Music for the Masses
Encyclopedia
Music for the Masses is the sixth studio album by Depeche Mode
. It was released by Mute Records
on September 28, 1987, and was supported by the Music for the Masses Tour
.
. It also contained more hit singles than any of their previous releases. While there was no extremely popular single from the album ("People Are People
" from Some Great Reward reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100
), the three singles that were released all made it onto the Hot 100, a feat that hadn't been achieved by any Depeche Mode single after those from Some Great Reward. Moreover, all three singles achieved modest success on the chart.
The first single from the album, "Strangelove", only reached #76 and spent 6 weeks on the chart upon its initial release. "Never Let Me Down Again" was then issued and hit #63, spending 10 weeks on the chart. Its success was duplicated by "Behind the Wheel" which had a similar chart run. This propelled a re-released "Strangelove" (as "Strangelove '88") to #50, making it the highest-charting single from the album.
The story was similar in the United Kingdom
. While no single reached the chart heights of Depeche Mode's early career, "Strangelove" narrowly became the band's second-highest charting single since 1984 when it hit #16. The two follow-up singles charted in the upper 20s. The album was less successful, reaching only #10, though it was a major success throughout Europe
. Generally, this album and its extracted singles continued the trend for Depeche Mode's releases to chart higher in Continental Europe
than in their home country: "Strangelove" and "Never Let Me Down Again" both hit #2 on the singles chart in what was then West Germany
, "Behind The Wheel" hit #6 there, and "Little 15" reached #16.
The Music for the Masses Tour
was one of Depeche Mode's biggest, notably because of the sell-out Pasadena
Rose Bowl
show where the band performed in front of 60,453 fans, cementing their place in United States
alternative culture. This made the band question if they had reached the peak of their careers, according to the 101 DVD, a documentary on the concert, but put that notion to rest with Violator, which was even more successful.
/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 Angels, 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 rerelease 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, are only available in PCM Stereo.
The documentary, a 37 minute short film called 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 Alan Wilder, producer Dave 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 movie 101.
The re-release came out April 3, 2006 in Europe. The US version was delayed to June 2, 2006 and will only be 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 re-mastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl 2 March 2007 in Germany and 5 March 2007 internationally.
Bonus tracks on 1987 CD (CDstumm47) and cassette (Cstumm47) release.
Bonus Tracks (in PCM Stereo):
Bonus 5.1 Mixes (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo):
Additional Material:
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
. It was released by Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
on September 28, 1987, and was supported by the Music for the Masses Tour
Music for the Masses Tour
Music for the Masses Tour was a 1987/1988 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the band's sixth studio album, Music for the Masses, which was released in September 1987....
.
Mainstream success in the United States
The album became the band's highest-charting in the US upon its release, reaching #35 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. It also contained more hit singles than any of their previous releases. While there was no extremely popular single from the album ("People Are People
People Are People
"People Are People" is Depeche Mode's tenth UK single it was their first hit single in the US and the first single for the Some Great Reward album....
" from Some Great Reward reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
), the three singles that were released all made it onto the Hot 100, a feat that hadn't been achieved by any Depeche Mode single after those from Some Great Reward. Moreover, all three singles achieved modest success on the chart.
The first single from the album, "Strangelove", only reached #76 and spent 6 weeks on the chart upon its initial release. "Never Let Me Down Again" was then issued and hit #63, spending 10 weeks on the chart. Its success was duplicated by "Behind the Wheel" which had a similar chart run. This propelled a re-released "Strangelove" (as "Strangelove '88") to #50, making it the highest-charting single from the album.
The story was similar in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. While no single reached the chart heights of Depeche Mode's early career, "Strangelove" narrowly became the band's second-highest charting single since 1984 when it hit #16. The two follow-up singles charted in the upper 20s. The album was less successful, reaching only #10, though it was a major success throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Generally, this album and its extracted singles continued the trend for Depeche Mode's releases to chart higher in Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
than in their home country: "Strangelove" and "Never Let Me Down Again" both hit #2 on the singles chart in what was then West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, "Behind The Wheel" hit #6 there, and "Little 15" reached #16.
The Music for the Masses Tour
Music for the Masses Tour
Music for the Masses Tour was a 1987/1988 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the band's sixth studio album, Music for the Masses, which was released in September 1987....
was one of Depeche Mode's biggest, notably because of the sell-out Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl (stadium)
The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12...
show where the band performed in front of 60,453 fans, cementing their place in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative culture. This made the band question if they had reached the peak of their careers, according to the 101 DVD, a documentary on the concert, but put that notion to rest with Violator, which was even more successful.
Re-release
In 2006, Music For the Masses became one of the first Depeche Mode albums (along with Speak and Spell and Violator) to be released on a special 2-Disc SACDSuper Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
/CD Hybrid + DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
format, in the vein of their 2005 album Playing the Angel
Playing the Angel
Playing the Angel is the eleventh studio album by English electronic band Depeche Mode, released in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2005 by Mute Records and in the United States and Canada on 18 October by Sire Records and Reprise Records. It was supported by the Touring the Angel...
, which had a limited edition SACD + DVD release. The format was the same as Playing the Angels, the first disc had a special digitally remastered version of the album, while the DVD had the album on three formats (PCM Stereo
Pulse-code modulation
Pulse-code modulation is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form for digital audio in computers and various Blu-ray, Compact Disc and DVD formats, as well as other uses such as digital telephone systems...
, 5.1 Surround Sound
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
and DTS 5.1
Digital Theater System
DTS is a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. , an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications...
) plus bonus tracks, and a documentary on the album. The rerelease 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, are only available in PCM Stereo.
The documentary, a 37 minute short film called 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 Alan Wilder, producer Dave 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 movie 101.
The re-release came out April 3, 2006 in Europe. The US version was delayed to June 2, 2006 and will only be 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 re-mastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl 2 March 2007 in Germany and 5 March 2007 internationally.
1987 release: Mute / Stumm 47
- "Never Let Me Down AgainNever Let Me Down Again"Never Let Me Down Again" is Depeche Mode's nineteenth UK single, released on August 24, 1987, and the second single for the then upcoming album Music for the Masses. A relatively moderate hit in the UK, at #22, it was a smash in West Germany, where it hit #2, and a Top 10 success in several other...
" – 4:47 - "The Things You Said" – 4:02
- "StrangeloveStrangelove (song)"Strangelove" is Depeche Mode's eighteenth UK single, released on April 13, 1987, and the first single for the then upcoming album Music for the Masses...
" – 4:56 - "Sacred" – 4:47
- "Little 15Little 15"Little 15" is a Depeche Mode single, released on 16 May 1988, and the fourth single from the album Music for the Masses.The song was never intended to be a single; in fact, it barely made it onto the album, but a French record label wanted to release the song as a single, and as such, it was...
" – 4:18 - "Behind the WheelBehind the Wheel"Behind the Wheel" is Depeche Mode's twentieth UK single, released on December 28, 1987, and the third single for the album Music for the Masses. Peaking at #21 in the UK charts, it hit #6 in West Germany....
" – 5:18 - "I Want You Now" – 3:44
- "To Have and to Hold" – 2:51
- "Nothing" – 4:18
- "Pimpf" – 3:56 (5:25)
"Interlude #1 - Mission Impossible" (hidden instrumental track) – 0:37
Bonus tracks on 1987 CD (CDstumm47) and cassette (Cstumm47) release.
- "Agent Orange" – 5:05
- "Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix)" – 4:55
- "To Have and to Hold (Spanish Taster)" – 2:34
- "Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix)" – 5:36
- On the CD, there is a 22 second pause in between Pimpf and Interlude #1, followed by a 30 second pause in between Interlude #1 and Agent Orange.
- On the cassette, the four bonus tracks are on the B side, with the rest of the tape without audio.
2006 re-release
Mute: DM CD 6 (CD/SACD + DVD) / CDX STUMM 47 (CD/SACD)- Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
- Disc 2 is a DVD which includes Music for the Masses in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material
- "Never Let Me Down Again" – 4:47
- "The Things You Said" – 3:55
- "Strangelove" – 4:38
- "Sacred" – 5:01
- "Little 15" – 4:14
- "Behind the Wheel" – 5:17
- "I Want You Now" – 3:28
- "To Have and to Hold" – 3:08
- "Nothing" – 4:12
- "Pimpf" – 4:55
Bonus Tracks (in PCM Stereo):
- "Agent Orange" – 5:05
- "Pleasure, Little Treasure" – 2:53
- "Route 66Route 66 (song)" Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling...
" – 4:11 - "Stjarna" – 4:25
- "Sonata No.14 in C#m (Moonlight Sonata)" – 5:36
Bonus 5.1 Mixes (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo):
- "Agent Orange" – 5:31
- "Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix)" – 4:58
- "To Have And to Hold (Spanish Taster)" – 2:36
- "Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix)" – 5:38
Additional Material:
- "Depeche Mode 87-88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes)" [37 Minute video]
- All songs are written by Martin GoreMartin GoreMartin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...
except "Route 66", which is a cover of the rock classic "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" written by Robert W. Troup JrBobby TroupRobert William "Bobby" Troup Jr. was an American actor, jazz pianist and songwriter. He is best known for writing the popular standard " Route 66", and for his role as Dr...
in 1946, and "Moonlight Sonata", a BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
piano piece performed here by Alan Wilder. - Dave Gahan is the lead singer of all songs except for "The Things You Said" and "I Want You Now" which are sung by Martin Gore. However, Gore's background vocals can be heard throughout the entire album. "Pimpf", "Mission Impossible", "Stjarna", "Sonata No.14" and "Agent Orange" are instrumental.
Personnel
- Dave Gahan - lead vocals, sampler
- Martin GoreMartin GoreMartin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...
- keyboards, guitar, accordion ("I Want You Now"), sampler, backing vocals, lead vocals ("The Things You Said", "I Want You Now"), songwriting - Andrew FletcherAndrew Fletcher (musician)Andy Fletcher , known as "Fletch", is a co-founder and member of the English synth band Depeche Mode.-Depeche Mode:...
- sampler, backing vocals - Alan WilderAlan WilderAlan Charles Wilder is a British musician, formerly of Depeche Mode. His current musical project is called Recoil, started as a side project to Depeche Mode. When he left the latter in 1995, it became Wilder's primary project...
- keyboards, sampler, piano, programming, backing vocals
Charts
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart | 16 |
| French Albums Chart | 7 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
2 |
| Italy Albums Chart | 7 |
| Netherlands Albums Chart | 37 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
4 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
10 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
35 |