Depeche Mode: Álbuns Remasterizados com Bonus Tracks

Ouça uma música desta discografia agora antes de baixá-la!

Clique no link acima para ouvir a música "People Are People" do álbum Some Great Reward (1984).

Preste atenção na qualidade! Pois esta música é a mesma que está neste post...os dados que você verá no link do 4shared são os mesmos que você verá quando ouvir este som no VUPlayer!

Este é o único blog de rock do Brasil em que o usuário tem a oportunidade de ouvir uma música da discografia que está sendo publicada antes de a baixar, em tempo real!

Só aqui você tem esta opção porque eu realmente banco e garanto a qualidade dos meus arquivos, porque eu os faço um á um, não sou como outros preguiçosos que tem por aí, que baixam discografias prontas de torrents, apagam o nome dos autores originais, colocam o seu nome e sobem para contas anônimas de sites de compartilhamento.

45 músicas de estúdio. Isso é o que há nos 4 cds do álbum Violator. Baixe agora mesmo este disco, para isso clique no link que aparece nesta mensagem, entre no blog, veja o post até o final e encontre os links para baixar todos estes álbuns.

Neste disco tem o ensaio de estúdio completo que o Depeche Mode realizou antes de iniciar a Tour Mundial do álbum, além de bonus tracks. A versão mais completa deste álbum magnífico até este momento está a sua disposição apenas neste blog para satisfazer o mais fanático fã do Depeche Mode.

Se esta for a primeira vez que você acessa este blog, leia tudo o que se encontra nesta página. Quando você for acessar outro post, poderá pular o texto a seguir e seguir em frente. È importante que você saiba exatamente porque este blog não segue a linha de tantos outros por aí, porque aqui duas coisas você pode ter a certeza absoluta que encontrará, conteúdo diferenciado e exclusivo e arquivos com a mais alta qualidade sonora da internet. Para tanto, eu disponibilizo o meu próprio player de áudio, totalmente na nossa língua portuguesa para que você obtenha a máxima satisfação ao ouvir estes arquivos de áudio, seja usando headphones ou escutando em um aparelho de som.

A Wikipédia é uma ferramenta de pesquisa maravilhosa, sem dúvida. No entanto, como qualquer outra coisa, precisa se saber como usa-lá.

Por exemplo, se fosse possível utilizá-la para ler qualquer coisa em qualquer idioma, com uma tradução fiel a lingua original, não existiriam páginas específicas em determinadas linguagens, mas sim uma única opção de tradução, em que em um passe de mágica você veria um texto escrito em chinês traduzido fielmente para o russo ou árabe. Provavelmente você continuaria sem entender o que aquilo significava, caso não dominasse integralmente aquele idioma.

Existem alguns assuntos em que você pode encontrar um artigo escrito em inglês que pode ser traduzido para o português com uma tradução ao pé ao letra, porém outros foram feitos utilizando o recurso de copiar e colar apenas.

Isso acontece muito no que diz respeito á biografias de bandas e cantores. Então o que acontece? Alguém vai lá na página da Wikipédia que está em português, copia e cola o texto errado, e coloca isso no seu blog. O motivo para isso é que alguém entrou na página da Wikipédia americana / inglesa, copiou todo o texto, jogou na caixa do Google Tradutor e colou o resultado, cheio de palavras erradas, verbos e etc.

Eu sou da seguinte opnião; quer fazer algo, faça. Mas faça direito. O trabalho é sempre o mesmo, seja para fazer algo certo ou errado. Quando se faz uma coisa mal feita, o prejuízo é dobrado: além disso comprometer o resultado do trabalho,desmonstra desleixo, relaxo e falta de atenção.

Por mim mesmo eu não colocaria a história de nenhum artista aqui. Porque? Porque é um longo texto que tornará os meus posts ainda maiores. Mas eu sei que se eu não fizer isso, alguém vai falar ´O blog do Fulano tem, e este não´.

Então para mim é preferível que se alguém for comparar este meu honesto blog com outro, que seja sempre em um pé de igualdade e nunca abaixo disso. Porque se amanhã alguém decidir fazer algo temático como eu faço hoje, as pessoas iram dizer, ´O blog do outro foi o primeiro a fazer isso´.

A minha vontade de não escrever a história dos artistas aqui, foi baseado principalmente no que eu vejo quando saio na rua; vejo carros que passam com pessoas ouvindo som alto que toca diversas porcarias, menos rock.

Então parece que ou pessoas que gostam de rock não tem carro ou então que estas pessoas jovens já crescem com o mal gosto definido, então porque colocar a história destas bandas e cantores, que já não são novidade para ninguém?

As pessoas mais velhas que já conhecem estes artistas não vão ler aquilo tudo outra vez, ou se forem ler, já perderam o tesão logo no começo, com um texto com erros crasos de português.

Então para satisfazer a todos, e principalmente para continuar fazendo as coisas bem feitas, como devem ser, eu vou colocar a história do Depeche Mode na versão original da página da Wikipédia em inglês. A pessoa que fez esta página buscou as informações corretas e tem mais autoridade para falar deles do que alguma pessoa preguiçosa que não quis se dar ao trabalho árduo de fazer uma tradução digna do nível que eles merecem.

O melhor jeito de se adquirir conhecimento é se buscando as informações direto na fonte, ou então você corre o risco de aprender os que os outros querem que você aprenda e desta maneira em vez de você criar a sua própria opnião você termina por adotar a dos outros e assim pensa com a cabeça deles, e não com a sua.

Partindo disso, você tem três opções: instalar um plugin no Firefox e traduzir esta página em tempo real, copiar este texto longo, jogá-lo no Google Tradutor, salvar o que vier de lá e mais tarde arrumá-lo da forma que você achar melhor ou então copiar este texto, salvá-lo no Bloco de Notas e baixar o tradutor off-line Lingoes que eu disponibilizarei em breve no Painel de Avisos e traduzí-lo no conforto do seu lar, de acordo com a sua disponibilidade de tempo, paciência e disposição.

Isso claro se para você for realmente necessário. Eu leio em inglês e consigo entender o conceito da frase, e isso para mim na maioria das vezes me satisfaz, quando isso não basta, eu traduzo uma palavra que eu não sei o que significa e isso resolve o problema.

Mais para a frente, quando eu tiver tempo, eu pretendo traduzir este texto e republicá-lo em portugues, mas isso é algo sem data definida.

Depeche Mode: História Completa

 Primeira formação: (1980-1982)

David Gahan, Andy Fletcher, Martim Gore e Vince Clarke

Segunda formação: (1982-1995)

Alan Wilder, David Gahan, Andy Fletcher e Martim Gore

Terceira formação: (1996-presente)

Martim Gore, David Gahan e Andy Fletcher

Depeche Mode are an English electronic band that formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. The group consists of founders David Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).

Depeche Mode released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene.

