SHOULD BE BETTER - DELTA MACHINE: THE 12" SINGLES

A record shop, October 2023. Two inevitably tattooed, vaping TikTok watchers pick up a box of records from a band the music press now tells them they should like. Suddenly, a man approaches, dressed almost entirely in black muttering about things being better when everything including him was younger.

"Watch out - here he comes."

"Oh for fuc....hello there Old Depeche Mode fan."

"Ah...is that a new Depeche Mode 12" boxset under your arm youngster? Depeche Mode 12" singles eh? I remember when the band actually remixed everything themselves, pressed the records, stamped EVERY sleeve individually and...."

"We know, we know, Old Depeche Mode fan. We've read the tedious blogs you people enjoy. It was all better when TV only had four channels, Dave wore sandals and Alan was in the band. WE KNOW."

"You may laugh young one, but at least then we had the BONGS. You modern collectors have no idea. It's all 88883758332 generic worldwide catalogue nonsense. Back when things were proper, we had a BONG, an LBONG and much more. You lot have no id...."

"FOR GOD'S SAKE SHUT UP. The BONGS are back old man, the BONGS are back."

*Old Depeche Mode man examines boxset*

"Oh my word...*wipes tear away*...it's true. The BONGS are back. We thought they'd been finished off with Personal Jesus 2011 but they're alive. Ok, from a collector's point of view it's infuriating madness. We've only just got over the "new" 12" thing which knocks our shelves out of whack in a mad way but this is different. It's a BONG. A NEW BONG"

"See Old Depeche Mode man? New things are ok. Modern takes on Depeche Mode can be a good thing."

"I see that now young one. Tell me, are the singles and remixes on this boxset throwbacks too? Are we back to the era of band produced extended versions? Please say it is so."

"Ah. Well.....sod that. LOOK AT THE BONGS. AND THERE'S A BLOODY STENCIL TOO!"

The new Depeche Mode boxset its out! This time, Delta Machine gets the 12" single treatment. There were originally only three 12" singles supporting this album, one for each single release, and frankly that was enough. As has been the case during this superb re-release series however, new 12" singles have appeared to ensure we have vinyl versions of sub-standard previously CD only remixes and this boxset is no exception.

As ever, before I begin to show you pictures, I must stress that the boxset is a lovely thing. The attention to detail that has been shown to the artwork and sound is wonderful and that can only be applauded. The free gift is odd but brilliant too, however we will come on to that. 

The first single from Delta Machine was Heaven. As I subtly alluded to in the hilarious intro, the BONG numbers have returned for this boxset and that is a lovely thing. Ok, it's slightly rewriting history but, let's face it, we all moaned when they were removed, so we really should just shut up. When Heaven was released, it had a 12" with the catalogue number 88765 49171 1. It now has a BONG.

The front of 12BONG44 looks like this:

Just the same as the 2013 12" really. Here's the back:

It contains the same four remixes as the original 12". Hmmm.

The first new 12" in the box is L12BONG44. Here it is:

On Side A, we have two remixes of Heaven: Blawan Remix and Steps To Heaven Rmx. 

On Side B, we have two more versions of Heaven: Matthew Dear Vs. Audion Vocal Mix and a Live Studio Version.

I reviewed Heaven as part of my still VERY readable 2021 Project where I reviewed every Depeche single there had been to that point. With the exception of the Live Studio Version, I covered all the remixes there. Read about how generally terrible they are here: http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.com/2021/11/depeche-mode-singles-1981-to-2021-part_26.html

The new track here is the Live Studio Version and it's a nice treat. There are always thoughtful things added to these boxes and this is one of them. Compared to the remix horrorshow it sounds like the best thing Depeche Mode have ever done. Anyway, I sound like Old Depeche Mode man don't I?

