Music for the Masses
Studio album by Depeche Mode
Released	September 28, 1987
Recorded	Studio Guilliame Tell, Paris and Konk, London 1987
Genre	Synth pop
Length	57:16
Label	UK: Mute / US: Sire
Producer(s)	Depeche Mode, David Bascombe, and Daniel Miller
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Depeche Mode chronology
Black Celebration (1986)	Music for the Masses (1987)	101 (1989)

Music for the Masses is the sixth proper studio album by Depeche Mode. Released by Mute Records on September 28, 1987, it provided the band with mainstream success in the United States for the first time since Some Great Reward, and the new styles of music that appeared on the album and its predecessor Black Celebration formed the foundation for their breakthrough effort, Violator. These three are widely considered to be the band's peak in both lyrical and musical sense, attributed to Gore's maturing songcraft and Wilder's synthesized orchestrations. Image File history File links DepecheModeMusicForTheMasses. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, UK. They have been one of the longest-lived and most successful bands to have emerged during the New Wave and New Romantic era, though they are more akin to what was known as the futurist... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Synth pop is a style of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Mute Records is a record label formed in 1978 by Daniel Miller primarily to release his own single, T.V.O.D./Warm Leatherette, under the moniker The Normal. ... Sire Records Company is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Brothers Records The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes . ... Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, UK. They have been one of the longest-lived and most successful bands to have emerged during the New Wave and New Romantic era, though they are more akin to what was known as the futurist... Daniel Miller is a researcher and lecturer at the University College London (UCL) department of anthropology. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4. ... Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, UK. They have been one of the longest-lived and most successful bands to have emerged during the New Wave and New Romantic era, though they are more akin to what was known as the futurist... Black Celebration is the fifth proper studio album by Depeche Mode. ... 101 is a live album and documentary by Depeche Mode released in 1989 chronicalling the bands 1988 Music for the Masses US tour, and the final show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. ... Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, UK. They have been one of the longest-lived and most successful bands to have emerged during the New Wave and New Romantic era, though they are more akin to what was known as the futurist... Mute Records is a record label formed in 1978 by Daniel Miller primarily to release his own single, T.V.O.D./Warm Leatherette, under the moniker The Normal. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Some Great Reward is pop music band Depeche Modes fourth proper studio album, released September 24, 1984 on the Mute Records label in the UK and on October 29, 1984 on the Sire Records label in the USA. // Track listing Something to Do (3:47) Lie to Me (5... Black Celebration is the fifth proper studio album by Depeche Mode. ... Violator is Depeche Modes seventh full-length album. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Alan Wilder, circa 2000. ...

Mainstream success in the States

The album became the band's highest-charting in the US upon its release, reaching #35 on the Billboard 200. It also contained more hit singles than any of their previous releases. While there was no extremely popular single from the album ("People Are People" from Some Great Reward reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100), the three singles that were released all made it onto the Hot 100, a feat that hadn't been achieved by any Depeche Mode single after those from Some Great Reward. Moreover, all three singles achieved modest success on the chart. The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. ... People Are People is Depeche Modes tenth UK single (released on March 12, 1984) and the first single for the Some Great Reward album. ... The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. ...

The first single from the album, "Strangelove", only reached #76 and spent 6 weeks on the chart upon its initial release. "Never Let Me Down Again" was then issued and hit #63, spending 10 weeks on the chart. It success was duplicated by "Behind the Wheel", which had a similar chart run. This propelled a re-released "Strangelove" (as "Strangelove '88") to #50, making it the highest-charting single from the album.

The story was similar in the United Kingdom. While no single reached the chart heights of Depeche Mode's early career, "Strangelove" narrowly became the band's second-highest charting single since 1984 when it hit #16. The two follow-up singles charted in the upper 20s. The album was less successful, reaching only #10, though it was a major success throughout Europe. Generally, this album and its extracted singles continued the trend for Depeche Mode's releases to chart higher in Continental Europe than in their home country: "Strangelove" and "Never Let Me Down Again" both hit #2 on the singles chart in what was then West Germany, "Behind The Wheel" hit #6 there, and "Little 15" reached #16. World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and peninsulae. ...

