40 Years – A Special Tribute To Depeche Mode

Album facts

Release: August 13th, 2021
Label: Electro Shock Records
Discogs: Various Artists – 40 Years – A Special Tribute To Depeche Mode

Quick rating: 2.8 ★★★☆☆

It's all surface

As a big Depeche Mode fan, lov­er of well-made cov­er songs and pas­sion­ate col­lect­or of phys­ic­al CDs, it was of course a duty for me to buy the com­pil­a­tion '40 Years – A Special Tribute To Depeche Mode'. Moreover, the phys­ic­al CD is strictly lim­ited to 300 cop­ies. I love lim­ited edi­tions in my col­lec­tion! I also think the art­work of the phys­ic­al edi­tion is pretty well done. Definitely much bet­ter than the art­work ver­sion of the digit­al release, which, by the way, has already been released on June 15th, 2021.

Prepare to be very open-minded

The title '40 Years – A Special Tribute To Depeche Mode' sounds epic and overly ambi­tious. And here, unfor­tu­nately, I already have my first point of cri­ti­cism. The tracks on the com­pil­a­tion only date back to 'Songs Of Faith And Devotion' (1993) and thus only cov­er the first 13 years of the band's career. With a title like this, I would have expec­ted songs from all albums of the last 40 years.

Let's move on to the genres on the com­pil­a­tion. The mix demands quite a bit of music­al open­ness from the listen­er. To be hon­est, I'm a bit scep­tic­al wheth­er there is any­one who likes all genres of music, espe­cially in view of the fact that the com­pil­a­tion is aimed at 'Depeche Mode' fans. I'd say the tar­get group is extremely nar­row. Included are genres like Minimal Electro, Synth Pop, Metal, Rock, Lounge, EBM, Classical, Punk and others.

Another point of cri­ti­cism I would like to men­tion is that the tracks, espe­cially the big bands on the com­pil­a­tion, are unfor­tu­nately very old and famil­i­ar to Depeche Mode fans. For example, the ver­sion of 'Stripped' from 'In Strict Confidence' which comes from the album 'Collapse' (1997). Or 'In Your Memory' from 'Leather Strip', which was already included on the Alfa Matrix com­pil­a­tion 'Re:Covered, Vol. 2 – A Tribute to Depeche Mode' in 2011. The 'Blind Passenger' ver­sion of 'Behind The Wheel' is also not a recent track.

It is import­ant to me that this is not mis­con­strued as bash­ing. I just think it's a pity that the most inter­est­ing bands for the tar­get group of DM fans are all cov­ers that have already been released. Of course, new cov­er ver­sions are also included. However, I doubt how inter­est­ing these are for the usu­al Depeche Mode fan.

Is it worth buying?

Here the answer is very easy for me. For all Depeche Mode fans who simply want to expand their col­lec­tion with anoth­er lim­ited edi­tion, the CD is a must-buy, as it is for me. For all those who buy the CD expect­ing and want­ing to hear great inter­pret­a­tions of Depeche Mode's work, I advise not to buy it. There are much bet­ter com­pil­a­tions on the mar­ket. Just have a look at our art­icle 'The best Depeche Mode trib­ute com­pil­a­tions' and be inspired to listen to these Depeche Mode trib­ute highlights.

Tracklist of '40 Years – A Special Tribute To Depeche Mode'

1. Deutsche Bank – Pimpf
2. Blind Passenger – Behind The Wheel (Feat. 80´s Express)
3. Leather Strip – In Your Memory
4. Eon:aurora – Puppets
5. Neodyn – Everything Counts
6. Shade Of Shambles – Little 15
7. Anylight – Walking In My Shoes
8. Pommes Oder Pizza – Photographic
9. An:idea – The Sun And The Rainfall
10. Patenbrigade Wolff – Condemnation
11. Scream Silence – Walking In My Shoes
12. Neodyn – But Not Tonight (Feat. Anylight)
13. Stephan Schulz – Something To Do
14. Dust Of Basement – The Things You Said (Feat. Perfidious Words)
15. In Strict Confidence – Stripped

What's your rating/opinion on this album?

More Depeche Mode

Do you love 'Depeche Mode' like we do? Then you'll be inter­ested in our Depeche Mode album rank­ing in the art­icle 'What is the best Depeche Mode album of all-time?'.

Further you might like to read our art­icle about 'The best Depeche Mode trib­ute com­pil­a­tions'. To hon­our the band, we also have released two trib­ute com­pil­a­tions in 2017. Check out these unique and awe­some cov­er ver­sions from recent Depeche Mode Hits: