Fashion Update for Paper Monsters

The dialog with my 16 (oh my god!) years old daughter in a car a couple of days ago. "Sounds interesting - what's that playing?", said she. "Can you guess?", I responded, - "It might remind you of one band which was very popular and got remixed a number of times". "I don't know, but the sound is pretty cool!", said she. "It's a song from a solo album by Dave Gahan, from Depeche Mode" - said me - "Right after he stopped drinking and before he started to do heavy drugs". "How good this started... why it's always like that..." - asked my daughter.

In fact, my saying was not 100% true. I don't think Dave Gahan had a long enough period in life since 1981 when he was sober for a long time. His and Martin's Gore life brings me so mixed feelings. They started a band with another guy in 1980, but their founding member left after only a year. It was too hard to bear with fans and fame. Dave and Martin went on and produced so many famous songs, that I cannot even count them. Depeche Mode is one of the most successful electronic bands ever. Since 1981 they kept going and producing albums. When a song comes to be known independently of an author, when everyone knows it, but might not remember who wrote it - like Personal Jesus - this is the definition of success. It's when something becomes classic.

Of course, such life looks brilliant - music, money, fans, concerts, money, parties, drinks, money... A f...ing lot of everything. It is hard to digest for many people. No doubt, it's also about a lot of envy from other people. I don't even know the personal history of Depeche Mode members, but I bet it might be also not all shiny. When I look at Dave's photos, I feel some hidden sorrow. Something he's trying to cover with a good haircut and smile, with the image of a rocker. But his inner demons are leaking out through the photos. All that probably became a source of inspiration for all their great songs. Some of which are about love, some about faith, and some about pain.

On the bright side of things - Depeche mode laid down a huge foundation for electronic music and became a definition of synth-pop. What is synth-pop I asked in one musical store 22 years ago. It's like Depeche Mode was an answer. Same, when I got to the concert of the old German synth-pop band named Melotron - it sounded pretty much like Depeche Mode. Their creativity in trying new sounds is endless. Their desire to write a good touchy song is incomparable. Even being electronic, they do bring a guitar to the stage and I feel gentle waves of rock energy.

My first real introduction to Depeche Mode was around 2000-2003 when they produced the Exciter album. It is so teen and so tender, so much about love there. Once again it was the right music at the right moment of life. The whole album feels like a long warm night spent walking around with one you love talking about everything. From Dream On, to Free Love, to Goodnight Lovers - almost every song makes you a little bit smile, and a little bit cry. It is simple, filled with love for life and freedom. In the same period, Dave Gahan also produced his solo album called Paper Monsters, which to my understanding was a self-reflection on his personality and traumas.

That's why I said about the period after being drunk (albums before Exciter, which were full of things hard to understand mixed with faith research) and before being high (albums after, full of pain research). The problem is - I like the next painful album - Playing the Angel. What's wrong with me?