Songs of Faith and Devotion

This is the 4th Depeche Mode album I've gotten and I am still completely unsold by them. Youve heard one or two and it just repeats. 2 albums is more than sufficient My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Much as I hate to say it, I think that Depeche Mode are over-serviced in the list now. I actually think that this album, Songs of Faith and Devotion, has more of a place in the original list than Music for the Masses. It's a better album, and although it's "just" a follow-up to Violator, it is (as I said in my review of MftM) biggerer and betterer and more differenter than MtfM. So let's scratch that, keep this, and not add any more Depeche Mode, ok?

Songs of Faith and Devotion is one of the best Depeche Mode albums. It captures the dark mood the band expresses perfectly. The best songs are "I Feel You", "Walking in My Shoes" and "In Your Room", but the rest is also solid.

Including the original book, this is now the fifth Depeche Mode album here. Though excessive without a doubt, I will still listen eagerly. This one features something closer to a alt-rock sound. A change from what I’m used to with this band, but it’s not a bad fit. Another strong effort from this band

Yes if I was to add another Depeche Mode album to The list it would be this one.

I'm going to go ahead and say there's too much Depeche Mode on the list. And am I the only one who prefers their latter day albums?

9/10

Depeche Mode are so freaking good. I love the darker and more rock-oriented direction of this album. The title does a great job of conveying the themes of faith but in a more ominous manner.

Rating: 10/10

One of the biggest problems of Depeche Mode's *Songs Of Faith And Devotion* is that it stands on the shoulders of giants *Music For The Masses* and *Violator*. If highlights "I Feel You" -- picking up the blues guitar-laced thread of "Personal Jesus" from the previous LP and sending it to a newly inspired dimension-- and "Walking In My Shoes" -- with the tormented, straightforward plea of its stellar chorus -- are as terrific as any hit singles from said previous giants, everything else is either a small notch under ("Mercy In You", "Rush", "Higher Love"), or even several levels below of what's found in the two previous albums. Case in point, the couple of quite linear atmospheric gospel-inspired cuts that decidedly feel like you're sitting in a waiting room before the real meat of the record is served to you (the quite simple "Condemnation", soon followed by a "Judas" whose real intents are even more obfuscated and devious that the figure inspiring its title). Those forays into African-American music traditions were not a bad idea on paper, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Same with some other stylistic experiments: just like "Mercy In You", "Get Right With Me"'s supposedly ironic breakbeat ogles towards U2's *Achtung Baby*, yet it doesn't leave much of an impression compared to its sister track within the album. And even when Depeche Mode stayed in their original lane, some of the results were a bit of a mixed bag. "One Caress" comes off as a mandatory Martin Gore string-laden melancholic exercise in style for instance, but it here pales in comparison with its elder brother found in *Music For The Masses* (remember "Little Fifteen"?). Dave Gahan is still imperial as a lead vocalist in the other songs, thankfully, but even his performance can't fully hide the little warts now appearing on the lesser cuts. And the other problem is that some of the tonal and stylistic jumps from one track to the next are somewhat jarring, as if Depeche Mode got lost in their own homemade maze, and couldn't find the clearing that would have allowed them to catch the lightning they had caught a few years earlier. One clear exception in that partially underwhelming tracklist: "In Your Room", a terrific composition and one of the darkest-sounding songs ever recorded by the British synth pop rock act, thanks to its ominous and extraordinary chord change at the end of each verse and its desperate chorus. After the departure of Alan Wilder in the wake of this album's release, Depeche Mode have tried many times to record dark tracks as good as this one, yet they never reached that level of despair again. Wilder was neither a composer nor a songwriter. But it is now clear that his input for the instrumentation and arrangements was pivotal during the heyday of this legendary band. In spite of what I wrote up here, *Songs Of Faith And Devotion* is still reaching my four-star gallery, because most of its deeper cuts are still more listenable than the dross found at the core of *Speak And Spell* for example. Yet I won't select this particular record for my own imaginary 1001 albums list. Three awesome songs in an album, next to a string of less memorable compositions, is not a feat solid enough for the specific requirements of such a list. I like and even love some of the songs on this record. But the valleys are too many for me here. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 for the musicianship and production values + 3.5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 117 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 122 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 275 (including this one). ---- Émile, *quatre* nouveaux messages pour toi au dessus, du *Solid State Survivor* de Yellow Magic Orchestra au *Atrocity Exhibition* de Danny Brown

4.5

Songs of Faith and Devotion is the album that introduced me to Depeche Mode, and Walking in My Shoes has been a personal favourite for years after it came out. When I first heard it, it was a five star album. It isn't anymore. Getting deeper into the Depeche Mode catalogue changes how you hear this. Violator's restraint and minimalism makes Songs of Faith and Devotion's maximalism more audible in retrospect. This is an album that throws a lot at the wall. The gospel influences, the live drums, the religious imagery, the organic guitars dialling back the synthesizers. Some of it sticks brilliantly. Mercy In You and In Your Room are genuinely excellent. Some of it doesn't. Judas or Get Right With Me feel like they wandered in from a different album entirely, and the religious theme tips into overdone territory more than once. The organic quality of the music, especially compared to Music For The Masses, Violator, Black Celebration or even Ultra for that matter was of course a deliberate response to the grunge moment and it was the right call for 1993. It just hasn't aged as gracefully as the more minimal work surrounding it in the catalogue. Still an album I love. Just not the masterpiece I once thought it was.

