Depeche Mode's Violator Box

Keen Depeche Mode fans will have been following the band’s very methodical and expansive 12-inch singles reissue series. I use the word “following”, because only the most cash-flush fans will be buying. There’s “keen” and then there’s “keen”. And then there’s another word beyond “keen” for those fans prepared to buy stuff they probably already own in one format or another. But you know … vinyl, nostalgia, collectors, and completists, there’s really no accounting for the lengths some fans will go to in order to scratch an itch.

Basically, each single from the band’s extensive archives forms part of a vinyl box set depending on which album the single originated from. So there’s a box set for Speak & Spell singles, a box set for A Broken Frame singles, and so on and so on. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have already recognised the need to be selective about what you buy, sans a lotto win or the desire to take out another mortgage. Which brings me nicely to the Violator box which arrived in July. 

Violator is without question the band’s finest moment. Depeche Mode’s masterpiece. I’d argue it all day. And have done so many times. The singles extracted from the album were ‘Personal Jesus’, ‘Enjoy The Silence’, ‘Policy of Truth’, and ‘World In My Eyes’. But the box contains ten 12-inch singles, because you don’t just get the four 12-inch versions and the associated b-sides, you get a whole bunch of remixed material as well … in this case, a total of 29 tracks and a full three hours of Depeche Mode (across the ten singles). 

There’s four different versions of ‘Personal Jesus’, SEVEN different versions of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ – including the 15-and-a-half-minute ‘The Quad: Final Mix’, which features a number of producers including Adrian Sherwood and Tim Simenon – four versions of ‘Policy of Truth’, and four mixes of ‘World In My Eyes’. Plus of course, those b-sides: a couple of mixes of ‘Dangerous’, and three versions of (‘World’ flip) ‘Happiest Girl’, plus many others.

Those adding additional studio fairy dust include Mute Records boss Daniel Miller (naturally), Flood, and Francois Kevorkian, to name only the most prolific among the many involved.

It begs the question – how much Depeche Mode is too much Depeche Mode? … I can’t answer that either, but if you have to be selective and have enough cash to splurge on just one box in the ongoing series, I’m fairly certain this is the one to grab.

You can have a look at what is available in the series (so far) by scrolling down on this link (click here) ... if you dare.

Here’s the ‘Dangerous’ Sensual Mix … ‘Dangerous’ being the original b-side to ‘Personal Jesus’ and an instant Mode classic in its own right: