DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 26: WORLD IN MY EYES

 

The lot of the fourth and final single from an album is generally an unhappy one. Everyone's bought the album so everyone has heard the song, so are casual fans really that interested? It's been released because there's a tour still to promote or some remixes to use up.

That wasn't the case with World In My Eyes however as it was one of Depeche Mode's most exciting single packages. Two new B-sides! A fancy limited edition!! A video that showed live footage from World Violation!!!

Let me take you on a tr....oh, never mind.

AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK - WORLD IN MY EYES

The Single

BONG 10 announced that World In My Eyes would be the band's next single in fairly understated style saying "The final single release from Violator, World In My Eyes, will be released as a mini EP in late September to tie in with Depeche Mode's European dates. It will also feature two new songs." As we will see, and as you know, it did feature two new songs. I'm old fashioned and an EP is four songs. A single with three tracks is a three track single surely and not a mini EP. I'm sure nobody cares however I'm not doing my job (job?) if I don't pick up on the smallest of details.

The three track single/three quarter ep was released on 17th September.  There weren't too many reviews but there was of course one in Smash Hits.

The guest reviewer that week was MC Tunes, a man very few of you will remember. He was from Manchester so that was almost enough on its own in 1990. That said, I did buy the cassette single of the song he released with 808 State called The Only Rhyme That Bites, but I was young. Anyway, Mr Tunes us highly complimentary called World In My Eyes "a bloody good dance tune" before going on to say that Dave sounds like Pavarotti compared to Shaun Ryder which isn't hard to argue against. 

Picture courtesy of Michael Rose

The NME was its typically sniffy self. It's hard to work out what the reviewer is on about on first read. . It seems to praise them but can't help but mention Just Can't Get Enough. Some of the language used is a little off colour too, even by the standards of 1990.

The single didn't perform that well in the UK, again doubtless hindered by a lack of an in-studio Top Of The Pops appearance. The video was shown a couple of times but that was that. It entered the charts at number 28 on the 29th of September and climbed to 21 the following week. It then went up further to a high of 17, before falling to 22, 46 and finally 66 before that was all there was and it disappeared for good.

The song itself is of course as Kraftwerk like as Depeche Mode have ever and, lyrically, it is firmly rooted in the bedroom. Not quite Prince but getting there. It opened every gig on the World Violation tour and did so in spectacular style and has been played 623 times to date. The only recent tours where it hasn't really featured are the Delta Machine tour (6 times) and the Exciter tour where it wasn't played at all. It's amazing how many times I say that. Was anything actually played on that tour? Oh yes, The Dead Of Night was. Never mind. For years I thought the Devotional version of World In My Eyes was the definitive version of the song but the Global Spirit Tour version was astonishing. When I heard it at the Barrowlands gig (have I mentioned I was there? I have? Ok), it blew my mind. It was a real standout on the last tour; a classic given a new lease of life (see also Everything Counts).

The two B-Sides have never been played live, not even as a random Martin choice during a solo spot. The first one that appeared on the 33 1/3 rpm b-side of the 7" was Happiest Girl (Jack Mix). It's a great B-side but very much a track suited to that role than the role of album track. That's not to say I don't like it - far from it - I just don't think that it would have fitted on Violator. It's yet another song about sex featuring thighs, eyes, lips, hips, skin and...err...deep within, all of which clearly make the focus of the song happy. The bassline is a lovely thing and the middle "And I would have to pinch her" part a joy.

The next new track is Sea Of Sin (Tonal Mix), a real lost gem in the Depeche catalogue. Whereas Happiest Girl is a pervy pop song, Sea Of Sin is a darker track, all moody electronics and lyrics about diving into whatever a sea of sin is. Whatever it is, it certainly seems to get better as it gets wetter, although I presume that the person in the sea would get wetter, not the sea itself. Anyway, that ridiculous pedantry aside, it's a bloody great track.

