Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion
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Artist: Depeche ModeBrand: DEPECHE MODE
Edition: Music CD
Published: 1993
CD Release Date: 2011-11-23
Music Label: Reprise
Soundtracks:
- I Feel You (Album Version)
- Walking In My Shoes (Album Version)
- Condemnation (Album Version)
- Mercy In You (Album Version)
- Judas (Album Version)
- In Your Room (Album Version)
- Get Right With Me (Album Version)
- Rush (Album Version)
- One Caress (Album Version)
- Higher Love (Album Version)
Free Music Notes for Songs Of Faith And Devotion
Free Music Review: epic
Hit: 5 Stars
Depeche Mode
Songs of Faith and Devotion (SOFAD)
I just got back into this album a few months ago, and it dawned on me that this really is my favourite album. Reading other reviews on here it's kinda moved me that so many people feel the same way that I do about this album. I think it's a masterpiece that transcends genres in a way that hasn't been done in this way before or since. From the first sound of this album you know instantly that this is no Violator no. 2. Depeche Mode were breaking their own rules of being a primarily electronic band. Martin Gore's guitar work had been showcased on previous albums, but never like this. Gore has said that he was initially hesitant to include more acoustic elements because he didn't want the band to sound like everyone else. But the inclusion of these acoustic elements only enhanced their synth work and Alan Wilder and Flood's production and arrangements. It just works, and what you get is a dark, gritty, dirty, passionate, wild, yearning, and spiritual collection of songs that have genius written all over them.
Never has the songwriting of Gore, the production of Wilder and Flood and vocals by Dave Gahan worked so well together. The opening track "I Feel You" is the perfect opener with its lines: "this is the morning of our love; this is the dawning of our love." It's the beginning of what can loosely be called a concept album that takes you down a soul-searching path of love-found, love-lost, longing and yearning for some inner peace in the dark corners of the human heart and mind. This is no album for those afraid of dark places, within or outside themselves. It's challenging and can take repeated and respectful listens to fully engage with the depth that the songs contain within. It's something that Depeche Mode have always said: they want to challenge their audience. And after Violator many people were bewildered with the path they had chosen, and rejected the album quite quickly with the feeling that it was rather impenetrable. Many of the songs - probably all of the songs - aren't radio friendly. In Your Room, I believe to be the heart and soul of this album, was re-produced down to a more palatable and lighter version to be released as a single - a version to me that sucks the life out of what is one of the most important tracks on the album.
Wilder said at the beginning of the band coming together again that "Dave looked like he had spent a year in LA." He had grown his hair long, grown a lot of facial hair, got a whole of lot tattoos: changed his entire look. He was being influenced by the short-lived grunge era of the time, and demanded that the band take a more darker and heavier path, or he was going to take a hike. Fortunately that's the direction that they took and Gahan said that he had never felt so happier to inhabit the lyrics of Gore. He felt they were honest and genuine enough that he could truly sing them from the bottom of his soul. He suddenly "owned" the lyrics and felt like he could sing them without much direction from the rest of the band. And what he produced is outstanding. He stated that his proudest moment on the album is his vocals on Condemnation; a song he could have easily left to Gore to sing. He pushes vocals to the limit of his range, and you can hear this, but it reflects the desperate mood of the song.
What I find interesting about I Feel You, with its bluesy riff, is the parts of the song that are slightly out of tune, purposely, leading up to the chorus. Gore has said that he has trouble writing in major keys, because it doesn't sound honest enough. In this song Wilder and Flood push the sound of a minor key beyond its range, and it adds to the song a sound of disharmony and dissidence and almost a rebellion towards the rules of keeping everything in tune and sounding electronically slick and well defined. It's a song that gets touted as influenced by grunge, and to a certain extent I think it is. But it stands on its own as a song influenced by blues, about the excitement of finding new love, whilst containing a backbone of drumming by Wilder that is truly amazing. You only have to watch the Devotional DVD to understand how important the inclusion of acoustic drums are to this album. When they wheel out that drum kit after a great set of songs with electronic drums, you understand the new direction they have taken. The first time I watched that DVD it literally took my breath away to hear those drums kick in on I Feel You. They are loud and mesh so well with Gore's guitar work, and the electronic aspects of song. The other important drum moment occurs in In Your Room. After a few verses and a chorus a menacing and repetitive acoustic drum roll involving a left-channel tom-tom kicks in and really reinforces the mood and lyric of the song and its theme of emotional dependency.
The song with the darkest edge on the album belongs to Rush, and in the context of the rest of the album it is interesting that in contains no guitar work. It's a synth song with acoustic drums, that roughly sounds industrial and "Reznor-esque" But, it contains lyrics that I don't think Trent Reznor could ever write. The most important lyric on the whole album, I believe, belongs in this song:
Gave more for you,
Dropped my crutches and crawled on the floor for you,
Went looking behind every door for you,
And because of the things that I saw for you,
I spiritually grew.
Speaks for itself.
Mercy in You was a song that Wilder never wanted to be on the album, but Gore insisted. Nonetheless Wilder and Flood did an amazing job producing this song. Gore's guitar work is, again, amazing. And the background vocals really add another dimension to the song.
Judas is an interesting song. It starts off innocent enough with the Ullian pipes, but as a listener you don't get let off that easy. It decends darker and darker with lyrics like, "walk on barefoot for me, suffer some misery, if you want my love", into a brilliant instrumental at the end that is a perfect rhythmic and moody extension of the song.
One Caress could be described as the most lyrically "goth" song on the album, with lines like, "I'm shying from the light, I always love the night, and now you offer me eternal darkness." I can see a lot of Depeche Mode's goth following, which is rather healthy, listing this as their favorite song on the album. It's one that stands out from all the others, with its 28-piece string section, and not a synth to be heard. But as the second last track on the album it somehow fits in perfectly. It's where the album takes a turn and moves towards a more positive angle. And this is evident in the last song, Higher Love, with it's amazing bridge containing the lyrics: "Heaven bound on the wings of love, there's so much that you can rise above. Moved, lifted higher." You are taken out of the darkness of In Your Room and Rush, and given a song of possibility and hope and encouragement to find the spirit in you.
Speaking of spirituality, and Gore's songs play so much with the concepts of spirituality, but this is no Hillsong church album; he makes them sound so "cool". The only other writer I can think of who does this too is Nick Cave. Nothing is shoved down your throat: it's totally palatable. The chorus to Personal Jesus, "Reach out and touch faith" can mean many things. And when you do listen to that song you feel inspired to do that. Many people would describe SOFAD as a really depressing collection of songs, but throughout it there's always an underlying sense of positivity, like with the line, again, "I spiritually grew", in Rush. Out of the longing and pain comes something that says: I really learned a lot in the process of living in this way. And if you have really lived, even half-lived, you have a chance to understand what Gore has written, and Gahan is singing about.
I really believe that this album hasn't dated. It was released in 1993, but I'd say if it were released today it would still stand on its own. It's unfortunate that after the Devotional tour Wilder left the band, quite bitterly. The gaping hole he left was so evident on the next release, Ultra, which to me now sounds outdated, even though Tim "Bomb The Bass" Simenon tried his best and pushed himself to his limit, almost having a nervous breakdown at the end of recording. It would have been amazing to hear Wilder's take on Home, one of the best songs Gore has ever written, if not the best. And I think it can also be said that Wilder's solo project, Recoil, massively misses the songwriting of Gore. They just complimented each other so well. Wilder said in his press release when he left the band that he felt Depeche Mode was just hitting their peak. Whether SOFAD was their creative peak, or whether it was to come, will forever remain to be seen. These days Gahan's voice has really deteriorated. They have to play Condemnation in another key to suit the growing limitations of his voice. And if you watch the Paris DVD you'll notice that he has a lot of pitch problems. Maybe he was better on heroin? But then, it was obviously great that he was revived after his massive overdose. To really see him at his own peak you just have to watch the Devotional DVD. His baritone voice was at its absolute and soulful best.
It's also unfortunate that Gore's songwriting has never been given the praise that it really deserves, something that even Wilder said after leaving the band. Musically and lyrically he is one of a kind, and he has definitely set a benchmark for other electronic bands to reach, and even The Cure cite them as an important source of inspiration, and would cover one of their songs, World In My Eyes, on a tribute album released in the late 90s, and I think they covered it really well.
Personally I don't know where I'd be without this album. It formed part of the soundtrack to my teens, and even when I didn't fully understand the depth of the lyrics and themes I knew that something important was going on. The first I heard of Depeche Mode were songs from Violator, and to me, a boy from a small country town, it sounded like music from another planet. I loved synth from a really early age, and was lucky to have the opportunity to start early and muck around on a Roland synth in primary school, in the school band. I know, that's a bit funny, but it was the beginning of something that just sounded amazing to me. And then later in life I backtracked to the likes of Gary Numan and realized how important he was, as some sort of pioneer, for the electronic music scene. He made Moog synths sound like guitars, something that would inpire Depeche Mode, and also bands like Nine Inch Nails, and Goldfrapp, years later, to do the same. And then it's interesting to hear him credit SOFAD as an influence for his later music.
He says:
"I thought that was a great album. I just loved what they were doing, and it just made me realize how misguided my own music had been in years prior to that. It was a real wakeup call for me: as soon as that came out I just loved it 10 times more than anything I'd written."
I feel a bit sad that Depeche Mode hasn't been the same since SOFAD. But, at least, we have that album to listen to. Totally underrated, I wish many more people would give it a chance and take the time to find out what a gem it really is. I still hear little things in it I haven't noticed before, such is the meticulous and obsessive production by Alan Wilder and Flood. In every corner of one of the songs they have put something special and unique in that could easily go unnoticed.
It's hard to conclude this review, considering such the enormity of this album, but if you do have an interest in albums that are totally three-dimensional in every way, you should really buy this. It's a true classic that got lost somewhere along the way.
Find it.
Best with good quality headphones.
Beyond 5 stars.
Songs Of Faith And Devotion Poster
Songs Of Faith And Devotion by Depeche ModeThis product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
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