The For the Masses tour was one of Depeche Mode's biggest, notably because of the sell-out Pasadena Rose Bowl show where the band performed to around 80,000 fans, cementing their place in United States alternative culture. This made the band question if they had reached the peak of their careers, according to the 101 DVD, a documentary on the concert, but put that notion to rest with Violator, which was even more successful. Pasadena is the name of several places: In the United States: Pasadena, California Pasadena, Maryland Pasadena, Texas In Canada: Pasadena, Newfoundland Pasadena is also the name of a submarine in the United States Navy, the SSN 752 Pasadena, the third naval vessel to bear that name and the first submarine... The Rose Bowl is a stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California. ... 101 is a live album and documentary by Depeche Mode released in 1989 chronicalling the bands 1988 Music for the Masses US tour, and the final show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. ... Violator is Depeche Modes seventh full-length album. ...

Rerelease

In 2006, Music For the Masses became one of the first Depeche Mode albums (along with Speak and Spell and Violator) to be released on a special 2-Disc SACD/CD Hybrid + DVD format, in the vein of their 2005 album Playing the Angel, which had a limited edition SACD + DVD release. The format was the same as Playing the Angel's, the first disc had a special digitally remastered version of the album, while the DVD had the album on three formats (PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS 5.1) plus bonus tracks, and a documentary on the album. The rerelease preserves the album as it was originally intended. Thus, the four bonus tracks do not appear on the SACD, but appear on the DVD. The DVD also features all B-Sides from the Music for the Masses era, but unlike the album and the bonus tracks, are only available in PCM Stereo. This has gotten criticism from some fans who would have liked to hear the B-Sides and Bonus Tracks on CD, but you can only hear them with a DVD player. For the game of the same name by Texas Instruments see Speak & Spell (game) Speak and Spell is Depeche Modes first album. ... Super Audio CD (SACD) is a read-only optical audio disc aimed at providing much higher fidelity digital audio reproduction than the compact disc. ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit České Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s... DVD (sometimes called Digital Versatile Disc, or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... Playing the Angel is the eleventh full-length album by Depeche Mode and was released 17 October 2005. ...

The documentary, a 37 minute short film called Depeche Mode: 1987-88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes) is an extensive look at the album, featuring commentary from a wide variety of people, including the current Depeche Mode, former member Alan Wilder, producer Dave Bascombe, Daniel Miller, Daryl Bamonte, Martyn Atkins (who came up with the loudspeakers idea for the cover), Anton Corbijn, and others. The documentary features new facts on the album, and also an extensive look at the movie 101.

The rerelease came out April 3, 2006 in Europe. The US version was delayed to June 2, 2006 and will only be available on a CD + DVD format, with no SACD. The DVD on all the versions are region independent however, so one can simply import the SACD version (provided, of course, the buyer can play DVDs that are in the PAL format, as opposed to the American NTSC format). April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ...

Track listing

1987 release: Mute / Stumm 47

1. "Never Let Me Down Again" – 4:47
2. "The Things You Said" – 4:02
3. "Strangelove" – 4:56
4. "Sacred" – 4:47
5. "Little 15" – 4:18
6. "Behind the Wheel" – 5:18
7. "I Want You Now" – 3:44
8. "To Have and to Hold" – 2:51
9. "Nothing" – 4:18
10. "Pimpf" – 5:25
11. "Agent Orange" – 5:05
12. "Never Let Me Down Again [Aggro Mix]" – 4:55
13. "To Have and to Hold [Spanish Taster]" – 2:34
14. "Pleasure, Little Treasure" – 5:36

Tracks 11-14 are bonus tracks only available on the CD and cassette versions of Music for the Masses. The vinyl version only has tracks 1-10.

• At the end of Pimpf is a short 30 second instrumental track named "Interlude #1: Mission Impossible". On the CD, there is a 30 second pause in between Pimpf and Interlude 1, followed by a 30 second pause in between Interlude 1 and Agent Orange.
• "Pleasure little Treasure" is the "Glitter Mix" but is not labeled as such.

