Some Great Reward is the fourth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released in 1984. The album peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and at number fifty-one in the United States. The title comes from the last lines of the bridge in "Lie to Me" when it repeats near the end. The album was supported by the Some Great Reward Tour.
Melody Maker hailed the album, noting a "truly remarkable development in the voice of Gahan". Reviewer Barry McIlheney noted that "[i]t used to be okay to slag this bunch off because of their lack of soul, their supposed synthetic appeal, their reluctance to really pack a punch." He concluded that Some Great Reward "just trashes such bad old talk into the ground and demands that you now sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your nose".[2]
NME criticised the album, stating that it "suffers from too many missed grips on good ideas." Reviewer David Quantick found the tunes "ordinary" but he nevertheless rated the singles as "fine". He finally stated that the result was "annoying" and concluded, "Depeche Mode can be one the few acts worthy of the name pop group. It's just that they should be so much better."[3]
Re-release
In 2006, Some Great Reward was re-released with a bonus DVD. The CD was remastered and was released on a CD/SACD hybrid. The bonus DVD includes the B-sides "In Your Memory" and "(Set Me Free) Remotivate Me" in addition to a remix of "Somebody" and several live versions of some of the songs from the album. The DVD also includes a documentary on the making of the album.
The remastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl in March 2007.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except "If You Want" and "In Your Memory" written by Alan Wilder
"Depeche Mode: 1984 (You Can Get Away with Anything If You Give It a Good Tune)" (written and produced by Roland Brown; directed by Ross Hallard and Phil Michael Lane)
29:20
Audio
Some Great Reward (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo)
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Something to Do"
3:47
2.
"Lie to Me"
5:04
3.
"People Are People"
3:52
4.
"It Doesn't Matter"
4:45
5.
"Stories of Old"
3:14
6.
"Somebody"
4:28
7.
"Master and Servant"
4:12
8.
"If You Want"
4:41
9.
"Blasphemous Rumours"
6:22
Live tracks (DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo)