SONG OF THE DAY [#375]

'enjoy the silence [live in mexico, 2006]' | depeche mode

as i'm sitting here wallowing in my own depression over the dodgers losing the NLCS in five games to the f'ing phillies, i'm comforted by the news that depeche mode is currently in the studio with uber-producer ben hillier [the man responsible for the tremendous 'playing the angel'] working on their latest album, scheduled for release in the spring and to be followed by another worldwide tour appropriately titled, 'tour of the universe.'
if you want to watch the press conference, you can check out the highlights here.

you know, little could i imagine as a kid of fourteen, seriously infatuated with depeche begging his grandma to take him to tower records in west covina to buy the 'construction time again' cassette tape in 1987, that they would still be churning out quality tunes and be universally regarded as one of the biggest bands on the planet. man, i used to take so much crap in high school before 'enjoy the silence' turned the football team into depeche fans. i clearly remember wearing the depeche t-shirt i bought at the violator gig to a high school football [i think it was the only one i went too] and i swear on all that is holy that some stupid girl saw me walking up the stairs and said, 'oh, depeche mode! i love them! have you heard that song 'enjoy the silence?' i LOVE that song.' i almost punched her in the face right then and there. idiot.

anyway, i thing 'enjoy the silence' will definitely go down as depeche's greatest moment. and well it should. what a lot people don't seem to realize is that 'enjoy the silence' was originally written as a ballad. it was only when floor and alan wilder got the crazy idea to turn it into a dance floor stomper during the violator sessions that depeche mode's fortunes would be irrevocably changed. i, too, remember hearing it only little portable radio late one sunday night on a radio show called 'rock over london,' or something to that effect. i had a blank tape in the player and i the second i heard 'new depeche mode' i hit the record button. needless to say, i played it over and over and over and a couple of months later, depeche was the biggest band in the world. what a great memory. i once even try to do the martin gore hairdo. thankfully no photographic of said hairdo exists.

at any rate, i've got something like 45 different version/remixes of the song in my itunes. one of my favorites is the live in mexico version. there's so much raw energy and emotion. it gives me goosebumps every time i listen to it. it makes me excited to see depeche again next fall. and special thanks to the folks over at T.U.B.E. for collecting all that great stuff and making it available to the masses. hats off to you.

→ depeche mode: enjoy the silence [live in mexico] | promo video
→ depeche mode: home [live in mexico] | promo video
→ depeche mode: enjoy the silence [reinterpreted by mike shinoda]
→ depeche mode: enjoy the silence [live acoustic/ballad version]
→ depeche mode: enjoy the silence [original home demo]