Music for the Masses

Music for the Masses is the sixth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 28 September 1987 by Mute Records. The album was supported by the Music for the Masses Tour.

For other uses, see Music for the Masses (disambiguation).

Music for the Masses
Studio album by
Depeche Mode
Released28 September 1987 (1987-09-28)
RecordedFebruary–July 1987
Studio
  • Guillaume Tell, Paris
  • Konk, London
  • Puk, Gjerlev, Denmark[1]
Genre
Length44:04
LabelMute
Producer
Depeche Mode chronology
Black Celebration
(1986)		 Music for the Masses
(1987)		 101
(1989)
Singles from Music for the Masses
  1. "Strangelove"
    Released: 13 April 1987
  2. "Never Let Me Down Again"
    Released: 24 August 1987
  3. "Behind the Wheel"
    Released: 28 December 1987
  4. "Little 15"
    Released: 16 May 1988

Background

Daniel Miller, who had produced Depeche Mode's previous album, voluntarily stepped away from production duties for this album, citing the growing tension in the studio that they had experienced during the recording of Black Celebration.[3] With Miller's approval, the band co-produced the album with David Bascombe, who had previously worked as a recording engineer with Tears for Fears and Peter Gabriel.[4]

Band members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore both explained the album's title was conceived as a joke. Fletcher said, "The title's ... a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. Everyone is telling us we should make more commercial music, so that's the reason we chose that title."[4] According to Gore, the title "was a joke on the uncommerciality of [the album]. It was anything but music for the masses!"[5]

Cover art

The megaphone (or its iconic representation) on the album's cover was used during the breadth of the album's release: at press events, on the covers of the album's singles, and during the tour. Alan Wilder gave credit to Martyn Atkins, who had been a longtime Depeche Mode collaborator, for the use of the megaphone. "[Martyn came] up with this idea of a speaker, but, to give the kind of ironic element which the title has, to put this speaker in a setting which wasn't really to do with the masses at all. It was, in fact, the opposite. So you end up with this kind of eerie thing where you get these speakers or megaphones in the middle of a setting that doesn't suit it at all, like a desert or whatever."[4] The deserted natural setting in question was Peak District.[6]

An early alternative cover was rejected for the album. The rejected cover was also designed by Martyn Atkins and a test pressing copy was auctioned off by Wilder in 2011. It features a white-and-orange stylised design of the megaphone emitting sound waves.[7]

Re-release

In 2006, Music for the Masses became one of the first Depeche Mode albums (along with Speak & Spell and Violator) to be released on a special two-disc SACD/CD Hybrid + DVD format, in the vein of their 2005 album Playing the Angel, which had a limited edition SACD + DVD release. The format was the same as Playing the Angel's, the first disc had a special digitally remastered version of the album, while the DVD had the album on three formats (PCM Stereo, 5.1 surround sound and DTS 5.1) plus bonus tracks, and a documentary on the album. The re-release preserves the album as it was originally intended. Thus, the four bonus tracks do not appear on the SACD, but appear on the DVD. The DVD also features all B-sides from the Music for the Masses era, but unlike the album and the bonus tracks, the B-sides are only available in PCM Stereo.

The documentary, a 37-minute short film titled Depeche Mode: 1987–88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes), is an extensive look at the album, featuring commentary from a wide variety of people, including the current Depeche Mode, former member Wilder, producer David Bascombe, Daniel Miller, Daryl Bamonte, Martyn Atkins (who came up with the loudspeakers idea for the cover), Anton Corbijn, and others. The documentary features new facts on the album, and also an extensive look at the film 101.

The re-release was released on 3 April 2006 in Europe. The US version was delayed to 2 June 2006 and is only available on a CD + DVD format, with no SACD. The DVD on all the versions are region independent however, so one can simply import the SACD version without worrying about the DVD being incompatible. The remastered album was released on vinyl on 2 March 2007 in Germany and 5 March 2007 internationally.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Austin Chronicle[9]
Pitchfork8.0/10[10]
Q[11]
Record Mirror[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]
Sounds[15]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[16]
The Village VoiceB+[17]

The album mostly received favourable reviews upon release. Robert Christgau complimented the abnormal road symbolism of the lyrics, particularly on "Little 15", and believed that apart from the sadomasochistic metaphors, Depeche Mode succeeded in turning "adolescent Weltschmerz into something catchy, sexy and seemingly significant".[18] NME's Jane Solanas felt Gore was "at his obsessive best" on Music for the Masses, particularly on "Never Let Me Down Again", which she called "an intriguing masterpiece, combining homo-eroticism with drug euphoria."[19] In a less enthusiastic review, Paul Mathur from Melody Maker was ambivalent towards the group's more mature, minimalist aesthetic and said although they had departed from their simpler pop sound, the record was "seamless, fluid, and, once the lights are out, particularly dull."[20]

