Released in early 1990, "Violator" was Depeche Mode's seventh studio album. It was produced over most of 1989 with the help of producer Flood, sound engineer Steve Lyon and mixer François Kevorkian.
Background
Depeche Mode was formed in 1980 by Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher in Basildon, an industrial new town some fifty kilometers northeast of London. They were soon joined by David Gahan on vocals. After a first album in which analog synthesizers made up the bulk of the instrumentation, Vince Clarke, the band’s main composer, decided to leave. Martin Gore, hitherto a bit on the back burner, took over this role, while a fourth member was recruited through classified ads: Alan Wild
At the end of the 80s, after a decade of activity and six studio albums, Depeche Mode decided to evolve its production methods for the album to come.
Composition, maquettes & pre-production.
In an interview with NME in 1989, Martin Gore unveiled the direction of the future Depeche Mode: “The last four albums have perfected our formula: my demos, a month in a programming studio, recording the songs, and so on. Now it’s time to move on. I think we need to rethink our whole approach to music if we want to keep doing what really excites us. We decided that our first record of the '90s had to be different.”
Alan Wilder explains it like this: “Usually, we start the making of an album with long pre-production meetings, in which we decide how the record will sound, and then we go into a programming studio. This time, we decided to keep all pre-production to a minimum. We were beginning to have a problem with boredom, and we felt we’d reached a certain accomplishment with this way of doing things.”
Andrew Fletcher adds, “Over the years, Martin’s home studio gradually improved, so the demos he produced and played to us became more and more accomplished. If you listen to a song, for example ”Strangelove, " which was a very accomplished demo, after a few listens, the direction in which it should go is pretty set. Basically, we were re-recording Martin’s demos with better sounds, better production and Dave’s voice. For this album, we suggested that Martin present the demos to us on acoustic guitar or organ, so that we could decide the direction of the songs as a group."
In Keyboards France, Wilder shed light on the band’s studio workflow for Violator: “In recent years, Martin had accustomed us to hyper polished demos. We changed this method for Violator, because it removed all the final spontaneity of song direction. What’s relevant in January is no longer relevant in November. So we asked Martin to produce open demos, very simple in execution, just vocals, acoustic guitar or organ. No more 48-track maquettes [models for more involved arrangements] with pre-ordered arrangements! By keeping things simple, we were able to enter the studio and consider the direction of the songs as an outcome remaining in question right to the end. This kept us interested in the music. I think this method paid off.”
Recording
After agreeing on the direction to take, it was time to choose which producer would help them with this new project. Initially, the band thought of working again with David Bascombe, producer of the previous album Music For The Masses, but he had to decline because he was too busy producing Tears For Fears’ The Seeds Of Love. They then thought of Brian Eno, who also declined without giving a reason. The man finally chosen for the task was Mark Ellis aka Flood.
“At the time, I was working with a lot of bands like Nitzer Ebb and Nine Inch Nails, and I was into this idea that a pop band could have more grit, ” recalls Flood. “At first, I quickly realized that they wanted to evolve, to change their musical direction. They were looking for more freedom, more space, and wanted to evolve the songs in the studio setting.”
According to Martin Gore, “He really helped us push the boundaries and try things that were completely different from what we’d done before. He made us play more, rather than program everything.”
The main instruments used during the sessions were EMU Emulator III and Akai S1000 samplers, an ARP 2600 monophonic synth, and a Gretsch Anniversary guitar. They are, however, accompanied by a collection of synthesizers and keyboards that, today, looks like a fine vintage collection: a PPG Wave 2.3, an Oberheim OBX, an OBXa, an OB8, an Xpander, an Emulator II, a Moog Minimoog, a Roland HP-700, and a Korg M1.
For the effects and peripherals used, we don’t have precise information, but Lexicon 224 & 480L, Harmonizer Eventide H3000, AMS RMX16, AMS S-DMX, Quantec Room Simulator and Space Station SST282 reigned supreme in studios in the late 80s, so we can legitimately assume they were put to use.
It was decided that the album would be recorded in several studios. “In real-time, it took us about six months to record Violator, spread over the year 1989,” Wilder remembers. “We took our time, the problem being that the longer we stayed in the studio, the slower our work rate became. The best of our production is put to tape in the first two or three weeks of recording, and then boredom sets in. The solution is to change location and spread out our creative periods as best we can.”