Original band member Vince Clarke (keyboards, guitar), left the band after the release of the album, leaving the band as a trio to record A Broken Frame, released the following year. Gore took over the lead songwriting duties and, later in 1982, Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums, bass guitar) officially joined the band to fill Clarke spot, establishing a line up that would continue for the next 13 years. Depeche Mode have been a trio again since 1995, when Wilder left.

The band last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music For The Masses, established them as a dominant force on the mainstream electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band 1988 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people.

In the new decade, Depeche Mode released Violator, a mainstream success. The subsequent album, Songs of Faith and Devotion, and the supporting Devotional Tour exacerbated tensions within the band to the point where Alan Wilder quit in 1995, leading to intense media and fan speculation that the band would split.

Now a trio once again, the band released Ultra in 1997, recorded at the height of Gahan near-fatal drug abuse, Gore alcoholism and seizures, and Fletcher depression. The release of Exciter confirmed Depeche Mode willingness to remain together, the subsequent, and very successful, Exciter Tour being their first tour in support of an original album in eight years since the Devotional Tour, although the band had toured in 1998 to support The Singles 86–98 compilation album.

Depeche Mode have had 50 songs in the UK Singles Chart and seventeen top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Q included the band in the list of the "50 Bands That Changed the World!".

Depeche Mode also rank number 98 on VH1 "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In December 2016, Billboard magazine named Depeche Mode the 10th most successful dance club artist of all time.

In October 2017, it was announced Depeche Mode will be nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

 History

Formation and debut album (1977–1981)

Depeche Mode origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a Cure influenced band called No Romance In China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher would later recall, "Why am I in the band? It was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band. I played the guitar and I had a bass; it was a question of them roping me in."

In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an "Ultravox rip-off band", The Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith.

In 1978–79, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals. In 1979, Marlow, Gore and friend Paul Redmond formed a band called the French Look, with Marlow on vocals/keyboards, Gore on guitar and Redmond on keyboards. In March 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass.

Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke heard Wirral band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), whose output inspired him to make electronic music. Along with OMD, other early influences included the Human League, Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget.

Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesisers, working odd jobs in order to buy or borrow the instruments from friends. Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout hut jam session, singing a rendition of David Bowie "Heroes", and Depeche Mode were born. Gahan and Gore favorite artists included Sparks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads and Iggy Pop.

When explaining the choice for the new name, taken from French fashion magazine Dépêche mode, Gore said, "It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that." However, the magazine name (and hence the band) is "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update" (dépêche, "dispatch," from Old French despesche/despeche or "news report," and mode or "fashion").

Gore recalled that the first time the band played as Depeche Mode was a school gig in May 1980. There is a plaque commemorating the gig at the James Hornsby School in Basildon, where Gore and Fletcher were pupils. The band made their recording debut in 1980 on the Some Bizzare Album with the song "Photographic", later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell.

The band made a demo tape but, instead of mailing the tape to record companies, they would go in and personally deliver it. They would demand the companies play it; according to Dave Gahan, "most of them would tell us to fuck off. They say 'leave the tape with us' and we say 'it is our only one'. Then we say goodbye and go somewhere else."

According to Gahan, prior to securing their record contract, they were receiving offers from all the major labels.

Phonogram offered them "money you could never have imagined and all sorts of crazy things like clothes allowances".

While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band were approached by Daniel Miller, an electronic musician and founder of Mute Records, who was interested in their recording a single for his burgeoning label.

The result of this verbal contract was their first single, "Dreaming of Me", recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981. It reached number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, the band recorded their second single, "New Life", which climbed to number 11 in the UK charts and got them an appearance on Top of the Pops. The band went to London by train, carrying their synthesisers all the way to the BBC studios.

The band next single was "Just Cant Get Enough". This relentlessly upbeat[peacock term] piece of synth-pop became the band first UK top ten hit and it remains one of their best known songs. It was also the first Depeche Mode song to get a music video and is the only one of the band videos to feature Vince Clarke.

Depeche Mode debut album, Speak & Spell, was released in October 1981 and peaked at number ten on the UK album charts. Critical reviews were mixed; Melody Maker described it as a "great album … one they had to make to conquer fresh audiences and please the fans who just can't get enough", while Rolling Stone was more critical, calling the album "PG-rated fluff".

Clarke departs, Wilder joins (1981–1982)

During the touring and promotion for Speak & Spell, Clarke privately began to voice his discomfort at the direction the band was taking. He later expressed his dissatisfaction, saying "there was never enough time to do anything. Not with all the interviews and photo sessions".

In November 1981, Clarke publicly announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode. It was also claimed  that Clarke was sick of touring, which Gahan said years later was "bullshit to be quite honest". Gahan went on to say he "suddenly lost interest in it and he started getting letters from fans asking what kind of socks he wore".

Soon afterwards, Clarke joined up with blues singer Alison Moyet to form Yazoo (or Yaz in the United States).

Initial talk of Clarke continuing to write material for Depeche Mode ultimately amounted to nothing. According to third-party sources, Clarke offered the remaining members of Depeche Mode the track "Only You", but they declined.

Clarke, however, denied in an interview that such an offer ever took place saying, "I dont know where that came from. That is not true." The song went on to become a UK Top 3 hit for Yazoo. Gore, who had written "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff" for Speak & Spell, was forced to become the band new songwriter.

In late 1981, the band placed an anonymous ad in Melody Maker looking for another musician: "Name band, synthesise, must be under twenty-one." Alan Wilder, a keyboardist from West London, responded and, after two auditions and despite being 22 years old, was hired in early 1982, initially on a trial basis as a touring member.

Wilder would later be called the "Musical Director" of the band, responsible for the band sound until his departure in 1995. As producer Flood would say, "[Alan] is sort of the craftsman, Martin the idea man and [Dave] is the attitude."

In January 1982, the band released "See You", their first single without Clarke, which managed to beat all three Clarke-penned singles in the UK charts, reaching number six. The following tour saw the band playing their first shows in North America. Two more singles, "The Meaning of Love" and "Leave in Silence," were released ahead of the band second studio album, on which they began work in July 1982.

Daniel Miller informed Wilder that he was not needed for the recording of the album, as the core trio wanted to prove they could succeed without Vince Clarke. A Broken Frame was released that September, and the following month the band began their 1982 tour. A non-album single, "Get the Balance Right!," was released in January 1983, the first Depeche Mode track to be recorded with Wilder.

Construction Time Again (1983)

For their third LP, Construction Time Again, Depeche Mode worked with producer Gareth Jones, at John Foxx Garden Studios and at Hansa Studios in West Berlin (where much of David Bowie trilogy of seminal electronic albums featuring Brian Eno had been produced).

The album saw a dramatic shift in the group sound, due in part to Wilder introduction of the Synclavier and E-mu Emulator samplers. By sampling the noises of everyday objects, the band created an eclectic, industrial-influenced sound, with similarities to groups such as the Art of Noise and Einstürzende Neubauten (the latter becoming Mute labelmates in 1983).

