Mar 09

Depeche Mode and Touring the Universe

By bruce talking about bands No Comments »

Some time ago I overheard someone complaining about Depeche Mode’s live performances, without actually attending one.  What can a 3 men in their late 40’s, be up to in a live performance?  Or better after the unfortunate event of David Gahan’s sickness, are they still good at it?  Do they still have what it takes to perform to some of the world’s poppiest tracks?

This was a good initiative for me, to book a flight ticket and a concert ticket, and go and check them out for myself.  So I’ve been to the concert, and can confidently say that it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, the presentation, sound mixing and atmosphere of the concert were the best they could have ever been.  Both Martin Gore and David Gahan still have what it takes, much more than new and upcoming young artists have.  Most probably, David Gahan is one of the most energetic and charismatic performers of all time, on the same level of Queen’s front man, Freddie Mercury.

The concert, featured some of the best tracks from their latest album Sounds of the Universe, and also a number greatest hits from the past, such as Enjoy the Silence, Personal Jesus and Walking in my shoes.  Two hours felt like two minutes, or even less unfortunately.  The well mixed sound was accompanied by a huge big screen covering the whole back of the stage, projecting images and short clips of the band while performing, and other images and clips related to songs being played.  An unforgettable experience, and to conclude, Depeche Mode still got what it takes!

If you’ve been to one of Depeche Mode’s Touring the Universe concert, make sure you order the live CD of the concert you’ve been too.  This is surely the best memorabilia you can get of a concert you’ve been to.  Nice initiative from the band.

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Feb 23

Cover Versions… some do it right!

By bruce talking about music 3 Comments »

Although I do not understand the scope behind remixing songs, I do understand and appreciate cover versions.  In layman terms, remixing a song boils down to adding a house or techno or even R & B beat to a song, and instead of using the same lyrics or try to adopt them, you mostly use the chorus.  With cover versions things are different.  A cover version can give a new image and feel to a song.  There are bands who are capable of doing it, while unfortunately others don’t, and they totally destroy a song.  In this blog I’m posting the top three cover versions, who actually transformed an original song into a better one, by giving them an appropriate face lift.  It is not that the original song needed it, as when the original song was released they couldn’t have been written in a different way.

The Gathering – In power we entrust the love advocate

This song was originally released from Dead can Dance in their 1984 EP called Garden of the Arcane Delights.  When compared to the original version, thanks to Anneke’s haunting vocals, more robust drums recording and the introduction of keyboards make this song sounds more complete and is able to deliver more feel.  The original version is quite silent and unpolished  compared to The Gatherings cover.

Lacuna Coil – Enjoy the Silence

This song was originally released from Depeche Mode in their 1990 album Violator.  Although I really love Depeche Mode,their music style and almost all 80’s music, Lacuna Coil managed to transform this song into a stadium rock anthem.  Depeche Mode are still able to transform this song into a stadium anthem, electronically, but only in live performances since the original version is much less hyper.  Again, thanks to female vocals, the introduction of guitars and heavier drum rolls instead of drum machines, make this song more catchy and needs to be played real loud!

Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

This song was originally released from Eurythmics in their 1983 album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).  With all his weird ways of doing it, Marilyn Manson managed to transform this song into a dark, gloomy and angry song, which obviously makes it more catchy.  With a catchy guitar solo, angry / screaming voice and industrial like sound effects, make this song a ‘dream’ song.  Well done Marilyn!

Stay tuned as in the next blog post we will post the worst three cover versions ever, in other words, how to screw up and destroy a song!

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Nov 06

Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe Review

By bruce album review 1 Comment »
After the 4 years of silence, England’s electronic band are back with their 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe.  Like everybody else, before listening to this album, my expectations were not really high, for a couple of reasons.
In the late 90’s, Depeche Mode didn’t really deliver what was expected.  They weren’t able to surprise us much like they used to do in the 80’s and early 90’s.  It is like they got stuck in the same waters of the monotonous 90’s commercial pop culture.  Though with the release of their 11th studio album, Playing the Angel, finally they delivered what was expected and much awaited from their fans.  So after such a great album, it is quite hard to expect a lot from them.  Few bands managed to release a back to back master piece.
Though with the release of Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode took another evolutionary step, far and far away from today’s radio played dance and commercial pop music, and surprised us again.  They dug deeper into their adolescence dark electronica.  Finally, it’s like they went back in time to some Gothic age, and found themselves again in the Black Celebration era.
Don’t let yourself be influenced by the non commercial success of this album; e.g. their first single “Wrong” only made it up to number 24 in the UK single charts.  Not making a commercial success means something.  As I said above, Depeche Mode ran away from the commercial music genre that today’s generic public likes, and got back to their roots.  Therefore in 2009, Depeche Mode released an album which can still be enjoyed from any hardcore Depeche Mode and electronica fan.

After the 4 years of silence, England’s electronic band are back with their 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe.  Like everybody else, before listening to this album, my expectations were not really high, for a couple of reasons;

In the late 90’s, Depeche Mode didn’t really deliver what was expected.  They weren’t able to surprise us much like they used to do in the 80’s and early 90’s.  It is like they got stuck in the same waters of the monotonous 90’s commercial pop culture.  Though with the release of their 11th studio album, Playing the Angel, finally they delivered what was expected and much awaited from their fans.  So after such a great album, it is quite hard to expect a lot from them.  Few bands managed to release a back to back master piece.

Though with the release of Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode took another evolutionary step, far and far away from today’s radio played dance and commercial pop music, and surprised us again.  They dug deeper into their adolescence dark electronica.  Finally, it’s like they went back in time to some Gothic age, and found themselves again in the Black Celebration era.

Depeche_mode

Don’t let yourself be influenced by the non commercial success of this album; e.g. their first single “Wrong” only made it up to number 24 in the UK single charts, or Rolling Stones album review, where Sounds of the Universe scored only 2.5 out of 5.  Maybe Rolling Stones are more into promoting new commercial artists like Lady Gaga, then masters like Depeche Mode.  After all they want to find a way how to sell their magazine, no?  Not making a commercial success means something.  As I said above, Depeche Mode ran away from the commercial music genre that today’s generic public likes, and got back to their roots.  Therefore in 2009, Depeche Mode are still able to release an album which can be enjoyed from any real hardcore Depeche Mode and electronica fan.

Sounds-Of-The-Universe

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Sep 09

Last.fm exclusive Depeche Mode interview; new album, their career and more

By bruce talking about bands, talking about musicians No Comments »

Last.fm released an exclusive interview with Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher, where they talk about their career, about the recording of their latest album, and how David Gahan writing his own music helped in the whole process, and they also talk a little bit about their career. Should we expect more good DM years to come?

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