Violator

Wonderful stuff, sags a tiny bit at points preventing a five for me however worth noting it contains one of my all time favorite songs

Entretes los sintes 🕺4/5

It has a cool sound, I like the production style. The tracks were often a little hit and miss for me though

Saved Prior: World in My Eyes, Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth Saved Off Rip: Sweetest Perfection Cutting Edge: Halo, Blue Dress, Clean, Dangerous, Kaleid, Happiest Girl, Sea of Sin Overall Thoughts: Very good album, sinister/sexual vibes, 4 all-time bangers, ambient songs towards the end bring it down to a 4 star

3/5 naaah, a couple of memorable songs, but nothing much

Classic

I wanted to like this more, I thought I would. It gets a bit samey over the whole album, though there are a couple of good tracks. I like Depeche Mode, I'm glad they exist, getting through a whole album like this is a little like hard work though. They're so very mood-altering, draping everything in a dystopian melancholia that isn't that welcome right now.

This teetered on a 2* for me but I think there was just about enough enjoyable on there plus personal jesus and enjoy the silence I really like to make it worth a listen. 3*

A bit too samey on the whole to be more than a 3. At least 4 quality tracks though.

I quite liked this. 2 or 3 good songs, mainly the singles. The rest of the album is good.

Fine, but a bit boring. Hardly a jamboree of joy. I used to always turn over when they came up on the music channels in the early 00s.

It's a 4 for me Clive.

80's sounding album. 2RS

Very solid album, well written and executed. I don't know that I have specific praise, other than that I just really enjoyed it.

Tätä on tullut joskus silloin aikanaan kuunneltua ei nyt raivolla, mutta useasti kuitenkin. Pääsi kuitenkin yllättämään positiivisesti. Ennalta tutut biisit tempasivat mukaansa ja herkkyyttäkin löytyi sopivassa suhteessa.

Veel synthesizer. Het is wel goed maar niet wat ik snel zelf zou opzetten.

In a word, stunning. Perhaps an odd word to use given that Violator continued in the general vein of the previous two studio efforts by Depeche Mode: Martin Gore's upfront lyrical emotional extremism and knack for a catchy hook filtered through Alan Wilder's ear for perfect arrangements, ably assisted by top English producer Flood. Yet the idea that this record would both dominate worldwide charts, while song for song being simply the best, most consistent effort yet from the band could only have been the wildest fantasy before its release. The opening two singles from the album, however, signaled something was up. First was "Personal Jesus," at once perversely simplistic, with a stiff, arcane funk/hip-hop beat and basic blues guitar chords, and tremendous, thanks to sharp production touches and David Gahan's echoed, snaky vocals. Then "Enjoy the Silence," a nothing-else-remains-but-us ballad pumped up into a huge, dramatic romance/dance number, commanding in its mock orchestral/choir scope. Follow-up single "Policy of Truth" did just fine as well, a low-key Motown funk number for the modern day with a sharp love/hate lyric to boot. To top it all off, the album itself scored on song after song, from the shuffling beat of "Sweetest Perfection" (well sung by Gore) and the ethereal "Waiting for the Night" to the guilt-ridden-and-loving-it "Halo" building into a string-swept pounder. "Clean" wraps up Violator on an eerie note, all ominous bass notes and odd atmospherics carrying the song. Goth without ever being stupidly hammy, synth without sounding like the clinical stereotype of synth music, rock without ever sounding like a "rock" band, Depeche here reach astounding heights indeed.

Not sure what all the fuss is about.

First 6 tracks were banging. Tails off a bit towards the end. Can see how it has influenced a lot of music though

Not usually my bag, but not bad for something different.

apart from the 2 obvious bangers on this album I find the rest to be droney and yawnsome

enjoyed but a bit too dark for relistening

The vibe is strong in this album, and I like that vibe. Dark and brooding. Add some hits into the mix and you have a very good record.