Along with the music, Gore songwriting was also rapidly evolving, focusing increasingly on political and social issues. A good example of the new sound was on the first single from the album, "Everything Counts", a commentary on the perceived greed of multinational corporations.

In a retrospective review of the single, AllMusic journalist Ned Raggett wrote that the song marked a change in the band "with Martin Gore songwriting abilities matched with an increasing ambition of the band as a whole."

"Everything Counts" rose to number six in the UK, also reaching the top 30 in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany. Wilder contributed two songs to the album, "The Landscape Is Changing" and "Two Minute Warning". In September 1983, to promote Construction Time Again, the band launched a European concert tour.

Some Great Reward and growing international success (1984–1985)

In their early years, Depeche Mode had only really attained success in Europe and Australia. This changed in March 1984, when they released the single "People Are People". The song became a hit, reaching No. 2 in Ireland and Poland, No. 4 in the UK and Switzerland, and No. 1 in West Germany — the first time a DM single topped a country singles chart — where it was used as the theme to West German TV coverage of the 1984 Olympics.

Beyond this European success, the song also reached No. 13 on the US charts in mid-1985, the first appearance of a DM single on the Billboard Hot 100, and was a Top 20 hit in Canada. "People Are People" has since become an anthem for the LGBT community, regularly played at gay establishments and gay pride festivals in the late 1980s.

Sire, the band North American record label, released a compilation of the same name which included tracks from A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again as well as several B-sides.

On the American tour, the band was, according to Gore, "shocked by the way the fans were turning up in droves at the concerts". He said that although the concerts were selling well, Depeche Mode struggled to sell records.

In September 1984, Some Great Reward was released. Melody Maker claimed that the album made one "sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your nose." In contrast to the political and environmental subjects addressed on the previous album, the songs on Some Great Reward were mostly concerned with more personal themes such as sexual politics ("Master and Servant"), adulterous relationships ("Lie to Me"), and arbitrary divine justice ("Blasphemous Rumours").

Also included was the first Martin Gore ballad, "Somebody" — such songs would become a feature of all following albums. "Somebody" was released as a double A-side with "Blasphemous Rumours," and was the first single with Gore on lead vocal. Some Great Reward became the first Depeche Mode album to enter the US album charts, and made the Top 10 in several European countries.

The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg was the band first video release, almost an entire concert from their 1984 Some Great Reward Tour. In July 1985, the band played their first-ever concerts behind the Iron Curtain, in Budapest and Warsaw. In October 1985, Mute Records released a compilation, The Singles 81-85 (Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US), which included the two non-album hit singles "Shake the Disease" and "It Is Called A Heart".

During this period, the band became associated with the goth subculture, which had begun in Britain in the early-1980s, and was slowly gaining popularity in the United States. There, the band music had first gained prominence on college radio and modern rock stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles, KSOL ("The Quake") in San Francisco, WFNX in Boston and WLIR on Long Island, New York, and hence they appealed primarily to an alternative audience who were disenfranchised with the predominance of "soft rock and 'disco hell'" on the radio.

This view of the band was in sharp contrast to how the band was perceived in Europe, despite the increasingly dark and serious tone in their songs. In Germany, France, and other European countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols and regularly featured in European teen magazines, becoming one of the most famous synthpop bands in the mid-80s.

Black Celebration (1986)

Depeche Mode musical style shifted slightly again in 1986 with the release of their fifteenth single, "Stripped", and its accompanying album Black Celebration. Retaining their often imaginative sampling and beginning to move away from the "industrial pop" sound that had characterised their previous two LPs, the band introduced an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound. Gore lyrics also took on a darker tone and became even more pessimistic.

The music video for "A Question of Time" was the first to be directed by Anton Corbijn, beginning a working relationship that continues to the present day. Corbijn has directed a further 20 of the band videos (the latest being 2017 "Where Is the Revolution"). He has also filmed some of their live performances, and designed stage sets, as well as covers for albums and singles.

Music For The Masses and 101 (1987–1988)

1987 Music for the Masses saw further alterations in the band sound and working methods. For the first time a producer not related to Mute Records, Dave Bascombe, was called to assist with the recording sessions, although, according to Alan Wilder, Bascombe role ended up being more that of engineer.

In making the album, the band largely eschewed sampling in favour of synthesizer experimentation. While chart performance of the singles "Strangelove", "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Behind the Wheel" proved to be disappointing in the UK, they performed well in countries such as Canada, Brazil, West Germany, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, often reaching the top 10. Record Mirror described Music For The Masses as "the most accomplished and sexy Mode album to date". The album also made a breakthrough in the American market.

The Music For The Masses Tour began 22 October 1987. On 7 March 1988, with no previous announcement that they would be the headlining act, Depeche Mode played in the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, East Berlin, becoming one of the few Western groups to perform in the Communist East Germany. They also performed concerts in Budapest and Prague in 1988, both at the time also Communist.

The world tour ended 18 June 1988 with a concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl with paid attendance of 60,453, the highest in eight years for the venue. The tour was a breakthrough for the band and a massive success in the United States. It was documented in 101 – a concert film by D. A. Pennebaker and its accompanying soundtrack album.

The film is notable for its portrayal of fan interaction. Alan Wilder is credited with coming up with the title, noting that the performance was the 101st and final performance of the tour. On 7 September 1988, Depeche Mode performed "Strangelove" at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

Violator and worldwide fame (1989–1991)

In mid-1989, the band began recording in Milan with producer Flood and engineer François Kevorkian. The initial result of this session was the single "Personal Jesus." Prior to its release, a marketing campaign was launched with advertisements placed in the personals columns of UK regional newspapers with the words "Your own personal Jesus."

Later, the ads included a phone number one could dial to hear the song. The resulting furor helped propel the single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest sellers to date; in the United States, it was their first gold single and their first Top 40 hit since "People Are People," eventually becoming the biggest-selling 12-inch single in Warner Records history up to that point.

"I think in a way we have been at the forefront of new music; sort of chipping away at the standard rock format stations."

Released in January 1990, "Enjoy the Silence" reached number six in the UK (the first Top 10 hit in that country since "Master And Servant"). A few months later in the US, it reached number eight and earned the band a second gold single. It won "Best British single" at the 1991 Brit Awards.

To promote their new album, Violator, the band held an in-store autograph signing at Wherehouse Entertainment in Los Angeles. The event attracted approximately 20,000 fans and turned into a near riot. Some who attended were injured by being pressed against the store glass by the crowd.

As an apology to the fans who were injured, the band released a limited edition cassette tape to fans living in Los Angeles, distributed through radio station KROQ (the sponsor of the Wherehouse event).

Violator was the first Depeche Mode album to enter the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, reaching Number 7 and staying 74 weeks in the chart. It was certified triple platinum in America, selling over 4.5 million units there. It remains the band best selling album worldwide. Two more singles from the album — "Policy of Truth" and "World in My Eyes" — were hits in the UK, with the former also charting in the US.

