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.

AN ASSORTED COLLECTION OF PERFECTION - DEPECHE MODE: VIOLATOR - THE 12" SINGLES

You might think that spending months researching and writing a month long Violator special would mean that I have nothing else to say about the album given that, with the help of my guest bloggers, every single inch of the album was explored, analysed and, let's be honest, relentlessly praised in March this year.

That would probably be the case had the new Violator - The 12" Singles box not arrived this morning. It's the next instalment of Depeche Mode's 12" boxset campaign, a campaign that has been a joy so far. This boxset has been my and many other fans most keenly anticipated release as it is recreating the band's releases from their artistic (both musically and visually) highpoint. Can these reissues of iconic singles match the originals? Are they as beautiful as the likes of my much loved and much travelled L12BONG18?

Of course they are. This boxset is everything it promised to be and much, much more.

As Julie Andrews said, let's start at the very beginning. The box itself (front above) is a lovely thing. As with the other releases, it features a re-interpretation of the album artwork and the job that has been done is great. The back of the box has one of those explanatory stuck on bits of paper that is basically pointless but acts as a nice reminder of what's inside:

It's especially handy if you don't open the box as it tells you just what you're missing out on. I always take the view that music is to be enjoyed not hidden away, so I always open these up. Some people don't and that is of course fine. Each to their own and I can confidently back that up having written blogs about catalogue numbers and all that nonsense previously. Anyway, enough of the box, let's look at its contents.

12BONG17

At this point, you may be worrying that I am going to spend a large amount of time reviewing the remixes that feature here and droning on things that the vast majority of the population of Earth have little time for. Don't worry - that's not going to happen. I covered all that at almost ridiculous length in March, so if you want to read all about the singles themselves, have a click on the links below, have a read, then have a lie down and pop back here to carry on where you left off:

Personal Jesus - reach out and click here

Enjoy The Silence - come clicking in, into the blog's world

Policy Of Truth - It could have been sol clickified

World In My Eyes - let me take you on a click

Back to it. The 12" of Personal Jesus is faithfully and beautifully recreated as you would expect. Being reminded of just how stunning the artwork is for this release is never a bad thing. The limited edition 12" is recreated too and it's here that we get a couple of very nice surprises.

L12BONG17

Housed within the sleeve is a stunning double sided 12" artwork which features all four then members of the band (apparently Alan Wilder left a while ago. I had no idea) in their awkward poses with the model who features on all the releases. It was a huge surprise to find this and it is a wonderful addition to this set. The little additions that have been made throughout this campaign have been a real joy; tiny fan pleasing details that show incredible attention to detail. 

L12BONG17

When Personal Jesus first came out, there was a limited edition 7" gatefold release and, within the gatefold, there was a booklet that contained the pictures we now find in bigger form in this release. Their recreation here is a special touch.

GBONG17

Enjoy The Silence is next. It is of course beautiful:

12BONG18

The limited edition 12" is just as gorgeous:

L12BONG18

This seems a good time to mention the second great surprise within this boxset, When Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence were originally released, some versions of the limited edition 12" and CD singles bore a sticker that said "Depeche Mode Limited Edition Remix." Here's my Personal Jesus limited edition 12" for example:

The 12" singles in the box don't have these stickers on them but, and this is VERY much the sort of thing that tickles me, the boxset includes replica stickers in case you want to stick them on yourself. They really have gone to quite extreme lengths to exactly replicate, or at least give you the chance to exactly replicate the original releases. There are four stickers but, as far as I'm aware, the original limited editions of the other two singles from the album didn't have those stickers on them. That's not a criticism by the way; it's just my reflex Depeche Mode geek reaction kicking in unstoppably. Here are the stickers:

Clever stuff. 1990 of course gave us the band's first ever Extra Limited 12", XL12BONG18. As you know, it features one track only, Enjoy The Silence - The Quad: Final Mix and the record itself is a one sided affair with glorious DM etching on the b-side. It is recreated here and is quite magnificent:

XL12BONG18

The etched b-side is of course present, along with the majestic inner sleeve:

XL12BONG18

Just look at that. Sigh.