2006 re-release

Mute: DM CD 6 (CD/SACD + DVD) / CDX STUMM 47 (CD/SACD)

• Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
• Disc 2 is a DVD which includes "Music for the masses" in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material

1. "Never Let Me Down Again" – 4:47
2. "The Things You Said" – 3:55
3. "Strangelove" – 4:38
4. "Sacred" – 5:01
5. "Little 15" – 4:14
6. "Behind the Wheel" – 5:17
7. "I Want You Now" – 3:28
8. "To Have and to Hold" – 3:08
9. "Nothing" – 4:12
10. "Pimpf" – 3:56

Bonus Tracks (in PCM Stereo):

1. "Agent Orange" – 5:05
2. "Pleasure, Little Treasure" – 2:53
3. "Route 66" – 4:11
4. "Stjarna" – 4:25
5. "Sonata No.14 in C#m (Moonlight Sonata)" – 5:36

Bonus 5.1 Mixes (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo):

1. "Agent Orange" – 5:31
2. "Never Let Me Down Again [Aggro Mix]" – 4:58
3. "To Have And to Hold [Spanish Taster]" – 2:36
4. "Pleasure, Little Treasure [Glitter Mix]" – 5:38

Additional Material:

1. "Depeche Mode 87-88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes)" [37 Minute video]

• All songs are written by Martin Gore.
• Dave Gahan is the lead singer of all songs except for "The Things You Said" and "I Want You Now" which are sung by Martin Gore. However, Gore's background vocals can be heard throughout the entire album. "Pimpf", "Mission Impossible", and "Agent Orange" are instrumental.

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... David Gahan (born May 9, 1962 in Epping, England) is the lead singer for Depeche Mode. ...

Singles

• Strangelove (13 April, 1987)
• Never Let Me Down Again (24 August, 1987)
• Behind the Wheel (28 December, 1987)
• Little 15 (16 May, 1988)

Strangelove is Depeche Modes eighteenth UK single, released on April 13, 1987, and the first single for the then upcoming album Music for the Masses. ... Never Let Me Down Again is Depeche Modes nineteenth UK single, released on August 24, 1987, and the second single for the then upcoming album Music for the Masses. ... Behind the Wheel is Depeche Modes twentieth UK single, released on December 28, 1987, and the third single for the album Music for the Masses. ... Little 15 is Depeche Modes twenty-first UK single, released on May 16, 1988, and the fourth single for the album Music for the Masses. ...

Miscellanea

• This is the first album where at least one song was never played live. "Little 15", "I Want You Now", and "To Have and To Hold", were not played live during the Music for the Masses tour, but the former two were later played acoustically at the World Violation Tour by Martin. A remixed "I Want You Now" appeared at the Exotic Tour. "To Have and To Hold" was thus the only LP song never to be played live until Ultra. However, "To Have and To Hold" has been played live by the Deftones, who covered the song for the For the Masses tribute album.
• At the beginning of "To Have and To Hold" is a man saying "V dokladah rassmatrivayutsya evolyutsiya yadernyh arsenalov i sotsial'no-psihologicheskiye effecty gonki vooruzheniy" which in Russian means "The evolution of nuclear arsenals and the socio-psychological effects of the arms race are considered in the reports". Alan Wilder was not aware of this when he added it to the song.
• The breathing sound in "I Want You Now" is actually an accordion being played without a note. The moaning in the song is remembered by Wilder at his website to be some girls hanging around in the studio at the time.
• The title and cover art of the tribute album For the Masses were inspired by those of Music For The Masses.

Ultra is Depeche Modes ninth full-length album, which was released on April 15, 1997. ... Alan Wilder, circa 2000. ... For the Masses is a 1998 tribute album of Depeche Mode songs, specifically the works of Martin Gore; the fact that no songs by Vince Clarke or Alan Wilder were chosen was not a coincidence. ...

External links

• Official Remaster Info