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Music Review: Depeche Mode - The Best Of, Volume 1

14th Nov 2006, 13:37 GMT

It is my firmly held opinion most people do not have all the Depeche Mode music they probably should. Although really that could be said for many bands, in various genres. Because the average consumer can only reasonably be expected to purchase and consume so much music before they go flat broke. And except for in extreme cases, most humans do not have an entire wall of their home to devote to a small mountain's worth of CDs. Record labels, in all of their infinite compassion and selfless generosity, understand this dilemma. And their solution is a reasonable one: the best-of compilation. They're geared towards people who might be interested in an artist, but not so interested that they've been keeping up with their proper albums all this time. Casual to moderate fans, we'll call them. And now those multitudes of listeners have such a release for Depeche Mode,The Best Of, Volume 1. Depeche Mode would seem a great candidate for just such a release. So great, in fact, there have been several others before. Catching Up With Depeche Mode attempted to familiarize U.S. fans with some of their earlier hits, 101 attempted a similar feat with a live setting, and most recently there have been two sets of releases showcasing a more exhaustive best-of for all their singles. And now we have one more. So is this release even worth mentioning, given their proclivity for milking their back catalog? Actually, yes it is. The Best Of... is the first proper audio compilation of their hits. Their previous attempts, both Singles 81-85 and the double-CD set Singles 86-98, were cobbled together sets of all their radio singles (regardless of whether they were hits or not, in fact, a few of them are dubious selections at best). Not to mention that at three discs, it was two discs too large. And they were meagerly loaded discs at that. All told, consumers were expected to buy too many discs at too high a price, to receive too few necessary songs. The Best Of... attempts to right this wrong with almost the right formula. Finally, the breadth of releases has been distilled to a generous single CD. It still has a few problems, but is a much stronger contender than its predecessors. The most curious aspect of the release is the inclusion of Volume 1 in the title. Since I don't have any inside information on their future plans, I can only speculate that it means one of two things. (1) Depeche Mode plan on staying together for a while longer, and will at some point in the future release a Volume 2 to accommodate future releases and further back catalog. Or (2) there is already a Volume 2 in the works to hold tracks that didn't fit on the first CD, in addition to fan favorites. Besides the fact that they're getting back to releasing too many discs for a best-of, this approach has problems. The main issue is this is almost a really good collection on its own, and leaves too few essential selections for an adequate follow-up. Except for the fact that no material from Black Celebration, one of their most popular and single-worthy albums, is represented in favor of newer material that could be of marginal interest, it includes a majority of the tracks one would expect to find here. The other issue is there's room. They could have squeezed on one or two more cuts and really made it an impressive and well-rounded collection with just one disc. As it is, it both looks incomplete due to its title, and feels incomplete due to its omissions. As a bonus to those on the fence about its value to their collection, it includes the new track “Martyr.” Personally, I feel that the bonus tracks from both of their most recent best-of releases have been some of the strongest of their later output. While “Only When I Lose Myself” catered to more of the epic mid-tempo tracks that Martin is expertly capable of writing, “Martyr” is a more radio friendly track that straddles the line between their more guitar-focused efforts and a healthy dose of vintage programming sounds. It's comparable to “Suffer Well.” (Which we could have dropped for “A Question of Time,” don't you think? Sorry, I promise to let that go now.) There is also a bonus edition containing a DVD of their music videos. It looks to be a more expanded version of their previous best-of DVD. Although with a couple of omissions, it seems a welcome addition to anyone not already owning the first. But regardless of my gripes, the CD is what it is. And is it a good collection? Yes, it's actually very good, and any casual to moderate fan of the group would do very well to pick it up. As far as sheer hits and singles go (not knowing if or when a Volume 2 will be released) this is the best single-disc collection we'll receive from the band, and it contains almost all of the necessary tracks to make it essential to any music collector's library who doesn't already own many of the proper albums from the innovators and masters of new wave synth-pop: Depeche Mode.

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