Enjoy The Silence

So I was driving home yesterday from a New Year's Day family get together along with the girlfriend.  Since I was driving (and I trust her good taste in music) I asked her to play DJ for the drive there and back.  She popped in one of my random music mixes from a few years prior to.  A bunch of great tunes came on one after the other and just remembered how awesome this CD was.  Anyone else here ever made music mixes of songs/singles you bought online?  Even though most people have switched to the USB/solid state in their cars, but like people before me with their cassette tapes it's always cooler to be your own DJ and go through the process of elimination for which songs make 'the cut' (haha)

So passing through track after track we came across Dope's rendition of a Depeche Mode cover, "People Are People".  Now I like Dope despite the flack from trollers about this band.  They got good hooks, the guitarist (aka Virus) is a solid player and the drums and bass follow quite nicely with the tunes.  Not to mention they can go from tunes like "Burn" to a mellow ballad such as "Sing".

Now this wasn't my point in the article.  What I wondered while driving home was the amount of signed (or even just popular) bands that have taken a stab at reinventing some uber popular tunes originally composed by Depeche Mode.  So I took the track "Enjoy The Silence" since I've heard it made over a couple times and easily recognizable by listeners.  The point of the rant was to discuss the highs and lows of each remake and what sticks out about each style of the song.

Here's the original...



And here are a few of the remakes...


(Anberlin, 2006)


(Lacuna Coil, 2006)


(Breaking Benjamin, 2002/2011)


(It Dies Today, 2005)


(Evergreen Terrace, 2002)


(HIM, unknown year)

I know it's probably been repetitive by now for that track and there are even more bands that have covered it in the past.  I like to take subtle things though from each version that make the song unique to their band.  I focus on the vocals of Ville Valo from HIM, the punk beats from Evergreen Terrace, the slow build up of Lacuna Coil or the ambient element that Breaking Benjamin adds to the introduction.  They all have their highs, lows and off moments where you sit back and wonder "why did they do that?"  In the big picture, I find it more flattering than anything else to Depeche Mode that so many bands have attempted to not only cover their song but to make it their own and adding their own elements to the track.

And now you all know what goes through my head when listening to a track.  Cheers!