Music for the masses

Music for the masses
Depeche Mode studio album
Publication (s)	September 28, 1987
admission	February - July 1987
Label (s)	Mute Records
Genre (s)	Synth pop , dark wave , post punk , alternative rock
Title (number)	10 (LP), 14 (CD)
running time	42:34 (LP), 62:50 (CD)
occupation	Dave Gahan Martin Gore Alan Wilder Andrew Fletcher
production	Depeche Mode, David Bascombe
Studio (s)	Guilliaume Tell, Paris and Konk, London
Location (s)	Paris, London
chronology Black Celebration (1986) Music for the masses Violator (1990)
Single releases April 13, 1987 Strangelove August 24, 1987 Never Let Me Down Again December 28, 1987 Behind the wheel May 16, 1988 Little 15

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Music for the masses   DE 2 10/12/1987 (23 weeks)   AT 16 11/01/1987 (8 weeks)   CH 4th 10/11/1987 (8 weeks)   UK 10 10/10/1987 (4 weeks)   US 35 October 24, 1987 (59 weeks)

Singles

Strangelove   DE 2 05/11/1987 (15 weeks)   AT 29 07/15/1987 (2 weeks)   CH 3 05/10/1987 (13 weeks)   UK 16 05/09/1987 (5 weeks)   US 76 07/25/1987 (6 weeks) Never Let Me Down Again   DE 2 07.09.1987 (14 weeks)   AT 29 11/01/1987 (4 weeks)   CH 7th 09/06/1987 (13 weeks)   UK 22nd 09/05/1987 (4 weeks)   US 63 December 26, 1987 (10 weeks) Behind the wheel   DE 6th January 18, 1988 (17 weeks)   CH 6th 01/24/1988 (7 weeks)   UK 21st 09/01/1988 (5 weeks)   US 61 05/07/1988 (11 weeks) Little 15   DE 16 06/06/1988 (14 weeks)   AT 25th 08/15/1988 (2 weeks)   CH 18th 06/12/1988 (8 weeks)   UK 60 May 28, 1988 (2 weeks)

Music for the Masses ( German: Music for the masses ) is the sixth studio album by the British synth-pop band Depeche Mode . It was produced in the studios Guillaume Tell ( Paris ) and Konk ( London ).

Both the album and the first two singles Strangelove and Never Let Me Down Again reached number two in the German charts. On the subsequent tour For the Masses , Depeche Mode played as one of the first electronic bands in stadiums. The 101st and last concert in front of over 60,000 spectators in the Rose Bowl Stadium , Pasadena, USA achieved particular fame . The documentary filmmaker DA Pennebaker accompanied the band and made the film 101 , which was released on video in 1989 and shows excerpts from the concert as well as interviews with fans and the band. The recording of the concert itself was also released on LP, CD and later on DVD together with the film (also as 101 ).

style

After the very dark and melancholy Black Celebration , Depeche Mode took a somewhat more optimistic direction with Music for the Masses , without losing the dark tone that characterizes the band. The word masses allows two interpretations of the title. On the one hand, it means masses (in the sense of crowds ), which alludes to the slightly more commercial orientation of the album. From another perspective, authoritative and fair (in the religious sense), thereby producing the reference to its predecessor ( Black Celebration is black hard or black mass ).

Track list

1. Never Let Me Down Again - 4:47
2. The Things You Said - 3:55
3. Strangelove - 4:56
4. Sacred - 4:43
5. Little 15 - 4:14
6. Behind the Wheel - 5:17
7. I Want You Now - 3:44
8. To Have and to Hold - 2:51
9. Nothing - 4:13
10. Pimpf - 3:54
11. Agent Orange - 5:05 *
12. Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix) - 4:54 *
13. To Have and to Hold (Spanish Taster) - 2:36 *
14. Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix) - 5:38 *

The titles marked with * are only included as bonus tracks on the CD version.

All songs were written by Martin Gore, who also sings The Things You Said and I Want You Now . The rest of the songs are sung by Dave Gahan, Pimpf and Agent Orange are instrumental pieces . At the end of Pimpf there is the short instrumental Interlude # 1: Mission Impossible .

Single releases

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

The band found the single version of Strangelove too poppy for the album and revised it again. The song was released in the album version on August 23, 1988 again as a single in the USA and was more successful than the first release with chart position 50.

