Released: March 17, 1986
Mute (UK)/Sire Records (US)
How much do I love this album? A lot. Nostalgia reigns supreme when I listen to Black Celebration. What happens when I hear it? I remember being blown away with how profound I thought this band was. How much deeper and relevant than the bubblegum pop of the top 40 charts it was. Beginning to notice that the British pop charts were better than the US and looking to the Brits to guide me in my music development. (Golly, they're so lucky. They have bands like Depeche Mode and The Smiths and we've got Tiffany and Debbie Gibson.) How this album resonated in my young teenage soul. These weren't songs that I heard on the radio, by golly. They were too good for that. Sure, others knew "People are People", but did anyone know "New Dress"? No! Just my friends and me at TSFY!!!! (One of those friends made a tape of the album for me, which was how I was able to listen to it in the first place. THANK YOU, WAYNE!!!!!) Sitting in Miyo Sakashita's bedroom, listening to the very dark (and sexy) lyrics and thinking we were so deep, too. Exploring the justifications for a God who could allow such horrible things to happen in our world. Love. Will anyone ever love me? Why doesn't Justin see how much I love him and love me back? You know. Stuff like that. Oh yes, profound, my friends. Absolutely.
And I still think this is a great album. For Depeche Mode, fondly dubbed Depressed Mods-- either by me or someone else and I just thought it was me-- this one might just be my favorite. Oh sure, Catching Up is great fun because it comprises the hits from the first 5 years, but Black Celebration wasn't a hit. Not then. It wasn't the same as the others and it is black, my friends. Bleak, black, dark... a downer you can dance to. Wonderful stuff. And, despite one of my favorite songs feeling stuck on at the end and therefore seeming very out of place, it still delivers a very cohesive start to finish journey. ("But Not Tonight" was, indeed, stuck on at the end for the US release. It's not on the UK album.) The choice to end one song and begin the next, almost seamlessly, carrying you from one to the next without interruption creates a very cool effect and, according to something I read, was kind of a new trick back in the mid-80's. Very melodic and Martin Gore and David Gahan both have solid vocals, never overtaken by the instruments. They're clear and strong. And you can sing along real nice. It's fun that somewhere in the back of my brain I have retained the lyrics. I bought this CD, I don't know, 8 years ago? And I still knew all the words. Maybe they're not as profound, but they're still interesting and relevant. Not much has changed in the world. Ugly destruction and greed continues to drive governments, we're still fed lines of crap about how it's all getting better. And by golly we love to know what our celebrities are up to! (Or, another interpretation would be that the world's going to pot and Laura Bush just bought an SUV.)
Jet airliner shot from sky
Famine horror, millions die
Earthquake terror figures rise
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
You can't change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change the a vote
And when you change a vote
You may change the world
In black townships fires blaze
Prospects better premier says
Within sight are golden days
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
I mean, really, has anything changed that much?
No comments:
Post a Comment