At the beginning of May, Depeche Mode, Flood and sound engineer Steve Lyon met up at Logic Studios in Milan, where a seven-week recording session had initially been booked. “We started off in Milan, where the basic idea was clear: it was going to be seven weeks of hard work and nights out [Laughs], ” says Flood. “It all went very well, even if we didn’t end up with anything concrete…But looking back, we can say that this Italian sojourn had a huge influence in the sense that it set the tone for the rest of the record.” Although progress during these sessions was slow, the band nevertheless emerged with three recorded tracks: “Personal Jesus, ” “World In My Eyes, ” and “Dangerous.” The latter track didn’t appear on the album, but was used as the B-side to the “Personal Jesus” single.
After a few weeks’ break, the team reconvened in the summer of 1989 at the Puk Studio in the Danish countryside [see photo above]. “In Denmark, it was obviously more studious, as there was much less to do! [Laughs], ” Flood adds. “The band was very inspired, and some of the songs evolved enormously during these sessions.” Those sessions were much more productive and, by the end of these Danish sessions, Violator was generally taking shape.
Last overdubs and mixing
In September, with “Personal Jesus” already released as a herald single, the team reunited at The Church, a studio owned by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics). To make up for time lost in Milan, while the band recorded the final vocal takes and overdubs, François Kevorkian mixed the tracks one floor down. Kevorkian had already mixed “Personal Jesus” with the band in Milan, and it was decided to call on him for the rest of the album (with the exception of “Enjoy The Silence, ” which was mixed by Daniel Miller). François Kevorkian, known for his work with Kraftwerk, was chosen to provide an electronic counterpoint to Flood’s rather rootsy takes. “Violator is much more electronic than I remembered, ” Flood said, "François brought an electro influence that was absent from the original takes." The album’s final mix was done at MasterRock in London and Axis in New York.
Title-by-title:
“World In My Eyes”
A heavy, crushing synthetic sound kicked in, and the album begins with this cold, enigmatic track. Electronic percussion ricochets and responds across the full width of the stereo spectrum, along with brief, minimalist electro sounds and various sampled effects: François Kevorkian’s mixing comes into its own here. This track, from the first sessions in Milan, partly set the course for the rest of the album. It is dominated by the sounds of the Emulator III
.
“Sweetest Perfection”
Sung by Martin Gore, this track begins with the fade-in of a snare drum pattern played on brooms, sampled on the Emulator III. "I prefer looped parts, because they include a performance, " says Wilder. “One of the reasons why drum machines sound mechanical is the lack of human feeling. When a drummer plays, no two snare sounds are the same, and that’s what I like. Most of the drum sounds on Violator were sampled, with the exception of the obvious electro sounds.” The guitars are much more present here: arpeggios with very pronounced vibrato and heavily processed slide guitars, gliding from right to left.
“Personal Jesus”
After a tinkling bell, evoking both a chime bell and an introductory power chord, a glam rhythm sets in, accompanied by a blues guitar riff, all bathed in an electronic ambience. The main rhythm is based on a loop created by recording two or three people jumping on flight cases. The Gretsch Anniversary guitar used is a true blues icon and is very sparingly treated here, contrasting effectively with the rest of the production. Characteristic of Depeche Mode in this period the vocals are cold, in striking contrast to Dave Gahan’s warm timbre. The break features evocative gasps. The sampling of breaths, edited and processed for percussive purposes, is a technique already explored on the previous album and will be reused several times on Violator.
“Halo”
It all starts with reverb-laden analog percussion mixed with vocal-toned samples. A typically Moog synth bass arrives next, followed by a simple, effective synth riff, initially set to a slow envelope. Gahan’s voice then makes its entrance, guiding us through to the chorus, where the lyricism is accentuated by soaring strings — still the Emulator III — and Gore’s backing vocals, first in unison, then in octave. The powerful main rhythm comes from a sample of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks.” More precisely, it’s said to be a second-generation sample from a rap record that had previously sampled the drums of John Bonham (Led Zeppelin’s drummer, famous for his powerful hitting.)
“Waiting For The Night”
A minimalist ambient soundtrack with overt references to Tangerine Dream. “Flood and I used to listen to Tangerine Dream a lot, ” remembers Wilder, “and we decided to try and create a similar atmosphere for this track. The main sequence was created using his ARP 2600 and the accompanying sequencer [editor’s note: probably a 1601]. Thanks to its many possibilities, this sequencer possesses unique qualities that are difficult to reproduce with a modern MIDI sequencer. Once the sequence was programmed, I had to play each chord on an external keyboard so that it could be transposed to follow the song’s chord structure.”
They use a similar principle on the bubbling bass part, which, along with the main sequence, forms the backbone of the song. “The charm of the ARP sequencer lies in the slight variations in frequency and tempo that occur each time the part is played. This gives a fluidity and perpetual change that fits perfectly with the song.”
