Depeche Mode 101 (1989)_mkv

101 is a live album and documentary by Depeche Mode released in 1989 chronicling the final leg of the band's Music for the Masses Tour and the final show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Group member Alan Wilder is credited with coming up with the name; the performance was the 101st and final performance of the tour (and coincidentally also a famous highway in the area).

Depeche Mode prepares for the 101st and final concert of its massive 'Music For The Masses' world tour at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, while a group of fans who won a contest travel to the concert across the United States on a bus…

Originally a product of Britain's new romantic movement, Depeche Mode went on to become the quintessential electropop band of the 1980s. One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based completely around the use of synthesizers, they began their existence as a bouncy dance-pop outfit but gradually developed a darker, more dramatic sound that ultimately positioned them as one of the most successful alternative bands of their era…

The unexpected American success of "People Are People," which remained the band's biggest U.S. hit until the start of the '90s, prompted this stateside-only compilation, very much a dog's breakfast of new and old songs alike. Earlier album cuts such as "Pipeline" and "Told You So" appear here, but the four new tracks understandably received the biggest attention. The title track itself, though the bandmembers have long since expressed embarrassment over it, still sounds like what it became, an engaging, instantly memorable pop hit - if the lyrical sentiments are among Martin Gore's most naïvely sociopolitical before or since, David Gahan delivers them strongly, with Gore providing a fine counterpoint vocal…

Consider this a primer, because there is no way a career spanning 25 years can be summarized justifiably within the cramped space of an 80-minute disc. The Best of Depeche Mode, Vol. 1 takes a very selective skip through the group's past, and it leaves no room for anything off Black Celebration - an album many fans (albeit the most depressive ones) cite as a favorite. While the relatively thorough Singles 81>85 and Singles 86>98 can be seen as the proper entry route, they don't have the benefit of covering 2001's Exciter or 2005's excellent Playing the Angel, so this disc - as of 2006, at least - is very nearly the best possible way to get a feel for the whole daunting discography. Tending to stick to the singles that made the greatest impact on the mainstream and club charts, the selections do signify that the group hasn't lost any traction…

The first three box sets devoted to compiling all of Depeche Mode's A- and B-sides were originally issued in 1991. In 2004, when the fourth through sixth sets were issued for the first time, the initial three were reissued. The first box, covering 1981 and 1982, includes the "Dreaming of Me," "New Life," "Just Can't Get Enough," "See You," "The Meaning of Life," and "Leave in Silence" singles. In what would prove to be a regular Depeche Mode practice throughout the years, all of their first six singles involve non-album tracks, along with extended versions and alternate mixes. Each single is packaged individually in a slim jewel case, providing a convenience for hardcore fans.

Martin Gore has famously noted that Depeche Mode stopped worrying about its future when the first post-Vince Clarke-departure single, "See You," placed even higher on the English charts than anything else Clarke had done with them. Such confidence carries through all of A Broken Frame, a notably more ambitious effort than the pure pop/disco of the band's debut. With arranging genius Alan Wilder still one album away from fully joining the band, Frame became very much Gore's record, writing all the songs and exploring various styles never again touched upon in later years. "Satellite" and "Monument" take distinct dub/reggae turns, while "Shouldn't Have Done That" delivers its slightly precious message about the dangers of adulthood with a spare arrangement and hollow, weirdly sweet vocals…