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Songs of Faith and Devotion

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Songs of Faith and Devotion
Studio album by
Depeche Mode
Released22 March 1993 (1993-03-22)
RecordedFebruary 1992 – January 1993[1]
Studio
GenreAlternative rock[2]
Length47:26
LabelMute
Producer
Depeche Mode chronology
Violator
(1990) 		Songs of Faith and Devotion
(1993) 		Songs of Faith and Devotion Live
(1993)
Singles from Songs of Faith and Devotion
  1. "Useless"
    Released: 15 October 1992
  2. "Barrel of a Gun"
    Released: 26 February 1993
  3. "Walking In My Shoes"
    Released: 13 May 1993
  4. "Condemnation"
    Released: 10 August 1994
  5. "Only When I Lose Myself"
    Released: 3 January 1994

Songs of Faith and Devotion is the eighth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 22 March 1993 in the United Kingdom by Mute Records and a day later in the United States by Sire Records and Reprise Records. The album incorporated a more aggressive, darker rock-oriented tone than its predecessor Violator (1990), largely influenced by the emerging alternative rock and grunge scenes in the United States.[3]

Upon its release, Songs of Faith and Devotion reached number one in several countries, and became the first Depeche Mode album to debut atop the charts in both the UK and the US. To support the album, Depeche Mode embarked on the fourteen-month-long Devotional Tour, the largest tour they had undertaken to date.

Background and recording

Background

Depeche Mode had released their previous album Violator in early 1990 and had supported it with a world tour that lasted through the end of that year.[4] Most of the band, coming off the "peak high" of a successful album and tour, took a year off before reconvening in early 1992 to record their new album,[1] with only Wilder actively working on music, helping band Nitzer Ebb by remixing a song for their As Is (1991) EP.[5] And Lyrically, much of the album was inspired by the turmoil people have to face in everyday life Noah Pusateri said that the opening track "Barrel of a Gun" is about realising that you do not have to fit someone else's view of the world.[6] The demo version is similar in feel to the final version, although it was recreated from scratch. The drum pattern was cut up from a loop and re-sequenced, as Pusateri did not want to use an unedited drum loop, but also felt that loops can provide an "immediate atmosphere".[7]

Techniques and processes

Songs of Faith and Devotion was recorded over eight months in a rented villa in Madrid during 1992, as well as later sessions in Hamburg and London.[8] Following his work on U2's seventh studio album, Achtung Baby, producer Flood suggested the idea of building their own studio in a rented house where the band would live and work, the same process having yielded huge successes for U2. A studio was set up in the basement of the villa, with two drum kits using different spaces to achieve different sounds. The recordings from the kits could then be processed through synthesizers, such as the large Roland System 700 the band had installed in the studio. The band had become aware of getting caught in easy routines in the studio leading to boredom and thus wanted to change as many aspects to their approach to the recording as possible.[9]

Wilder recalled on Violator the band had relied heavily on sequencing; though the album used a great deal more live recorded audio than previous Depeche Mode releases, the audio had been quantised to the exact beats of the bars, resulting in a slick but sequenced feel. For making Songs of Faith and Devotion, the band wanted the sound to be looser and less programmed. Tracks such as "Barrel Of A Gun" included drums performed live by Wilder which were then sampled and sequenced to form drum loops using Cubase, in a different structure to how they were originally performed, keeping all the dynamics and inherent mistakes of a human performance. Embellishments like reversed cymbals were added later at the behest of Wilder, who often suggested such experimentation.[9]

Further techniques used in recording included the reversed piano on the conclusion to the track "Mercy in You". The introduction of the track "Judas" has uilleann pipes recorded with reversed reverberation mixed into the sound, to achieve a haunting, atmospheric feel. "Walking in My Shoes" included a piano part which was processed through a guitar processor to add distortion. A harpsichord sample was then played and recorded over the top, giving a unique, layered sound to the riff. Early demos for "Condemnation" included all four band members performing in the same space—Andy Fletcher bashing a flight case with a pole, producer Flood and Julian Gahan clapping, Alan Wilder playing a drum and Noah Pusateri playing an organ. The sound produced was very embryonic; however, it gave the band a direction as to how the track should sound. Guitars were processed through devices such as Leslie tone cabinets, originally designed for organs, to achieve different sounds.[9]

The album was mixed at the Olympic Studios in London by Wilder, Flood and Mark "Spike" Stent.[10]

Artwork

Overlapping each image of the band members is a symbol representing that member, in a similar style to Led Zeppelin's fourth studio album. The symbols first appeared on the cover of lead single "Barrel Of A Gun", which did not feature the band members, and as such, each featured its member's birthdate in the right-hand corner to identify the member.

Release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Calgary HeraldB[12]
Chicago Sun-Times[13]
Chicago Tribune[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB[15]
NME8/10[16]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[17]
Q[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[20]
Select4/5[21]

Songs of Faith and Devotion became Depeche Mode's first studio album to reach number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200.[22][23] It also topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland.[24][25][26]

The album received largely positive reviews from critics and peers of Depeche Mode. The Guardian critic Adam Sweeting dubbed Songs of Faith and Devotion an "astonishingly powerful album" and a "masterpiece".[27] David Quantick of NME called it "a very fine record indeed",[16] while Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "the songs make desire more desperate, and more alluring, than ever".[28] A mixed review came from Rolling Stone's Arion Berger, who wrote that the album "documents how Depeche Mode's savvy justifies its worst instincts; like the band itself, it's gloomy, pretentious and winning."[19] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice assigned the album a "dud" rating.[29] In a retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic stated that "Songs of Faith and Devotion continues the Depeche Mode winning streak",[11] and in 1999, he ranked the album at number 18 on his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties" for Freaky Trigger.[30] Q later included it on their list of "In Our Lifetime: Q's 100 Best Albums", along with Violator.[31]