Policy Of Truth is next in all its shiny glory:

12BONG19

The orignial limited 12" came in a gatefold sleeve with a glorious all-black inner sleeve. Will the boxset recreate that?

L12BONG19

Of course it will.

L12BONG19

It is as stunning now as it was in 1990.

The fourth and final single from the album was of course World In My Eyes. Let's get the easy bit out of the way - the standard 12":

12BONG20

Iconic, majestic and many other over the top adjectives - this single is probably my favourite Depeche release in terms of artwork. As you will have read in my blog about the single I linked to earlier (if not, have a look at it will help with this bit), the limited edition 12" of this release was an absolute stunner. It was housed in a blue gel pack that needed to be cut open ("Violate here" - genius) to reveal the gorgeous, glossy wonder inside with an inner sleeve bejewelled in drool inducing World Violation tour pictures. Surely recreating that would be a bridge too far? Blue gel sleeves may have been possible in 1990 when the world was young, more innocent and contained a record industry mad enough to pull off a stunt like that, but this is 2020. We are all more cynical and we don't have time to spend cutting open blue gel sleeves when people need to be online moaning about wearing masks that actually stop people dying and so on. A replica of the 12" that the original release contained would surely be all we could expect here and that would be fine.

Well, at long last, 2020 has improved. There is a freshness in the air, an almost 1990-like feel in fact and that is because blue gel packs are very much back in fashion. Yes, the absolute masterminds involved in this project have once again come up trumps as the limited edition 12" recreation we find is is VERY much encased in a sealed blue sleeve:

L12BONG20

The sleeve is recreated perfectly. On the Alan and Andy side (above), their icons are present in the top left, and on the Martin and Dave side, theirs are there too. Crucially, the best part of the original sleeve is also right where it should be:

Violate There

Now, in 1990 I was young and stupid enough to horse right into this package, cutting it open for some arsewitted reason on the side rather than along the suggested violation line. I was also stupid enough not to buy a spare and have snared a couple on unopened versions later in life. If this blog has a role in the world, it is to show you parts of the Depeche Mode universe other blogs don't reach. I am not going to open this record up however as that would be madness. Sorry about that. I will presume that the inner sleeve matches the original release, so here is a fully violated L12BONG20 from 1990 to show you what is inside:

L12BONG20

For completeness' sake, here's another:

L12BONG20

Truth be told, I am slightly annoyed that I can't see just what is inside the re-issue, but I shall stay strong. To regain some pedantry points, I should point out that the re-issue blue gel sleeve is a thinner material than the original release which was also much firmer and a little roomier. The original also had a sticker on the back with the barcode, L12BONG20 and the Mute logo on it which this doesn't but that is far from being a criticism. Finally, the re-issue weighs 305g when sealed, heavier than the original sealed version's 280g. 

Yes I weighed the packages. Blame lockdown.

There have been nice added bonus 12" singles in the reissue series before, and once again we are spolied here with a reproduction of the promo single for World In My Eyes, P12BONG20:

P12BONG20

Many people simply and quite correctly don't have the time in their life to chase around after promos, so this will be a first for a lot of people I presume The record is housed in one of the much missed and much loved Mute promo 12" sleeves although this one is thicker than the sleeves originally were. That allows it to have a catalogue number on the spine and, as I am sure you can all guess, that is a very good thing indeed. Look how lovely it is:

This promo 12" reproduction was already advertised and is a welcome addition to the box. With that, the additional Personal Jesus artwork and the stickers, we are really being spolied this time.

Finally, as with the previous boxsets there is a poster. It is of course a work of art beyond compare:

There is a download card too:

And that is that. 

This whole series has been incredible and the Violator era boxset has actually surpassed the high expectations I had for it. The effort that has been put into this release from everyone involved is incredible and it really is something very special indeed. Ok, we may have these releases in multiple formats already, but when something as incredible as Violator exists in the world, it is worth celebrating it at every opportunity. This release does that and then some.