The Violator era was Depeche Mode's finest B-Side era. Outstanding all round.

The Video

This was a thrilling video at the time and, to be honest, still is. The glimpses of the World Violation tour footage were incredible, especially for those of us who were unable to go to a gig on that tour. The drive-in cinema part of the video was filmed on 26th July 1990 at the Motor Vu Theatre in Tooele, Utah which you can still visit today. At the time, the drive-in was owned by the parents of Mistie Bradshaw Fowks who first spoke about this to Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos Facebook Group. Kevin May and I have interviewed her for Halo too and you can read all about her experiences of the filming in the book. Suffice to say, she had a great time, met the band AND got free gig tickets, so not a bad experience at all. The live footage was taken from the band's two shows at the World Music Theater in Chicago on 2nd and 3rd July 1990. The standard single version of the video is shorter than the version that appears on the video compilation Strange Too.

The video opens with Dave lying on a bed. Last time we saw him, he was leaning on the roof of a car having got fed up with the Policy Of Truth girls and their Depeche double crossing ways. By this point, he's turned his back on women. It's just Dave and Dave only from now on.

Oh wait. Here he is, back in a snazzy old fashioned car, and he has a date. Being an old romantic, he takes her to see a Drive-In film. Imagine that. You go on a date with the lead singer of a band famous for singing with live chickens - your head must be spinning. "What will we do tonight I wonder," you think, "what romantic film will he take me to see?"

Well Dave keeps his date guessing as, by the time we see them again, it's dark. Suddenly, the music starts and it turns out that Dave's idea of a date is taking someone to see footage of him and his mates jumping about (well - spinning (Dave), nodding (Martin), having a lovely time (Fletch) and Alaning (Alan) anyway) on stage. Hardly the stuff of Casanova. Rumour has it that he put the roof down and then played the demo of Hole To Feed as a prelude to the film. Shocking.

The film starts and...wait a minute...Big DM curtains! A crowd! Dave on stage! Fletch waving! Grainy live footage is everywhere. What is this? Look - there's Martin in some inappropriate shorts! Big screens! Alan! And he's not wearing leather. What on earth is this?

Dave then whispers to the woman at the "Let me show you the world in my eyes" line at the end of verse two before we cut back to the screens to see Martin's head on screen as the "woo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oooh" noise kicks in at the end of the verse, like a fluffy haird, bondage gear clad Wizard Of Oz. By this point, I imagine Dave's date is thoroughly bored. 

Then -  more live things! Martin nodding about looking ace! Look at those films! There's Alan's head! Is that a sparkler? Why is there a sparkler? It's Alan's head on a screen again! There's a woman in a cowboy hat! There's Martin and a guitar! Fletch's head! Martin in the sunshine on the screen! A big rear view mirror and Dave clapping. WHAT IS GOING ON? THIS LOOKS LIKE THE BEST LIVE SHOW EVER AND I'M ONLY 16 AND HAVE EXAMS AND DON'T KNOW WHERE BIRMINGHAM IS WHY WON'T THEY COME TO SCOTLAND? Are they drums? DRUMS? Dave's dancing in front of Martin and Martin is wiggling his guitar at him.

The film of Dave and his friends ends and he and his date turn to each other. If you really look, you can see her mouth "Where were the chickens? You said ther would be chickens and a spacehopper. Hang on - are YOU the guy that wore sandals and socks in the Master & Servant video? Let me out of here." 

All of a sudden, the Dave from the bed at the start picks up the car. What? Hang on, there's footage of the band leaving the stage to distract us. Dave is now playing with the car. What? This is a deep concept.

Or perhaps it isn't. What it is however is a thrilling glimpse of the World Violation tour and that is fine by me.

The Formats

As I mentioned earlier, BONG20 is a three track release. Side A, pictured above, features the Single Version of World In My Eyes and plays at 45rpm. The four band members feature on the front of different versions of the single, all doing the World In My Eyes hand signal thing. On the 7", it's Fletch's turn.

