I could definitely make a strong argument that this is the
last great Depeche Mode album. Sure, they've had some great music since, but
not a collection like Violator. Songs Of Faith And Devotion my ass! I’m looking
at their discography right now and I have no memory of 2001’s Exciter! No memory of
it what so ever!
That is weird, because I went to see them on that tour on
June 30, 2001 in Philadelphia! I remember it vividly because I went to the show
with Kurt Steffek from Mute Records! He bought me dinner beforehand. We
went to Buddakan. I had the Pepper crusted Tuna Tartare! It melted in my mouth!
I remember the show too, because we had been checking the setlists from
previous shows and I really wanted to hear “Policy Of Truth.” They were
switching it out with “Clean” in the encore every other night or so. Guess
what? I got “Clean.”
If I can remember what I had for dinner and what the encore
of a show was that I saw in 2001, why can’t I remember an album from a band I
love? Hold on…
OK, I just scanned it. I do remember “Dream On.” Not much
else. Weird.
I got off on a tangent there.
The only problem with Violator is that it’s too short! A
mere nine songs make up this album, but they’re all flawless. It’s a perfect
record, so maybe that’s why they didn't want to fuck with it and add a tenth
song. For an album that just turned twenty-three years old, its timeless
vitality has brought it to 2013 sounding as fresh as ever. One of my all-time
favorite albums.
This is a spring record to me. I was nineteen when it came
out in March of 1990. Awful Buffalo winter was coming to an end and the weather
just kept getting better and better the more I listened to this album.
I
remember a night of college drinking and riding back to campus with a car load of
people. It was one of the first warm nights of the year, so the car windows
were down and Violator was cranked up in my friend George’s 1989 Chevy Cavalier
Z24! Good times.
Soon after its release, Violator contributed a phrase that
became a permanent part of my lexicon of slang. A small group of us drove up to
Toronto to see Front 242. I broke a guy’s nose at the show, but I’ll save that
story for a Front 242 record write up. The show was loud, we over did it in the
mosh pit, and on the way home there was a slight argument about what to listen
to on the 90 minute drive. My head was pounding and after a minute of
bickering I turned the radio off and said, “Let’s just enjoy the silence for a
little while.” It actually worked and to this day it’s my polite way of telling
someone to shut up.
At its best Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain captures the trials
and tribulations of being a young man and in a band, in typical young man fashion… all over
the place. At its worst, this album is annoying as fuck. Quite a dichotomy.
I always thought the album’s opener “Silent Kit,” was a
subtle rip-off of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” and when I Googled Pavement and
Buddy Holly, I found this guy. I was right about something! Fuckin’ A!
For too long this album was just about “Cut Your Hair” for
me. I remember thinking that it was a novelty song that I would probably get sick of, but that didn't happen. It's too cleaver and I'll never get sick of the word play with career and Korea and the line, "did you see the drummer's hair?"
I had
listened to the whole album a bunch of times and just didn't “get it.” But then one
night out I heard “Range Life” in a bar and that all changed. The whole thing
started to sound great to me pretty quickly after that.
When I say something like that, it makes me wonder about
music that I’m quickly dismissing in my old age. If I was twenty would I have
listened to Sleigh Bells over and over and found their appeal? I did that with
Pavement and countless other bands. I just kept listening to them until I heard
what I needed to in order to “get it.” Can I make it work with so many bands I'm not "getting" today? Grizzly Bear? Best Coast? And all the other wimpy bands that get fawned all over? No, everything does suck nowadays, but I’m
sure proud of myself when I have thoughts like that. I’m deep.
I only got to see Pavement once on the Lollapalooza Tour they played in '95. I remember fighting with my asshole friends cause I wanted to move closer, but nobody wanted to get dirty. Pussies!
“Stop Breathin’,” The
Pixies inspired “Unfair,” and the annoying “Hit The Plane Down” are just a few
more of my favorites from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.
Long before Delta Machine was released it was being described
as a Blues album. The name alone, Delta Machine, screams blues and I was kind
of hoping the boys were going to be picking up a steel guitar and twanging out
the down and dirty sounds of the American south. I initially was disappointed
that it’s more of a synth Blues affair.
The first time I listened to it, I was bored out of my mind!
Creepy and too slow were my two biggest complaints. “Angel” is the biggest culprit
of that. But then I listened to it again and it got a little better. Finally,
on the third listen I found some stuff I liked, but Delta Machine isn't really
a solid album as a whole. I read a couple reviews that said it's the band's best album. Pffffft!
I’m now having a love/hate relationship with “Angel.” Dave
Gahan’s performance really punches some buttons in me on this one and I like that. “Broken”
has an old school DM feel to it, but falls just a pube short of actually
sounding like the band in the 80’s. It’s close though! Martin Gore’s vocals on “The
Child Inside” make me feel uneasy, to say the least. “Heaven” reminds me of
Portishead just a little.
The first time I listened to the album when I got to “Slow,”
I thought, “Yeah, that about sums up this whole record.” But, it has the first hint of an actual Blues inspiration. I just wish it was rawer.
"Soothe My Soul” is definitely the hit here and it’s a shame
that I’m not hearing it outside of when I’m hitting play myself on my MP3
player. “Goodbye” delivers some more Blues sounds, although there’s some synth noodling
I could do without. I’d love to hear stripped down mix of it.
Tomorrow I listen to Goo Goo Dolls Hold Me Up and Superstar Car Wash and Alkaline Trio My Shame Is True.
Here's April's Playlist!
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