101 Review

101
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When I was in junior high school, about the time this came out, Depeche Mode were *the* thing. Recently I fished this out of the darkest recesses of my closet and put it on for the first time in I don't know how many years. How interesting to hear the same music with very different ears!
When I was about 15 I came to develop a bias in favor of guitar-based music and against electronic music, so DM fell out of favor in my pantheon for quite some time, but rediscovering them now is quite a trip. Listening to Alan Wilder's beautiful orchestrations and countermelodies ("Shake The Disease", "Blasphemous Rumours", etc.) really makes me realize the possibilities inherent in keyboard-based music, which I never noticed way back in the day. The music is great, no doubts there. The 101 film (out of print), which I recently found on e-bay, is terrific too, although I'm a bit preoccupied with the fact that Andy Fletcher doesn't DO ANYTHING! Dave Gahan's stage act ("Alright! Hey! Ohhhhh!! I wanna hear everybody sing it!") seems somewhat overwrought to those of us into introverted indie-rock these days, so it seems funny now. Martin Gore's (who DM fans revere as a "poet") lyrics tend to be strikingly honest and direct, with a distinct touch of that certain adolescent, vaguely petty angst. What teenager entangled in the social web of his peers wouldn't relate to a song like "The Things You Said"? Depeche Mode's songs have a knack of being irresistibly melodic, true-to-life, and tenderly vulnerable. Put all these together, and you can begin to understand the rabid fanaticism which they inspired in so many people during this heyday in their career. It's documented on every second of this live album, and it's fun to share in it vicariously.

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2003 reissue of 1989 live album features 20 tracks, pressed onto a SACD Hybrid that's compatible with traditional CD players. Includes 16-page booklet of tour photos. Mute.--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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