Above is the 33 1/3 rpm B-side of this mini ep/three track single with Martin in silhouette action on the tour.

Time to head to promo corner. The 7" promo, BONG20R, is different from the 7" in one respect - the A-Side label as you can see.

The B-side, tracklisting and rear sleeve art is identical to BONG20.

There were two promo 12" singles. P12BONG20 features the Mayhem Mode mix of World In My Eyes and, on the B-side, Happiest Girl (The Pulsating Orbital Mix) by The Orb. This is in fact an instrumental of that remix and this 12" is the only place you can find it. The recreation of this 12" in the Violator The 12" Singles boxset was a lovely surprise.

The second promo 12" is, I understand, limited to 500 only. It's called 12BONG20 because it features the same three mixes as you find on that single - World In My Eyes (Oil Tank Mix), Happies Girl (Kiss-A-Mix) and Sea Of Sin (Sensoria).

Each copy is numbered and features a sticker on the front starring Dave - that's mine above.

The vinyl is a white label version of the standard 12". If you want this, it will cost you. There is only one on Discogs as at today's date and it's £350

The promo CD, CDBONG20R is a lovely orange thing and features the same three tracks as BONG20. It comes in a jewel case and has no artwork.

Back in the land of official formats, the cassette single, CBONG20, features Alan as its cover star.

It features the same three tracks as the 7" and has an orange label on the A-side and a white one on the B-side.

12BONG20 stars Martin on the cover. The A-side features World In My Eyes (Oil Tank Mix) which is a glorious track.

The B-side remixes are ok but not really as good as the standard 7" versions. The Kiss-A-Mix of Happiest Girl has a dreadful title, but an interesting breakdown from about 3 minutes 30 in. Sea Of Sin (Sensoria) goes for a more electronic version of the original but loses the original's sense of darkness. It's fine but a bit of a chance missed.

CDBONG20 features Dave on the cover, It is a 4 track, 5" CD with the Single Version of World In My Eyes accompanying the remixes from 12BONG20. Those remixes are in fact shorter than the ones you find on the 12" because the single was originally planned as a 3" CD single. So there you go.

There are of course limited editions too. L12BONG20 is an absolute masterpiece and that's before we get to the music. It is a 12" sealed inside a blue gel pack which you must cut open to access the record. It is sensational. The front has Alan and Andy doing the sign and the quite marvellous explanation of what this is i.e.

What more do you need to know? That is just brilliant. There is also a little white feature at the top showing you who is on the cover (if you're the type of moron who writes a 2000 word blog about it 30 years later, that is ideal)

Dave and Martin star on the rear sleeve:

How do you open a blue gel pack 12" anyway you ask. Well, you cut it open and the package even tells you how to do that:

"Violate here." If you're like me (and I'm afraid to tell you that you are), that will tickle you immensely. Obviously, as we have long since learned, I am an arse and I cut mine on the wrong place entirely but what are you going to do? I have two other sealed versions to keep me happy. I am like that. Once you open it, it gets even lovelier:

Just. Look. At. That.

Live shots, a luxury inner sleeve all glossy and gorgeous, a beautiful cover and a record that is stark and mesmerising in its sheer gloriousness.

There is a record too of course, The remix on the A-Side is World In My Eyes (Dub In My Eyes). It's a brilliant remix and features the robot voices that star on the Devotional version.

The rear of the inner sleeve and of the sleeve itself are wonderful.

The two tracks featured here are the rather nice Mode To Joy mix of World In My Eyes by Jon Marsh of The Beloved and it's accompanied by The Pulsating Orbital Mix of Happiest Girl by The Orb.

LCDBONG20 is equally beautiful. It features the live shots we see in the inner sleeve of L12BONG20 but in a different order which is nice.

