Day 5 & 6: Blasphemous Day
Doing two days in one today, as I missed tomorrow due to out-of-town FanimeCon commitments.
Day Five of the 30-day Depeche Mode challenge – A Depeche Mode song you don’t really like
This has to go to “Black Day,” the bizarre alternate version of “Black Celebration” that appears as a B-side to “Stripped” 12-inch single. (Sample on iTunes.) I don’t have a problem with a bluesy dirge with harmonica-esque sounds, but this short afterthought makes me wonder why it was even public, when the final version of “Black Celebration” turned out so wonderfully. It sounds more like an alternate demo.. a demo of a demo… flat and repetitive. Thankfully it’s short, but not short enough that I wouldn’t push skip if it came on.
Honorable mentions: “Monument” & “The Great Outdoors”
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Day Six of the 30-day Depeche Mode challenge – Your favorite song from the Some Great Reward era
Some Great Reward has several stand-out tracks, but “Blasphemous Rumors” wins, hands down.
After years of listening to it, the intro still sucks me into my headspace immediately on play. The musical atmosphere is easy to get lost in – so much so that I usually find it difficult to work while listening to it. “Blasphemous Rumors” is one of Depeche Mode’s first truly epic tracks, perhaps an evolutionary predecessor to classics like “Black Celebration” and “Enjoy the Silence.” Not to mention the razor-sharp lyrics that center on life’s often cruel irony – something that just about anyone can relate to, but many pretend to forget. Additionally, talking about suicide or questioning God – especially in pop music – is still controversial today, let alone 28 years ago. Depeche were bold to release it, despite the bans and criticisms they ended up dealing with. Of course, we wouldn’t expect anything less from the lads!
