So why is Depeche Mode’s Violator on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
In high school, I heard someone derisively refer to Depeche Mode – a band I was only vaguely aware of the time – as Depress Mode.
Funny, right? Well… not so much, but for high school, not terrible I suppose.
Smash cut to my early college years at Binghamton University, when I stumbled across “Personal Jesus” on a mixtape* that a friend loaned to me.
* This was during an era when compact discs reigned supreme, but cassette mixtapes were still very much a viable way to quickly create hand crafted and often meticulously curated mixtapes!
I’m not a religious person, so the song title did nothing for me. But then I played it, and its dark, synth-y, and driving guitar part blew me away. Depeche Mode is a master at this style of music, and it was my gateway drug in terms of discovering the delights of this band.
And lyrically, something connected with me in terms of its irony and questioning of our assumed and indoctrinated beliefs.
Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer
Violator is jam packed with tracks that possess many of those same qualities.
It seems strange in a way to use the word “funk” to describe the music of a British synth pop and new wave band, but that’s exactly the vibe that outstanding songs such as “Enjoy the Silence” and “Policy of Truth” deliver. But that’s only one element, of course, as darkly synth and super strong pop sensibilities also dominate.
I love the electronic pulses and pops of “World In My Eyes.”
“Happiest Girl” – which is included on the 2006 remastered version of Violator and is credited to Depeche Mode, Alan Friedman, and Francois Kevorkian – is a fantastic and darkly mysterious deep cut.
Personal stuff that has something to do with Depeche Mode’s Violator
I’ve always been a fan of word play and all things clever. One other tidbit along these lines that stays with me from high school days relates to old school video game consoles.
All of my friends were gaming fiends, but that didn’t stop us from making fun of the practice/obsession. Therefore, Sega became Say… Got Any Friends? While Nintendo became No Friend-o.
Only to be topped, of course, by Super No Friend-o.
Some stats & info about Depeche Mode – Violator
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? British Bands, Synth Pop, Pop Music, New Wave, Dance Music, Electronic Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #167
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Violator released? 1990
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #244 out of 1,000
Depeche Mode’s Violator on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Depeche Mode’s Violator that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Words are very unnecessary – they can only do harm.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.