Customer Reviews

The String Quartet Tribute To Depeche Mode

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There have been many really bad tributes to Depeche Mode and many that sound like they have been made in a basement with cheap toy keyboards and even worst vocals. Like the worst karaoke versions possible. This is a very good and different tribute album which is a string quartet that has taken Depeche Modes tracks and remade them to fit a string quartet and the result is astounding. They have picked som excellent songs to work with, i.e., In your room, people are people and many others. Yes it sounds nothing like the orginal tracks however it confirms what I have always believed that Depeche Mode are much better muisicians then what they have been given credit as being. Their songs are not simply keyboard jingles but just as complex as bands such as U2 and many other rock acts. The cover is obvious tribute to the 1990 release violator and the book-let is sparse but effective.

There have been many really bad tributes to Depeche Mode and this is not one of them.This is different since it is with a string quartet. The result is astounding, if you like string quartets that sound like Depeche Mode. The song selection was done rather well. Although, it seems to sound nothing like the orginal tracks. Despite that, it confirms what is often believed that Depeche Mode are much better muisicians then what they have been given credit as being.

I wonder though, do they (the string artists here) even like or listen to Depeche Mode or similar artists like New Order or even Duran Duran. This may have been mostly a marketing ploy. Either way, this falls a little flat. There are moments of altered-brilliance, but it mostly seems to inacuratly display the subtleties and true emotion of Depeche Mode.

Mostly though, this is just an album, not a Depeche Mode album, because it's not them, so don't think of it that way.

Of course, it cannot be expected that String Quartet organizers actually appreciate the various artists they make "tributes" to. Its more a marketing effort or a novel approach. In any event, the DM tribute falls a little flat. There are moments of achievement, but generally the artists seem to miss the emotions and subtleties of DM.

I bought it and spun it a few times. You may want to pass.

This is one string quartet tribute to steer clear from.

The only rendition I'd say actually works is 'In Your Room', because the original composition has already an orchestral feel to it. But since it doesn't really stray far from the original in that respect it has little to offer. Behind The Wheel is nice and the ingredients do work, so that explains the extra star from me.

And to me the rest of the tracks sound, as I stated, tacky. The original Personal Jesus for instance has a twangy cowboy-ish theme to it, which works on guitar and synthezier, but DOES NOT register well through classical string arrangments. Other synthpop tracks like Dreaming Of Me and Master And Servant sound more like insulting caricatures of a rock opera. If the creators of this, err, tribute would've stayed away from the usual affair of best DM known tracks it would've been a much bigger musical success I think, like maybe if they had done a rendition of Blue Dress or Black Celebration or anything from Exciter, but no, you don't get artistic interpretations of Depeche Mode, you get a tacky emotionless mess of cheap butcherings of great songs.

But as long as there exist people call these releases 'art', and fans who must have EVERYTHING from an artist, original or not, then I guess these tributes just won't stop.