There are six tracks here, four of which we already know - the Dub In My Eyes and Mode To Joy mixes of World In My Eyes, Happiest Girl (Jack Mix) and Sea Of Sin (Sensoria). The Mayhem Mode mix of World In My Eyes is the 5th track,  another Jon Marsh remix, more upbeat than Mode To Joy.  The 6th track is Happiest Girl (The Pulsating Orbital Vocal Mix) a longer and a bit more vocally version of the Pulsating Orbital Mix.

The 2004 CD reissue CDBONG20X brought together all the remixes from all the formats. The Oil Tank Mix is freed from its 3" shackles and in fact has a longer intro than you will find anywhere else.

In Germany, this 7" promo was a nice release.

It says it only features two tracks but don't worry Sea Of Sin (Tonal Mix) fans - it's there too

The German standard 12" is the same as 12BONG20 as is the German L12 version. It's not pictured as I don't have it (yet).  I can tell you that it doesn't come in a gel pack but it does have a nice shiny inner sleeve.

The German standard CD single features the same four tracks as CDBONG albeit the three remixes are full length and not 3" edits.

The LCDBONG20 equivalent is a shiny CD with the same shiny six tracks.

The French standard 12" is the same as the UK one as is the L12. Again, I don't have that so there is no picture. 

The stanard French CD single is the same as the German one in terms of track length

The French LCD is just what you'd expect.

In Spain, a three track promo 7" was released with a sticker on the front that either tells you of a phenomenal score in what must have been an astonishing El Clasico or the dates in November on whihc Depeche Mode played World Violation gigs in Madrid and Barcelona.

The Spanish standard 12" is what you've come to expect by now in terms of tracklisting.

The Spanish L12 doesn't have a gel pack outer sleeve, nor does it have a shiny inner. It is a paper sleeve albeit one that features the same photos as the UK inner sleeve.

In America, there was a four track promo CD featuring the Single Version, Oil Tank Mix, Dub In My Eyes and Mode To Joy mixes. There is also a promo 12" and a one track promo CD. They remain on my wantlist.

The US 12" features 5 tracks. On the A-Side we have the Oil Tank Mix, Dub In My Eyes and Sea Of Sin (Sensoria).

The rear sleeve is lovely. On the B-Side of the record, you will find Mode To Joy and Happiest Girl (Jack Mix).

The 7 track CD single features the 12" tracks with the exception of Dub In My Eyes and adds the Single Version of World In My Eyes, Sea Of Sin (Tonal Mix) and Happiest Girl (The Pulsating Orbital Mix).

We end in Japan with a 10 track CD single featurung all the mixes we've looked at above.

World In My Eyes brought the incredibly successful Violator era to an end and wonderfully so. Depeche Mode would finally take a year off and take a break from each other.

By the time they reconvened, it was clear things were never going to be the same. 

We'll get a Feel for that next time

DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 25: POLICY OF TRUTH

 

Three weeks before World Violation kicked off, a third single from Violator appeared. Policy Of Truth is a song loved by most Depeche Mode fans but disliked by a strangely high number.

Why is that? Why is Policy Of Truth the bar/toilet song of choice for some gig going Depeche Mode fans? What is wrong with them? (apologies if you have a condition that forces you to go to the bathroom a lot and it always happens to be during this song. I had no idea).

Do they have something to hide? Well, no, that's just a very obvious way of ending this bit before starting the real thing. Policy Of Truth is an overlooked classic - let me deliver the proof.

SO CIVILISED - POLICY OF TRUTH

The Single

Policy Of Truth, BONG19, was released on 7th May 1990 in only five formats. Chart rules had changed since Enjoy The Silence's eight format bonanza, leaving collectors to outwardly grumble, but inwardly breathe a sigh of relief.  After the relatively joyous reception given to Enjoy The Silence, the music press of the United Kingdom returned to form and gave Policy Of Truth a hard time.

