MILES AWAY - SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE 12" BOXSET

 

I have a feeling you may have heard a lot of this before...

I love Depeche Mode as I think everyone can accept. They're bloody marvellous, Martin Gore is an actual genius and they have released some of the most moving, awe inspiring and downright gorgeous music that has ever been committed to vinyl. Some of their albums are among the best I have ever heard, some of their singles are so good it's almost obscene, even a lot (ok, about 50%) of the videos are actual works of art. I love Depeche Mode. You can accept that.

The fantastic 12" Boxset series has been a joy. It rightly celebrates Depeche Mode's pioneering role in 12" remixing and you won't find a bad remix on any of the boxsets up to the Songs Of Faith And Devotion one where that daft remix of Higher Love reminds you that, unless they chose wisely, Depeche were best when they remixed themselves.

Even the post SOFAD boxes contain some gems despite various attempts to sully the good name of Depeche Mode. I'm very much looking at you DJ Muggs. Crucially though, they had good source material to work with, even if the end results were patchy.

And so, accepting that I can no longer put off the inevitable, we reach Sounds Of The Universe, the ugly child of the Depeche Mode family, an album with a face only a mother could love. Here we go then....

There were three singles released from the album. The majestic Wrong was the first and that was lovely. Peace, as pointless as song as the band have ever recorded, followed that and then Hole To Feed and Fragile Tension appeared as a double A side. Only three 12" singles were released between those three - Wrong had one and Hole To Feed/Fragile Tension came out as a double 12". In this box, we have an additional four records as we will see. I've listened to them all and you all therefore owe me.

I won't review each remix here as I simply don't want to. Handily, I reviewed every Depeche Mode single in 2021 and you can find each of the Sounds Of The Universe singles right here:

Wrong - http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.com/2021/11/depeche-mode-singles-1981-to-2021-part.html

Wronger...sorry...Peace - http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.com/2021/11/depeche-mode-singles-1981-to-2021-part_8.html

Hole To Feed/Fragile Tension - http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.com/2021/11/depeche-mode-singles-1981-to-2021-part_10.html

Like every boxset before it, this is a lovely thing to look at. An awful lot of thought has gone into its production and the labels and sleeves are really very nice. My box had a slight sleeve issue with some spine damage to the Hole To Feed/Fragile Tension double 12" sleeve but other than that, all is well with the physical side of things.

First out of the box is 12BONG40, a reproduction of the original Wrong 12".

It's an exact replica of the original.

The same four remixes appear on it as on the original 12BONG40.

They also put each purchaser's initials on the B-Side label which is nice. As you can see, mine has a D and an M on it. Check your own copy for your initials.

The first new thing in the box is L12BONG40. Among the original formats in 2009 were two CDs, the second saying Wrong remixes on the cover art. That doesn't appear here as not all the tracks on here are remixes of Wrong.

On the beautifully labelled side A, we have:

Wrong - Magda's Scallop Funk Mix

Wrong - D.I.M. v Boys Noize Remix

There's the back sleeve.

On the record itself (look there are my initials again lolz etc):

Wrong - Trentemoller Club Remix Dub

Oh Well - Black Light Odyssey Remix

The latter of the two is what I believe the kids call "a banger" which is young person speak for a very good remix indeed.

And that was all there as from Sounds Of The U....oh wait.

For a single that should never have been a single in the first place, three formats were originally released. Thanks to this boxset, that number has shot up by 40%.

12BONG41 contains five, yes 5, remixes. On Side A we are blessed with:

Peace - Single version

Peace - SixToes Remix

Come Back - Jonsi Remix

The latter two are fine actually at least in the context of what is to come.

The rear sleeve above reveals the full horror of the B-Side

It contains:

Peace - Ben Klock Remix

Peace - Japanese Popstars Remix

Both are terrible. The label is lovely though. This boxset really is a feast for the eyes instead of the ears though I will say that it sounds great. Sonically I mean. 

L12BONG41 is next. 

This record, while lovely to look at, would test the patience of any Depeche Mode fan, even those guys you see with actual pictures of the band members tattooed on their back. You know who I mean. Side A has only two tracks:

Peace - Sid LeRock Remix

Peace - Justus Kohncke Extended Disco Club Vocal Remix

Honestly. That second remix title can just fuck off. 

The rear sleeve, like the front, is really nice. I genuinely do love the attention that goes into these new 12" singles, even if their existence does annoy some collectors. 

The existence of these records doesn't annoy me despite my collector problem. It's the music that pisses me off. This is Depeche Mode for God's sake, not Coldplay. They shouldn't just bang out any old tat like Chris Martin's comedy troupe, yet on Side B, we get these:

Peace - The Exploding Plastic Inevitable JK Disco Dub

Peace - Pan/Tone Remix

Sigh.

As you will have seen from my single review, Hole To Feed/Fragile Tension came out as a double 12" in 2009. 

This release, 12BONG42, is identical in every way to the original.

I genuinely don't like one remix on it. People seem to like the song Perfect which I will never understand. It features here twice on side C if that's your thing.

The final 12" in the box is another new one - L12BONG42. The idea behind it is great. It gathers together a few radio versions and remixes that appeared on promos of the era, producing an eight track 12".

There they all are.

Side A contains:

Fragile Tension - Radio Mix. I GENUINELY like this song. Shut up.

Hole To Feed - Radio Mix. I can't say the same for this one. 

Come Back - SixToes Remix Another good track.

Fragile Tension - Laidback Luke Remix. Poor

Side B is full of pish as we say in Scotland:

Fragile Tension - Peter, Bjorn and John Remix.  Remember them? That whistling song? No? No wonder

Hole To Feed - Joebot Remix  No, just no.

Perfect - Ralphi & Craig Club Remix Yuck

Fragile Tension - Solo Loves Panoram Remix Yuck again

As ever, the rear of the box has a picture showing you exactly what to avoid when you open it.

There's a cool reprint Wrong promo poster. 

"What was MySpace grandpa?"

And if you want to annoy your enemies, the download card contains a code that will let you install every Peace remix on their digital device of your choosing.

I realise that I have perhaps been a bit harsh here because there is much to admire about this box. It continues the great work that we have seen in this series and the effort that has gone into the artwork and audio can only be admired. One great thing about the Sounds Of The Universe campaign was the return of coloured vinyl with the Wrong and Peace 7" singles. It's a pity they didn't turn up here somehow but the difficulty in vinyl production generally probably put paid to that.

If you are a collector, and I am one of those, you will want this as having gaps in your collection is really not the done thing. Like the album these singles came from however, once you buy it, you are not likely to play it again, the Wrong singles aside.

DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 48: PEACE

 

The second single from Sounds Of The Universe, Peace really is an odd thing. It's a distinctly non-Depeche Mode sounding song yet was used as one of the preview tracks when the band held the press conference to announce the album and tour. It was rarely played live as we shall see, and it has a video that does not feature the band at all. Don't worry, we'll get to that.

It's also the only Depeche Mode single that has had hat related merchandise.

It's got a lot going on then which you would think makes it an interesting choice of single. That's not the case sadly. Peace is probably the strangest and weakest single Depeche Mode have released and I include The Meaning Of Love in that. Here we go then.

I'M LEAVING BITTERNESS BEHIND - PEACE

The Single

Peace, BONG41, was released on 15th June 2009. Curiously, Martin described it at the time as one of his favourite songs that he had written, clearly forgetting everything else he'd written before that. The reviews of the song had an air of positivity to them. The BBC said:

"It IS a dirge, but it is a good dirge."

As an aside, that review also features the line "Dave Gahan, who can occasionally sound like a singing nose" which is both probably rude and rather amusing at the same time.

Pitchfork claimed the song "(sounds) like Kraftwerk gone dreamy gospel" and went on to call it "a stirring encapsulation of all Depeche Mode's different sides and qualities, reminiscent of all those other great album tracks lurking throughout their catalogue." Hmmmm.

Spin Magazine said that Peace "coast(s) along on the kind of catch synthpop groove Depeche Mode speacialised in throughout the 80's." 

My problem is that I'm not a reviewer able to view Depeche Mode as a band I quite like thus giving me a chance to consider the songs and let them grow on me. Like much of the underwhelming Sounds Of The Universe, I didn't take to Peace from the off and that's never really changed. I ultimately expect better of the band because of what they mean to me, though I obviously have no right to. Had Peace just stayed as an album track, or even as an extra track on the boxset, then I would probably have forgotten it. Quite why they chose it as a single really is beyond me.

One novel thing Peace did was produce a unique piece of Depeche merchandise. The first full gig on Tour Of The Universe was at Tel Aviv's Ramat Gan Stadium on 10th May 2009, the band choosing to open the tour there having had to cancelled a scheduled gig in 2006 due to the Israel/Lebanon war that year. For this show only, the band made two Peace Kippahs available. You could get one in black:

Picture courtesy of depmod.com

You could also get a white one:

Picture courtesy of depmod,com

As far as I know, this is the first hat based merchandise released for a Depeche single. I await the emails reminding me about the It's Called A Heart bowler hats released in Belgium and so on. The Peace Kippah is a nice, unique item and merits mention here not just because it means I don't have to talk about the song itself.

The band of course did nothing to promote the song and as a consequence it rather unhappily limped into the UK charts at number 57 and then fell out again immediately, equalling Dreaming Of Me as the band's lowest ever chart placing. 

The song has only been played live 22 times which seems around 22 times too many as it didn't work live at all. It was last heard in Bilbao on 9th July 2009.

There was a B-Side too. Come Back (Jonsi Remix)  is a remix of the Dave song by Sigur Ros singer Jonsi Birgisson and it's rather nice. Not quite fully on Sigur Ros gorgeousness but not too shabby. 

