Depeche Mode!! °O°

Hi guys~

I want to introduce to you my favorite band EVER. Depeche Mode!! :D

I've been a fan since I was little, I didn't even know the name of the band. I started fangirling over it when I was 10 years old. That's when I saved my pocket money to buy my first CD. After that I completely fell in love with the band. I started collecting the records, magazines, books and DVDs. Only after some years my mom told me that my father (who I actually still have contact with but it's a different story) also listened to Depeche Mode when he was young AND my uncle, whom I never really got to know for he died when I was 2 years old. Now I think this is not just a coincidence and you could call me crazy but I think it's fate. :P



Let me tell you a bit about the band. It was founded in 1980 and consisted of 4 members: Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher. The music was electronic and very danceable in the first album. After the success of the first record "Speak and Spell" Vince, the main songwriter, left the band. Martin started to write his own songs for the new album and they found a new member, Alan Wilder. Alan influenced the band dramatically. Depeche Mode became much darker with his entry and Martin's texts became more and more provocative. In the mid 80s Depeche Mode became a very popular band, especially in Germany and the eastern Europe. The band settled in Germany for the period of producing an album. Martin changed a lot during this period. As strange as it may sound, he started to wear dresses and make up. The band was generally into S&M in this period and influenced this scene a lot as well as the gothic and generally the underground scene (I don't even know if it's appropriate to write this on blogger..). Don't panic, this changed. Although it took some time. I could show you the most popular songs from this time so you can make yourself a picture of the band...

 Surely you know one of these songs ;)

Well. The 90s were THE time for the band. They got really big with their most successful album, "Violator". Including songs like "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" (shame upon you if you don't know them!!!). Depeche Mode was still a band focusing on the electronic sound but they used samples of a guitar or a piano for the first time in their career. You could say the album was revolutionary for them. Depeche Mode got really big in the USA with the huge success of "Personal Jesus". After releasing the album and touring to promote it, the band took the biggest break in their history. When the members came together again they all have changed. A LOT. As I mentioned they were 4 now: Alan (synthesizer, piano, back vocals), Martin (songwriter, second singer, synthesizer, guitar), Dave (frontman and main singer) and Andy (synthesizer and kind of a band "manager"). And they all were in big trouble. Martin was drinking too much, Andy had problems with his health and psyche, Alan was the one who actually worked the hardest on the album but Dave topped it all. Dave became addicted to drugs since he moved to LA. The other guys didn't recognize him when they met again.

 

 You see, Dave changed A LOT. And not just his appearance, even the way he sang.

This record, "Songs of Faith and Devotion", was the hardest one to make followed by their longest and hardest tour. After the tour Alan left the band, not being able to work with the members anymore and being completley tired of making everything by himself. It was a hard period for Depeche Mode, although the album was the second best in their selling record (especially in America).
But the worst was yet to come. Dave had an overdose and clinically died for 2 minutes. The doctors brought him back to life in the last seconds. I'm really grateful for that. After this incident Dave finally got clean and Depeche Mode released a new record, even without Alan. "Ultra" had some deep themes in it...

This is generally my favorite music video of all times. This is just incredible. Amazing. Could watch it all day long...

As you might know, Depeche Mode are an active band! They just brought out an album in 2013, "Delta Machine", their 13th studio album! And, even though Dave, Martin and Andy are over 50 now, they are still touring! I respect them so much...



I know it was a very confusing summary with a focus on the 90s but it is the time I really am most interested in and know most about. Actually my special field on the matura (in music) was Depeche Mode. Just saying. I know a lot about the guys but I don't want to write a book here, it's supposed to be JUST a blog entry...

 It's not the same music video as the upper one. If you didn't bother either to read or watch any of these, here you can see some videos cut together for one song. I love the way it's done. I love the song. This is a must-watch. (oh yeah, it's an official video for the first best of. it's not fan-made)

One more thing I want to tell you. I hope anyone ever reads it...
One of the happiest moments of my life was actually seeing Depeche Mode live this year. I won tickets for a concert in Düsseldorf and went there. It was such an adventure!! I went there alone, like 1000 kilometres away from my home, and it was so exciting!! I queued for approximately 8 hours and still failed to be in the first row because I am a slow runner...BUT second is still good. It was AMAZING!!!

This one is a classic. And we were SO CLOSE!!

This one is funkier :3
And SO CLOSE I can't believe it!! Oh gosh I could have jumped on the stage...

I'm going to the next concert in Austria in february 2013 in Vienna. I'm so looking forward to it!!! SO MUCH!!!!


I hope this blog entry wasn't too long and at least worth reading just a tiny bit...oh gosh I suck at blogging...and I really hope someone out there read the whole thing. I tried to make it at least a bit enjoyable to you ;)

Have fun with all the links and tell me your opinion!

BYE BYE~