Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Never Let Me Down Again
2. Things You Said
3. Strangelove
4. Sacred
5. Little 15
6. Behind The Wheel
7. I Want You Now
8. To Have And To Hold
9. Nothing
10. Pimpf

Disc 2:

1. Never Let Me Down Again
2. Things You Said
3. Strangelove
4. Sacred
5. Little 15
6. Behind The Wheel
7. I Want You Now
8. To Have And To Hold
9. Nothing
10. Pimpf
11. Agent Orange
12. Pleasure Little Treasure
13. Route 66
14. Stjarna
15. Sonata No.14
16. Agent Orange
17. Never Let Me Down Again
18. To Have And To Hold
19. Pleasure Little Treasure
20. Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59578 in Music
• Released on: 2006-04-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Hybrid SACD, SACD, Deluxe Edition

From Amazon.com
This album is a culmination of Depeche Mode's middle-period experimentation. More informed by Goth than techno, it is still anchored by plenty of the larger-than-life-baritone melodrama so distinctive of David Gahan's vocals. The most experimental track is "Pimpf"--a song that heave-hoes along with the synthesized emulation of a Russian men's choir. Although nowhere near fast enough to be danceable, the commanding "Never Let Me Down" ranks as the best single on the track, with the most hummable "Strangelove" coming in at a close second. Each song is a praiseworthy accomplishment, but the singles here set off the experimental tracks, making the album seem thematically schizophrenic. --Beth Bessmer

CD Description
One of the bands that not only dominated the charts for most of the 80s, but they also typified the type of music that will be looked back on as 'the sound of the 80s'. Their sometimes Germanic electronic pop became softer on this album. They were becoming more of a band, and they were 'rockin', just a little. Keyboards still dominated but the melody seemedless regimented. Vocalist Dave Gahan excelled, as his voicegrew in power. In a year or two they would become stadium rock stars, and change forever. The reissued CD had a number of excellent bonus tracks including some interesting remixedmaterial.

Customer Reviews

The classic LP from 1987 in deluxe remastered form...
The title of Depeche Mode's album of Autumn 1987 was meant to be ironic with their appeal to the masses apparently on the wane/in stasis. That this was the LP that broke them in the US (see the film '101')was bizarre - perhaps the title was self-fullfilling prophecy? Recorded in Denmark, this advanced a little on the approach of 'Black Celebration'- the sampling approach from 'Construction Time Again' had fulfilled itself on 'B.C.' and pretty much concluded that approach. It's still here to a degree - the intro to 'Behind the Wheel' or the groans on 'I Want You Now' - but the LP is more base-electronic music with emphasis on the guitar Martin Gore had been openly playing since the single release of 'Strangelove' earlier in 87.

'Music for the Masses' is part of the trio of Mode reissues/remasters - like 'Speak & Spell' and 'Violator' it comes in this two disc edition with a wealth of related bonus tracks, an audio sequence, audio DVD and related embelishments. Both this and 'Violator' involve Flood and former Mode-member Alan Wilder in the reissue - which is about right, Wilder was a key part of the Mode so the project clearly warrants his input. The bonus tracks include the excellent instrumentals 'Stjarna' and 'Agent Orange' - plus Alan Wilder playing 'Moonlight Sonata' for the import only single of 'Little 15'! The album proper is all that's required truthfully - many Mode fans will have the b-sides and remixes on the remix-compilations of a year or so ago and the three box-sets put out in the 90s.

'Masses' opens on 'Never Let Me Down Again', a pulsing gloomy electronic anthem that would later be sampled by Third Bass - this scraped into the top 30 in the UK, but has become one of their key moments in the Mode's concerts - the crowd mimicking the arm-waving shown in '101.' Gore's songwriting is perfect here, he could be writing about drugs or sex (possibly both) and offers up such fantastic nonsense "promise me we're as safe as houses as long as I remember whose wearing the trousers"!!! 'The Things You Said' is a gorgeus synth-ballad which Gore sings, absolute pop perfection and proof that the Mode didn't require filler anymore. 'Strangelove' is re-recorded, less metallic and 'Question of Time/Something to Do-esque like the single version and with a groove at the beginning that resembles Cameo's 'Word Up'! (a hidden violin take of 'Strangelove' was at the end of the tape I had of this - check after 'Pimpf' to see if that's still here!).

