetest Perfection has an amazing development over the course of the song. Layers of synths. The song also describes addiction.
Personal Jesus is really good. When folks cover it they don't change much because they don't need it. I like this version more than Manson's. Given my tastes have changed quite a bit since I was heavily listening to Manson but some of the dynamics present in the original were stripped in the cover and not replaced with anything other than making it louder and more raw to get the ultra aggressive signature Manson style.
I am a big fan of the FM synths blasting the bass line on Halo, but for some reason the song sounds to me like "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon. I believe both songs are about scorned lovers so that's fitting...This is the first song that I start getting a cinematic feeling to the sound.
Waiting for the Night I want to pull out a synth and try to make something like the arp in the intro, it's not complicated sounding but deep. This song gets a much more cinematic feeling, the synths really shine here. I believe this song is one of the first I recall hearing that samples Tibetan throat singers.
The pop dance beats of Enjoy the Silence are so very much different here. The FM synths again are great here, really helps punch. Wow, the false end and sudden change in mood. From a jovial party to a dark shadowy ominous slow journey.
Woah that was cool. Like really cool.
So, was that like a turning point in the album?
Policy of Truth has a more rock feel to it. It's honestly a bit of a let down after Enjoy the Silence. It's a big change musically. I am not reading the lyrics as I listen to this so I am not trying to interpret the songs as much from the lyrics. The vocals and delivered in the uneventful dry inflection of the rest of the album. The end is weird. This is getting a bit more experimental...
Well Blue Dress is getting a lot more experimental. And the narrator has a strong preference for a blue dress...The synths are still amazing. Another false ending. And amazing weirdness!
Clean sounds like One of These Days by Pink Floyd, the bass at least. It's a dark industrial song. That was a great way to end the album.
I believe the synths and the scenes made by them are the shining stars on this album. I say this as someone who nearly always has a synth within arms reach. I was listening to this more like a pop album before I realized how complex and intricate the synths and beat were. I plan on further exploring their catalog and adding some of this to my normal mix of music.