"I remember going to see them in Giants Stadium, and they broke the merchandising record; of Bon Jovi, U2 — all these bands — Depeche Mode were the biggest!."

The World Violation Tour saw the band play several stadium shows in the US. 42,000 tickets were sold within four hours for a show at Giants Stadium, and 48,000 tickets were sold within half-an-hour of going on sale for a show at Dodger Stadium. An estimated 1.2 million fans saw this tour worldwide.

In 1991, Depeche Mode contribution "Death Door" was released on the soundtrack album for the film Until the End of the World. Film director Wim Wenders had challenged musical artists to write music the way they imagined they would in the year 2000, the setting of the movie.

Songs of Faith and Devotion and Wilder departure (1992–1996)

The members of Depeche Mode regrouped in Madrid in January 1992, Dave Gahan had become interested in the new grunge scene sweeping the U.S. and was influenced by the likes of Jane Addiction, Soundgarden and Nirvana.

"There is so many sounds that are created from the voice that you would not know were taken from the voice, like rhythm sounds. The number of times I have been sitting in the studio and said, 'I wish I could get a bass that would just go [mimics wet, thick hip-hop bass-drum sound].' Then I think, 'Why can't I just go [repeats noise] into a mic and sample it?' It is obvious; you spend all day trying to get a synthesizer to try and create this sound but you can just go [repeats noise] and you have got it. Then you can send it through some other device after that, and you have got something that sounds absolutely nothing like a voice, but the source was a voice. ... It is a very interesting process."

In 1993, Songs of Faith and Devotion, again with Flood producing, saw them experimenting with more organic arrangements, based as much on heavily distorted electric guitars and live drums (played by Alan Wilder, whose debut as a studio drummer had come on the Violator track "Clean") as on synthesizers.

Live strings, uilleann pipes and female gospel vocals were other new additions to the band sound. The album debuted at number one in both the UK and the US, only the sixth British act to achieve such a distinction to date. The first single from the album was the grunge-influenced "I Feel You". The gospel influences are most noticeable on the album third single, "Condemnation". A symptom of the slow fracturing of the band, interviews given by the band during this period tended to be conducted separately, unlike earlier albums, where the band was interviewed as a group.

The Devotional world tour followed, documented by a concert film of the same name. The film was directed by Anton Corbijn, and in 1995 earned the band their first Grammy nomination. The band second live album, Songs of Faith and Devotion Live, was released in December 1993.

The tour continued into 1994 with the Exotic Tour, which began in February 1994 in South Africa, and ended in April in Mexico. The final leg of the tour, consisting of more North American dates, followed shortly thereafter and ran until July. As a whole, the Devotional Tour is to date the longest and most geographically diverse Depeche Mode tour, spanning fourteen months and 159 individual performances. Q magazine described the 1993 Devotional Tour as "The Most Debauched Rock And Roll Tour Ever".

Dave Gahan heroin addiction was increasingly affecting his behaviour, causing him to become more erratic and introverted. Martin Gore experienced seizures, and Andy Fletcher declined to participate in the second half of the Exotic Tour due to "mental instability". During that period, he was replaced on stage by Daryl Bamonte, who had worked with the band as a personal assistant for many years.

In June 1995, Alan Wilder announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode, explaining:

    Since joining in 1982, I have continually striven to give total energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the furthering of the group success, and in spite of a consistent imbalance in the distribution of the workload, willingly offered this. Unfortunately, within the group, this level of input never received the respect and acknowledgement that it warrants.

He continued to work on his personal project Recoil, releasing a fourth album (Unsound Methods) in 1997. Following Wilder departure, many were sceptical of whether Depeche Mode would ever record again. Gahan mental state and drug habit became a major source of concern, with a near-fatal overdose at a hotel in Los Angeles.

Ultra (1997-2000)

Despite Gahan increasingly severe personal problems, Gore tried repeatedly during 1995 and 1996 to get the band recording again. However, Gahan would rarely turn up to scheduled sessions, and when he did, it would take weeks to get any vocals recorded; one six-week session at Electric Lady in New York produced just one usable vocal (for "Sister of Night"), and even that was pieced together from multiple takes.

Gore was forced to contemplate breaking the band up and considered releasing the songs he had written as a solo album. In mid-1996, after his near-fatal overdose, Gahan entered a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program to battle his addiction to cocaine and heroin. With Gahan out of rehab in 1996, Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer Tim Simenon.

Preceded by two singles, "Barrel Of A Gun" and "It Is No Good," the album Ultra was released in April 1997. The album debuted at No. 1 in the UK (as well as Germany), and No. 5 in the US. The band did not tour in support of the album, with Fletcher quoted as saying

    We are not fit enough. Dave only eight months into his sobriety, and our bodies are telling us to spend time with our families.

As part of the promotion for the release of the album, they did perform two short concerts in London and Los Angeles, called "Ultra Parties." Ultra spawned two further singles, "Home" and "Useless".

A second singles compilation, The Singles 86–98, was released in 1998, preceded by the new single "Only When I Lose Myself", which had been recorded during the Ultra sessions. In April 1998, Depeche Mode held a press conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Cologne to announce The Singles Tour. The tour was the first to feature two backing musicians in place of Alan Wilder — Austrian drummer Christian Eigner and British keyboardist Peter Gordeno.

Exciter (2001-2004)

In 2001, Depeche Mode released Exciter, produced by Mark Bell (of techno group LFO). Bell introduced a minimalist, digital sound to much of the album, influenced by IDM and glitch. "Dream On", "I Feel Loved", "Freelove" and "Goodnight Lovers" were released as singles in 2001 and 2002. Critical response to the album was mixed, with reasonably positive reviews from some magazines (NME, Rolling Stone and LA Weekly), while others (including Q magazine, PopMatters, and Pitchfork) derided it as sounding underproduced, dull and lacklustre.

In March 2001, Depeche Mode held a press conference at the Valentino Hotel in Hamburg to announce the Exciter Tour. The tour featured 84 performances for over 1.5 million fans in 24 countries. The concerts held in Paris at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy were filmed and later released in May 2002 as a live DVD entitled One Night in Paris.

In October 2002 the band won the first-ever Q magazine "Innovation Award".

In 2003, Gahan released his first solo album, Paper Monsters, and toured to promote the record. Also released in 2003 was Gore second solo album Counterfeit. Fletcher founded his own record label, Toast Hawaii, specialising in promoting electronic music.

A new remix compilation album, Remixes 81–04, was released in 2004, featuring new and unreleased promo mixes of the band singles from 1981 to 2004. A new version of "Enjoy the Silence," remixed by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, "Enjoy the Silence 04," was released as a single and reached No. 7 on the UK charts.