The album is wonderfully sequenced, like 'Black Celebration' the majority of the tracks flow into one another - the moans at the start of 'Sacred' kick in and take us into a Mode song that really ought to find its way back into a live-set (only played on the 'Masses' tour). 'Little 15' is perhaps the most cliched moment of the LP, taking the kind of Lolita-in-Peril material of 'A Question of Time' and placing it in a style not far from 86's 'Dressed in Black' - slightly bombastic semi-classical alluding stuff (Wilder's work with Recoil also showed the Philip Glass side of things!). The second half of the LP opens with 'Behind the Wheel' which remains a great song, though was probably superior in the remixed version released as a single in early '88.

Gore's second contribution is 'I Want You Now', which sounds rather sexual and fits somewhere between Prince's filthier moments ('Orgasm' from 'Come', most of 'The Black Album') and Tricky - who has covered the Mode. 'To Have and To Hold' is a dark gothic dirge with a gothic sense of menace - it's nice when it gives way to the fantastic 'Nothing.' 'Nothing' is another classic pop song written by Gore that like 'Sacred' was only played on the 'Masses' tour - it even has that 'People are People' drum-thing at the end that recurred in 1986's 'New Dress'! The LP concludes on 'Pimpf', the Philip Glass-influenced instrumental used as the intro for the tour and the flipside of the 'Strangelove'-single.

'Music for the Masses' is one of the Mode's key albums and wipes the floor with New Order's patchy 'Brotherhood'- which for some reason it is often compared to! I'd say this, 'Black Celebration' and 'Violator' are the ones you really need - a wlecome reissue of a classic LP and part of the soundtrack to my late 80s which also included 'Doolittle', 'Sign'O'the Times', 'Technique', 'Saint Julian', 'Blue Bell Knoll', 'Strangeways, Here We Come', 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me', 'Green', 'Isn't Anything', 'The Stone Roses', 'Hunkpapa', 'Three Feet High & Rising' and 'Ultra Vivid Scene.'

Minimalist Music Standing the Test of Time
When initially released a couple of decades ago, I found MFTM being a rather bleak album. Even the singles were somewhat low-key arrangements of what I still thought were great tunes. The reason I bought this re-mastered version is that I have been enjoying other re-mastered DM releases and thought that maybe it was worth giving MFTM another try.

Hearing this album again proves that giving it a second chance was well worth my time. The sound of many bands from the 80s has aged poorly; one can often almost pin point which year such and such album was released given the production sound that was currently in vogue. MFTM has, however, a timeless production. This could actually be released today and by tagging another artist name to the music this could most certainly appeal to today's masses. The songs are built upon minimalist sound bites and layered with various sound effects. This may have sounded bleak in the mid 80s but today this sounds remarkably fresh.

Listening to the album in 5.1 surround sound gives even more value to the production. The low-key beats driving the songs flow in a perfect tandem with the instruments flowing all around the listener. Actually, I hardly bother listening to this any other way.

Also included is a very interesting documentary about the making of the album, the making of its cover and the subsequent promotional tour. A highlight is the final concert which certainly put them on the map in the US. One senses how much pride DM still feel of MFTM.

I have one final note. Having bought other DM re-releases from the US, I initially simply forgot that the CD version from the UK is a hybrid SACD. I thus listened first to the dts surround sound the first few times, and was impressed. Yet once I put the SACD it felt like the sound improved almost half way to the difference of re-mastered versions of other CDs today from initial pressing 20 years or so ago. The difference is subtle but definitely audible. This should not be happening today. I intend to buy the more expensive DM re-releases from the UK and dump the US versions.

The Greatest album of all time
I don't think I need to say much more than that.....but I will!

This is well worthy of the remaster treatment making the original release even crisper and even more atmospheric on the 5.1 mix on the DVD.

BUY IT!