@@marguskiis7711 I think you're deaf or mentally challenged if you can't hear the difference in sound between Violator and 80s early 90s mainstream pop & house
Probably partially because the same synths and samplers they used (or their software emulations) are still used by today’s producers in a lot of modern music.
@@marguskiis7711 go away hater, violator is timeless, no pop band even in the 90s achieved the violator sound, the arrangements were way ahead of their time
the thing that always fascinated me about Depeche Mode's music is how complicated it is. There are so many sounds, beats, textures in it and yet all of them work together. I also think you have to be a genius to combine and use all the equipment/technology and yet the music to be so emotionally and not robotic like most of the electronic music. But then again, not every band has a Dave Gahan as a lead singer
You had the perfect choice of a producer and mixer. When you look at the list of everyone flood has worked with you can see why he is a genius of a producer.
When Personal Jesus was released, my first thought (as a huge DM fan) was: “WTF? Now they are doing guitar rock and songs with no real chorus?” 35 years later it’s all history and Violator the greatest synth pop album forever.
Great producer, great performances in the studio coupled with great gear. What makes it great is Depeche understood how important it was that the songs have heart and soul and not be overshadowed by cool techno riffs and grooves. We all love the cool techno riffs and grooves but the soulful songwriting and the performances in the studio for the record made it magical. Techno can easily come across as cold too digital and they understood the songs stripped down needed to be good so when you add the techno-synth sounds in it elevated the stripped down essence of the songs giving them a profound sonic depth to them. I'm sure they used some classic analog gear to give the synth sounds that warmth like the Oberheim filter in the OB-6.
Agreed enjoy the silence is my favorite song ever out of over 1600 like songs on Spotify also, over 60 hours on my absolute favorites playlist. Researching music since ‘80 I’m a musical beast now, but, it all comes back to dM and enjoy the silence even the covers!!
This is the first time I've heard isolated tracks from Enjoy the silence - although they did a dance rework of the demo, they kinda kept the spirit of original - replacing Harmonium with choir samples. Brilliant.
Der Gesang von Herrn Gahan ist wohl mit einem ausgewählten Shure SM 57 aufgenommen worden. Das wundert mich nicht, aber beeindruckt mich, weil es ein tiefes Verständnis des Produzenten zeigt, die technisch beste Lösung zwischen Technik und Herrn Gahans kraftvoller Performance zu finden. Chapeau - es hat sich gelohnt!
Violator, Songs of Faith and Devotion and Ultra remain my all-time favourites. Easily the band's most innovative era. Having Flood and Moulder in your corner will do that! Thanks for another great episode!
On Violator I saw them in NYC Songs of Faith and Devotion saw them in Minneapolis, Kansas City and Pasadena Ultra was NYC and Chicago Devotion was more than Epic
SOFAD sonically was ahead of its time. Production on the tour was mind blowing for the early 90’s. The textures and arrangements and tones hold up to this day. That being said Violator started what should have been their signature sound going forward had a certain musical genius remained in the band. This album put them over the top and will always be my favorite with SOFAD a close second.
This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for the hard work it obviously took to put it together!. Waited in line for an hour the day Personal Jesus was released and we absolutely lost our fucking minds!
I'm pretty sure the snare drum used on PJ and WIME comes from a sample album from the late 80's, I remember recognizing it when I first heard WIME. I even remember not wanting to use it at the time because it was so distinct sounding it felt too obvious from where it origin. So stupid :)
I recall Nils as a very affable bloke (suggested to us by engineer Peter when we were discussing sound options) but what he remembers here isn’t entirely accurate. You can hear he actually plays the riff in ‘Clean’ which we no doubt asked him to, after which it was re-sampled and placed into the track. I’m sure he played along to the basic backing track in order to achieve the correct tempo and key. We got him in specifically for that song but would have also asked him to provide many improvised slides and other options to use both within the song’s framework and for general use. Typically, anything left over from a session like that, which could be utilised, I would have jumped on being the musical magpie that I am;)
I recall Nils as a very affable bloke (suggested to us by engineer Peter when we were discussing sound options) but what he remembers here isn’t entirely accurate. You can hear he actually plays the riff in ‘Clean’ which we no doubt asked him to, after which it was re-sampled and placed into the track. I’m sure he played along to the basic backing track in order to achieve the correct tempo and key. We got him in specifically for that song but would have also asked him to provide many improvised slides and other options to use both within the song’s framework and for general use. Typically, anything left over from a session like that, which could be utilised, I would have jumped on being the musical magpie that I am;). Alan wilder “ clean “
I had heard more than once that almost all of the sounds were sampled into an Emulator III and then recorded to tape because they felt it added a quality to tge sounds they were rather keen on.
I remember playing this for my grade 12 classmates and one of the fellow 18 year old kids’ telling me they weren’t very talented. I’ll never forget that because of how stupid that comment was 😝
It’s mostly practical rather than aesthetic. For fair use of the material, it’s much better to be altered in some way so I went with that. I’d prefer to have it clean though.
I recall Nils as a very affable bloke (suggested to us by engineer Peter when we were discussing sound options) but what he remembers here isn’t entirely accurate. You can hear he actually plays the riff in ‘Clean’ which we no doubt asked him to, after which it was re-sampled and placed into the track. I’m sure he played along to the basic backing track in order to achieve the correct tempo and key. We got him in specifically for that song but would have also asked him to provide many improvised slides and other options to use both within the song’s framework and for general use. Typically, anything left over from a session like that, which could be utilised, I would have jumped on being the musical magpie that I am;)
