Depeche Mode

十六年前，由Stevo这位着名Futurist Club DJ所选辑的经典新浪漫杂锦专集 Some Bizzzare Album内一首Photographic开始，Depeche Mode便正式闯进乐坛。然而那时谁也想不到，这支来自英国Essex南部市镇Basildon的年青电子组合，却可以跻身成为屹立不倒的国际级巨星。
 
在八十年代初的Synth-Pop热潮底下所冒起那群新生代之中，Depeche Mode无可否认是一个传奇与神话。 就如铁一般的事实，这队最初只靠几部平价Analogue与Monophonic电子合成器起家的电子组合，能够于短短几年间在创意上与商业上皆迎头赶过Soft Cell、Fad Gadget等比他们更早发迹的师兄。不单DM是那些Synth-Pop组合中最长寿的一队，同时在日后也比很多刻意地讨好美国市场的队伍更成功地在美国大展拳脚。DM不是机会者，但却懂得如何去改革他们的声音。
 
踏入九十年代之后，DM已显然处于慢产状态，在至今的七个年头里，他们就只有发表了Violator（90年）、Songs Of Faith And Devotion（93年）和Ultra（97年）这三张大碟而已，叫人感觉他们似是因达到巨星地位而懒散起来。在走上Stadium乐队之路之馀，也有蜕变成恐龙级乐队之危机迹象。 情况是每每等到乐迷最饥饿的时候才施施然发表新作，然后举行盛大的世界性巡回演出，登陆大型Stadium，继而再出版多一张现场演出专集......实行带来可观的进账。
 
于是，当年整个Devotional Tour便足足花了十四个月时间举行，Overplayed 的演出换来却是一场恶梦的开始。永无止境的巡回表演旅途，令到Dave Gahan沉迷在毒品，Andrew Fletcher亦因精神崩溃而一度在中途离队（空缺乃由Daryl Bamonte这乐队的PA顶替），接着Alan Wilder亦在不愉快之下而脱离乐队。那几乎把DM送进灭亡中。
 
最大后遗症，是令到Dave变成一位瘾君子Rock Star。当他与第二任妻子Teresa Conway在洛杉矶居住时，他每天都困在大大房间里拿着匙羹吸食毒品。后来Tersa舍他而去，便导致Dave意图透过毒品（由海洛英与可卡因混合成的Speedball）来了结生命。结果差点送掉生命的他也因而成为当时的头条新闻人物。 毒品的问题似乎真的离不开Rock Star的故事。
 
到了今天，Martin说Alan在乐队创作上愈见霸权；Alan则说他在乐队里所付出的都得不到公平对待；Andrew打趣说Alan离队乃因为他不是Essex的同乡。口和心不和的情况基本上已存在着。最后酿成决裂收场，DM亦再返回82年A Broken Frame时Dave/Martin/Andrew三人阵容。
 
Alan的离去，并未令DM划上句号，反而使到乐队踏上重生之路。没有了Alan，却在Bomb The Bass主将Tim Simenon的监制下而引进一位音响工程师、一位Programmer以及一群客席乐手 (包括有德国Krautrock教父Can的鼓手Jaki Liebziet、 来自前Melon的日本着名鼓手Gota Yashiki、敲击手Danny Cummings、来自Living Colour/Tackhead的低音结他手Doug Wimbish等，连久违的老板Daniel Miller也落手客串System700的演奏），参与班底之多可谓DM有史以来之最， 然而却令到乐队得以从Songs Of Faithful And Devotion的声音里解放出来。
 
没有Songs Of Faithful And Devotion 时的污秽肮脏摇滚气息，在Ultra里却重舍了一份富有Electronica意味的音质。即使细碟Barrel Of A Gun 送上Martin一手连绵的Cyber Blues结他与重型Hip-Hop节拍、写人际关系的第二张细碟 Its No Good那Techno-Rock骨干配DM式键琴，都多添上一阵未来派感觉。更慑人的是一曲Useless，在Gota的Hip-Hop鼓下配上是梦幻意境、低调情怀与有如呼号的结他独奏。
 
然而，Ultra内最令人迷醉的，是DM再次重拾在Black Celebration时的黑暗气氛与Violator时的科幻感，The Love Thieves有如Portishead般冷艳凄迷、动人伤感，Martin一手Moody的结他实在太美；Home笔下的自我救赎(God send the only true friend/I call mine)，带来是Spacey背境、流丽弦乐与Robert Fripp式结他； 还有纯音乐Uselink有如The Black Dog的电气Ambient Trip Hop；Sister Of Night的疏离与夜空意境、另一纯音乐Jazz Thieves 有如Tangerine Dream的太空Ambient配合似是Marimba般的演奏， The Bottom Line在沉重的Dobule Bass、Moody的Pedal Steel结他与苍凉感觉下所谈及生命与信仰的观念，Insight的Trip Hop，都是令人雀跃的声音。
 
在经历了许许多多的变故后， 终于乐队在前不久推出了他们的新专辑《Exciter》，正是这张专辑渐渐地唤起了从前辉煌时候的灵感，人们再一次的注意到了乐队的存在...
 