Playing The Angel (2005-2007)

In October 2005, the band released their 11th studio album Playing The Angel. Produced by Ben Hillier, the album peaked at No. 1 in 18 countries and featured the hit single "Precious". This is the first Depeche Mode album to feature lyrics written by Gahan and, consequently, the first album since 1984 Some Great Reward featuring songs not written by Gore. "Suffer Well" was the first ever post-Clarke Depeche Mode single not to be written by Gore (lyrics by Gahan, music by Philpott/Eigner). The final single from the album was "John the Revelator," an uptempo electronic track with a running religious theme, accompanied by "Lilian," a lush track that was a hit in many clubs all over the world.

To promote Playing The Angel, the band launched Touring The Angel, a concert tour of Europe and North America that began in November 2005 and ran for nine months. During the last two legs of the tour Depeche Mode headlined a number of festivals including the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the O2 Wireless Festival.

In total, the band played to more than 2.8 million people across 31 countries and the tour was one of the highest grossing and critically acclaimed tours of 2005/06. Speaking about the tour, Gahan praised it as "probably the most enjoyable, rewarding live shows we have ever done. The new material was just waiting to be played live. It took on a life of its own. With the energy of the crowds, it just came to life." Two shows at Milan Fila Forum were filmed and edited into a concert film, released on DVD as Touring the Angel: Live In Milan.

A "best-of" compilation was released in November 2006, entitled The Best Of, Volume 1 featuring a new single "Martyr", an outtake from the Playing the Angel sessions. Later that month Depeche Mode received the MTV Europe Music Award in the Best Group category.

In December 2006, iTunes released The Complete Depeche Mode as its fourth ever digital box-set.

In August 2007, during promotion for Dave Gahan second solo album, Hourglass, it was announced that Depeche Mode were heading back in studio in early 2008 to work on a new album.

Sounds Of The Universe (2008-2011)

In May 2008, the band returned to the studio with producer Ben Hillier to work on some songs that Martin Gore had demoed at his home studio in Santa Barbara, California. Later that year it was announced that Depeche Mode were splitting from their long-term US label, Warner Music, and signing with EMI Music worldwide.

The album was created in four sessions, two in New York and two in Santa Barbara. A total of 22 songs were recorded, with the standard album being 13 songs in length while many of the others were released in subsequent deluxe editions.

On 15 January 2009, the official Depeche Mode website announced that the band 12th studio album would be called Sounds of the Universe. The album was released in April 2009, also made available through an iTunes Pass, where the buyer received individual tracks in the weeks leading up to official release date.

Andy Fletcher says the idea for their iTunes Pass was a combination of the band and iTunes': "I think the digital and record companies are starting to get their act together. They were very lazy in the first 10 years when downloads came in. Now they are collaborating more and coming up with interesting ideas for fans to buy products."

The album went to number one in 21 countries. Critical response was generally positive and it was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Alternative Album" category. "Wrong" was the first single from the album, released digitally in February 2009. Subsequent singles were "Peace" and the double A-side "Fragile Tension / Hole to Feed". In addition, "Perfect" was released as a promotional-only (non-commercial) single in the United States.

On 23 April 2009, Depeche Mode performed for the television program Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the famed corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, drawing more than 12,000 fans, which was the largest audience the program had seen since its 2003 premiere, with a performance by Coldplay.

In May 2009, the band embarked on a concert tour in support of the album — called Tour of the Universe; it had been announced at a press conference in October 2008 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. There was a warm up show in Luxembourg and it officially started on 10 May 2009 in Tel Aviv. The first leg of the tour was disrupted when Dave Gahan was struck down with gastroenteritis. During treatment, doctors found and removed a low grade tumour from the singer bladder.

Gahan illness caused 16 concerts to be cancelled, but several of the shows were rescheduled for 2010. The band headlined the Lollapalooza festival during the North American leg of the tour. The tour also took the band back to South America for the first time since 1994 Exotic Tour. During the final European leg, the band played a show at London Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, where former member Alan Wilder joined Martin Gore on stage for a performance of "Somebody".

In total the band played to more than 2.7 million people across 32 countries and the tour was one of the most profitable in America in 2009. The concerts held at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain were filmed and later released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc release entitled Tour of the Universe: Barcelona 20/21.11.09.

In March 2010, Depeche Mode won the award for "Best International Group – Rock / Pop" at the ECHO Awards in Germany.

On 6 June 2011, as the final commitment to their contract with EMI, the band released a remix compilation album, entitled Remixes 2: 81–11 that features remixes by former members Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder. Other remixers involved with the project were Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Röyksopp, Karlsson & Winnberg of Miike Snow, Eric Prydz, Clark and more. A new remix of "Personal Jesus" by Stargate, entitled "Personal Jesus 2011", was released as a single on 30 May 2011, in support of the compilation.

Depeche Mode contributed their cover of the U2 song "So Cruel" to the tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered honouring the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby, a 1991 album by U2. The compilation CD was released with the December 2011 issue of Q Magazine.

Delta Machine (2012-2014)

In October 2012 during a press conference in Paris, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher announced plans for a new album and a 2013 worldwide tour starting from Tel Aviv and continuing in Europe and North America. Martin Gore revealed that Flood mixed the album, marking the producer first studio collaboration with the band since 1993 Songs of Faith and Devotion.

In December 2012, the band officially announced signing a worldwide deal with Columbia Records and releasing a new album in March 2013. On 24 January 2013, it was confirmed that the album was titled Delta Machine. "Heaven", the debut single from Delta Machine was released commercially on Friday 1 February 2013 (although not in the UK).

The release date in the UK was pushed back to 18 March 2013 (17 March 2013 on iTunes). The physical release still bore the Mute Records logo, even though the band have now severed ties with their long standing label. Andy Fletcher mentioned in an interview this was due to their "devotion" to the label and with the band insistence.

In March, the band announced North American dates to its Delta Machine summer tour, starting 22 August from Detroit and ending 8 October in Phoenix. In June, other European dates were confirmed for early 2014. The final gig of Delta Machine Tour took place in Moscow (Russia) on 7 March 2014, at Olimpiski venue.

That month, Depeche Mode won the award for "Best International Group – Rock / Pop" at the ECHO Awards in Germany. Also they were nominated at the category "Album des Jahres (national oder international)" for Delta Machine, but lost against Helene Fischer Farbenspiel.

On 8 October 2014, the band announced Depeche Mode Live in Berlin, the new video and audio release filmed and recorded at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany in November 2013 during the Delta Machine Tour. It was released on 17 November 2014 worldwide.

Spirit (2016-present)

On 25 January 2016, Martin Gore announced a projected return to the recording studio in April, with both Gore and Gahan having already written and demoed new songs.

In September, the official Depeche Mode Facebook page hinted at a new release, later confirmed by the band to be a music video compilation, Video Singles Collection, scheduled for release in November by Sony. In October 2016, the band announced that their fourteenth album, titled Spirit and produced by James Ford, would be released in spring 2017. The group has also been nominated for the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

"Where Is The Revolution," the lead single from Spirit, was released 3 February 2017, along with its lyric video.

