Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion

I heard some songs from this album years ago, but it wasn't until I stumbled by chance upon songbook for this album when I realized what its really about. It reads just like any great book/poetry, not just musical lyrics and that's one of the reasons why DM are way ahead of the competitors like Duran Duran and many 80s synth poppers who crossed over into the 90s. Actually, someone called it once "doomy synth-pop" and i would agree (although by this point they were striving for more agressive guitar sound). There was a reasong for being so gloomy at this point, as Dave problems with heroin and overall exhaustion of the band threatened to tear it apart. In a way, I see a bridge between "SOFAD" and "Ultra" - both of them are dedicated to discussion of life and death, but whereas former shows DM on the verge of collapse, latter shows them in their top form with all the dark clouds left behind. In a way, those 2 albums complement each other.

Shamefully, often overlooked by electronic listeners of depeche mode. This to me, is so far the best depeche mode album ever. There's depth, blues, rock and gospel influences sure, but underneath it all lies the best electronic twiddlings dm has ever offered. listen to the last a minutes of Judas for a quick example, or the instrumentation of the original mix (album version) of In Your Room and you'll see what I mean. The sound style crafted here is soon borrowed by bands like Massive Attack's Mezzanine. Mark Stent (producer/mixer) who worked on SOFAD produced Mezzanine and the feel is much the same (massive attack are also self proclaimed Depeche fans). It'
s a fact even that some of the snares and bass use on mezzanine are from the same source as those on SOFAD. Fans of the bass style / ambeince should also check out the album; John Came - Rhythmicon, also on Mute records -- specially the track Ink Tank, it almost sounds like a SOFAD B-side.