Halo: The Story Behind Depeche Mode's Classic Album Violator

Product Information

Produced by the band with the influential studio guru Flood and mixed by the legendary Francois Kevorkian, 'Violator' is viewed as a hugely groundbreaking body of work by countless musicians and DJs, such was its progressive synthesis of electronic, rock, dance and pop music. million copies following its release in March 1990, ‘Violator’ gave the cult British band – Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher and Alan Wilder – the critical acclaim they finally deserved. The book takes the form of a detailed oral history from those who were there in the studio with the band, working behind the cameras, designing sleeves and appearing in the videos; support acts, tour managers, publicists and fans.

The type of audience Depeche Mode had made the events that unfolded at The Wherehouse all the more remarkable. Produced by the band with the influential studio guru Flood and mixed by the legendary François Kevorkian, ‘Violator’ is viewed as a hugely groundbreaking body of work by countless musicians and DJs, such was its progressive synthesis of electronic, rock, dance and pop music. Everyone has a favourite album of course, but Violator seems to be generally thought of as a fan favourite. On one hand many of the arrangements were fantastic – Everything Counts or Never Let Me Down Again, on the other hand so many songs got the arrangements that didn’t work properly, like Enjoy the Silence (at least didn’t age well). Each single would have its associated radio and TV play, with the latter more often than not featuring an accompanying lip-synced performance to a backing track.Thank goodness David agreed to help out when I asked him as he has been the enthusiastic and wonderful partner I needed to get this over the finish line. I then had a very serious mountain biking accident, which completely knocked my physical and mental energy levels for about a year.

The ‘World Violation’ tour was the last time they performed as a synth band, I don’t hold up that tour in the annals of history as maybe other Devotees do.This period in the band’s history also found them forging a deeply trusted and influential partnership with photographer and designer Anton Corbijn, often viewed as the fifth member of Depeche Mode at this time. Jim Trenton was present too with a Request Video camera crew and their footage shows just how frantic events became as the evening proceeded. This is the crux of the book; it’s important that it’s about the recorded output, but of equal importance is the marketing, the visuals, the videos and the way the tour was produced. It seems almost impossible to believe and, had the event not received widespread coverage after its conclusion, would anyone really accept that Depeche Mode had created such a frenzy that their fans went on the rampage? Moreover, in the book, there are many references to external sources that are worth reaching to complement the explored issue.