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Violator

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Violator · After Music for the Masses, the band set to work in 1989 with the producer Flood, at the suggestion of label boss Daniel Miller. Martin Gore supplied simpler demos, so that the group could do more of the working-out in the studio. They first worked for seven weeks in Milan, then at Puk Studios in Denmark. They were looking for a harder sound, and there is more guitar than on earlier records.

Personal Jesus grew out of a demo with just a beat and a melody on acoustic guitar. For the stomping sound they recorded people jumping on flight cases. According to Flood, the single showed that this was Depeche Mode, but different. The album brought the group international fame, with Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth and World in My Eyes as singles. It is their best-selling album and appears on lists of the best records of the 1990s.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Personal Jesus and notice the stomping rhythm: the sound was made from recordings of people jumping on flight cases.

Track list

  1. 1World In My Eyes4:27Apple Music ↗
  2. 2Sweetest Perfection4:44Apple Music ↗
  3. 3Personal Jesus4:56Apple Music ↗
  4. 4Halo4:30Apple Music ↗
  5. 5Waiting for the Night6:07Apple Music ↗
  6. 6Enjoy the Silence6:13Apple Music ↗
  7. 7Policy of Truth4:55Apple Music ↗
  8. 8Blue Dress5:38Apple Music ↗
  9. 9Clean5:33Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs