Various - For The Masses (A&M) Depeche Mode has been on a downward spiral in the credibility stakes for the past few years. But the band's legacy as one of the pioneers of electronic music in the 80s remains. It does not come as a surprise, therefore, to see contemporary groups paying homage to the group.
As tributes go, however, For The Masses falls way below par. Featuring few well-known names, this album is but another typical American eulogy filled to the brim with third-rate alternative rock groups. And the problem with this is that these groups tend to fall on their knees in hero-worship, making their products sound flat and uninspiring.
Many of the remakes on For The Masses are loyal Depeche Mode covers in which icy synthesisers are replaced by electrifying guitar riffs. However, these readings strip the songs of their original subtle gloom.
More interesting are those who dared to create drastic reintepretations, without resorting to the overblown rock dynamics of Rammstein's heavy metal cover of Stripped.
World In My Eyes by old-timers The Cure is hilariously psychedelic, while Belgian group Locust's remodelling of Master and Servant into a dark, Gainsbourg-Birkin-type duet is strikingly perverse - Martin Gore would surely approve.