Depeche Mode "Black Celebration (Germany, Mute Records, 846-818)"

Black Celebration is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 17 March 1986 by Mute Records. Daniel Miller devised “a plan to capture the essence of the dark works” that Martin Gore created because Martin Gore had no intention of compromising the mood that his demos had set. With the release of the album, Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones presented Black Celebration which they produced to be more like an environment rather than a collection of songs. Their production created “a tech-noir future dystopia” that “glitters of gloom.”

Black Celebration reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, and has been cited as one of the most influential albums of the 1980s. To promote the album, the band embarked on the Black Celebration Tour. Three years after its release, Spin ranked it at number 15 on its "25 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

The album was promoted by the single "Stripped" released 10 February, and was followed by "A Question of Lust", released 14 April, "A Question of Time" released 11 August. Instead of "Stripped", "But Not Tonight" was released as a single in the US, due to its more commercial appeal on 22 October.

The band wanted to change their working routine yet again to make sure that things would not lead to boredom or lack of production. Daniel Miller stated: "I was a bit frustrated because I couldn't get the guys to think about working in different ways." He admired the working methods of the German film director Werner Herzog, which meant that the band had "lived the album", meaning they attended the studio every day and worked endlessly on the songs and production. Miller felt that he wanted "a kind of intensity", as he had felt that production was slowing down since their debut Speak & Spell, which had snappy recording and production, with the exception of Construction Time Again, which he claims was due to there being "so many new things going on.".

With regard to the recording processes and song formation, samples were yet again at the forefront of the sound. Gareth Jones stated that they would always use their own samples and tried to avoid using samples from other sources. For example, the opening title track initially was to have samples of Winston Churchill saying "A brief period of rejoicing" because they enjoyed "that idea of a brief moment of rejoicing." However, instead of sampling Churchill saying it, they had Miller say the quote instead. He said that, though they admired hip hop, they had no desire to sample in the same fashion. "We didn't want to collage other people's work and drop it into Martin's songs. We used samplers to grab real sounds from the real world to make sure our samples were original." On the song "Fly on the Windscreen", Jones recalled: "You can hear a rather young sounding Daniel again saying 'over and done with.' The breath sample noise at the start is interesting too." On Alan Wilder's Shunt website, in the Q&A section, he stated that these "breath samples" were in fact Miller saying "'Horse' repeatedly very fast."

The tour began with a European leg, starting in Oxford, England in late March 1986 and finishing in Rüsselsheim, West Germany in late May. A North American jaunt followed in early June, commencing in Boston and culminating mid-July in Irvine, California. Shortly after the North American leg, the group headed to Japan to play three dates.

In early August, the group began a second run of European shows, starting in Fréjus, France. The group performed four additional dates in France, as well as two shows in Italy, before wrapping up the tour in Copenhagen.

Book of Love joined the tour as the opening act on 29 April in Hanover, West Germany, and continued for the rest of the first European leg and throughout all tour dates of the North American leg (ending on 15 July)

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted. All lead vocals by Dave Gahan, except where noted

1. "Black Celebration" 4:55
2. "Fly on the Windscreen – Final" 5:18
3. "A Question of Lust" Gore 4:20
4. "Sometimes" Gore 1:53
5. "It Doesn't Matter Two" Gore 2:50
6. "A Question of Time" 4:10
7. "Stripped" 4:16
8. "Here Is the House" Gahan/Gore  4:15
9. "World Full of Nothing" Gore 2:50
10. "Dressed in Black"   Gahan/Gore  2:32
11. "New Dress" 3:42

Total length: 41:01

Depeche Mode "Some Great Reward (Italy, Mute Records, CDOR-9211)"

Some Great Reward is the fourth studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 24 September 1984 by Mute Records. The album peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 51 in the United States, and was supported by the Some Great Reward Tour. This also saw the band using samplers, much like they did in their previous studio album Construction Time Again (1983), which they would continue to use in their following studio albums Black Celebration (1986) and Music for the Masses (1987).

Additionally it also saw the band addressing more personal themes such as sexual politics ("Master and Servant"), adulterous relationships ("Lie to Me"), and arbitrary divine justice ("Blasphemous Rumours"). "Blasphemous Rumours" was released as a double A-side with "Somebody".

This was the first album where they achieved chart success in the US with the single "People Are People" which reached No. 13 on the charts in mid-1985 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was a Top 20 hit in Canada. It was also the first album that peaked at a higher position on a chart that was not from the band's home country as it peaked at No. 1 in Germany.

The tour was the band's longest to date. A concert held at Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, West Germany, was recorded and issued as a video release titled The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg (1985). The European release featured 16 songs, while the North American version featured 11 songs. The video has not yet seen a DVD release.

American synth-pop and electronic band Book of Love were the opening act for all 15 tour dates of the North American leg of the tour.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted. All lead vocals by Dave Gahan, except where noted

1. "Something to Do"  Gahan/Gore   3:45
2. "Lie to Me" 5:04
3. "People Are People" Gahan/Gore   3:52
4. "It Doesn't Matter" Gore 4:45
5. "Stories of Old" 3:12
6. "Somebody" Gore 4:26
7. "Master and Servant" 4:13
8. "If You Want" Wilder 4:40
9. "Blasphemous Rumours" Gahan/Gore   6:21

Total length: 40:18

Depeche Mode "Construction Time Again (Germany, Mute Records 846-807)"

Construction Time Again is the third studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records. It was the band's first album to feature Alan Wilder as a member, who wrote the songs "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing". The album's title comes from the second line of the first verse of the track "Pipeline". It was recorded at John Foxx's Garden Studios in London, and was supported by the Construction Time Again Tour.

The album was preceded by the single "Everything Counts", released on 11 July and reached No. 6 on the UK Charts and was also promoted by the single "Love, in Itself", which was released on 19 September and reached No. 21 on the UK Charts.

In January 1983, shortly before the release of the "Get the Balance Right!" single, songwriter Martin Gore attended an Einstürzende Neubauten concert, giving him the idea to experiment with the sounds of industrial music in the context of pop.

This album introduced a transition in lyrical content for the group. Construction Time Again would include a bevy of political themes, sparked by the poverty Gore had seen on a then-recent trip he had taken to Thailand.

Producer Daniel Miller, has explained the recording process as "a massive leap forward". Due to the band, as well as Miller, having an urge to change up their processes they decided to change which studio they would work in, which was decided to be John Foxx's Garden Studios in London, and they also met Gareth Jones, who had worked with John Foxx on his album Metamatic (1980). Initially, Jones was reluctant to work with the group as he felt they were too commercial and viewed them as 'pop' and 'lightweight', which he saw as an issue. However, John Foxx had persuaded Gareth to work with the band as he felt that due to his appreciation for Mute Records' musical output, such as Daniel Miller's "Warm Leatherette" the band would be worth while as Miller was their producer and they were a Mute label artist. Jones would provide contributions to further albums such as, Some Great Reward (1984) and Black Celebration (1986).

With regards to the heavy amount of sampling, the band would sample various 'found' sounds, such as toy instruments or other objects like stones and objects found in construction sites which they would manipulate using the Synclavier. Bandmate Alan Wilder said “You can take the purest voice in the world, and fool around with it digitally until it’s the most evil, monstrous sound. Or you can take a moose fart and make it beautiful.” Daniel Miller recalled "Martin (Gore) would turn up with some toy or some other weird instrument and we just started recording it, sampling it, doing shit with it." He looked back on the recording process as one of the most enjoyable he has been through stating "I sit at home with my synthesizers making great noises, but when you can put those experiments into the pop form that’s thrilling.”

The tour, which took place in Europe, began in September 1983 in Hitchin, England. Following an initial leg of dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a second leg in December reached Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany.

In March 1984, the group performed its first dates in Italy and Spain. The final date was a one-off show in June supporting Elton John in Ludwigshafen, West Germany, where "People Are People", the lead single from their next album, made its live debut on the special set. A tour in support of the act's subsequent studio release, Some Great Reward, followed in September.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted. All lead vocals by Dave Gahan, except where noted

1. "Love, in Itself" 4:29
2. "More Than a Party" 4:45
3. "Pipeline" Gore 5:54
4. "Everything Counts" Gahan/Gore/Wilder   4:20
5. "Two Minute Warning" Alan Wilder 4:13
6. "Shame" Gahan/Gore   3:51
7. "The Landscape Is Changing" Wilder 4:49
8. "Told You So" 4:26
9. "And Then..." 4:35
10. "Everything Counts (Reprise)" (hidden track) 1:05

Total length: 42:27

Depeche Mode "A Broken Frame (Germany, Mute Records, 846-804)"

A Broken Frame is the second studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 27 September 1982 by Mute Records. The album was written entirely by Martin Gore and was recorded as a trio after the departure of Vince Clarke, who had left and formed Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet. Alan Wilder was part of a second band tour in the United Kingdom prior to the release of A Broken Frame, but had not officially joined yet and does not appear on the album.

The album reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and was promoted by the singles "See You", "The Meaning of Love" and "Leave in Silence".

The album is a transition from the lighter and optimistic sound of Speak & Spell and the more heavy and darker sound that formed on their later albums. Daniel Miller recalled that the process of production was quite different from the previous album, stating, "It was almost like a blank sheet of paper, the songs were recorded in a different way because Vince had a very specific idea of what the song was going to end up sounding like, and Martin didn't really have that. It was more like, 'Here's the words, here's the melody. Let's figure it out.'"

However, Miller also believed that "some of the more experimental elements of the band came out in A Broken Frame, which I enjoyed. They were making pop records, but they, especially Martin, were into experimental music and that started to feed into tracks like 'Monument'."