The official video was published a week later, on 9 February. The Global Spirit Tour officially kicked off on 5 May 2017 with a performance in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Friends Arena. The first leg of the tour covered European countries only, ending with a final stadium show in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, at the Cluj Arena.

The second leg of the tour will cover North America and then return to Europe. The North America leg of the tour kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 23 August, at the USANA Amphitheatre. The band will remain in North America until 15 November when they leave for Dublin and resume the European leg. The band will end the tour in South America with a final show on 27 March 2018 in São Paulo, Brazil, at the Allianz Parque.

Artistry

Depeche Mode drew its artistic influences from a wide range of artists and scenes, such as Kraftwerk, David Bowie, The Clash, Roxy Music and Brian Eno, Elvis Presley, the Velvet Underground, and blues. Depeche Mode music has mainly been described as synth-pop, new wave, electronic rock, dance-rock and alternative rock. The band also experimented with various other genres throughout its career, including avant-garde, electronica, pop, soul, techno, industrial rock and heavy metal.

In their early years, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols, and regularly featured on front covers of magazines such as Smash Hits. Following the departure of Vince Clarke, their music began to take on a darker and a gothic tone as Martin Gore assumed lead songwriting duties.

Gore lyrical artistry has been recognised as encapsulating themes such as sex, religion, and politics, so much so that many labelled the band lyrical and musical themes as dark and bleak. In response, Gore has stated he feels lyrical themes which tackle issues related to solitude and loneliness present more of a realistic character and are a better representation of reality, whereas he finds "happy songs" fake and unrealistic: "I have never seen our music as being over-dark. I think that there is always an element of hope in our music."

Legacy

One of the most successful bands over the past four decades, Depeche Mode have released a total of 14 studio albums, 10 compilation albums, 6 live albums, 8 box sets, 13 video albums, 71 music videos, and 54 singles. The band have sold over 100 million records worldwide.

Depeche Mode have had 50 songs in the UK Singles Chart, and one US and two UK number-one albums. The band album Songs of Faith and Devotion hit No. 1 in the UK and US simultaneously, making them one of only eleven UK acts to do so. In addition, all of their studio albums have reached the UK Top 10 and their albums have spent over 210 weeks on the UK Charts.

Music critic Sasha Frere-Jones claimed that "the last serious English influence was Depeche Mode, who seem more and more significant as time passes." Depeche Mode have been nominated for five Grammy Awards; "Devotional" for Best Long Form Music Video, "I Feel Loved" and "Suffer Well", both for Best Dance Recording, Sounds of the Universe for Best Alternative Album and "Wrong" for Best Short Form Music Video.

In addition, Depeche Mode have been honoured with a Brit Award for Enjoy the Silence in the Best British Single category, the first-ever Q Magazine Innovation Award, and an Ivor Novello Award for Martin Gore in the category of International Achievement.

Depeche Mode are frequently praised by the music press; they became "the most popular electronic band the world has ever known" according to Q magazine, "one of the greatest British pop groups of all time" according to The Sunday Telegraph, and "the quintessential eighties techno-pop band" according to Rolling Stone and AllMusic.

Depeche Mode were ranked No. 2 on Electronic Music Realm list of The 100 Greatest Artists of Electronic Music, ranked No. 158 on Acclaimed Music list of Top 1000 Artists of All Time and Q Magazine included them on their list of "50 bands that changed the world".

Influence

Depeche Mode have been recognised as making a significant impact on the development of various popular music genres, leading to many artists citing them as an inspiration, including: Marilyn Manson, No Doubt, Deftones, the Pet Shop Boys, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Hurts, The Killers/Brandon Flowers, Crosses, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Muse, Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Televizor, the Crystal Method, God Lives Underwater, Mad at the World,[ Raymond Herrera of Fear Factory, Funeral for a Friend, La Roux, Gotye, Rammstein, Magne Furuholmen of A-ha, Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Chvrches and the Bloodhound Gang.

Depeche Mode have been cited as a major influence on heavy metal music, Detroit techno and indie rock.

Charity

Depeche Mode have applied their celebrity and cultural longevity to help promote and raise funds for several notable charity endeavours. They lent their support to high-profile charities such as MusiCares, Cancer Research UK and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The band has also supported the Small Steps Project, a humanitarian organisation based in the United Kingdom, aiming to assist economically disadvantaged children into education. Since 2010, Depeche Mode have partnered with Swiss watchmaker Hublot to support Charity: Water, aimed at the provision of clean drinking water in developing countries.

In 2014, the partnership hosted a gala and fundraiser at the TsUM building in Moscow, raising $1.4 million for the charity.

Informação Complementar:

Se você tem um conhecimento médio acerca de bitrates de arquivos de áudio, pode ser que estas taxas baixíssimas tenham deixado você com um frio na espinha ou então com a impressão de que estes arquivos não tem a mínima qualidade.

Bom, eu vou te dizer o porque destas taxas, mas antes eu preciso dizer algumas coisas que talvez você não saiba, se não tiver lido o texto da página inicial ainda ou então se tiver vindo parar aqui por meio de um link direto que eu coloquei em algum lugar da internet.

Eu trabalho com tratamento de áudio desde 2010 e paralelamente a isso eu estudo linguagens de programação de computador desde esta mesma época.

Eu não baixo os arquivos que eu posto aqui de outros blogs, ou seja, eu não pego arquivos mastigados de outro lugar, os converto e coloco na minha conta.

O que eu faço é baixar os arquivos em estado bruto, em suas versões originais, e então eu processo este material e deixo a extensão exatamente como ela veio, a diferença é que eu tenho todos os recursos, meios necessários e também conhecimento para deixar estes arquivos com bitrates abaixo de 100 kbps e ainda preservar a qualidade que eles tinham antes de eu manipulá-los.

Por exemplo, você já deve ter lido que um arquivo mp3 pode ser reduzido em até 90% do seu tamanho original.

Eu era um fã incondicional de mp3 por causa disso, e desde 2010 eu colecionava discografias inteiras em mp3 de 128 kbps. Se o arquivo que eu baixava vinha em um bitrate maior, eu o deixava com 128 kbps.

Eu criei este blog em 2013 e o deixei ocioso até o ano de 2016, quando comecei as primeiras postagens, todas em mp3 de 128 kbps.

Este ano, eu fiz uma experiência sem nenhum compromisso e o resultado me surpreendeu, e desde então eu vi que além de eu não precisar continuar só ouvindo arquivos em mp3 eu também podia ouvir as minhas coleções em outros formatos e taxas de bitrates mais baixas e o que é melhor, sem perder em nada no quesito qualidade.