The Video

*sigh*

We've previously seen Depeche Mode: dressed in leather and drinking cocktails, hanging around in phone boxes, pie eyed, bouncing on spacehoppers, talking to milkmen, standing under a big hand in Berlin, in caves, on a big boat, mucking about in chains, on stage, accompanied by a piano, floating around, running away from voodoo people, hitting cars, on stage again this time in Dublin, finally meeting Anton, in Paris, in Denmark, in France, in London, being cowboys, dressed in leather again, chasing women in New York, all bearded up, with scary people ice skating, dressed as monks, chained to chairs, in Morocco, as a covers band, in a hotel, in an old coal mine, in a very bad car insurance advert, in a car again, down the disco, on a lorry, in a studio saying goodnight, badly computer generated, on a very badly computer generated boat, at the race track, back with Anton, on stage and ,finally, compiled....

*breathes in*

but we have never seen as lazy and pointless a video as this one. At least the videos for Enjoy The Silence (Reinterpreted) and Martyr used actual moving footage of Depeche Mode. This video, which was directed by French duo Jonas and Francois, uses a Depeche Mode T-Shirt and a poster of the band both of which we see for about 10 seconds combined. Other than that it tells the story of a soldier, played by Maria Dinelescu, who seems to be sad about being a soldier but then a vision where she sees that if she gets in the car with her mates she'll end up working in a cafe and will be even sadder as a result.

She therefore goes back to being a soldier. Peace, it seems, will only come to her if she goes back to the army. But, and here's the clever part, can you ever be at Peace if you are in the army? They don't do Peace do they? Deep man.

Honestly, if one thing sums up the slovenly approach to just about everything, Wrong aside the band had during the Sounds Of The Universe era, the Peace video is it. Forget the album that was both filled with average songs and far too long, forget the fact that they put all the good songs on the limited edition boxset, forget the way they butchered Strangelove, Master & Servant and Fly On The Windscreen on the tour. If you want this era summed up, the Peace video is all you need to see.

The Hole To Feed video looks like Enjoy The Silence by comparison for goodness' sake.

Ok, well maybe not, but you get my point.

The Formats

There were only three official formats for Peace and it was the first Depeche Mode single since Dreaming Of Me not to have a 12" release. Yet another Dreaming Of Me similarity - how strange. 5 copies of a white label 12" were made and were given away via the band's Twitter account. There was no promo 12" but there were a couple of promos too, the first of which was RCDBONG41 (above).

The cover art and CD are quite nice, using the album artwork in a pleasant enough way.

The one song on here is the Single Version of Peace.

If ever there was a song that screamed "Remix me for club goers," it's this booming number. A Club Promo CD therefore appeared.

PCDBONG41 features eight tracks in all, each one a remix of Peace.

I could tell you about them all, but I'm not going to. The only thing you need to know is that the Single Version of Peace is the best thing about this CD. Imagine that.

One glorious thing about this release is BONG41, the 7" single. As with Wrong, it is a numbered coloured vinyl 7" that says "platte in mehrfarbigem vinyl" on the front which you will recall we all agreed was a wonderful thing last time.

Side A contains the Single Version of Peace.

Side B has the Jonsi Remix of Come Back. Nice to see an album track remix appearing as a B-Side - that always appeals to me for some reason.

There were two CD singles too starting with CDBONG41 (above).

It's a two track release.

As well as the Single Version of Peace, it features the Six Toes Remix of the track which is the best remix of all on this release. It's different which is the key really. If you are a fan of the remix, do check Low Guns, the song Six Toes released with Dave on vocals. It's tremendous.

LCDBONG41 is a CD that promises "Remixes."

That's what it gives us too - six of them in fact.

They are: Single Version, Herve's "Warehouse Frequencies" Remix, Sander Van Doorn Remix, Japanese Popstars Remix, Sid LeRock Remix and Justus Kohncke Extended Disco Club Vocal Remix.

Leaving the Single Version to one side, every remix on here is absolutely terrible. That's almost impressive in a way.

There were to download bundles too. iBONG41 contains all the horrors found on LCDBONG41 and LiBONG41 has these versions of Peace: Single version, Sander Van Doorn Remix, The Exploding Plastic Inevitable JK Disco Dub, Pan/Tone Remix and Ben Klock Remix. Don't bother with it. 

The only other official release wss in the Ukraine where they put a sticker on the front of LCDBONG41 that said something in Ukrainian, probably "Don't buy this" or similar.

There are two promo CD-Rs if you want them - one from Greece and one from the UK. The single was not released in the US. For some reason, they chose Perfect which is worse than Peace but as this is a UK releases only project, we don't need to concern ourselves with that.

I've been accused of being a blinkered DM cheerleader in the past and when I've had a go at certain releases, for example the MODE boxset, I've been told I shouldn't criticise the band and that I'm "a fake fan," so you can't win really. I'm not going to review all these singles and say that every one is a classic as that would be wrong. Depeche Mode have an unusually high proportion of outstanding singles so when there is a bad one, it sticks out.

Peace is a bad one. There are no two ways about it. Some people like the song and that's great but I don't. There wasn't a great deal to choose from on Sounds Of The Universe right enough, but there must have been something a bit better than this.

Next time, we'll get a double 12" that is curiously pricey and, yes, we get that song and video too.