Gute teils sehr gute Songs dabei. Das Gros ist jedoch einfach wie bei „Music for the Masses“ nicht gleichmäßig stark; klar poppig, in der Struktur auch um Vielschichtigkeit bemüht, nur einfach für mein Gefühl nicht so irre relevant, wie DM wohl allgemein verehrt werden. Singles sind dafür unsterblich super. 2.3

Depeche Mode sind eine Singles-Band, das wird immer klarer. Und Martin Gore steht aus schwülstigen SM-Kram, der mir persönlich nix ist - no kink shaming! - und dem er gern zwischen den Singles den Sountrack aufs Band dudelt. Diesmal für meinen Begriff sogar etwas gekonnter/progressiver als bei MFTM, aber trotzdem. Puh. Aber auch hier natürlich wieder super Hits drauf, und so steht am Ende eine 3,4.

Dos temazos absolutos. El resto está bien, pero.... No es mi estilo

I already own a copy of Violator, it's an album I have great regard for. There are a couple of longeurs in the pacing I had forgotten about, but overall this crackles with a dark energy and sharp song craft. The production is pretty dated, but I can overlook that. Not a single person at either school or college liked Depeche Mode.

Kraftwerk Einflüsse - v.a. auf Waiting for the night & und policy of truth

Puf, qué rollo. Menos la canción conocida.

Previously, I had only heard Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence from this album so it was great to finally listen to the complete album. I really loved this album!

viajesotote

Hell yeah. Let’s do this. It was a great listen definitely something that was ahead of his time and I can see the influence of the house on so much music that out today definitely worth a second re-listen once all this is

Never listened to them before, glad I did.

One of the best electronic pop albums ever made, it has a very clean sound and ambiance. It will definitely make you feel things.

Glad I wasn't a teenager in the 80s

Some huge songs. Great vocals

Tres bon ! Je me suis surpris a connaitre quelque chpanson de cte album. Probablement parce que c’est des classique. Personnal jesus enjoy the silence. 4.25

They def got a certain vibe in this record. You can certainly hear its influence in many songs over the years. I feel like i need to be in a bar to listen to it.... is that weird.

I bought this album way back in the nineties, I've probably listened to it a dozen or more times. It's not my favorite thing, nor was Speak & Spell, which I also owned on vinyl, in the early eighties. I did actually see DM perform once, in 1988.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES BRAIN GO BRRRRRR GOOD ALBUM BEST ALBUM

U la la chulada

I ran away from this type of music like the plague/COVID when I was kid, but I’m happily in a very new wave friendly place in my life. Love how this record sounds. “Sweetest Perfection” is sooo good. Did KMFDM really stand for “Kill Motherfucking Depeche Mode”? Need to get to the bottom of this.

A very iconic album - definitely didn't realize I had heard some of these songs before. Not my preferred style, but I see it s appeal

some really good songs on this one but it felt a bit long.

Dark synth pop, mood music

A little long but had some great songs I didn’t realize were their hits

Little slow for my tastes. Last half of the album was better than the first.

I was never a big Depeche Mode fan, and it seems I'm still not. There were a few songs on this that I didn't hate, but overall just not my thing. 2.5 stars.

Dnf

Nada que decir. Cinco estrellas. Excelente servicio. Recomiendo consumir.

I loved this album

Not really a fan of the poppy sound. Would have to really check it out when I am not busy.

Fantastic

Overall album is ok, it's Depeche Mode so it ain't bad. Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence and Policy of Truth are definitively the best songs here, standing out from the rest which are just ok.

eh

Not my favorite but it has some great iconic songs on it.

The voice seems like it's not in tune with the music. Singer has interesting tone but needs to be more in pitch. The synths and the drums are amazing and remind me of 70s, 80s music. Instrumentation rocks but voice needs some getting used to. 1st track is weird. 2nd is much better. 3rd track personal jesus is fire. 4 sounds like some synthwave with funk rock. Really enjoyed this track "Waiting for the night" what a soothing intro. Another good song +1 "Enjoy the Silence" +100 what a classic I never knew this was by depeche mode. Next two songs were very relaxing. "Blue Dress" is a beautiful catchy ballad with a haunting melody and beautiful tremolo guitars that swell. The last track "Clean" is a drums and bass driven rock anthem. Suitable powerful end to the album.

