Music For Constructions (A tribute to Depeche Mode)

Album facts

Release: December 3rd, 2021
Label: NoCut Records
Discogs: Not avail­able yet

Quick rating: 3.03 ★★★☆☆

A tribute with high ambitions

Towards the end of Depeche Mode's 40th anniversary, the label NoCut also released a trib­ute to the band. Packed with 31 cov­er ver­sions, I would say that the ambi­tions were high. I see many big scene names like MONO Inc, Beyond Obsession, Psyche or Blind Passenger on the track list. In addi­tion, there are many oth­er small bands that you know if you are deeply rooted in the scene and are oth­er­wise open to spe­cial-interest music. But does the sheer num­ber of tracks impress me? Do the bands fit togeth­er music­ally on a com­pil­a­tion? And what about the song selec­tion? We'll answer those ques­tions here shortly.

Respect for this mammoth tribute to Depeche Mode

Before we get to the cri­ti­cisms, I would like to com­pli­ment NoCut for put­ting togeth­er such a massive trib­ute com­pil­a­tion. Since we do Electrozombies trib­ute com­pil­a­tions ourselves from time to time, I am well aware of how much work and coordin­a­tion tal­ent is needed to final­ise such a project.

If you don't give a hard list of songs to cov­er and only cov­er them once, then it hap­pens very quickly that all the bands go for the same 2–3 super-hits. Then there are always the bands who ask shortly before the dead­line if they can have anoth­er one or two weeks exten­sion. Yes, it's stress­ful, but that and oth­er impasses are only known behind the scenes. But if you do it out of pas­sion, then you enjoy doing it in a way. Therefore, once again: NoCut Records, you have done a great job here. Respect and high regard from my side.

What you get at 'Music For Constructions'

The trib­ute starts with 3 hard ver­sions with a lot of heavy gui­tars that remind me of the trib­ute com­pil­a­tion series 'A Metal Tribute To Depeche Mode'. Generally speak­ing, you have to be very open-minded about the genre of this com­pil­a­tion. Besides hard and goth rock tunes, there are also jazz and lounge ver­sions on the trib­ute 'Music For Constructions'. But don't worry, there are also enough elec­tron­ic ver­sions in synth pop, EBM or dark wave on the com­pil­a­tion. Even though the monu­met­al work offers a lot, it nat­ur­ally remains dif­fi­cult in terms of taste as a com­plete work.

The rough points of cri­ti­cism are quickly ticked off. There are 3 duplic­a­tions on the com­pil­a­tion, which, giv­en Depeche Mode's huge cata­logue of songs, should not have been neces­sary. These are 'The Bottom Line', 'Ice Machine' and 'But Not Tonight'. What is very notice­able, which I also com­plained about with the trib­ute com­pil­a­tions 'Breathing in Fumes – An Infactious Tribute to Depeche Mode' and '40 Years – A Special Tribute To Depeche Mode' in 2021, is that for the most part only songs from the first dec­ade are on the com­pil­a­tion. On a pos­it­ive note, I would like to men­tion that the usu­al sus­pects like 'Never Let Me Down Again', 'Personal Jesus' and 'Enjoy The Silence' seem to have been banned. Thanks for that!

Is the XXL Depeche Mode Tribute a cheat pack?

To crush a 'Depeche Mode' clas­sic is just extremely dif­fi­cult. Every cov­er ver­sion in its genre is guar­an­teed to find a listen­er. In the end, you always decide for your­self how open you are to cov­er ver­sions and the cor­res­pond­ing genre. For me, the over­all work fits, even if I have to say that it doesn't belong to the best Depeche Mode trib­ute com­pil­a­tions. I bought the com­pil­a­tion des­pite my cri­ti­cism of its mediocrity and I think that for every Depeche Mode fan the decision to buy is prob­ably only oblig­at­ory. And then there's the fact that the first edi­tion comes in a lim­ited 2‑CD digi­pack. I think these will soon be out of stock. So get them now!

Tracklist of 'Music For Constructions (A tribute to Depeche Mode)'

Disc 1

1. MONO INC. – I feel You 2
2. MajorVoice – It's no Good 2
3. Crematory – Black Celebration 2
4. Beyond Obsession – The Bottom Line 4
5. Vainerz – Insight 4
6. Blind Passenger 80s Express – Photographic (Feat. Nigel Wheeler) 4
7. Love? – In your Memory 4
8. Darkness on Demand – Behind the Wheel 2.5
9. Evo-Lution – Stripped 3.5
10. Julian Shah Taylor – In your Room 2
11. Psyche – Lie to Me 3.5
12. Any Second – To have and to hold (Feat. Iggi) 4
13. Scheuber & Wollank – Heaven 2
14. Electronic Frequency – Ice Machine 3.5
15. Strangelove The Depeche Mode Experience – Sister of Night 3.5

Disc 2

1. Heimataerde – Ice Machine 2.5
2. Plastic Noise Experience – Get the Balance right 3.5
3. ADkeY – Nodisco 3
4. The Promise – But not Tonight 3.5
5. The Psychic Force – Blasphemous Rumors 3
6. DMK – Black Celebration (2021 Poly Gore Remix) 2.5
7. Mauricio Tamblay – Rush 3
8. Superikone – The Things you said (Feat. Puppekopp) 3
9. Monsmeg – Where's the Revolution 2
10. Blue Forge – Waiting for the Night 3.5
11. Stage Of Theed – My Secret Garden 2.5
12. White Noise TV – World in My Eyes 3.5
13. Ha[a]rp – The Sun and the Rainfall 3
14. District 13 – The Bottom Line 3.5
15. Twilight-Images – Fly on the Windscreen 2.5
16. Diarblack – But not Tonight 3

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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: