The fourteenth Depeche Mode 12" Singles boxset was released on Friday 20th September. It features the three singles from 2017's Spirit album together with a very welcome bonus 12", more of which shortly. Spirit is an odd album really. The recording session was fraught with problems, the album is a track or two too long and it's one that isn't hugely popular with fans, yet it prompted the band's longest world tour ever and that tour was an absolute joy. I enjoyed it so much that I spent 18 months hassling fans all over the world to provide reviews of the 133 gigs and happily managed to get every single one covered - you can read all about that here - The Global Spirit Tour Project
The Spirit singles all had physical releases which was a good thing - a CD single and double 12" accompanied each. The 12" singles here, bonus 12" aside, are reproductions of those releases. As with all previous 12" singles, the release comes in a box (see above) and on the back of that, we find the photo menu thing that has come with each release. I genuinely still don't know what it is actually called. Anyway, here it is:
As with the other boxes, the boxset also comes with a reproduction promo poster, this time for Where's The Revolution:
If you are the sort of person who buys records but doesn't have a record player, the download card you find inside will allow you to listen to the remixes at your downloaded leisure:
To the records themselves then. The album's first single Where's The Revolution was initially released as a double 12" (all three singles in fact were double 12" singles) and that's what we have here.
It features all three band members looking like they run a Barbers and Craft Beer and Coffee/Vermouth Emporium which serves locally sourced small plates full of things people eat but secretly hate. The 2017 single came in a cellophane sleeve which had a sticker on it. This release doesn't have the cellophane but it does have the sticker. These small, incredibly pleasing details have been a real highlight of this boxset series.
As for the remixes themselves, as we have already seen, I tend to spend a lot of my free time writing far too much about Depeche Mode and, during 2021, I wrote an in-depth review of every single from Dreaming Of Me to Cover Me. I've already listened to these remixes then and so, to save you having to go through that, here's the review where you can read all about them:
The second Spirit single was the superb album opener Going Backwards.
The original double 12" is faithfully reproduced here. As you'll see, the band have removed their beards for the rear cover.
The wee sticker is hiding inside the sleeve. If you want to read all about the remixes and watch the very cool video for the single, here you go:
The final single from Spirit was the beautiful Cover Me, a song by Dave and one that turned out not just to be a highlight of the album but of the live shows too. Anton's video for the song was a beauty as well.
We have another double 12" here and we also have another sticker:
If you would like me to cover (ho ho) the remixes for you, have a read of this:
The bonuses in the boxset campaign have been wonderful, from the Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead flexi in the Speak & Spell box, to the second A Question Of Lust 12" and beyond, each have been gratefully received by collectors everywhere. That A Question Of Lust 12" really is a glorious thing you know. Here, we have another bonus 12" and it's a 5 track live affair called The Highline Sessions. The band recorded five songs in New York's Highline Studios on 3rd August 2016 assisted by Kurt Uenala and Matrixxman. This is the first time all five songs have been officially released.
For people who care about these things (me and anyone reading this), the catalogue number given to this 12" is P12BONG48 which technically makes it the promo for Going Backwards which of course had the catalogue number 12BONG48. Well, it didn't really as it wasn't a BONG catalogue number 12" to start with but for this box, it is 12BONG48.
ARGH! Now I see that I should have mentioned this earlier. It should therefore be noted that Where's The Revolution has a catalogue number for this release of 12BONG47 and that Cover Me is 12BONG49. Basically, for anyone left awake at this point, when from Heaven onwards, Depeche Mode's singles stopped having BONG catalogue numbers, a fact much mourned by me and people who are like me (you know who you are). Actually, they only had BONG numbers from Leave In Silence onwards, stopping with Heaven but IS THAT REALLY IMPORTANT NOW? It probably is. I know that if I didn't mention this and get all my facts right. people like me albeit not me, would only contact me to tell me.
Let's just move on eh? What is on P12BONG48, a.k.a The Highline Sessions?
The first three tracks, Going Backwards, So Much Love and Poison Heart feature on Side A of the record.
All three live versions are really good. So Much Love is particularly enjoyable and it's a punchier version than the hugely enjoyable version played on the tour. Poison Heart sounds much better than it did on the tour too.
There are two tracks on the B-side. The only track that falls a bit flat on this 12" is The Worst Crime. The version here never really takes off and that may explain why it was not played at all on the tour. The 12" ends with the band's cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" which is a faithful enough cover of the track and one that I like. Depeche don't do cover versions often (let us never speak of Dirt) so it's unusual to hear them do one but with tis track, they pay a nice tribute to Bowie.
The 12" packaging is simple but lovely. Once again, excellent work has been done here.
As I said at the outset, Spirit is an odd beast as the album is sadly not that memorable but much about the campaign was. While this box contains a number of reminders of the less memorable parts of the campaign, it also brings back many great memories and, as has been the case throughout this 12" boxset campaign, it is a well put together, well thought through set that is a joy to have. Excellent work all round.
Logic dictates that we have one more boxset to come. Once the Memento Mori box appears, will that be it or will the 12" singles thus far missing from this campaign appear? Let's see what happens.