E isso ainda não é tudo. Por exemplo, você já deve ter ouvido algum arquivo em formato wav na sua vida e sabe que estes arquivos costumam ser pesados, porque um arquivo wav tem uma taxa entre 1411 e 1536 kbps.

Com este bitrate, uma música de apenas 5 minutos tem o tamanho de 54,93 mb, praticamente maior do que um álbum inteiro em mp3 de 128 kbps.

Aqui há muitos arquivos no formato wav que eu baixei com esta taxa, e que na maior parte das vezes são álbuns que tem 700 mb ou mais, se forem albuns duplos ou bootlegs então, 1,5 Gb de tamanho no mínimo, se não mais.

Pois bem. Eu consigo uma taxa de compressão, no caso dos arquivos wav de mais de 96,5%, ou seja, maior ainda do que a compressão que o mp3 suporta, e como eu não converto este arquivo, ele não perde absolutamente nada de sua qualidade.

Este é o detalhe que muitas pessoas desconhecem; se você pega um arquivo de uma extensão com um bitrate alto e o converte para outra extensão com um bitrate menor, você destrói o arquivo por completo, porque uma vez que você muda a extensão do mesmo você também altera todas as freqüências dele, e tudo se perde.

No meu blog, o que eu publico em wav estava originalmente em wav; em ogg estava em ogg, e quando é alguma coisa mais rara que eu só encontrei em mp3 eu publico aquilo que eu já tinha. A única exceção são os arquivos que eu posto em wma.

Estes arquivos estavam em outros formatos, como por exemplo m4a, e após alguns testes eu verifiquei que eles ficavam com uma qualidade muito boa nesta extensão. Não deve ser uma mera coincidência, pois há um outro detalhe que agora você deve observar bem; ambos os formatos wav e wma são específicos do sistema Windows e por isso mesmo eles costumam parecer que tem uma qualidade muito superior aos outros formatos, pois o sistema em si já está preparado desde o começo para reproduzí-los.

Sempre que possível neste blog eu tentarei postar o mínimo possível em mp3, não porque eu tenha mudado a minha opnião sobre o mp3, mas sim porque eu descobri que arquivos em ogg apesar de ter um bitrate variável na maioria das vezes tem uma qualidade maior do que arquivos de mp3 de 128 kbps de bitrate constante.

Mas claro que isso não é um desejo meu exclusivamente; há muitos álbuns que ainda não foram remasterizados ou que são muito dificeis de serem encontrados, então neste caso eu vou postar o que eu já tenho em mp3 de 128 kbps mesmo.

Pelo conhecimento que eu tenho eu não posso cometer a leviandade de baixar um arquivo em outra extensão e tentar convertê-la já que eu sei que fazendo isso eu estou estragando o arquivo por inteiro.

Você deve saber; uma música no formato mp3 de 128 kbps tem cerca de 1 mb por minuto, e há pequenas variações de ordem técnica que modificam o tamanho de acordo com o tempo da música, que como você também sabe, varia muito.

Então o que eu faço é usar o conhecimento que eu tenho de acordo com o material que eu possuo e com isso eu chego no resultado que eu pretendo. Logo, estas taxas baixas de bitrates são um mero detalhe, porque como eu não converto os arquivos que eu trabalho, eu mantenho intacta a qualidade dos mesmos, uma vez que eu não mexo na sua origem.

Para exemplificar isso melhor, é como se eu pegasse uma imagem de alta resolução e utilizasse um programa apenas para reduzir o tamanho dela. Como a imagem tem um tamanho grande, eu consigo manter a qualidade dela, se eu apenas reduzir a sua resolução.

Basicamente é isso o que eu faço com os arquivos que eu publico aqui; reduzo o tamanho deles, para ficar mais fácil para mim fazer o upload deles, já que neste momento não tenho internet de cabo na minha casa. Isso também te ajuda, porque você tem arquivos de tamanho reduzido, consegue baixá-los mais rápido, não ocupa muito espaço em seu hd e o que é melhor, você não perde absolutamente nada em qualidade.

Por isso se esta for a sua primeira vez neste blog, não se impressione com estas taxas de bitrates, aparentemente insignificantes, pois elas não significam, em hipótese alguma que estes arquivos tem pouca ou nenhuma qualidade.

Quando você for ouvir o primeiro álbum, seja ele em qual formato for, se possível use um headphone e se ele estiver muito gasto, pressione-o levemente entre os seus ouvidos, e perceba com que riqueza de detalhes você conseguirá ouvir todas as notas da música, independente delas serem graves, médias ou agudas.

Tenho a certeza de que você se convencerá do que estou dizendo; taxa de bitrate não significa qualidade. Qualidade se consegue sabendo processar um arquivo de áudio não o convertendo para outra extensão. Um dia eu não sabia disso, mas graças a Deus eu aprendi. E agora eu estou descartando todas as discografias que eu tinha em mp3 de 128 kbps e estou as refazendo do zero, com todos os álbuns remasterizados e publicando no blog.

O que você baixar aqui, é exatamente o arquivo que eu tenho e escuto no meu computador.

Agora, para encerrar este assunto, preciso dizer que para que você usufrua da qualidade máxima destes arquivos, você precisa ouví-los com o player de áudio que eu disponibilizo na coluna lateral á esquerda. Este player foi reconstruído por mim para refletir com 100% de exatidão as alterações que eu fiz e faço nos meu arquivos, e de todos os players que eu testei, este foi o único que alcançou a qualidade que eu buscava. Leia o tutorial, extraia para a pasta de sua preferência em seu computador, mescle as informações de registro em seu pc e descubra uma nova experiência em ouvir música como você nunca sonhou.

Obrigado por ter lido todas estas linhas. Fazer as coisas bem feitas dá muito trabalho, mas também vale muito a pena.

A segunda parte desta discografia (que compõe todos os álbuns ao vivo) está sendo preparada para ser publicada em breve. Por último, virão os bootlegs. Caso aconteça um milagre, serão postados juntos.

Meu comentário:

Sou mais do que suspeito para falar destes caras. Primeiro, porque eles fazem parte da lista das minhas 10 bandas favoritas.

Segundo, porque eu curto esta banda há 31 anos. De todos os 100 artistas que eu vou postar aqui, apenas dois eu curto desde 1987; um deles é o Kiss, e o outro é o Depeche Mode.

Eu ouvi o álbum Music For The Masses pela primeira vez em uma fita cassete. Embora o Depeche Mode já tivesse construído uma enorme base de fãs no cenário underground, com os excelentes álbuns anteriores que já tinham lançado entre 1981 e 1986, foi com este álbum que eles ficaram conhecidos no mundo inteiro.

Me lembro que mal havia saído o álbum ao vivo 101, aqui no Brasil, uma emissora de rádio fm (Transamérica) tocava o tempo todo a versão ao vivo (na minha opnião, ainda hoje, a melhor de todas) do maior hit do álbum, "Strangelove".