Melody Maker kicked things off with this rubbish. It's hard to know where to begin here. OK, Policy Of Truth may not be everyone's cup of tea, but words like "ineffectual" and "lardy" are somewhat over the top. The decision to call Francois Kervorkian a tosser is also baffling to say the least. The remarkable thing is that, in its review of Violator, the same publication had called Policy Of Truth "one of five potential singles" that was "based around a sadistic, cynical electro-riff," adding that it "oozes with genuine danger." Hardly ineffectual then. 

No doubt imagining that a music press besotted with The KLF would embrace a beautiful gatefold 12" where Depeche Mode were remixed by that band, Mute sent copies to the British music press in the naive hope of glorious wall-to-wall praise. That didn't work did it? It was deemed "f***ing boring" in the NME. Marvellous.

You can always rely on Smash Hits. Not only did its 2nd May edition provide the lyrics, but Mike Soutar also gave the single a glowing review saying:

"Have you noticed how the Mode always have the most bizarre song titles in pop? Master & Servant, Shake The Disease, Strangelove and now Policy Of Truth. This has much to do with Martin Gore who writes the tunes and who, it is well documented, is a bit mad. As usual the title of this one doesn't have much to do with the lyrics themselves which, in turn, don't make much sense (well nothing I could work out anyway) but in the proud tradition of Mode singles (especially the last two, Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence from their lastest LP), this is a thumpingly good dancefloor stomper."

Let's leave aside the obvious criticisms there and enjoy the good review. Away from the UK, The Boston Globe in its Violator review of 19th March said that Policy Of Truth was "(O)ne of the album's better songs...thanks to an alluring synth line tipped by a sliding bass note - a tiny infectious hook courtesy of Gore's treated guitar." Quite specific but ultimately positive.

The single entered the UK charts on 19th May at number 28. Following a showing of the video on Top Of The Pops, it leapt to number 16 the following week but climbed no higher. It slipped to 18, 30, 51 and finally it was too late to change events and the song hit 70 before disappearing forever. It was a very disappointing performance after Enjoy The Silence but the lack of an in-studio appearance no doubt hindered the single's progress. In America, the single climbed to number 15 on the Billboard chart making it the only Depeche Mode single to chart higher in America than in Britain. Amaze your friends and lovers with that fact and watch as they run away from you very quickly indeed.

I do like Policy Of Truth but as it is from the Violator period, I am of course bound to say that. It's perhaps less of an obvious single choice than Halo but there is something gorgeously dark about it that I can't help but love. The band have played it live 561 times on most tours since World Violation with the exception of the Exciter tour. It was only played 10 times on the Global Spirit Tour. Dave's band of pub rockers playing bad Depeche cover songs played it 62 times on the Paper Monsters tour but the less said about that the better. 

The B-Side is an absolute gem. Kaleid is a stomping instrumental with a bassline that gives a clear nod to the UK music scene at the time. Like Pimpf, it has featured live but has not actually been played. It opened all 88 World Violation gigs in a version that saw it mixed with Crucified. That sounds like something you'd see in the charts these days - Cru-C-FI$d feat. DJ KalEid and Sean Paul These things always seem to feature Sean Paul. I have no idea why as the man appears to be a buffoon. I am old, leave me alone.

The Video

We've seen Depeche Mode unlucky in love before. Remember Dave and the acid fuelled nightmare that was the video for The Meaning Of Love? Well this time, the whole band are given the runaround.

We open of a shot of Dave in grainy black and white (naturally) as he wanders through the then untrendy Meatpacking district of New York. The last time we saw him of course was in the Swiss Alps when he was on the run having eaten the rest of his bandmates (see the last blog for that to make any sense. It didn't really make sense then either mind you) and now, having discarded his trusty King outfit and binned the deckchair, he is free in the Big Apple. Hang on. He's having a smooch with someone. Hmmm.