The next Delta Machine single was the frankly laughable Soothe My Soul.  There is a song that resolutely refuses to improve with age. Anyway, we had a 12" release with the memorable catalogue number 88883 73070 1. That has now become 12BONG45 and it looks like this:

Anton really earned his money with that artwork. The flip side (ask your grandfather or Old Depeche Mode man) looks like this:

The record "blesses' us with the same four tracks as the original 12". 

A new L12 appears next, L12BONG45. The front of it can be seen below:

It's a new design instead of being based on LCD. The title is to the right of the big house on here. On Side A we have three remixes of Soothe My Soul: Tom Furse - The Horrors Remix, Billy F Gibbons and Joe Hardy Remix and Boris Delacroix Remix. I've just listened to these again. May God help me.

 Here is the rear sleeve:

The three tracks here are: Soothe My Soul (Black Asteroid Remix), Soothe My Soul (Gregor Tresher Soothed Remix) and Goodbye (Gesaffelstein Remix). The latter track appeared on the original CD1 release in 2013. As with all Depeche Mode singles, in fact as with what feels like all Depeche Mode releases, I reviewed all these remixes so that you don't have to listen to them. Read all about it here: http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.com/2021/12/depeche-mode-singles-1981-to-2021-part.html

The final Delta Machine single was Should Be Higher. The original 12" catalogue number 88883 75834 1 has been rebranded as 12BONG46.  The front looks like this:

In my original review of the single, I boldly claimed that this was the worst set of remixes ever compiled on a Depeche Mode 12" but I stand corrected.

Yes. the six tracks here are almost inexplicably awful, but the new L12BONG46 listens to that, says "hold my beer in a Delta Machine tour cup" and gives us one decent remix and a radio version that is passable only because of the sheer madness of the remaining three tracks. The new 12" front cover looks like this:

Side A contains two "remixes" of Should Be Higher - Jim Sclavunos From Grinderman Remix and  Little Vampire Remix. Lordy.

Side B: 

Should Be Higher (MAPS Remix)  - a GOOD remix thank any Lord you want to thank

Should Be Higher (Jim Jones Revue Remix)  - an actual pisstake

Should Be Higher (Radio Mix).

I was rude about all these previously as you can see here: http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.com/2021/12/depeche-mode-singles-1981-to-2021-part_4.html

Mercifully, we move away from the musical content of these otherwise lovely records. Bizarrely but brilliantly, this boxset contains a personalised stencil:

Now, last time, I praised the Sounds Of The Universe boxset for going so far as to personalise records labels for me, but an actual stencil! That is very generous. Many of you don't open your boxes but I am assured that if you do, your own initials will be there in stencil form for you to graffiti wherever you please.

Excuse me a second. My phone's ringing.

"Hello? Oh wow, hello Mute. And Sony too? This is tremendous. How are you both?.... What's that? Oh yes, I see. It was only really a laboured joke that I barely got away with last time so I'm sure no-one will...no?... Really? ....That seems harsh....Oh you're serious. I see. Thanks. Bye now."

The stencil represents the DM logo used for the Delta Machine era and his in fact not personalised in any way.

Cool thing though isn't it?

The box also contains a reproduction poster. This one cruelly reminds us that Soothe My Soul appeared as a single:

Finally, for anyone who still downloads things, there's a download card:

And there we have it. Welcome back BONG. There can surely only be a couple of boxsets left unless the previously missed 12" singles are compiled into one giant series ending box. That would of course be tremendous and would please all Depche fans, Old and New immensely. 

See you for the Spirit boxset.

DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 53: SHOULD BE HIGHER

 

The third and final single from Delta Machine was released as the tour entered its final few weeks. Should Be Higher is a Dave penned track (with the assistance of Kurt Uenala) and is the third Depeche Mode single co-written by Dave after the wonderful Suffer Well and Hole To Feed.

As with the album's two previous singles, we got three official formats, no promos, some "will this do lads? I've got a Joshua Tree anniversary tour to actually start designing things for and I can't be arsed" art from Anton and the worst set of remixes on one 12" in Depeche Mode's history.

With that build up, you'd be mad to stop reading now.

YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO PRAY - SHOULD BE HIGHER

The Single

Should Be Higher was released on 11th October 2013 in Germany, 14th October in the UK and France and on 15th October in North America.  3 days, 3 times the fun.

The Quietus liked the song when it previewed the album track by track:

"It starts off as the murkiest track yet with a purposeful 4/4 whip-crack beat. There's now no doubt that Delta Machine is the the darkest and most violent Depeche Mode material in years. Lyrically, the title and lyrics of holes in infected arms and lies , succumbing to bliss and so on suggest another addition to the DM canon of songs that might be about smack, or love, or both. There's another sky-straining chorus that makes this brilliant stadium pop, and yet more evidence of the weakness of the Anglo Saxon ear. Across Europe, from Volgograd to Turin, Helsinki to Lodz they'll come in their thousands for songs as mighty as this... while here in Britain we like to watch Coldplay and Muse. The disgrace of our nation."

I can't fault the Coldplay hating right enough. DIY Magazine said:

"The pace subsides, for a couple of minutes, in the waltzing brooding sway of ‘Should Be Higher’, an effortless and sombre build-up to a swirling and hypnotic pay-off. Martin Gore lends his backing vocals perfectly as he does throughout the album, creating beautiful contrasts with Gahan, as well as stunning harmonies."

Pitchfork was, naturally, scathing:

"As for Gahan's own songs-- this time, their music is by Kurt Uenala-- they're generally a reasonably convincing imitation of middling Gore. His Should Be Higher is yet another on the pile of ex-junkie lyrics"

One day music journalists will write about Dave and Depeche Mode without talking about drugs.

Anyway, the initial reviews of the song were mainly positive and I recall many people liking it at the time. The band of course neglected to promote it in anyway and thus it only hit number 81 in the UK charts. Ok, that's 7 places higher than Soothe My Soul, but it's hardly a chart smash.

The song is on ok song I suppose, but that's a problem Depeche Mode have suffered from since Sounds Of The Universe - a lot of the songs are just ok. It's an inoffensive enough track but it's just not really all that good. I would have preferred that the band were braver when choosing the inevitable Dave single from the album as Broken would have been a much better choice and one that might even have had a chance of charting and getting some exposure. Obviously, it would have been destroyed when remixed but it would have made a decent single. 

Should Be Higher was a fixture on the Delta Machine tour, using the various arenas' lights to full effect and, unusually for the, erm, challenging films Anton produced for this tour, the backing film was rather nice too. It was played 92 times on the tour, last appearing in Turin on the 18th of February 2014.

The Video

The video is a live version of the song, directed by Anton Corbijn with footage taken from the Delta Machine shows in Berlin, Leipzig and Munich. The full impressive scale of the accompanying film is shown in full effect and we see the five standard things we've come to expect on Depeche Mode tours in recent years:

1. Christian playing drum fills where there is no need to do so

2. Peter massaging his keyboards. He has a unique playing style really that brings to mind Swiss Toni from The Fast Show ("playing keyboards for Depeche Mode is very much like making love to a beautiful woman Fletch")

3. Martin grinning. A lot.

4. Fletch fletching like only Fletch can fletch

5. A sweaty Dave twirling around, pulling faces as he sings looking like a man who forgot to go for a pee before going on-stage.

During the film that is playing on the screens we see the members of Depeche Mode setting fire to all their pictures of Alan Wilder and flinging them around the place to dramatic effect which is eye catching if slightly petty.*

*possibly untrue

The Formats

It's funny to look back on these blogs and see the occasional criticism of some early remixes. They had a lot to live up to back then so the odd bad one stood out. When you have, for example, the Split Mix facing off against the Tsangarides Mix of Never Let Me Down Again, there can only be one winner.