Bändejä joita en ole ikinä ihan osannut. Liian synkkää menoa omaan makuuni. Ennakkoasenteista huolimatta tämä oli ihan mukavaa kuunneltavaa. Hyvin vahvat kasarisoundit bassoissa ja syntikoissa vaikkei ihan kasarilevy olekaan. Hittibiisien lisäksi myös pari muuta ihan toimivaa rallia löytyi.

First real Depeche Mode album listen. A lot of good popular songs, but the rest are pretty great too.

Solid middle of the road album- Personal Jesus is obviously great, but I really dig the earlier Depeche Mode stuff where it was a little lighter! "Policy of Truth" and "Enjoy the Silence" are good tracks, I def have listened to this album frequently before, prob from my Dad!

I wanted to like this more, I thought I would. It gets a bit samey over the whole album, though there are a couple of good tracks. I like Depeche Mode, I'm glad they exist, getting through a whole album like this is a little like hard work though. They're so very mood altering, draping everything in a dystopian melancholia that isn't that welcome right now.

Half listened, good but not my thing overall.

I liked this more than I expected and there were some songs I would go back and listen to. This is not a genre I typically listen to. It feels like the midpoint between 80’s synth pop and the industrial synthy music of the 90’s and early 00’s. I can hear Chvrches, NIN, and Muse.

Pretty good electronica album, includes the hit personal Jesus.

Meh

Not bad, not great

Two recognizable songs and some of the rest have very good tunes, but the lyrics are hard to swallow if you are not connected to the BDSM scene and sound like they came off the mouth of a creep.

Recognized 2 songs!

I liked this more than music for the masses. Expanding their instrumentation made it a little more accessible

Sensuous songs with a surprisingly deep soundscape

singles are good, the rest is way too edgy

Gay me up Depeche Mode, gay me up!

ok to decent 80s stuff

Already have listened to this one quite a lot, but always a great listen.

Very pleasant on the ears. I can see why Chester Bennington says this is one of his favorite bands. Had to listen to it twice. Only complaint would be that a lot of the songs are sort of depressing, but catchy melodies nonetheless.

Some great but some weird stuff as well

Elektronisk, lange numre, hypnotiserende

dark, edgy BANGER

My first full run through, despite hearing a few songs a million times. Really great. Not much else to say. Definitely will revisit.

This was a fun listen! Recognized a few songs, too.

fuckin beat as hell

7.5/10

Key songs: Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, Blue Dress, Memphisto

i'm feeling the dark dancey vibes depeche mode brought to the table with this album! nothing's really standing out but i would definitely put this on again to work to. these songs feel like vampire jams.

An odd territory of not being The Cure or Joy Division levels of depressing but also being far from standard pop fare. Great

9/10, Definitive New Wave classic, fantastic songs, all killer no filler

I've never really listened to depeche mode but I know they're one of those groups with a cult following. Problem is those "cultists" are always people who say things like "oh I don't just listen to <metal subgenre>, I also like depeche mode and skinny puppy..." as if you're really stretching your musical legs branching out to the sisters of mercy, lol. Anyway this sounds like EBM with a bit more going on, like if EBM is the reinheitsgebot of electronic music, depeche mode isn't quite a craft beer, but also isn't a macrobrew - maybe something like coopers? I can't honestly say this album belongs on any list of must-hears. It just exists. I wouldn't say it sucks, but it doesn't go anywhere, there's no spark (even if that's kinda what they aim for?), no real bits that make me sit up and go "wow!". 2/5. Extra note: the song personal jesus is familiar. But like only the chorus, and then it must be from a cover? I'm sure I've never heard this original.