Black Celebration

by

Depeche Mode

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Black Celebration represents many things for Depeche Mode. Sonically, we're looking at an evolution of their synthesized, sampled, semi-industrial pop sound -- a little less tinny than Some Great Reward. Lyrically and thematically, what we have is a full realization of the bleakness DM had been flirting with on songs like "Blasphemous Rumours," "Love, in Itself," and "Shake the Disease." This is important because it is the final, complete break with the cheerier sound associated with early Depeche Mode albums, and a transformation into the greatest band to emerge from the 1980s.

The title track sets the tone for the album very effectively, using a thick layer of menacing bass under twinkling melodic keynotes. "Black Celebration" is not quite as dark as most of the other songs on this album; but maybe it's really just that it is a declaration of the need to hang onto whatever happiness we can in the face of all-encompassing misery. A perfect opening to a near-perfect album.

The eerie underlying synth of the first track evolves into the backdrop for the second: "Fly on the Windscreen." This is DM at their gloomiest; a pummeling bass underpins the need for human contact as a reminder that there is such a thing as life.

"A Question of Lust" begins a hat trick of delicate songs sung by Martin Gore. It's an earnest, airy tale of the needless suspicion of jealousy in a relationship that probably won't last. A shimmering, sad ballad in an album of despair, yet a nice bounce-back from "Windscreen."

"Sometimes," the next song, is I believe very underrated -- I've seen someone deride it as an ersatz "Somebody," which is really not at all accurate. It employs only Martin's voice, echoed in a strange fashion, over a lazy, very pretty piano piece. A short and sad little number that fits the album without question.

The next track is "It Doesn't Matter Two" (to be distinguished from "It Doesn't Matter" on SGW). I like this song for its use of a choral sample, manipulated almost beyond recognition, as its main rhythm. Martin sings of lost sexual innocence here, his voice lending a requisite fragility that Dave Gahan's would not.

Dave resumes a lead singing role on "A Question of Time," with a fast synth beat picking up the pace. I did not like this song much at first, but in the concert version, Martin whacks a guitar to replace the kazoo-like effect of the synth found here - a definite improvement.

"Stripped" is the centerpiece of BC. Fragile synth keynotes convey a shared, secret sensuality, while a constant backing hum coats everything in sweaty pheromones. The muffled rhythm of a train drives the song from start to finish. Altogether an addictively beautiful song about the search for intimacy in a bleak, black, filthy, distant world.

From the escapism without in "Stripped," we turn to escapism within in "Here is the House." Acoustic guitar is used well here against a barely danceable beat, creating one of the more obscure, underappreciated DM songs.

Martin's last lead singing role is "World Full of Nothing," an account of loveless sex as told from an omniscient, third-party perspective. Haunting, especially with the repeated "Though it's not love, it means something."

"Dressed in Black" is the weakest song on BC. It seems to redeem every tidy cliche about mods that has ever been thrown at them, and consequently feels trite. It should have traded places with one of the B-sides, "Christmas Island."

What follows is the pounding, trenchant bass of "New Dress," a political statement about the stupid things society values as important. A very cool song as relevant today as it was in 1986.

Black Celebration closes with "But Not Tonight" - as upbeat as any song gets on this album, though it does not feel out of place. It is carried by a fast beat and just a hint of optimism in the darkness. A fitting final chapter in DM's darkest tome.

If you like 80s music at all, buy this album. If you like 80s music and were raised on Moby, NIN, or Orbital, DEFINITELY buy this album. You will be glad you did.

This whole album does seem to fit with the "Black" or dark theme (with "But Not Tonight" being the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak), but the best Depeche Mode album (Violator of course) had more songs that could stand up on their own. I found myself getting bored with this album somewhere during "Here is the House". In fact, the only song I really care for after "Question of Time" is the aforementioned "But Not Tonight". "Question of Time" was easily my favorite after the first listen, but it quickly grew old and I've come to like "But Not Tonight" and especially "Question of Lust" (a song which proves that Martin Gore should sing lead vocal in more DM songs), the best.

This was definitely the turning point for Depeche Mode, but it was a turn that, barring Violator, didn't produce much more than a few extremely dark but average albums.