Bands don’t usually hit their peak on their seventh album. Depeche Mode did just that with Violator. The synth-pop legends reached new heights in terms of artistic accomplishment and commercial reach with the 1990 album.
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The band rose to the occasion with their best work at a time when the public was most prepared to hear it. For those who think that the electronics-driven British artists of the 80s and 90s were more singles than albums artists, Violator is all the evidence you should need to rethink that theory.
Building Momentum
From the very beginning of their existence, Depeche Mode were hit artists in their native Great Britain. Their first six albums all landed in the Top 10 in the UK, and hit singles were the norm. This was true even as their music took a decidedly darker, denser turn on albums like Black Celebration and Music For The Masses.
In America, they’d only sniffed a little bit of radio play with their 1984 single “People Are People”. But they built up a loyal audience anyway, largely via dance clubs. The full breadth of their impact on US audiences became clear in 1988. They ended their world tour that year playing to massive audiences at the Rose Bowl in California.
The timing was right for the band to strike. But they had the instinct to realize that they needed to change things up a little bit. To that end, they worked for the first time with producer Flood. He encouraged songwriter Martin Gore to alter his usual approach, which made a world of difference in the finished product.
A New Approach
Gore had previously delivered demos to the band that were filled out to the extent that not much was needed to finish them off. For Violator, he left his demos far more open-ended. That allowed the other band members to contribute ideas. It also left plenty of room for band member Alan Wilder and Flood to devise suitable atmospherics for each song.
Depeche Mode stunned their faithful with a guitar-driven first single from the album in “Personal Jesus”. That shot across the bow alerted fans to expect a more accessible version of the band, albeit one that still traded in music that brooded as much as it boogied. Not only did Violator give the band their biggest ever UK hit, but it went massive in America, with three hit singles and their first ever Top 10 LP stateside.
Revisiting the Music of ‘Violator’ by Depeche Mode
The math makes it pretty clear right off the bat that Violator is a classic. The three hit singles (out of nine total tracks) haven’t lost an ounce of their potency. “Personal Jesus”, with its bounding rhythms and biting lyrics about religious profiteers; “Enjoy The Silence”, all pulsing beat and Dave Gahan’s dark, romantic vocals; and “Policy Of Truth”, where Gore makes a devilishly good case in his lyrics for white lies.
But Violator goes well beyond that in terms of its excellence. “World In My Eyes” starts the album off on a note of slinky seduction. “Halo” easily could have been a hit, considering its thrilling chorus full of swirling strings.
When the band backs off the pace and leaves some open spaces in the music, they prove every bit as intriguing. “Waiting For The Night” and “Blue Dress” bring soothing, evocative calmness amidst the stormier songs around them. “Clean” ends the album on a somewhat ominous note, as Gahan’s pronouncements about turning the corner are contradicted somewhat by the menacing melody.
In addition to being a creative high point, the album marked a peak in terms of the band’s personal relationships. That amity would soon shatter when they made the tortured follow-up, Songs Of Faith And Devotion. No such issues with Violator, however, as Depeche Mode put it all together on a dead-solid perfect LP.
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