He also said that the instrumental track "Nothing to Fear" gained its title from Martin, who was "reading some weird book during the making of the record, a book of prophecies or something and he looked up his birthdate and it said, 'Nothing to fear.' So that actually ended up being a track title, and it made him very optimistic about the future." Miller also believes that the album "was a transitional record and while it's not their best record, it's hugely important in terms of how it was made and how it gave everybody confidence. It's when people really started believing in the future of the band."

Smash Hits wrote that A Broken Frame, in contrast to the group's early post-Clarke singles showed "a lack of purpose", "makes a virtue of their tinkly-bonk whimsy". In contrast, Melody Maker wrote that, although "ambitious and bold", "A Broken Frame – as its name suggests – marks the end of a beautiful dream", a comment on the departure of main songwriter Clarke. Reviewer Steve Sutherland considered the songs "daft aspirations to art", the album's musical and thematic "larcenies" sounding like "puerile infatuations papering over anonymity". At the same time, Sutherland acknowledged that the group's increasing complexity "sounds less the result of exterior persuasion than an understandable, natural development", although he finally concluded that Depeche Mode remain (in contrast to Clarke's new group Yazoo) "essentially vacuous".

The comments of Noise! magazine's "DH" (most likely Noise! contributor Dave Henderson) showed greater prescience. "DH" said that the album "falls together well and shows we can expect a lot more from the clean cut quartet", adding "[a]t times it reaches high points far exceeding their first album."

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Ned Raggett described A Broken Frame as "a notably more ambitious effort than the pure pop/disco of the band's debut", with much of the album "forsaking earlier sprightliness... for more melancholy reflections about love gone wrong". He added: "More complex arrangements and juxtaposed sounds, such as the sparkle of breaking glass in 'Leave in Silence', help give this underrated album even more of an intriguing, unexpected edge."

In 1990, while promoting their album Violator, songwriter Martin Gore lamented parts of the album, saying, "I regret all that sickly boy-next-door stuff of the early days... musically A Broken Frame was a mish-mash".

Despite being a photograph, the cover artwork is intended to resemble a painting. It depicts a woman cutting grain in an East Anglian field, near Duxford, Cambridgeshire. It was taken by Brian Griffin (who had previously taken the cover photograph for Speak & Spell and press photos for the band) using a mixture of natural and artificial lighting. Griffin cited as inspirations the socialist realism of Soviet Russia, especially the work of Kazimir Malevich, and German Romanticism. Griffin has displayed on his website a gallery of alternative images from the same shoot. Later releases of the album on vinyl (2007) and compact disc (2009) feature slightly different takes of the shot. It was also featured on the cover of Life's 1990 edition of "World's Best Photographs 1980–1990".

The tour began in October 1982 in Chippenham, England. The jaunt eventually reached 12 countries, which included the group's first shows in Asia, before wrapping up with a one-off festival appearance in Schüttorf, West Germany, in May 1983. A tour in support of the act's subsequent studio release, Construction Time Again, followed in September.

Selected tracks from the 25 October 1982 show at the Hammersmith Odeon in London have been published on the "Get the Balance Right!", "Everything Counts" and "Love, in Itself" limited-edition 12-inch singles, as well as CD reissues.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin Gore. All lead vocals by Dave Gahan, except where noted.

North American edition

1. "Leave in Silence" 6:28
2. "My Secret Garden" 4:46
3. "Monument" 3:15
4. "Nothing to Fear" 4:18
5. "See You" 4:34
6. "Satellite" 4:44
7. "The Meaning of Love" 3:06
8. "Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden" 4:20
9. "A Photograph of You" 3:04
10. "Shouldn't Have Done That" 3:12  (Gahan/Gore)
11. "The Sun & the Rainfall" 5:02

Total length: 46:49

Deep Forest "Music Detected"

Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats. Their sound has been described as an "ethno-introspective ambient world music".

They were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1994 for Best World Music Album, and in 1995 they won the Award for the album Boheme. The group also became World Music Awards Winner – French group with the highest 1995 world sales. Their albums have sold over 10 million copies. Sanchez started his own career as a singer in 2005, while Mouquet continued working under the band's original name.

Music Detected is the fifth album by the musical group Deep Forest. The record was released on May 14, 2002 via Saint George label.

Track listing

All songs by Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez.

1. "India" – 4:07
2. "Endangered Species" – 6:18
3. "Soul Elevator" – 4:12
4. "Computer Machine" – 5:12
5. "Yuki Song" (featuring Beverly Jo Scott) – 5:23
6. "Beauty in Your Eyes" – 4:23
7. "Elemental" (featuring Beverly Jo Scott) – 5:24
8. "Far East" – 0:58
9. "Deep Blue Sea" (featuring Anggun) – 4:16
10. "Will You Be Ready" (featuring Chitose Hajime and Angela McCluskey) – 5:18
11. "In the Evening" – 1:36
12. "Dignity" (featuring Beverly Jo Scott) – 5:23
13. "Endangered Species (Galleon Remix Radio Edit)" – 3:59