Best of Mode?
As an album, Black Celebration ranks up there among my Top Ten. For the record (or records), I own about 1200 different CD's... While Depeche Mode is one of my favorite bands, I can be a harsh critic (the live "Songs of Faith..." is pretty lame) - Black Celebration defined a band that sprung on the scene with it's feel-good electro-synth pop and funny haircuts. While the hair remains funny, the maturity and songwriting, not to mention groundbreaking production techniques, have helped define popular music for about ten years. Black Celebration is best listened to as a whole - songs meld into one another and include some half-songs, like "Sometimes." Not really throw-aways, these songs don't require anything else, and fit the pace of the album perfectly. Standout tracks for songwriting include the "we're the doom-and-gloom band" statement "Black Celebration," the mature ballads "A Question Of Lust," "It Doesn't Matter Two" and "Here Is The House." There are no dancefloor classics on this album - something DM is pretty known for - only mature peices of soul-baring romanticism. The only clunker for me is the trite attempt at politico-rock "New Dress." Although true, it's sort of like pointing out that the sky is blue. Um, duh.
Moody, Dark and addictive...
I origionally listened to this album on Vinyl, and was happy to see they kept most of the interlude sound effects between some songs... and what songs they are. The first track, Black Celebration didn't mean much to me at first, untill i really listened to it. I now anticipate every change in tempo, every lyric sung, and every moody note off that keyboard. The remix of Fly on The Windscreen is alright, but I am somewhat biased in the review of that song because I still love the origional. A Question of Lust is just amazing. I love the melody and the lyrics seem to hit me everytime I listen to it. I actually like A Queston of Time, although this CD has the "Album Version" which is still good, but I really like the "Single Version" (found on The Singles compilation) better, I guess because its a bit faster and louder. Stripped is of course, one of the bigger songs off this album that many people know, and the opening line of "Come with me, into the trees..." always makes me listen to the rest of the song. Here is the House was origionally a track I skipped over to get through the CD, but after listening to it one day, I was captivated. The intro is still somewhat plain to me, but the lead synth melody is so captivating and addictive, it has become a favourite. I know many people don't like "Dressed in Black", but I do enjoy the opening and some of the melody. How can you refuse to listen to that song when your in one of 'those moods'? Although the song, But not Tonight was off the "Modern Girls" soundtrack, I always like to listen to it after hearing the whole album. Its upbeat, fun, cute, somewhat cheesy, but like almost all DM songs, it has a synth lead that is addictive that I can never get out of my head. All in all, Black Celebration is one of my favourite albums.
Depeche Mode Masterpiece
Remember the year 1986 in the music industry and if you have some memory you will notice that not much happened over that years. Well, with this album was for Depeche Mode the beginning of a series of fantastic recordings. Martin Gore always says that he pretty much like everything DM put out since Black Celebration. The song itself and the whole album represents a lot to the dark community. I could split the album in two pieces:
1- The ballads (all sang by Mr. Gore)
- A question of lust: Great song, I did not like much the video for this song, but Martin's lyrics are amazing.
-Sometimes: I would not be fair if I say this was another song in the album, it's a very simple song, with no additional production because the song was good as it was, there's anything else to say about it.
-It doesn't matter II: It was great to listened to Martin performing this song again on the Exciter tour, this time an acoustic version with Peter Gordeno in keyboards.
-World full of nothing: Another song Martin performed in the Excited tour (I think it was in Germany). My favourite ballad from Black celebration.
2-The "dark songs": The opening song is a classic nowadays. If you say Black Celebration you say Depeche Mode. What can I say? The song was inspired by that time and the Germany of the eighties (Martin lived in Berlin in the mid eighties), but it's a song with no time or place.
-Fly on the windscreen:"Death is everywhere": I remember the version from the Devotional tour of this song, what a performance! In these kind of songs you see the touch of Gareth Jones, Daniel Miller and of course Alan Wilder.
-Stripped: the first single, another classic. "Let me see you stripped down to the bones". Say no more.
-Here is the house: I listened to the demo of this song and the album version is very similar. The song was good from the beginning so why change it?
-Dressed in black, New dress: two more dark songs, I prefer not to make any comment about the second one.
-But not tonight: soundtrack from the film "Modern girls". It's really good to play this song when you are driving in your car at night. It's a very optimistic song to me. It's a good decision that band made by including this song to the album, it was originally a b-side.
The dark cloud atop the silver lining
The Amazon review that postulates that "Black Celebration" was the album thousands of dyed hair and make-up kids in the late 80's poured their alienated hearts out over hits it square on the head. "Black Celebration" is almost unmatched in its relentless gloom-mongering and only on the closing "But not Tonight" does the tone turn even vaguely optimistic. (Oddly enough, it's the one song to which the lyrics are omitted.) Not that the music wasn't outstanding. That was the main attraction about the richer sounding "Black Celebration." The state of the synthesizer had risen considerably since "Some Great Reward," and the breakthrough of Compact Discs had just begun. It brought a fuller sound out of Depeche Mode and gave them more room to deepen -- or maybe darken -- their sound. They had also stumbled into areas when less meant more, as the haunting "Stripped" exemplifies. Just because the mood was dark also did not mean "Black Celebration" stayed mired in dirges. The frantic tempo of "A Question of Time" continued DM's ongoing string of modern rock dance singles, keeping them astride the likes of New Order and positioning them as the anti-Duran Duran. (Even though all three of these bands were at their creative peaks in this period.) The DM videos were getting better and it was just one more album before all three bands were world wide massive stars at the same time!!! (Duran Duran with "Big Thing," New Order with "Substance" and Depeche Mode with "Violator.") It was certainly heady times for lovers of synth-rock, and "Black Celebration" remains one of my favorite CDs from that period.
Celebration Indeed
The first of the mature DM albums, Black Celebration is 2nd only to Violator in rank of best DM albums. There are no fillers on this, only beautifully crafted works of art. "Black celebration" is a great song to start of the album. "Question of Lust" and "Stripped" start the pace after "Sometimes" and "It Doesn't Matter II". "New Dress" is a dark song about how simple minded people are. The album ends with "But Not Tonight". That is one of my favorite songs of all time. It also ends the album with a somewhat happy note which would lead into "Music for the Masses". All in all, not many albums can beat this 12 tracked masterpiece.
Depeche Mode's most foreboding album, leaning toward the gothic, is DM at their most bleak, black-armband, and nihilistic--no doubt played over and over by countless self-loathing teens as they dyed their hair black behind locked bedroom doors. The tracks are tastefully minimalist, yet the few sounds that dominate each song have a consuming, even overwhelming feel--like a big, heavy black cloud that descends upon and surrounds listeners until their knees buckle from the weight. Rhythmically, songs like "A Question of Time" are driven with moderately paced 16th notes pounded out on synths filling out the low end. Other tracks follow the path of "Stripped," an all-out lamentfest powered by David Gahan's overproduced baritone. --Beth Bessmer