The single version of Behind the Wheel is a remix by Shep Pettibone. The corresponding B-side is Route 66 , a cover of the Bobby Troup classic of the same name , which is musically partially identical to Behind the Wheel .

Little 15 was not - as incorrectly stated in the booklet of the compilation The Singles 86> 98 - only published in France, but also in Germany. The single contains two piano pieces as B-sides, both played by Alan Wilder. Stjarna - often mistakenly called St. Jarna - was written by Martin Gore. Stjärna ( ˈɧæˌɳa ) is Swedish and means star . The second track is Moonlight Sonata No. 14 , the moonlight sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven . Wilder said on his website that he was actually playing the piece for fun, but that Martin Gore was secretly playing the recorder.

Setlist of the Music for the Masses Tour 1987–1988

1. Pimpf (intro)
2. Behind the wheel
3. Strangelove
4. Sacred
5. Something to Do
6. Blasphemous rumors
7. Stripped
8. • Pipeline standard until March 1988
   • It doesn't matter
   • Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth - from April 1988
   • Somebody - from May 1988
9. • The Things You Said
10. Black Celebration
11. Shake the disease
12. Nothing
13. Pleasure, Little Treasure
14. People Are People
    • Just can't get enough
    • Master and Servant
15. A question of time
16. Never Let Me Down Again
17. • A Question of Lust
18. Master and Servant
20. Just Can't Get Enough - additional song only in Pasadena
21. Everything Counts

The song Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth is a cover by the band Sparks and was included on Martin Gore's first solo album, which was later released under the title Counterfeit EP .

Republication

On April 3, 2006, Music for the Masses was re-released as SACD and DVD . In addition to the fourteen album songs of the original CD version in multi-channel sound and the documentation Depeche Mode 1987-88: "Sometimes you do need some new jokes" , the new edition also contains the following bonus tracks:

• Agent Orange
• Pleasure, Little Treasure
• Route 66
• Stjarna
• Sonata No. 14 in C # m (Moonlight Sonata)

Trivia

• The breathing sound in I Want You Now comes from an accordion that was played without a note.
• At the beginning of the song To Have and to Hold a man says in Russian " В докладах рассматривается эволюция ядерных арсеналов и социально-психологические проблемы гонки вооружений " ( "the development of nuclear arsenals and the socio-psychological problems of the arms race be considered in the reports") . Alan Wilder wasn't aware of the importance when he produced the song.
• The version of To Have and to Hold originally written by Martin Gore was too pop for the band, and Alan Wilder produced a darker version for the album. Gore managed to get his version recorded anyway. The Spanish Taster finally came as a bonus track on the CD version of the album. Wilder writes on his website: "I don't think there is a better example of the musical differences between Martin and me."
• The song To Have and to Hold is the second after Stories of Old from 1984 and the only song by Music for the Masses that was never played live until Ultra was released in 1997 .
• A choir seems to be singing in the song Pimpf , but it is actually synthesizer sounds. Pimpf was the lowest rank within the German Young People , which in turn was part of the Hitler Youth .
• Agent Orange is the military name for a dioxin-containing herbicide that the Americans used in the Vietnam War .
• Since the Music for the Masses tour was Never Let Me Down Again always part of the set list.

Web links

• Music for the Masses , Strangelove , Never Let Me Down Again , Behind the Wheel and Little 15 in the discography on the band's official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ musicline.de: Depeche Mode in the German single charts ( Memento of the original from April 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Austriancharts.at: Depeche Mode in the Austrian charts
3. ↑ hitparade.ch: Depeche Mode in the Swiss charts
4. ↑ Music for the Masses in the Official UK Charts (English)
5. ↑ Never let me down again in the Official UK Charts (English)
6. ↑ Little 15 in the Official UK Charts (English)
7. ↑ Strangelove in the Official UK Charts (English)
8. ↑ Behind the wheel in the Official UK Charts (English)
9. ↑ billboard.com: Depeche Mode on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart
10. ↑ billboard.com: Depeche Mode on the US Billboard 200 album charts
11. ↑ Band manager Jonathan Kessler says in film 101 : "Paid attendance was 60,453" - see also Depeche Mode - Stripped , Jonathan Miller, page 265 at Google Books
12. ↑ ^{a b} [1]