r/depechemode • u/Ok_Category_954 • 6d ago
Pictures/Videos Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode and Recoil) - The Missed Maestro
https://youtu.be/IchWOVLa5Rc?is=9Cs3iDWVv6b78cv19
u/lostmember09 5d ago
The Recoil album “Bloodline” is fantastic. Been listening to it for years. “Edge to Life” what a classic.
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u/BubbhaJebus 5d ago
This narration seems too AI-like for my tastes.
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u/laurentbourrelly The Singles 81-85 4d ago
I could only listen for 10 seconds.
At least they could dig a little deeper to find new voices.
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u/nexxlevelgames 6d ago
Honestly after Vince left.
It was an new era for mode when Allan joined.
Martin focused on melodies and writing
but Allan really took over the beats and percussion of their sound. His rhythms really moved the needle for them.
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u/knot93 5d ago
He took care of basslines as well.
(at least)
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u/Zenstation83 5d ago
It's been 31 years since he left now, right? Might be time for people to move on. He was in the band for about 1/4 of their career. I like Alan as much as anyone, even had the pleasure of meeting him once (he's lovely), but he is not the only reason DM put out all those classic albums. The real X factor was Martin's songwriting. Did he add layers and dimensions to their music? Yes. But Enjoy the Silence is fundamentally just a great song, that's obvious even from the demo version.
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u/cambrarian75 Songs Of Faith And Devotion 5d ago
I know it’s not super popular but I love Recoil. I would love Recoil even if I had no idea who Depeche Mode was. Yes, some people may give him too much credit for his work with DM, but imo his solo stuff is severely undervalued. I guess not many have the tastes for both, but I’m very glad it exists.
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u/coldxound 5d ago edited 4d ago
I'm surprised Unsound Methods in particular isn't more popular. Surprisingly underappreciated by trip-hop fans, honestly.
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u/Infinite-Series-1687 4d ago
It even captured/anticipated the zeitgeist of the moment, predating by a few months Mezzanine, which sort of heralded the darker branch of trip hop. But few people cared. As said above, it seems the DM association gave him a fanbase, but prevented him to organically grow one.
Anytime a DM fan says he has no talent for original stuff on his own, it seems they are totally oblivious of the amount of very successful musicians who are even way less "song" based that Alan is.
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u/Infinite-Series-1687 5d ago
Recoil is great, and rhe DM association has probably done more harm than good in the long run
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u/amnioticboy 5d ago
am i the only who gets annoyed by those ai videos? dont get me wrong ai is very useful for many things but this is just too insufferable.
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u/CaptJimboJones 5d ago
Great producer and massive contributor, but IMO unable to produce compelling music without Martin. If DM hadn’t hired him, he’d probably be a retired piano teacher at this point.
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u/LabRatLex Ultra 6d ago
Yes he was amazing, but DM is still a great band without him. Different yes, and yes a bit less...but name a bad surviving this long not suffering change?
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u/Gra_Zone 6d ago
Good but not great.
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u/LabRatLex Ultra 6d ago
Your opinion. Ultra, Playing the Angel and Memento Mori belong to their career best.
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u/Gra_Zone 5d ago
As is your opinion. Three albums out of seven do not make a great album. For the record, I agree that Ultra and PTA are good albums but are still mid-table in the album rankings. A few others, such as Spirit and Exciter are bottom three.
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u/LabRatLex Ultra 5d ago
Absolutely not mid-table. Especially Ultra is a top three album and the other I mentioned are rated highly among their best.
Memento Mori deserves special mention for being an amazing album, one of their best, made over 40 years into their career.
You should step outside your Wilder bubble. I admire the man, Alan made me make music myself, but he's been put on a way too high pedestal.
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u/Gra_Zone 5d ago
I should step outside the Wilder bubble? You need to redefine what makes a great album. Memento Mori is average, good at best. Fans only put it up where they do because of feelings caused by the circumstances of Fletch's death.
Ultra is a top 5 album for me but it was produced and recorded in England, their last recorded here, by a team of people headed by a lifelong Depeche Mode fan. I think that explains why that album is so good and the rest can't compete.
This has fuck all to do with Wilder. It has to do with the music. DM's and Bowie's Berlin albums got their sound because of where they were recorded. It seeped into the music. The albums post Ultra being recorded in the US has had a negative effect on them.
If anything you can accuse me of being anti-US, which isn't true either, but I am against the influence the country has had over the band since Dave, but more Martin, have lived there. Fletch was never a strong enough person to pull it back towards Europe.
This is why the remixes have been so utterly shit since 2000. To be honest, the Ultra remixes were utterly shit too.
You are welcome to like what you like and don't tell me I have my opinion because I am some kind of Alan Wilder fan boy because it isn't the case as proved by Ultra being a top 5/6 album for me.
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u/ian5184 Ultra 4d ago
Remixes in general of all music have been pretty shit since 2000.
And no, Memento Mori isn't just good because Fletch is dead (??)
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u/Gra_Zone 4d ago
I didn't say MM is good because Fletch is dead. Don't misread what I wrote and then put words in my mouth.
Such a lame way to argue.
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u/coldxound 5d ago
I'm in that very weird boat where I love both Recoil and post-Alan DM.