Music For The Masses (studio album) by Depeche Mode

From Strangel 02/25/2024 09:17

There used to be a time when a dj would conveniently ruin the end of a song you recorded off the radio to cassette. I sort of wish that every time someone put these songs on back in the day the dj had talk over the top of the whole song.

From Brad1770 09/11/2023 10:59

Whilst at face value this album itself doesn’t sound like music for the masses , ironically it very much was selling a tick under 2’000 000 copies worldwide and taking DP from a cult band to playing stadiums. There’s a lot to like here highlighted by the double entendre opener “Never Let Me Down Again” (given a host of new fans on the back of appearing on The Last of Us TV series), “Nothing” and the dark and searing “Pimpf” closing out proceedings

It's more consistent than Black Celebration, but there is still room for improvement. The album has dark tone, while being catchy at the same time, some tracks sound really cool - Never Let Me Down Again, Behind The Wheel, Strangelove, but some of them are still a little bit bland - Little 15, To Have And To Hold.

This is a very compact album that has a lot of great cuts. The opening track really kicks the record off in style and it really sets the mood for the rest of the record. This atmosphere is then maintained throughout the rest of the record and is a real high point of the music. This was their first truly dark album and you can see all the potential for the brilliant synth led music that they would create. I love the vocal performance as well with it being consistently gloomy and deeper than their other works. However, there are a few tracks which do dip in quality with some of them not really grabbing my attention. This album laid the amazing groundwork for what would be Violator in my opinion but it doesn't reach the same levels that album does. Overall, this is a great album and one I love to listen too but it is a close second in terms of greatest Depeche Mode albums.

Not much separates this and Violator.

From teague 09/06/2020 21:50

Much darker in tone than their previous releases, a trend they would only explore deeper with their next album Violator.

Classic album of the 80s. Depeche Mode´s best album of the 80s, just one step behind to their masterpiece Violator (1990).

Really good album.

Favorites: Strangelove, Behind The Wheel.

Favorite Tracks:Behind The Wheel

From santropez 04/15/2019 23:38

Best track: "Nothing"
Weakest track: "Pimpf"