The second album is considered the worst of early Depeche Mode, an attempt to sound old but still just a teenage desire. That doesn’t do justice to the attempt to reorganize the quartet after the departure of pop idealist Vince Clarke.
At the end of “A Broken Frame” Depeche Mode would have found their most influential instrumentalist to date: Alan Wilder. And Martin Gore moved up, he was now a songwriter. Clarke could never write more beautiful pieces than he did.
Except for “Leave in Silence”, none of the songs make it into today’s concerts, but this early masterpiece contained everything that defines Depeche Mode, sadness, disillusionment, lonerism: “I would stop this thing from spreading like a cancer / What can I say? (I don’t want to play) anymore.” “Leave in Silence”, “See You”, even the forcedly optimistic, almost 1980s Beach Boys-sounding “The Meaning Of Love” were the standout songs on the record.
The cover – trimmed to look like a historical photo – already indicated the later developed preference for Eastern European/Russian imagery.
The text comes from the list “All Depeche Mode albums in the ranking”
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Did Depeche Mode record a “Memento Mori” live album in Mexico City? This rumor has been persistent in the fan scene for several weeks. Accordingly, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Christian Eigner and Peter Gordeno used their three gigs in the Mexican capital (September 21-25, 2023) for recordings. Nothing has been confirmed yet. However, it is certain that Depeche Mode, following an unofficial tradition and good business sense, release recordings of their tours for the home video market – they have been doing this for around 20 years.
“The rumor mill is bubbling,” as the DM supporters say. House photographer and filmmaker Anton Corbijn has already been spotted in Mexico. Fans are also speculating whether the band is simply filming a typical DM concert, or whether only live versions of the twelve “Memento Mori” songs are being recorded instead (which would mean that some of the pieces would have to celebrate their live premiere – so unlikely is), or whether the Brits have in mind a kind of tour film like “101” (1989) or “Spirits in the Forest” (2019), i.e. a mixture of live images and fan cult impressions.
A fan also started a rumor that Depeche Mode were planning a mix of live recordings and Day of the Dead in Mexico. “Día de los Muertos” is one of the most important holidays in Mexico: on the days between October 31st and November 2nd, Mexicans remember the deceased. But more of a celebration than a day of mourning.
The “Día de los Muertos” would fit the DeMo image in that the “Memento Mori” album is intended to be understood as a reminiscence of the late keyboardist Andrew Fletcher, whose life Martin and Dave also shared on stage, as in songs like “ World In My Eyes”.
The first photos of displays on the screens in Mexico City are also circulating on Facebook. Accordingly, an “Untitled Depeche Mode Documentary” is being filmed. A rights notice that every spectator who enters the stadium gives their consent to be filmed in which they could be seen:
Hopefully we will know more when the indoor tour begins in the European winter of 2024. Depeche Mode recently released an official video for the album track “My Favorite Stranger”, the visuals of which were already flickering across the stage screens.