Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence·04

In celebrations of the massive end-of-2004 remix collection, new mixes of DM's most chart-successful track were issued. Track-by-track analysis: Mike Shinoda's version sounds like "Numb (Part 63)"; so if you're a Linkin Park fanatic, you'll love it; if not, you'll avoid it. My favorite mix here is by Timo and Martin. You could tell that a lot of thought and care went into doing this because everything about this is just stellar and breathtaking beautiful, even with the darker chords added. They didn't want this to simply be a re-hash of old stuff; instead, their mix is forward-thinking and inventive. Surprisingly, it's at 123 BPM, which may be off-putting for some; not for me at all. DM, I'm sure, are proud of the job done here. One of Timo's best works ever, right alongside Green Velvet and Kelis. The Ewan Pearson and Richard X mixes have more in common with the original 1990 mix, so retro-heads may vibe with those more. Ewan adds more acid-house/electro tweaking to his rub; and Richard X adds stuff that may make it indistinguishable from those early '90s productions. This package also has a tough, mildly progressive rework of "World In My Eyes" by Cicada that gets beeter for me with each listen. Finally, Black Strobe's mix of "Something To Do" - don't get it at all. Fans of older DM material will likely flock to it, though. I think the "this is something to do" vocal phrase that keeps repeating in this mix got in the heads of Strobe too much on this one. Overall, for me, 5 out of 6 is pretty good; the Timo Maas rub of ETS makes it essential (why wasn't that on the single-CD Best of Remixes set?). Don't be surprised if more classic were unearthed for more new mixes - but they likely won't be as good as these ones.