And there's Martin! He's doing the same. He's taken his date to a picturesque...erm...fence and he's having a kiss too. Dave's friend has had enough however and she runs off apparently because Dave had played her a demo of Hole To Feed, leaving Dave to slap a wall in a fairly weedy way and then sing his way through the first verse of Policy Of Truth. At this point, we should all note how cool Dave looks, despite the wall slapping. Martin's friend has had enough of him too and she heads off leaving Martin standing there looking all sad in his wee hat. Aw.

Dave keeps on moping around before we catch our first glimpse of Fletch and he's with...wait a minute...the girl who Dave was kissing. For God's sake Fletcher. He's your friend man. She may have whispered "I really want to hear Toast Hawaii. It's far better than Hole To Feed" but that is no reason to cheat on your bandmate. I expected that of Wilder, but not you.

See? There's Wilder now. Before you can say "let's face it they proved all they needed to prove with Ultra so let's just move on," Alan ensnares Martin's friend in a huge leathery snog, his leathery contribution to the global band leatherometer for this video measures a respectable 95.34%.

Dave has had enough of all this inter-band adultery and so he steals a car. A bold move, but why not? As he drives off, Fletch is abandoned and he looks properly miffed. Alan is also left all alone, his partner making a quick escape just as he was getting to the relly interesting part of his lecture about the sampling capabilities of the Amiga home computer. 

At this point, it gets odd. Dave enters a flat and, suddenly in colour, lights an Empire State Building candle as a video of the woman he and Fletch are both convinced fancies them plays on the wall. Just let it go Dave. He can't though and instead sits on a bed with his head in his hands. Fletch is suddenly there too however and he's also watching a video, this time of both the women. What on earth are Depeche Mode doing? And why are Andy and Dave living together in this video hell?

They're not alone as the other two are there too. Alan sits on what looks like Dave's bed and looks fed up. Martin is still sad and still has his wee hat on. To lighten the mood, Dave starts singing but that doesn't do the trick. The other three send him out to get chips instead so he jumps in the now in colour car and heads off into New York. Martin goes back to the fence to see if his girlfriend has returned, but of course she hasn't. COME ON MARTIN - GET A GRIP. He really does look genuinely sad by this point.

Fletch and Alan are lured back to their bridge and wall respectively and are also stood up. This really is a sorry tale. We know who's to blame though and we find the two women having a drink and a good old laugh, taking the piss put of our naive, lovestruck heroes. 

"The small one kept his hat on all the time. Very odd.

That's nothing. The one with the big hair actually has leather socks."

Fed up of being mocked, Dave simply stops his car, gets out and leans on the roof.

And they thought being in a big fancy band would mean they got all the girls eh? 

The Formats

As I mentioned above, there were only five UK formats. The 7", BONG19, can be seen above. The cover is nice and the label very pleasant. The Single Version of Policy Of Truth features on that side.

The B-Side contains the Single Version of Kaleid.

Time for our usual visit to Promo Corner. The 7" promo, RBONG19 looks identical to BONG19. It features one different track however, with the Radio Edit of Policy Of Truth on the A-Side, The same version of Kaleid as on BONG19 is on the flip side as the kids say.

If there is no Ferret & Spanner sticker on the sleeve, the only way to find out if this is the promo 7" is to look at the etching on the matrix where, if it says R 7 BONG 19 you  know you have the promo. The photo I attempted of mine above offers little by way of visual assistance.

The four track 12" promo P12BONG19 features three remixes of Policy Of Truth - Capitol Mix, Pavlov's Dub and Trancentral Mix alongside Kaleid (Remix).

The promo CD, BONG19R, contains the same two tracks as RBONG19. It says it features the 7" version of Policy Of Truth but that is in fact a vicious lie. You don't know who you can trust these days do you?

It was the 90's so that means there was a cassette single. CBONG19 is a colourful affair featuring the various different covers of the 7", CD and 12" singles inside it.

The other side of the sleeve is hevay on information but light on pictures. The cassette itself features the same two tracks as the 7".