Originally a product of Britain's new romantic movement, Depeche Mode went on to become the quintessential electro-pop band of the 1980s. One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based completely around the use of synthesizers, they began their existence as a bouncy dance-pop outfit but gradually developed a darker, more dramatic sound that ultimately positioned them as one of the most successful alternative bands of their era.
 
The roots of Depeche Mode date to 1976, when Basildon, England-based keyboardists Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher first teamed to form the group No Romance in China. The band proved short-lived, and by 1979 Clarke had formed French Look, another duo featuring guitarist/keyboardist Martin Gore; Fletcher soon signed on, and the group rechristened itself Composition of Sound. Initially, Clarke handled vocal chores, but in 1980 singer David Gahan was brought in to complete the lineup. After one final name change to Depeche Mode, the quartet members jettisoned all instruments excluding their synthesizers, honing a slick, techno-based sound to showcase Clarke's catchy melodies.
 
After building a following on the London club scene, Depeche Mode debuted in 1980 with "Photographic," a track included on the Some Bizzare Album label compilation. After signing to Mute Records, they issued "Dreaming of Me" in early 1981; while neither the single nor its follow-up, "New Life," caused much of a stir, their third effort, "Just Can't Get Enough," became a Top Ten U.K. hit, and their 1981 debut LP, Speak and Spell, was also a success. Just as Depeche Mode appeared poised for a major commercial breakthrough, however, principal songwriter Clarke abruptly exited to form Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet, leaving the group's future in grave doubt.
 
As Gore grabbed the band's songwriting reins, the remaining trio recruited keyboardist Alan Wilder to fill the technological void created by Clarke's departure. While 1982's A Broken Frame deviated only slightly from Depeche Mode's earlier work, Gore's ominous songs grew more assured and sophisticated by the time of 1983's Construction Time Again. Some Great Reward, issued the following year, was their artistic and commercial breakthrough, as Gore's dark, kinky preoccupations with spiritual doubt ("Blasphemous Rumours") and psychosexual manipulation ("Master and Servant") came to the fore; the egalitarian single "People Are People" was a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic and typified the music's turn toward more industrial textures.
 
Released in 1986, the atmospheric Black Celebration continued the trend toward grim melancholy and further established the group as a major commercial force. After the superb single "Strangelove," Depeche Mode issued 1987's Music for the Masses; a subsequent sold-out tour yielded the 1989 double live set 101 as well as a concert film directed by the legendary D.A. Pennebaker. Still, despite an enormous fan base, the group was considered very much an underground cult phenomenon prior to the release of 1990's Violator, a Top Ten smash that spawned the hits "Enjoy the Silence," "Policy of Truth," and "Personal Jesus."
 
With the alternative music boom of the early '90s, Depeche Mode emerged as one of the world's most successful acts, and their 1993 LP Songs of Faith & Devotion entered the charts in the number one slot. However, at the peak of its success, the group began to unravel; first Wilder exited in 1995, and then Gahan was the subject of a failed suicide attempt. (He later entered a drug rehabilitation clinic to battle an addiction to heroin.) After a four-year layoff, Depeche Mode — continuing on as a trio — released 1997's Ultra, which featured the hits "Barrel of a Gun" and "It's No Good." A year later, the band embarked on a tour in support of The Singles 86>98 greatest-hits album. Depeche Mode played 64 shows in 18 countries for over a million fans. It also marked the end of a decade for the band. Each member took some considerable time off, and Depeche Mode would not regroup for another three years.
 
Exciter, the band's follow-up to 1997's Ultra, was released in 2001. Singles such as "Dream On" and "I Feel Loved" did moderately well. Two years later, Gahan issued his debut solo album, the dark and sultry Paper Monsters. Gore also followed suit by issuing his debut full-length, Counterfeit². Each member did respective tours of the U.S. and Europe; however, it wouldn't be long until Depeche Mode came back together. Playing the Angel became a Top Ten hit upon release in October 2005, produced by Ben Hillier (Doves, Blur, U2, Elbow). With the success of the "Precious" and "John (The Revelator)" singles, Playing the Angel topped the album charts in 18 countries and went multiple platinum and gold in 20 countries. Depeche Mode went to on play to 2.5 million fans worldwide, and the special-edition three-disc set Touring the Angel: Live in Milan (2006) captured the essence of one of the band's greatest shows.