Track Listing

1. Never Let Me Down Again - The Smashing Pumpkins
2. Fly On The Windscreen - God Lives Underwater
3. Enjoy The Silence - Locust, Failure
4. World In My Eyes - The Cure
5. Policy Of Truth - Dishwalla
6. Somebody - Veruca Salt
7. Everything Counts - Meat Beat Manifesto
8. Shake The Disease - Hooverphonic
9. Master & Servant - Locust
10. Shame - Self
11. Black Celebration - Monster Magnet
12. Waiting For The Night - Rabbit In The Moon, Jacqui Walker
13. I Feel You - Apollo 440
14. Monument - Gus Gus
15. To Have And To Hold - Deftones
16. Stripped - Rammstein

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12158 in Music
• Released on: 1998-09-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 74 minutes

CD Description
As one of the prime innovators of synth-pop, Depeche Mode has influenced an entire generation of knob-twiddling, mousse-wearing devotees. Since 1981, their dark, scientific sound has defined the genre, moving the synthesizer into edgy, aggressive realms. FOR THE MASSES finds that generation paying overdue tribute to the men in black, combining a wide variety of bands who've followed in their footsteps in one way or another (with the exception of the Cure, whose recorded output predates DM's but who contribute a sonically rich versionof "World In My Eyes" nonetheless).
FOR THE MASSES sticks to Depeche Mode's more aggressive and mostly later work--the soft pop of "New Life" or "See You" is eschewed for more hard-edged themes. Some of the covers show a very direct lineage to the band--Rammstein's gut-wrenching "Stripped" and Meat Beat Manifesto's breakneck "Everything Counts" inject anover-the-top element of aggression, while Hooverphonic's "Shake the Disease" displays this band's talent for giving a song breathing room without compromising its intensity. Smashing Pumpkins even deliver an inspired, beefed-up take on "Never Let Me Down Again".

Customer Reviews

Overall not a bad album.
A nice idea in theory, but unfortunately this was not all I had hoped for. There are touches of genius- Veruca Salt's exquisitely tender cover of 'Somebody' and Rammsteins gritty rendition of 'Stripped', but I was sadly dismayed by the bland offerings by The Cure and Smashing Pumpkins whom I would have expected better from.

be surprised, be very surprised!!
The tribute album is a rare and usually very ugly beast, karaoke for the famous, like watching a very bad bar band destroying some of your favourite songs whilst proclaiming that said band have " always been a huge influence on my music...", For The Masses is very different, a rare and wonderful creature that not only reinvents the mode sound but shock horror, sometimes actually improves on it. The wonderful GusGus takes "monument" to another planet, the icelandic collective manage to totally wipe the floor with the original. Else where The Smashing Pumkins highlight an often overlooked vulnerable side to Martin Gore's songwriting with an acoustic take on "Never let me down again", and from the first time you hear "Somebody" by Veruca Salt your life will never be the same again, it manages to tug on the heart strings, choking and ultimately numbing....stunning. The role call of artists on the album is testiment to the effect Depeche have had on popular music, there is simply no one else like them, if you are looking for Depeche by numbers then forget about this album, with the exception of the final two tracks the album is flawless. "For the masses" is a gem. Buy it.

didn't let me down
tribute lps of one form or another are a great way to introduce yourself to new artists and refresh your views of old favourites.

this is no exception. i was surprised though by the tracks that stood out. fortunately the easy raod of just doing the hits has not been taken. some of the standout tunes are the lp tracks - which go back as far as monument - with a particular highlight being the deftones version of to have and to hold.

it's not a perfect lp, and for me the biggest disappointments were the smashing pumpkins (hose style just doesn't capture the thrill of the original slick pumping version of never let me down again) and rammsteins strangely sanitized version of stripped.

but if you're a dm fan this is well worth a listen, and if you're a fan of one of the other bands on here its also worth a listen just to introduce yourself to a wider vein of music.