In a retrospective review, Q magazine found the narratives on Music for the Masses to be among Depeche Mode's most uncertain and contemplative, and that most of its songs were "real diamonds in the darkness ... this was the point at which Depeche Mode were first taken seriously."[11] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani said that Music for the Masses showed the gloomier side of the "post-punk synthpop" scene during the 1980s and was a success with both critics and consumers.[21]Alternative Press called the record "articulate, intricate electronic music that lacked the tinny feel of DM's early synth pop".[22] Music for the Masses was listed by Slant Magazine at number 75 on their list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".[23]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Never Let Me Down Again"4:47
2."The Things You Said"4:02
3."Strangelove"4:56
4."Sacred"4:47
5."Little 15"4:18
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Behind the Wheel"5:18
7."I Want You Now"3:44
8."To Have and to Hold"2:51
9."Nothing"4:18
10."Pimpf" (includes a hidden track "Interlude #1 - (Mission Impossible)", starting at 4:18)5:00
Bonus tracks on 1987 CD and cassette releases
No.TitleLength
11."Agent Orange"5:05
12."Never Let Me Down Again" (Aggro Mix)4:55
13."To Have and to Hold" (Spanish Taster)2:34
14."Pleasure, Little Treasure" (Glitter Mix)5:36
  • On the CD, there is a 20-second pause in between "Pimpf" and "Interlude #1", followed by a 30-second pause in between "Interlude #1" and "Agent Orange".
  • On some copies of the cassette the album is presented on side 1 with the four bonus tracks comprising the entirety of side 2.

2006 re-release
  • Disc one is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
  • Disc two is a DVD containing Music for the Masses in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material
Music for the Masses (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo)
No.TitleLength
1."Never Let Me Down Again"4:47
2."The Things You Said"3:55
3."Strangelove"4:38
4."Sacred"5:01
5."Little 15"4:14
6."Behind the Wheel"5:17
7."I Want You Now"3:28
8."To Have and to Hold"3:08
9."Nothing"4:12
10."Pimpf" (includes a hidden track "Interlude #1 - (Mission Impossible)", starting at 4:18)4:55
Short film
No.TitleLength
1."Depeche Mode 87–88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes)"37:02
Bonus 5.1 audio mixes (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo)
No.TitleLength
11."Agent Orange"5:31
12."Never Let Me Down Again" (Aggro Mix)4:58
13."To Have and to Hold" (Spanish Taster)2:36
14."Pleasure, Little Treasure" (Glitter Mix)5:38
Bonus tracks (in PCM Stereo)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Agent Orange" 5:05
12."Pleasure, Little Treasure" 2:53
13."Route 66"Bobby Troup4:11
14."Stjarna" 4:25
15."Sonata No.14 in C#m (Moonlight Sonata)"Ludwig van Beethoven5:36

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Music for the Masses.[24]

Depeche Mode

Technical

Artwork
  • Martyn Atkins – design, photography
  • David Jones – design, photography
  • Mark Higenbottam – design, photography

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[44] Platinum 400,000*
Germany (BVMI)[45] Gold 250,000^
Sweden (GLF)[46] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[47] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[49] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

gollark: For ethical reasons, children are produced centrally in vats.
gollark: Notelia is a very liberal nation. We have legalized arbitrary marriage digraphs, mandatory gun ownership, no prisons, no sports, cannabis, the metric system, no alcohol, and recreational nuclear weapons (also distributed to other nations at random).
gollark: HDMI is quite old but also ceased to exist for a while, TN16 is new.
gollark: Several years.
gollark: That's me. It became socialist by accident somehow.

References
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  2. Jackson, Josh; Martin, Garrett (8 September 2016). "The 50 Best New Wave Albums". Paste. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  3. Blanning, Lisa (27 March 2013). ""It's almost too personal": Daniel Miller contemplates the Depeche Mode catalogue". Electronic Beats. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  4. Miller, Jonathan, Stripped: Depeche Mode, Music Sales Group
  5. Maconie, Stuart (17 February 1990). "Sin Machine". NME. pp. 34–35. ISSN 0028-6362.
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  8. Raggett, Ned. "Music for the Masses – Depeche Mode". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
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  11. "Depeche Mode: Music for the Masses". Q. No. 105. London. June 1995. p. 135. ISSN 0955-4955. ... has its dark, gloomy secrets and layered soundtrack grooves to support some of the groups' most self-conscious and self-questioning storylines ... Most of the songs ... are real diamonds in the darkness ... this was the point at which Depeche Mode were first taken seriously.
  12. Levy, Eleanor (3 October 1987). "Depeche Mode: Music for the Masses". Record Mirror. London. ISSN 0144-5804.
  13. Walters, Barry (29 June 2006). "Just Can't Get Enough". Rolling Stone. New York. p. 74. ISSN 0035-791X.
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  20. Mathur, Paul (3 October 1987). "Rubber Bullets". Melody Maker. London. ISSN 0025-9012. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
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  24. Music for the Masses (liner notes). Depeche Mode. Mute Records. 1987. CDSTUMM47.CS1 maint: others (link)
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