Would you say we have a plethora of Depeche Mode albums between both lists? Depeche Mode is one of those bands that I wished I could say I really loved, and while they do have some songs that I listen to regularly, they’ve just never managed to crack into that upper echelon of music that I love. I think Violator and Music for the Masses are both really good albums (Speak & Spell is a fine listen, but I think it’s ultimately better as an influential part of music history than it is a fun listening experience), but both of them were just missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I have no idea what to expect from this effort from DM, and I don’t recognize any of the song titles. Oh well, let’s get synthy! I thought Songs of Faith and Devotion was really good. However, it does suffer from ‘Violator Syndrome,’ where it starts off really strong, and then tapers off a couple of times. This album doesn’t have anything as strong as “World in My Eyes” or “Policy of Truth,” but the overall sound is really solid, and I think it’s really interesting that it’s clearly a Depeche Mode album, but it’s very distinct from Violator. I’m sure a lot of their fans wanted their next album to be Violator 2.0, but Depeche Mode didn’t fall into that trap, and they crafted something that evolved from their earlier works. But everything I want from Depeche Mode is on this album: a dark and rich atmosphere, great vocals from Dave Gahan, and beautiful synthesizer tones. I honestly thought I wasn’t going to be into this album, but it surprised me. I think it’s an achievement that Depeche Mode was able to follow up their two biggest albums with something as good as this. “Walking in My Shoes” wound up being my favorite song on the album. The synths on the verse are hypnotic, and I love the keyboard melodies on the choruses. Every element on that song comes together so well. Special shoutout to “In Your Room” for starting side two of the album with such a bang. This was a fun listen, and it was a really good supplement to the main list.

3.5/5

Much better than I had expected, not sure why I never really rated them before. I liked the guitars, the vocals, and the times they sounded a bit like NIN.

Definitely a solid follow-up to Violator though not quite as consistent. It's strong, though Walking in My Shoes is really the only essential track and the rest are fine exercise in the Depeche Mode dark electronic mood. Enjoyed.

I got into Depeche Mode with 1990s Violator and then Songs of Faith and Devotion… while Violator was a revelation I very much enjoyed this album as well. Happy to revisit this.

On the one hand we absolutely don’t need this many Depeche Mode albums on the list. I think 1 is more than enough. On the other hand this was the BEST DP album I’ve ever heard. Can definitely hear the inspiration for Nine Inch Nails here. I vote we get rid of all other DP albums on either the official list or the fan one, and put this one up as the sole representative.

I wish I understood the appeal of Depeche Mode. Most of the time I'm just bored.

Pretty much the same opinion for this that I had for "Black Celebration" - "Violator" is just simply such a perfect album that every other Depeche Mode album feels like inferior versions of that to me. Still good though.

Second Depeche Mode album in 3 days. Enjoyed it.

I mean look I like Depeche Mode, but there's already been a lot of them on this thing, and Violator's really the only one I'd call a must-listen

Great flavor of 90's music. Was good to reminisce

An important band but a fairly middling effort

Not bad

I don't think we need this much Depeche Mode.

As the description says: it's the typical sound of Depeche Mode, but a bit darker and a rough rock-touch

How many Depeche Mode albums are there

Not their best

Alternative rock, electronic rock, grunge. Ni fu ni fa.

I was kind of bagging on Depeche Mode just a minute ago. This is quite a different sound from what I'm used to, much more rock oriented, and I do like it better. Still pretty much 3 star territory for my tastes though.

A more energetic and inspired Depeche Mode outing than last week’s Black Celebration listen. When they’re at their best, this band defines 80s’ New Wave to me – pulsing drums and synths woven into dark melodies that perfectly evoke the sweaty uncertainty and vice of a nightclub. The vocals do tend to skew a bit too melodramatic at times and spoil the ambience a bit, but this was still an engaging listen.

I didn't like any of the 5 or 6 Depeche Mode albums in the original list, and it's not now that I'll be convinced. They may have good stuff in their albums, but not the good stuff I value.

2.0 Didn't go down well at all. Felt like it was squeezing the juice out of the last excesses of the 80s, and making you realise that there was a lot of shite in that decade. I didn't actually mind the Depeche Mode that appeared in the main list, albeit not my usual thing, but this one felt like they were past it by this point.

I had a boss who cheated on his wife at a Depeche Mode concert. I haven’t never forgiven him and he has tainted Depeche Mode for me.