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Something brought "People Are People" back to my mind, so I borrowed Depeche Mode's The Singles 81>85 from the Queens library system. I hadn't heard some of these songs in ages, since I had their earlier albums on cassettes but didn't rebuy all of them on CDs. Some of the music sounds like toy music these decades later due to the synthesizers being used, and the songs sound brighter, partly as an '80s thing and partly as the band's shift into darker sounding stuff mostly happened later. I still remember my surprise when 2013's Delta Machine had a low end that sometimes made my car's speakers buzz.
It's nostalgic and sometimes a bit funny. This singles album also reminds me that while it's not something Depeche Mode is primarily known for, they've been writing occasional, somewhat political "message" songs their whole career, no matter what some disgruntled listeners of 2017's Spirit had to say about it on Amazon.com, but you know what the "what can't they leave politics that aren't mine out of music and stick to fluffy stuff!" crowd is like.
Speaking of Spirit, here's one of my favorite songs from it, a love song.
I tend to have a preference for songs that tell a story or paint specific images of times and places, something evocative. The first stanza of "Cover Me" sure does that for me. The music also takes you places and has a cinematic feel.
Though you guys can rarely hear my music the way I do, since I often sing along with the melody or harmonize on a lot of songs. With Depeche Mode, I'm singing right with Dave Gahan or with Martin Gore, or creating my own harmonies on some lines and/or putting it into a register of my own. For "Cover Me," it's a mix of Dave and one of my own registers, with occasional harmony to what Dave's singing.
If anyone had told me in the '80s that Depeche Mode would still be a band and still be putting out music I find interesting over 40 years later, I would've been so surprised.
It's nostalgic and sometimes a bit funny. This singles album also reminds me that while it's not something Depeche Mode is primarily known for, they've been writing occasional, somewhat political "message" songs their whole career, no matter what some disgruntled listeners of 2017's Spirit had to say about it on Amazon.com, but you know what the "what can't they leave politics that aren't mine out of music and stick to fluffy stuff!" crowd is like.
Speaking of Spirit, here's one of my favorite songs from it, a love song.
I tend to have a preference for songs that tell a story or paint specific images of times and places, something evocative. The first stanza of "Cover Me" sure does that for me. The music also takes you places and has a cinematic feel.
Though you guys can rarely hear my music the way I do, since I often sing along with the melody or harmonize on a lot of songs. With Depeche Mode, I'm singing right with Dave Gahan or with Martin Gore, or creating my own harmonies on some lines and/or putting it into a register of my own. For "Cover Me," it's a mix of Dave and one of my own registers, with occasional harmony to what Dave's singing.
If anyone had told me in the '80s that Depeche Mode would still be a band and still be putting out music I find interesting over 40 years later, I would've been so surprised.
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