Quem ouviu este disco sem ter conhecido os anteriores, deve ter pensado "Nossa, esta banda é muito boa!" E com certeza se surpreendeu quando foi em busca dos álbuns antigos, e depois que os ouviu, verificou que até aquele momento, um álbum era ainda melhor que o outro, e que por alguma razão desconhecida, eles não tinham alcançado a glória há mais tempo.

Eu tive uma correspondente no Rio de Janeiro no começo da década de 1990 que era uma grande fã desta verdadeira lenda inglesa e ainda nesta época eu me lembro que não era muito fácil achar os trabalhos deles. Esta menina tinha uma situação financeira muito confortável e ela tinha todos os cds importados deles. Depois que eu falei pra ela que aqui não era muito fácil encontrar o material deles, ela me enviou várias fitas cassetes gravadas dos álbuns antigos deles.

Como uma forma de retribuição, eu gravei uma fita cassete pra ela, de um "show alternativo" do Metallica que tocou em uma rádio fm aqui de Santo André (97 Rock). Nesta época eu ainda não era fã do Metallica, mas apenas porque desconhecia o trabalho deles, pois quando foi em 1991, assim que eu ouvi "Enter Sandman" eu fui atrás do Black Album e gostei tanto dele que fui atrás dos álbuns antigos e amei cada um deles. Então pude entender porque esta amiga querida tinha me falado uma vez "Metallica é muito bom".

Mas voltando a falar do Depeche Mode, afinal este post é sobre eles, deve ter sido criada uma expectativa enorme após o estrondoso sucesso de Music For The Masses entre os fãs novos (porque certamente os fãs antigos tinham a certeza que eles iriam se superar de novo, afinal desde o começo vinham fazendo um disco melhor que o outro e se superando a cada novo trabalho) e assim aconteceu; após Violator definitivamente eles entraram para a História.

Se a banda tivesse acabado depois deste disco, já seriam lendários até o dia que o mundo acabasse, e só então seriam esquecidos se acontecesse de não sobrar nenhum sobrevivente.

Na minha opnião, o trabalho deles de 1981 até 1990 é irretocável. Na minha opnião, Violator é o "álbum dos álbuns" da discografia deles, porque eu, como conhecedor da obra deles, posso afirmar que eles vinham em um crescendo contínuo desde que Speak & Spell foi lançado, e que Violator foi o ápice de toda a criatividade e inventividade deles, que até aquele momento parecia não ter limites.

Não sei se seria correto situar Music For The Masses como o álbum mais próximo de Violator apenas por ter sido seu antecessor, mas pra mim ele sempre soou como um disco perfeito, redondo...não dá pra imaginar que nenhuma das 9 músicas pudessem ser de outra forma, porque na versão em que elas ficaram conhecidas já parecem ser perfeitas, como de fato o são.

Sei lá porque razão eles decidiram mudar o rumo das coisas a partir de Songs Of Faith & Devotion...eu penso que eles são uma banda de "techno" desde o começo, e assim deveriam ter permanecido, mesmo que acontecesse de terem se tornado repetitivos ao longo dos anos...no meu ponto de vista, teria valido a pena, pois eles já tinham um estilo próprio (vejam por exemplo a enorme semelhança entre "Behind The Wheel" e "Route 66", é evidente que a segunda foi inspirada na primeira, e é tão boa quanto ela).

De 1993 até 2009 eu considero os álbuns lançados apenas medianos, com poucas músicas formidáveis, apenas os dois últimos (Delta Machine e Spirit) eu curto muito, pois no meu ponto de vista, são um "retorno" ás origens, mesmo ainda que seja um retorno brando...mas Spirit já é um álbum muito superior a muitos outros que eles lançaram, pelo menos na minha opnião (pelo menos, Spirit eu gosto muito de quase todas as músicas).

Acho que muito dificilmente o Depeche Mode voltará a ser o que foi nos anos 80. Logo no começo eles sobreviveram a saída de Vince Clarke, e quando Alan Wilder entrou, foi como se Vince nunca tivesse feito parte da banda, tamanha a competência deste último. Mas depois que Wilder também foi embora, as coisas nunca mais foram as mesmas. Aparentemente os membros não conseguiram se recuperar desta última perda, porque coincidência ou não, Songs Of Faith & Devotion é muito diferente de Violator, (com Wilder ainda na banda) e Ultra também não tem nada a ver com Songs... (quando Wilder já tinha se mandado) ou seja, tentaram uma mudança no som duas vezes seguidas, como um quarteto e depois como um trio, e ambas ao que parece não deram muito certo.

Eu ouvi o álbum Ultra em 1997 ainda, e não gostei nem um pouco dele...eu ouço esta discografia de Speak & Spell até Violator, curtindo todas as faixas com tesão, e pulando uma ou outra, que não mexe comigo (como Shame e Somebody)...daí para a frente, eu ouço uma música ou outra dos álbuns seguintes, e faço uma pausa mais prolongada em Delta Machine e me demoro ainda mais no álbum Spirit. Se os espaços entre os álbuns continuarem largos, desde que os discos continuem mantendo o ritmo como foi o deste último, pra mim está de bom tamanho.

Apesar que eu começo a pensar que não vai demorar muito pra eles encerrarem a carreira...porque com algumas excessões, um período de tempo tão grande entre um ou outro álbum de estúdio significa que os músicos já estão cansados, que já perderam um pouco o entusiasmo dos tempos mais antigos...e cá pra nós, nem podia ser diferente. Pensemos um pouco no período entre 1981 e 1991. Foram 7 álbuns lançados, um melhor que o outro, shows lotados em todos os países...seguramente o dinheiro que eles ganharam nestes 10 anos algumas bandas não devem ter conseguido juntar em toda uma carreira. Se dinheiro não era mais o problema, o amor pela música deveria ser ainda maior para mantê-los juntos. Mas chega uma hora que deve cansar, principalmente quando a idade começa a pesar...

Aí você poderá estar pensando: "Se fosse assim, The Rolling Stones deveriam estar aposentados há muito tempo".

Mas aí é onde está o detalhe; eles não são a regra, são a exceção. E a exceção, desde sempre, como o próprio nome diz, não é algo muito comum de se encontar...mesmo ambos sendo do mesmo país.

Observação:

No painel lateral você vê o Depeche Mode marcado como tendo 27 álbuns, e aqui você se depara com 19. Esta diferença é muito fácil de ser compreendida: eu considero cada pasta como um álbum.

O Violator, por exemplo, eu considero como sendo um Box Set (4 discos) devido a quantidade de músicas e os tipos de arquivos deste álbum, que se fossem publicados individualmente, poderiam sem problema ser classificados como 4 álbuns distintos.

Embora eles estejam mesclados com os respectivos álbuns, devem ser considerados como álbuns á parte. Eu os juntei porque como é óbvio, muitos destes álbuns não tem uma capa, exatamente por nunca terem sido lançados oficialmente, embora tenham surgido como músicas soltas na internet.