Devotion

LSD: Love, Sensuality and Devotion gathers over a decade's worth of Enigma's definitive tracks, including the song that started it all, "Sadeness, Pt. 1." "Return to Innocence," "Beyond the Invisible," and "Cross of Changes" are all featured as well, and though the collection ranges from the rock-tinged "I'll Love You…I'll Kill You" to atmospheric, electronic fare like "Shadows in Silence," since it's all essentially Michael Crétu's vision, it flows surprisingly well. Since Enigma's sound has varied fairly drastically over the years, LSD: Love, Sensuality and Devotion is the perfect starting point for anyone curious about Crétu's music, and the only Enigma album that casual fans might need.

Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993) {2006 Collectors Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 308 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
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© 2006 Demilune / Mute | DMCD8/0094637006726
Rock / Synth Pop / Alternative

SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION finds the band reinventing itself somewhat via lyirics that largely abandon the bleakness of the band's previous forays in favor of cautious optimism and spiritual questions.

Depeche Mode's tenth album, SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION, finds the band reinventing itself somewhat. Not that it'd been exactly treading water, but its last several albums had explored and refined a particular aesthetic of dark lyrical themes and minor-key synthesizer atmospherics.

However, in 1993's grunge era, lyrical mopeyness was endemic and keyboards were rapidly becoming out of date. Wisely, Depeche Mode sought to change both elements of its music, not just one. Incorporating guitars–most notably on the oddly blues-derived "I Feel You"–and other instruments into its songs was a canny move, but the stroke of genius is in Martin Gore's lyrics, which largely abandon the bleakness of the band's more recent work in favor of cautious optimism and spiritual questions. In an age of irony, the real surprise was that this album's title was not particularly ironic.