Depeche Mode People Are People CD

Depeche Mode: Martin Gore (vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer); David Gahan (vocals); Andy Fletcher (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Alan Wilder (keyboards, background vocals).
Recorded between December 1981 and January 1984 in Shoreditch, Blackfriars and Kreuzburg.
The unexpected American success of "People Are People," which remained the band's biggest U.S. hit until the start of the '90s, prompted this stateside-only compilation, very much a dog's breakfast of new and old songs alike. Earlier album cuts such as "Pipeline" and "Told You So" appear here, but the four new tracks understandably received the biggest attention. The title track itself, though the bandmembers have long since expressed embarrassment over it, still sounds like what it became, an engaging, instantly memorable pop hit -- if the lyrical sentiments are among Martin Gore's most naïvely sociopolitical before or since, David Gahan delivers them strongly, with Gore providing a fine counterpoint vocal. Musically, the explicit use of sampled metallic crashes and detailed production throughout makes the song one of the strongest incorporations of industrial music techniques in a more listener-friendly manner. Of the three other new tracks, "Get the Balance Right" is the strongest, a wickedly barbed but beautifully sung lyric on political/lifestyle posturing with a killer synth line melody. "Work Hard" veers towards the monotonous, while "Now This Is Fun" has a nice moody intro to recommend it. Given that both "People Are People" and "Get the Balance Right" ended up on the band's first proper singles compilation, this collection is now rendered one solely for the hardcore fans. ~ Ned Raggett
Depeche Mode's fourth American album is more a patchwork compilation of singles documenting a rather confusing period in the band's career. After the twinkly synthpop of their 1981 debut SPEAK AND SPELL, founding songwriter Vince Clarke left the band in the hands of alternate songwriter Martin Gore, a transition documented on the uneven but intriguing A BROKEN FRAME and CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN.
Gore escaped Clarke's musical and lyrical shadow with the release of "People Are People," a semi-industrial anthem with a clanking arrangement that sounded slightly more like Throbbing Gristle than A Flock of Seagulls, and semi-politicized lyrics concerning themes which would come to dominate Gore's writing over ensuing albums. Elsewhere, this collection features "Get the Balance Right," a near-forgotten gem of a single, and the long version of their 1983 hit "Everything Counts."