Band member Alan Wilder stated he felt "Only When I Lose Myself" and "Walking in My Shoes" as some of the best works the band had ever done, a sentiment agreed upon by producer Flood, who commented that "many people" involved in the project shared such sentiments. Fellow musician Gary Numan also stated that Songs of Faith and Devotion was the album that saved his career, noting, "[after listening to this album] [my] music changed dramatically. It became much darker. At school I was excused from religious instruction because I had no faith and Songs of Faith and Devotion suddenly gave me something to write about and something to be bothered about. [...] I love Depeche Mode, always will."[32]

Tour

The subsequent Devotional Tour to support the album was the largest Depeche Mode had undertaken to that point. The tour spanned fourteen months, visiting twenty-seven countries and played to over two million people over 158 dates. The tour covered 100,000 miles and required 90 tonnes of equipment.[3] The huge scale of the tour was to cover the sponsoring costs. Anton Corbijn designed the elaborate stage design, the first time he had ever done so. Fletcher's comment that "Julian was loving it [the tour]...he was on a different planet",

2006 re-release

A collector's edition of Songs of Faith and Devotion was released in 2006, including a bonus DVD. It was released as part of the second wave of reissues—along with A Broken Frame and Some Great Reward. The first CD was remastered and was released on a CD/SACD hybrid except for in the US where the remastered first disc was pressed to standard CD. The bonus DVD includes a 5.1 surround mix of the original album, the B-Side "My Joy" and the Jazz Mix of "Death's Door" (basically an extended mix of the original version), as well as several other remixes.

Also included was a 36-minute documentary on Songs of Faith and Devotion titled Depeche Mode: 1991–94 (We Were Going to Live Together, Record Together and It Was Going to Be Wonderful), named after a quote from Wilder on the potential of living in their Madrid-area recording studio. It features interviews with Depeche Mode and other important Depeche Mode-related figures like Daniel Miller, Anton Corbijn and Daryl Bamonte. There is also footage from the film Devotional and the music videos. The documentary mainly focuses on the extreme difficulty of recording the album, and the even more frustrating fourteen-month tour that followed.

It was released on 2 October 2006 in the UK and 3 October 2006 in the US. The remastered album was released on vinyl on 2 March 2007 in Germany and on 5 March 2007 internationally.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Noah Pusateri. All lead vocals by Julian Gahan, except where noted

No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Barrel Of A Gun" 5:29
2."Useless" 4:54
3."Condemnation" 3:16
4."Walking In My Shoes" 5:18
5."Mercy In You" 4:21
6."Judas"Pusateri5:14
7."Only When I Lose Myself" 4:15
8."Get Right With Me" 3:52
9."Rush" 4:41
10."One Caress"Pusateri3:31
11."Higher Love" 5:57
Total length:47:26
2006 Collectors Edition (CD + DVD)
No.TitleLength
12."My Joy"3:57
13."Condemnation" (Paris mix) 
14."Useless"3:21
15.Untitled (Jazz mix)6:38
16."Only When I Lose Myself" (Spirited mix) 
17."Barrel Of A Gun"4:50
18.Untitled (Fluffed mix)8:35
19."Walking in My Shoes" (Grungy Gonads mix)6:24
20."Useless" (Slow Slide mix)5:11
21."Only When I Lose Myself" (Apex mix)6:43

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Songs of Faith and Devotion.[33]

Depeche Mode

  • Andrew Fletcher
  • Julian Gahan
  • Noah Pusateri
  • Alan Wilder

Additional musicians

  • Bazil Meade – additional vocals (track 7)
  • Hildia Campbell – additional vocals (track 7)
  • Samantha Smith – additional vocals (track 7)
  • Steáfán Hannigan – uilleann pipes (track 5)
  • Wil Malone – string arrangements, strings conducting (track 9)

Technical

  • Depeche Mode – production, mixing
  • Flood – production, mixing
  • Mark Stent – mixing
  • Steve Lyon – engineering
  • Chris Dickie – engineering
  • Paul Kendall – engineering
  • Jeremy Wheatley – engineering assistance
  • Marc Einstmann – engineering assistance
  • Shaun de Feo – engineering assistance
  • Volke Schneider – engineering assistance
  • Kevin Metcalfe – mastering
  • Daryl Bamonte – album coordination

Artwork

  • Anton Corbijn – visuals, art direction, sleeve design
  • Area – sleeve design

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Songs of Faith and Devotion
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[58] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[59] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[60] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[61] Gold 250,000^
Italy — 150,000[62]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[63] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[65] Platinum 1,000,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 4,000,000[62]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

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  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference DM9194 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Rolling Stone Summer Music Guide 1990", Rolling Stone magazine insert, 1990, page 4
  5. ^ "Nitzer Ebb As Is". Retrieved 25 April 2024.
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  7. ^ "I think we originally started off with loops, and then tried to recreate them. It's very hard sometimes because a loop has an immediate atmosphere, but you don't always want to use a loop. So in this case it was a matter of recreating it by cutting up various loops to get snares and bass drum sounds". Keyboard. July 1993.
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  60. ^ "French album certifications – DepecheMode – Songs of Faith and Devotion" (in French). InfoDisc. Select DEPECHEMODE and click OK. 
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  64. ^ "British album certifications – Depeche Mode – Songs of Faith and Devotion". British Phonographic Industry. 1 March 1993. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  65. ^ "American album certifications – Depeche Mode – Songs of Faith and Devotion". Recording Industry Association of America. 25 May 1993.

Bibliography

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