I've never really seen the point of the Tsangarides Mix you see, as it doesn't actually seem to do anything bar make a few parts of the song slightly different. Perhaps it is too subtle for me. What I would say however is that I would happily have the late Chris Tsangarides remix every single Depeche Mode song if it meant I didn't ever have to listen to whatever on earth the collection of utter tat masquerading as remixes on this release again in my life. Christ, this is a rough ride.

The first CD is the best of the bunch here, primarily because it features one listenable track and therefore has a 50% success rate.

The two tracks here are Should Be Higher (Radio Mix) and Should Be Higher (Little Vampire Remix Single Edit). The first one is the good one. The second one is not good. On the artwork side, the live shot on the back is nice.

Night follows day, four years silence follows the end of a Depeche tour and CD2 always follows CD1. 

There are five remixes on this CD. Six. Two and, being generous, a half of them work, so we nearly get the 50% approval rating.

Here we go then:

1. Jim Sclavunos From Grinderman Remix. The good thing about Grinderman is the genius of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. This remix is like a Grinderman track with all the genius removed. Did any member of Depeche Mode even hear this?

2. Little Vampire Remix. This longer version of track 2 on CD1 is actually ok but that may be because I'd just sat through track 1 of this CD

3. MAPS Remix. This is the star of this CD. It's a lovely, shimmery take on the song that actually remixes it rather than gives it a kicking.

4. Jim Jones Revue Remix. Genuinely terrible. There's no other way to put it.

5. Radio Mix. Presuming you haven't kicked your CD player to death, this track comes as a relief.

We've reached the 12". Because I feel I owe you all a duty to report on every UK release, I listened to this for the first time since the only other time I listened to it, just so I could tell what it's like. "It can't be as bad as you remember David, " I said to myself as I nervously removed it from the 12" section of my Depeche Mode shelves. 

It was as bad, in fact, it was probably worse. What on earth is the point of this record? I wonder if my copy is actually defective as it appears to contain no Depeche Mode whatsoever in places and instead comes across like a collection of tracks by people who think they can operate modular synths but in fact can't. In the 90's there was a no doubt apocryphal tale put about by the Aphex Twin that when a record company courier came to his house for his remix of a Lemonheads track, he realised he'd forgotten so handed over the first DAT he could find. As we has the Aphex Twin, anything he touched would do and so the remix was used. Now, that may all be rubbish, but having heard this 12" I think the story has a new level of plausibility to it.

There are six remixes of Should Be Higher in total. Six. They are:

Side A

1. Truss Remix. This starts off badly, tails off in the middle and is dreadful by the end. A remix by the hapless current UK Secretary of State For Foreign Affairs Liz Truss would possibly have been better.

2. MPIA3 Definition. Firstly, that is a crap title. Secondly, this remix is surely a joke? The only note I have from when I listened to it is "Christ"

3. Keon Groenveveld Massive Remix. A massive waste of vinyl

Side B

1. Pangaea Dub Remix. By the time you get to Side B, you're questioning whether you still like music. This remix makes me hate everything.

2. Uberzone Remix. This is a good remix but that is only by comparing it to the surrounding horrr.

3. DJMREX Remix. Unlistenable

Seriously, if I ever look like I'm doing a "Let's look at Depeche Mode remixes" blog thing, please remove my access to the internet. I love Depeche Mode, they have brought me and will forever continue to bring me almost unexplainable levels of joy, but for the duration of this 12" which I think is around 76 hours, I wish I'd never heard of them.

Elsewhere, there were the two CD singles in the US, one in Taiwan, two UK promo CD-Rs and the usual digital download bundles so that you could take the Jim Jones Revue Remix wherever you went in case you met someone you hated or had to torture a prisoner.

And on that high note, the Delta Machine era releases came to an end. How on earth could they follow the worst 12" in their history? Would we ever see Depeche Mode again?

The tour ended in Berlin, there was a DVD of the Berlin gig and Dave did some Soulsavers stuff unlike after the Global Spirit Tour when...oh.

Anyway, they did come back and they were flag waving and fully bearded up. We'll take a look at that revolutionary return next time.