Some bands sound good live, some don’t. Depeche Mode just sound different, and way better live, this album proves it.
You’re either a Depeche Mode fan, or you’re not. The band has had some tumultuous times in the past, but have never shied away from their bold, electronica synth rock infused tone that has been the defining sound of the genre itself. Numerous line up changes aside, there is a cinematic flair that the band members have carried. One definite reason why they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall during the pandemic. We return to a live rendition of an album only a band like this could execute. This is Memento Mori, Live in Mexico City.
As much as this band has found their sound in electronic instruments and in the rhythm of repetition, their songwriting has been essentially human. If we were to move in reverse, Memento Mori itself in 2023 was very life and death oriented. Imagine their sound to be the canvas on which their poetic and oftentimes dire words imprint themselves. Don’t forget, this band and voice has been around since 1981. Each album would have something to say, a statement to make, a sound to experiment with.
The history they tread
Depeche Mode weren’t used to the traditional path of a band’s rise. There were several years where Gahan’s addiction left a void in the band’s songwriting. He had already established a darker industrial sound through his vocals. Till the tempo was picked up again, you were going to experience oftentimes mediocre albums, but with incredible promise. Electronic atmospheres that many bands use now are all possible because of their intense experimentation. It’s the same tones that would lay a foundation for Nine Inch Nails with the entire industrial rock/metal revolution. In that time, Depeche Mode found deeper atmospheres, tones and styles while progressing through the years.
So when you listen to this live album, realise how incredible it would have been to be surrounded with those ethereal sounds. The duo take us through hits of the entire catalogue, with light on the new album. Opening with My Cosmos Is Mine-you can hear the entire stadium erupt with excitement, cheering their name. The familiar riff rolls around, and the vocals are well-as astounding as you remember them. Gahan has set a precedent for making the live performances great, if not better than the studio recordings sometimes. Continuing the aesthetic is Wagging Tongue. I love how Mexico City has such die-hard fans, knowing the catalogue inside out. If you’re on your headphones, you can hear the band being supported by the audience in many chorus and verse sections.
Depeche Mode: Alive and beating
We’re then catapulted to the 1993 classic, Walking In My Shoes. The pacing of this live show was great, showing some classics in between the well composed 2023 Memento Mori. Always helps to hear genuine fans come out and support you with music that might have impacted their lives positively. Electronica bliss continues with Walking In My Shoes. These are 90s power tracks, either goth classics or underground hits. Which is why Mexico City gets the best of the band. From Iron Maiden to Muse and Prince, the fans here are genuine broadcasters of good music.
As the duo build towards more hits, I was astonished how great it sounds, even live. All the atmospheres have been accurately captured or been accounted for in such a large stadium. Precious, Ghosts Again showed some powerful transitions, mastered through meticulous production and design. Depeche Mode are Gore and Gahan now, but it’s nice how they have paid their tributes to Fletcher and prior members of the band. No matter what, they respect the music and the journey it came out of-and pay their dues to it.
A great mix to treat to
Just Can’t Get Enough, Don’t Let Me Down… and Personal Jesus are the closing numbers of this powerful live album. It is a perfect peak, to leave people with that kind of rush. I enjoyed listening to all the little details in live shows that make it so different. Longer atmospheres, crowd interactions, tiny experiments that elevate or make the sound different. The duo have made sure it’s a memorable experience, while making an uncompromising promise to the show they know how to put on.
Historic sound, returned in parcels
I rocked out to this album and receded into the spaces where the ambient textures took over. Depeche Mode will always stay alive, for they not only explore themes that make you think-but because the band are more than a smorgasbord of electronica thrill. They are an individual thought that has run rampant for almost 4 decades, and changed so many lives along the way. Rather than muting their sound while wrapping up, they have accented their thoughts with panache. Dave Gahan and Martin Gore have really respected the sound post change that the band represents, and recreate the older hits with their own touch. Live in Mexico City is another live album that you can keep returning to, as we move through life, and death:
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
