Music for the Masses

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Music for the Masses
Studio album by Depeche Mode
Released	September 28, 1987
Recorded	February–August 1987
Genre	Alternative dance Synthpop Darkwave
Length	44:26
Label	Mute Sire (US/Canada)
Producer	Depeche Mode, David Bascombe, and Daniel Miller
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (8.0/10) link Robert Christgau B+ link
Depeche Mode chronology
Black Celebration (1986) Music for the Masses (1987) 101 (1989)

Music for the Masses is the sixth proper studio album by Depeche Mode. Released by Mute Records on September 28, 1987, it provided the band with mainstream success in the United States for the first time since Some Great Reward, and the new styles of music that appeared on the album and its predecessor Black Celebration formed the foundation for their breakthrough effort, Violator. These three are widely considered to be the band's peak in both lyrical and musical sense, attributed to Gore's maturing songcraft and Wilder's synthesized orchestrations.

It was supported by the For the Masses tour, which made up for the first of Depeche Mode's live albums, 101.

[edit] Mainstream success in the States

The album became the band's highest-charting in the US upon its release, reaching #35 on the Billboard 200. It also contained more hit singles than any of their previous releases. While there was no extremely popular single from the album ("People Are People" from Some Great Reward reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100), the three singles that were released all made it onto the Hot 100, a feat that hadn't been achieved by any Depeche Mode single after those from Some Great Reward. Moreover, all three singles achieved modest success on the chart.

The first single from the album, "Strangelove", only reached #76 and spent 6 weeks on the chart upon its initial release. "Never Let Me Down Again" was then issued and hit #63, spending 10 weeks on the chart. Its success was duplicated by "Behind the Wheel" which had a similar chart run. This propelled a re-released "Strangelove" (as "Strangelove '88") to #50, making it the highest-charting single from the album.

The story was similar in the United Kingdom. While no single reached the chart heights of Depeche Mode's early career, "Strangelove" narrowly became the band's second-highest charting single since 1984 when it hit #16. The two follow-up singles charted in the upper 20s. The album was less successful, reaching only #10, though it was a major success throughout Europe. Generally, this album and its extracted singles continued the trend for Depeche Mode's releases to chart higher in Continental Europe than in their home country: "Strangelove" and "Never Let Me Down Again" both hit #2 on the singles chart in what was then West Germany, "Behind The Wheel" hit #6 there, and "Little 15" reached #16.

The For the Masses tour was one of Depeche Mode's biggest, notably because of the sell-out Pasadena Rose Bowl show where the band performed to around 100,000 fans, cementing their place in United States alternative culture. This made the band question if they had reached the peak of their careers, according to the 101 DVD, a documentary on the concert, but put that notion to rest with Violator, which was even more successful.

[edit] Rerelease

In 2006, Music For the Masses became one of the first Depeche Mode albums (along with Speak and Spell and Violator) to be released on a special 2-Disc SACD/CD Hybrid + DVD format, in the vein of their 2005 album Playing the Angel, which had a limited edition SACD + DVD release. The format was the same as Playing the Angel's, the first disc had a special digitally remastered version of the album, while the DVD had the album on three formats (PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS 5.1) plus bonus tracks, and a documentary on the album. The rerelease preserves the album as it was originally intended. Thus, the four bonus tracks do not appear on the SACD, but appear on the DVD. The DVD also features all B-Sides from the Music for the Masses era, but unlike the album and the bonus tracks, are only available in PCM Stereo. This has gotten criticism from some fans who would have liked to hear the B-Sides and Bonus Tracks on CD, but you can only hear them with a DVD player.

The documentary, a 37 minute short film called Depeche Mode: 1987-88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes) is an extensive look at the album, featuring commentary from a wide variety of people, including the current Depeche Mode, former member Alan Wilder, producer Dave Bascombe, Daniel Miller, Daryl Bamonte, Martyn Atkins (who came up with the loudspeakers idea for the cover), Anton Corbijn, and others. The documentary features new facts on the album, and also an extensive look at the movie 101.

The rerelease came out April 3, 2006 in Europe. The US version was delayed to June 2, 2006 and will only be available on a CD + DVD format, with no SACD. The DVD on all the versions are region independent however, so one can simply import the SACD version without worrying about the DVD being incompatible.

The remastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl 2 March 2007 in Germany and 5 March 2007 internationally.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] 1987 release: Mute / Stumm 47

1. "Never Let Me Down Again" – 4:47
2. "The Things You Said" – 4:02
3. "Strangelove" – 4:56
4. "Sacred" – 4:47
5. "Little 15" – 4:18
6. "Behind the Wheel" – 5:18
7. "I Want You Now" – 3:44
8. "To Have and to Hold" – 2:51
9. "Nothing" – 4:18
10. "Pimpf" – 5:25

Bonus tracks on 1987 CD release: Cdstumm47

11. "Agent Orange" – 5:05
12. "Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix)" – 4:55
13. "To Have and to Hold (Spanish Taster)" – 2:34
14. "Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix)" – 5:36

• At the end of Pimpf is a short, unlisted 30 second instrumental track named "Interlude #1: Mission Impossible". On the CD, there is a 22 second pause in between Pimpf and Interlude #1, followed by a 30 second pause in between Interlude #1 and Agent Orange. The actual length of Pimpf, minus the Interlude and accompanying silence is 3:56.

[edit] 2006 re-release

Mute: DM CD 6 (CD/SACD + DVD) / CDX STUMM 47 (CD/SACD)

• Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
• Disc 2 is a DVD which includes "Music for the masses" in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material

1. "Never Let Me Down Again" – 4:47
2. "The Things You Said" – 3:55
3. "Strangelove" – 4:38
4. "Sacred" – 5:01
5. "Little 15" – 4:14
6. "Behind the Wheel" – 5:17
7. "I Want You Now" – 3:28
8. "To Have and to Hold" – 3:08
9. "Nothing" – 4:12
10. "Pimpf" – 4:55

Bonus Tracks (in PCM Stereo):

1. "Agent Orange" – 5:05
2. "Pleasure, Little Treasure" – 2:53
3. "Route 66" – 4:11
4. "Stjarna" – 4:25
5. "Sonata No.14 in C#m (Moonlight Sonata)" – 5:36

Bonus 5.1 Mixes (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo):

1. "Agent Orange" – 5:31
2. "Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix)" – 4:58
3. "To Have And to Hold (Spanish Taster)" – 2:36
4. "Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix)" – 5:38

Additional Material:

1. "Depeche Mode 87-88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes)" [37 Minute video]

• All songs are written by Martin Gore except "Route 66", which is a cover of the rock classic "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" written by Robert W. Troup Jr. in 1946, and "Moonlight Sonata", a Beethoven piano classic performed here by Alan Wilder.
• Dave Gahan is the lead singer of all songs except for "The Things You Said" and "I Want You Now" which are sung by Martin Gore. However, Gore's background vocals can be heard throughout the entire album. "Pimpf", "Mission Impossible", "Stjarna", "Sonata No.14" and "Agent Orange" are instrumental.

[edit] Singles

• Strangelove (13 April 1987)
• Never Let Me Down Again (24 August 1987)
• Behind the Wheel (28 December 1987)
• Little 15 (16 May 1988)

[edit] Miscellanea

• This is the first album where at least one song was never played live. "Little 15", "I Want You Now", and "To Have and To Hold", were not played live during the Music for the Masses tour, but the former two were later played acoustically at the World Violation Tour by Martin. A remixed "I Want You Now" appeared at the Exotic Tour. "To Have and To Hold" was thus the only LP song never to be played live until Ultra. However, "To Have and To Hold" has been played live by the Deftones, who covered the song for the For the Masses tribute album.
• At the beginning of "To Have and To Hold" is a Soviet news presenter saying in Russian, "В докладах рассматривается эволюция ядерных арсеналов и социально-психологические проблемы гонки вооружений" (V dokladah rassmatrivayetsya evolyutsiya yadernykh arsenalov i sotsial'no-psikhologicheskiye problemy gonki vooruzheniy) which means, "The reports consider the evolution of nuclear arsenals and the socio-psychological problems of the arms race". Alan Wilder was not aware of this when he added it to the song.
• The breathing sound in "I Want You Now" is actually an accordion being played without a note. The moaning in the song is remembered by Wilder at his website to be some girls hanging around in the studio at the time.
• The title and cover art of the tribute album For the Masses and cover art of German techno band Scooter's album The Ultimate Aural Orgasm were inspired by those of Music for the Masses.
• Andrew Fletcher revealed on The Videos 86>98 that the name of the album came about after Martin Gore purchased an album called "Music for the Millions".
• There is a Depeche Mode fan club night by the same name at The London Stone, UK.

[edit] External links

• Official Remaster Info