12BONG19 is a lovely thing. On the A-side we find the Beat Box mix of Policy Of Truth by Francois Kervorkian. It's like an extended version of the track with Dave's vocals given more space than in the Single versions. If you love classic Depeche Mode remixes, you'll love this. The Beat Box mix is in fact an edit of the full mix. The full version appears on the 2004 reissued CD single and the US CD single from 1990. So there.

The first track on the B-side is the Captiol Mix of Policy Of Truth, again by Francois. It features a sample saying "I want to tell you my side of the case" that is taken from Richard Nixon's "Checkers" speech. Go to 58 seconds in below:

The When Worlds Mix...erm...mix of Kaleid completes the 12" with a noisier version of the original B-side by Daniel Miller and George Holt.

CDBONG19 features the two Policy Of Truth remixes from the 12" and adds Kaleid (Remix)by Bruce Smith and Sean Oliver, a very enjoyable version of this very enjoyable track.

L12BONG19 is a glorious thing. It's a glossy gatefold sleeve with a gorgeous all black equally glossy inner sleeve. The Trancentral Mix is exactly what you'd expect from The KLF - a slightly sinister partly ambient track that takes Policy Of Truth in an unexpected but quite brilliant direction. There's a sample again too, this time from Bob Hoskins' speech in The Long Good Friday where he says "I'm not a politician...I'm a businessman."  

The B-side features the Kaleid (Remix) plus the Pavlov's Dub version of Policy Of Truth,

The rear of the sleeve is all glossy and dark. 

LCDBONG19 features the two Policy Of Truth remixes from L12BONG19, adds in the When Worlds Mix of Kaleid then somewhat needlessly throws in the single versions of both songs to round it all off. It's a nice package with a cool sleeve and a rather lovely shiny CD.

The 2004 boxset reissue took all 8 officially released versions of Policy Of Truth and Kaleid and put them in one handy place.

In Germany, their version of CDBONG19 is this rather nice yellow affair.

The German LCDBONG19 is a shiny one, just like the UK version.

The French8 CD singles are both shiny - here's CDBONG19 in French form above

As you can see, the LCD is also a shiny thing.

Our last European stop sees us hop over the border to Belgium (you can still do that in the EU. If we tried to do that from Britain it would take 3 weeks - thanks Brexit). A shiny CD again, but the Belgians gain extra points by once again using the DM sign

Japan always goes further with its CD singles and beautifully so. The Policy Of Truth single is no exception with its fancy CD, OBI strip and nifty booklet featuring lyrics, Mute release info and more Depeche pictures than all the other CD singles combined. It also features the 8 tracks found on the 7" and 12" singles.

In America, they released the promo CD above in that curious way they do - no front sleeve but an oddly pleasant rear one. It features four versions of Policy Of Truth - Radio Edit, Single Version, Capitol Mix and Beat Box or as the cover would have you believe, Beat Box Mix.

The US CD single itself features four versions of Policy Of Truth (Single Version, Capitol Mix, Beat Box (Mix) and Trancentral Mix) together with Kaleid (Remix). 

The US 12" is a four track release featuitng the Capitol Mix, Pavlov's Dub and Beat Box (Mix) versions of Policy Of Truth and the When Worlds Mix version of Kaleid.

Finally, we end in Brazil. Their version of CDBONG19 is notable for one thing - it says Policy Of Trut and not Policy Of Truth on the CD. That's the type of detail that someone somewhere must surely care about.

As Policy Of Truth meandered around the charts, Depeche Mode had bigger things on their mind. The World Violation tour kicked off and Depeche set about becoming the biggest live draw of 1990. It had taken only 8 years for them to go from holding chickens to holding the attention of sold out baseball stadiums in the US. Not bad for a bunch of weedy synthpoppers.

The live show was never released on video but parts of it did pop up in the video for the fourth and final Violator single.

We'll take a trip around that next time.