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88 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A pinnacle in brilliance and acceptance for DM, July 2, 2000
When Violator hit the US, I was already a die-hard Depeche Mode fan, owning every album they had put out. However, with Violator, I gained an even deeper appreciation for their writing skills, both lyrically and orchestrally. Violator is an amazing piece of euro-alt-dance-pop that has a huge dance floor appeal while at the same time makes one think and feel. Hugely successful, Violator was one of those releases that crossed over from long-time fans to a new generation and audience. The release starts in classic DM synth dance mode with the funky and "trip"-worthy "World in My Eyes." Released as a single, this sensual piece filled dance floors across the country. The remix single is especially appealing with not only great remixes of this song, but also two other non-album tracks, "Happiest Girl" and "Sea of Sin." [The remix cassette contains the bonus Dub In My Eyes Mix!] Turning darker and slower, "Sweetest Perfection" has a depth and dangerous beauty in its lyrics and orchestration that pull you deeper within yourself as you let the music flow over you. "Personal Jesus" is a the floor stomping first single released off Violator that was a smash hit on and off the dance floor with its country twang flare, driving drum beat hooks, and anthemic lyrics like "reach out and touch faith." The remix single for this one is especially awesome and features the phenomenal non-album track "Dangerous," one of the best b-sides DM ever released. "Halo" is an amazing song and is probably my favorite on the release. With bass, synth, and orchestral hooks that blow my mind, this masterpiece builds into an emotional catharsis that is released by its audience dancing and singing along wildly by the end. This, I believe, was released as a single only in the UK (it's a very hard to find release) - this easily could have been the fifth smash hit from Violator. Returning to ballad mode, "Waiting for the Night to Fall" is soft, ethereal, and again hauntingly beautiful. You just want to curl up in the dark and enjoy the beauty of solitude with this one. Get ready to hit the dance floor again; "Enjoy the Silence" was the second single and was an absolute smash with its awesome beat, orchestration, and yell along chorus. The remix single had 6 mixes and included the awesome instrumental non-album tracks, "Sibeling" and "Memphisto." [The cassette remix contains the bonus The Quad: Final Mix!] I especially loved the video which was predominantly deep blue (I love blue videos) and features Dave Gahan wandering through the English countryside as (I believe) King Richard. "Policy of Truth" was another single, though it didn't quite see the success of the others. The remix single contains the bonus "Kaleid" (a very funky techno instrumental). With an interesting guitar and ambient intro, the song soon moves into a groovy guitar and synth driven twanger that is quite sultry and seductive - definite dirty dancin' kinda music. Still sultry but much slower and more subdued, "Blue Dress" is a beautifully crafted piece of depth and emotion that sounds almost obsessive and compulsive. This somewhat short release comes to a close with "Clean" which continues the slower theme. However, it is much darker and hazy feeling, and it has a sultry pulsating rhythm throughout that pulls you closer inside yourself. For me, Violator is the best DM album, and one of the best alterno-euro-techno albums ever released. It gets a strong 5 star rating and falls within my top 20 releases of all time. Not only is the album amazing in its danceability and its depth of emotion, but the additional pieces that went with marketing this piece (the remix singles and videos) were equally impressive. The remix singles were especially awesome, featuring not only killer remixes, but also a plethora of unreleased material that could have filled another album! I recommend this album highly to any DM fan, late 80s/early 90s club music fan, or anyone who simply loves good synth beat music that can make you both dance and feel. Don't let the fact that the releae only has 9 songs bother you - there isn't a single song on this release that is less than perfect. Oh, and a bonus recommendation: if you couldn't tell, get all the remix singles you can from this one - they're worth having! Some would perhaps argue that Violator was the point at which Depeche Mode sold out. It was a huge commercial success, spawning 4 hit singles (5 if you count the rare "Halo") that filled dance floors and concert venues all over the world. However, I call it justice and recognition due. Violator is a crowning achievement for Depeche Mode's brilliant lyrical and orchestral composition talents. Accessible to all with brilliant pieces of poetry, addictive dance beats and techno hooks, and beautifully crafted videos, Violator achieved a bonding between old die-hard fans and fans new to the group, a rare feat to accomplish in the complicated world of (at least then) "alternative" music.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the rare albums that got the recognition it deserved!, March 20, 2003
Depeche Mode built a huge underground cult fan base with their unique dark undertone style of synth-pop with their masterpiece "Black Celebration" and "Music For The Masses". "Violator", their 1990 commercial breakthrough though brought the foursome into the mainstream spotlight for the first time in their career. Spanning three hit singles, and a successful worldwide tour, "Violator" became their biggest selling album of their entire career and remains that to this very day. This CD IMO was one of the few great albums that got the praise, success, and recognition that it deserved and is now a classic today. For a CD that is so popular on the radio and the buying public, "Violator" is a surprisingly bleak, dark, and chilling in mood, and even the smash hits like "Enjoy The Silence" and "Policy Of Truth" are hardly happy, and sunny in mood like almost all other popular songs on the radio. I still hear these songs on the radio from time to time to this very day. Reasons why? They are classics, and deserve to be heard by younger Mode fans. Still though, despite these three songs being what many casual fans seem to recognize "Violator", this album as a whole offers more than just those three songs alone. Some of the songs have some hidden interludes buried within them. A couple of the `non-hit' songs are the best on the album. "Blue Dress" is one of those and so is "Clean". The latter song is one of the most punching numbers on this CD and one of the best songs that Depeche Mode had ever made at this point in their career. It may be about coming clean from drug problems, maybe I'm wrong on that but the truth was, their lead singer David Gahan would go into a downward spiral with heroin addiction and nearly overdosing before cleaning himself up but that's a whole other story. Who can ever forget the gloomy classic "World In My Eyes" with it's dark, beautiful, and gloomy melody, and danceable rhythm backed up by great lyrics. DM are showing their world from their eyes. It was this song that introduced me to the Mode and I listened to more of their music and have been a fan ever since but I credit this song for turning me into a fan of them. "Enjoy The Silence" remains their biggest charting single of their career and definitely deserves so as it's an intelligent, and innovative dance song with disturbing keyboards and unforgettable atmosphere. There are five fabulous remixes of this song available on the Maxi CD-Single with two B-Sides "Sibeling" and "Memphisto" both of which are nice songs in the vein on "Pimpf". Get the CD-Single and listen to the "Ecstatic Dub" and Hands and Feet Mix: AWESOME! There's also an interlude track on the parent album version called "Crucified" which is a bizarre instrumental with menacing acoustic guitars and some angry voice effects. The same thing holds true with "Policy Of Truth". This song is the best song on "Violator" with it's dark, low-key beats and odd chord structures. The electric wailing guitars towards the ending are hypnotizing and intense. There are four remixes of this track, all of which are great, and there is a B-Side called "Kalied" which is a funky, techno dance number. The "Beat Box" remix is excellent merely being an extended version of the original stretched to 7 minutes long and the "Trancentral" remix too with different drum sound effects and different style, it's great to hear this amazing song from a totally different light. The other highlight of this album single wise, is the unforgettable "Personal Jesus" with its industrial pounding beats and also of it's use of twangy blues guitars. The original on this album is much better than the one on the 86-98 singles collection because it quiets down into an abstract song with some awesome metal drums where as the one on the collection I mentioned simply ends with strange guitars after only 3 minutes and 40 some odd seconds. Both versions are excellent but the "Violator" version is much superior. The `non-hit' songs on this album are just as engaging and as great as the hit singles. "Sweetest Perfection" is an odd and ominous song with somewhat light marching military drums with intense electronic guitar wailings and keyboards. This song kind of is like a pre-cursor to "I Feel You" with its rock-oriented sound. "Halo" is a good dance song but not as much as the others. "Waiting For The Night" starts off as a dark but sweet wintery nighttime trancey song and then gradually builds up into a somewhat ominous electronic number with no particular beat but some great melody and odd chord structures. "Blue Dress" is an intoxicating and somewhat eerie dance number with addictive rhythm, electrifying style, and dark Siberian winter atmosphere. There's also an interlude at the ending before merging with the final track "Clean". This song may have been about redemption or recovery it was actually an antithesis to the downward spiral with heroin that Gahan would go into before recovering. Musically speaking, "Clean" is an absolutely intoxicating number with thundering rhythm, and dark grey sky atmosphere that simply pulls you in before it wraps up the album. Some point to "Violator" as the album where Depeche Mode sold out to the masses. They say so because DM scored 4 top ten singles, sold millions, and had a HUGE successful tour. To the detractors, I say garbage. This album was one of the few albums in the history of music that was intelligent, innovative, dark, and moody, with addictive danceable rhythms, dark melodies, and brilliant songwriting, and got the commercial success that it got. I consider this album as the best example of brilliant and intelligent albums getting the justice and recognition that they deserve and "Violator" is a crowning achievement in their career even if it's not my absolute favorite album of theirs.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Mode at their best, February 1, 2001
This is still the best album DM put out. It is now nearly eleven years old and still sounds like it could be a top ten success today. Before Violator Depeche Mode had a strong underground type of following. They had experienced some commercial success with tracks like "People Are People" but they still hadn't taken the mainstream by storm. With Violator they were able to change that. They became pop superstars and a sensation. Goth/Synthpop was now acceptable top 40 music and everyone seemed to be into it.This record has a huge dance floor appeal too it. And that means nothing to me since I don't dance, but.... This is just layered, dark beautifully written pop music. Great lyrics and strong music, that usually makes for a pretty good album. The range of the songs is pretty amazing actually. The mood and tempo of the songs can be quick and catchy, while the lyrics are emotionally heavy like on "Enjoy the Silence" and "Personal Jesus". Other songs fall into that slow dark mood type of song, "Waiting For The Night" is a pretty spectacular example of that. There are no bad songs on this album. In fact there nine GREAT songs with "Sweetest Perfection" and "Policy of Truth" being the high points for me. This album is easy to swallow too. Its not an album written for the mainstream, but it is still accessible by the mainstream audience. That's brilliant, and its too bad there aren't more records like that. The record deserved all of the success it had and more. There are songs on here, that even if you HATED this type of music, you know them. And you probably kind of like them, somewhere deep inside of yourself. This is still one of my favorite albums, and I can't really argue with people who say it is one of the all time great albums. Great music, great lyrics, great love songs, great mood. What's not to like. They're just hitting on ALL cylinders here, and this is an awesome record.
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