Depeche Mode - Precious

In order to review this release fairly, set aside the fact that it is Depeche Mode and value each track just as a piece of music in its own right. Remixers do have the licence to interpret tracks in their own ways! For me the standout tracks are the two Sasha mixes - which are both layered and textured so deeply, with superb production quality throughout, and enhance the themes of the original version. The Spooky mix is airy and lush with lots of atmosphere and with melodies common to the original, the Gargantuan mix is a brilliant dubbed up alternative for the dancefloor, with emphasis on bass and filtered vocals. These two versions are worth the money alone, but the other mixes are alright - namely the Michael Mayer version with its solid bassline and subtle melodies.

A wide selection of mixes on the one disc lends itself well for a range of tastes and is overall a great opener to the album.

I guess my opinion about this single would be the total oposite:

With all the latest technology in the audio field, and the improvement of sound, the music becomes cheaper and cheaper. And here's a good example: This is a brilliant song which was simply currupted by amateur remixers (sorry Sasha - you've already did much better then that) with hopless tries, to put this song on the dance floor. Well, it doesn't work like that. This song is a good example for something you just can't speed up the vocalist and put it on some basic house loops, which sounds like so many other boring tracks. It miss the whole concept:
This pointless single is just Dave Gahgan's voice, sampled into others metirial. It's not House, it's not Electro-Clash and not definitly NOT Depeche Mode! The band has nothing to do with this single, though their name, logo, credits and photo are printed on it.

A waste of precious money.
A waste of precious time.
A waste of precious space in your collection.

Unfortunately, the rest of the singles from the album have the same story. Where the hell are Shep Pettibone, Adrian Sherwood and William Orbit, when you need 'em???

Precious is the beautiful first single from Depeche Mode and this is the maxi single for the single release. Overall the remixes all complement the original version of this song and the strongest ones are Sasha's Spooky Mix - Edit and Sasha's Gargantuan Vocal Mix - Edit. Sasha has done an excellent job remixing this mellow vocal track and made it very club friendly yet not making it too obnoxiously beat heavy. Although Sasha's remixes are quite heavy on the bass the beats are quite nice and the song has taken on a much more electronic form than it is in it's original version.

Michael Mayer's Balearic Mix is yet another mellow remix and has a relaxed feel to it. It's mostly a vocal remix with like i said a relaxed/laidback feel to it.

The Misc. Full Vocal mix is just an extended version/edit of the original track. It sounds good but I like the original much more as I am used to it. I like my remixes to sound like remixes and this just does not sound like a remix.

The Misc. Crunch Mix is a little more upbeat than the other remixes but not as upbeat as the Motor Remix. It's a fun remix and quite nice to dance to.

The Motor Remix is the one remix on here that has basically increased the bpm's of the original version and made it a much more upbeat club friendly track. The mostly instrumental remix is quite energetic and fierce sounding. Although it's quite good I still prefer the Sasha Spooky Mix - Edit over all the remixes on this maxi single.

Overall a good maxi single but not as strong as other maxi's Depeche Mode have released in the past. Looking forward to the next single!!