This is one of my favourite albums of all time for a number of reasons. As a big Depeche Mode fan, I was glad when their 1990 album, Violator finally broke them through, and deservedly so, for it's a true aural epic with well-crafted songs that captured lead singer, David Gahan's velvety tones to a touch. It was also the first time the band worked with Flood, certainly one of the most under-rated British producers, who took the band's material to a more credible, mainstream level, and added an edge to their sound. So what great joy for me when they did it all over again three years later with Songs of Faith and Devotion - only this time, they managed to excel  Read the complete review

Depeche Mode were one of the great musical success stories of 80s Britain. The line up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder and Martin Fletcher pioneered electronic music at the start of the decade with such hits as Just Can't Get Enough and People Are People, before maturing into a more refined act with the albums Black Celebration and Music for the Masses. They reached a new peak whilst touring the latter, selling out stadiums in the US, resulting in the hugely successful road movie and accompanying soundtrack 101. Following this they regrouped and plotted their next move carefully. The resulting album Violator took them to the next level. Free of the ...  Read the complete review

You won't need to be a brain surgeon to work out that this is a live version of Songs of Faith and Devotion. This album didn't sell particularly well but nevertheless is actually rather good. Following the magnificent Violator album, this had to be good and sadly it wasn't what we all hoped for but the band went out on the road with a fantastic stage and they even took Anton Corbijn with them to oversee the visual side. The recording is very good and some of the songs are actually a bit different to how they were performed on the album. More than anything you could close your eyes and be there, the balance between crowd and the band is good and you ...  Read the complete review

I've only recently started listening to a bit more of Depeche Mode (this was my first purchase a few years ago), and the more I hear older stuff by them, the more this album surprises me! DM's early history (I just can't get enough, People are people etc) was all very clean and poppy. This album however, is INCREDIBLY dark, and I love it! About this time, Dave Gahan was going a bit mad on the ol' drugs, to the point where it completely consumed his soul. This album exudes obsession, surrender, pain and love for every murky second. Screaming guitar feedback opens, almost making you jump out of your seat announces the start of 'I ...  Read the complete review

Having achieved near perfection of darkness with Violator (1990), DM came up with SFAD. On first hearing one can imagine the thoughts that were passing through the minds of Martin, Dave, Fletch and Alan - "Chuck out those synths..!". Set against a backdrop of grunge and other trash metal acts that had been popular for the previous couple of years, the DM sound metamorphosed somewhere between the two and the result was quite reasonable. Unquestionably, the highlights on the album are Higher Love, I Feel You, In Your Room and Judas. Certain tracks such as Get Right With Me and Condemnation do not particularly fit in with the rest of the ...  Read the complete review