“Enjoy The Silence”
The track dates back to sessions in Denmark at Puk Studio, and has an eventful history. While Martin had already written the song, a minimalist ballad with harmonium as the only instrumentation, the band initially considered a silent track to fit the concept. However, they eventually changed their minds, as the gag was deemed a little out of place, and Daniel Miller, the head of Mute Records, strongly objected. In the end, the song was recorded, providing a fine illustration of what a close-knit, creative team can produce.
“We asked Martin for demos in their most basic form, and 'Enjoy The Silence’ was totally basic, ” Wilder says. “Strangely enough, the thing that immediately came to mind was that I could hear Neil Tennant singing it in my head. There was something about the line ”All I ever wanted" that sounded very Pet Shop Boys to my ears! So, I thought it might work as a rhythmic dance track. To keep the simple ballad approach for this song would have been a crime on its enormous commercial potential. It was a great melody that was crying out for the treatment it finally got."
Gore wasn’t convinced at first but eventually agreed to let Wilder and Flood try something. “Flood and I worked on the soundtrack before calling Martin to ask him to play the guitar riff. As the song came together, I think it occurred to all of us — even Martin — that we had a hit on our hands.”
“Enjoy The Silence” is followed by “Crucified, ” an unmentioned little instrumental that bridges the gap between “Enjoy The Silence” and “Policy Of Truth.” Vocalist Dave Gahan makes his instrumental debut here. “Dave’s guitar playing is very personal, he’s got his own style, ” Wilder says. “We used one of his takes on one of the middle sections.” During this interlude, a ghostly sample of Andrew Fletcher’s voice can be heard screaming, “Crucified!”
“Policy Of Truth”
Another track from the Puk sessions, the band had a lot of trouble finalizing this one. Alan Wilder explains: “Policy Of Truth went through a lot of stages before we settled on the final version. It took us quite a while to find a catchy riff that worked.” Many instruments were tested for this riff, including a flute, before finding this synthetic sound punctuated by slide guitar. The piece is musically rich, incorporating brass, electric piano, various guitars and feedback, all sampled on the Emulator II and III as well as the Akai S1000. The main rhythm is enriched by a hi-hat pattern from an acoustic drum kit.
“Blue Dress”
The second track on the album, sung by Martin Gore, is placed in the penultimate position. As such, it acts as a mirror effect with “Sweetest Perfection, ” which is in second position. Little information has filtered out about the recording of this track, but we assume that the Emulator still reigns supreme. Like “Enjoy The Silence, ” “Blue Dress” is followed by a short, uncredited instrumental entitled “Interlude #3,” which leads into the next track.
“Clean”
After a sort of electronic swarming, a synthetic chorus is heard, followed by a bass line gorged with stereo echo, furiously reminiscent of “One of These Days” by Pink Floyd (1971). “I recognize the similarity, but it’s not a Floyd sample, ” Wilder points out. “It was programmed using a combination of analog synthesizer [editor’s note: an ARP 2600] and sampled bass.” Also, from Puk’s decidedly prolific sessions, “Clean” is another of those tracks that have gone through many stages. For example, that famous bass line wasn’t found until the very end.
Produce in the spirit of Violator today
The Emulator III was undoubtedly the most widely used instrument on Violator. Unless you’re looking for a period piece that’s very expensive and highly sought-after, finding a hardware version of this instrument will be problematic. On the software side, although there’s no emulation to speak of, we can turn to the UVI Emulation II+, which offers sounds taken directly from Emulator, Emulator II, Emulator III, Drumulator and SP12.
Although less present, Emulator II is still used extensively on Violator. Arturia’s Emulator II V plug-in is outstanding and manages to render the character of the instrument correctly. Also worth mentioning is TAL-Sampler, which offers excellent DAC modelling of vintage samplers, including the Emulator II and the Akai S1000.
The ARP 2600 has been reproduced on numerous occasions. These include the Behringer 2600 and the Korg ARP 2600 M.
We have to admit that, although numerous software reproductions exist, emulating an ARP 2600 is a perilous exercise, never totally convincing. Despite this, the Arturia ARP 2600V and the Korg ARP 2600 do the job if you don’t look too closely. Both offer the advantage of being accompanied by a reproduction of the ARP sequencer.
For the big OB series, what could be more natural than to turn to Oberheim and its magnificent OB-6 and OB-X8. For a more modest budget, the recent, smaller TEO-5 is an excellent option. The Behringer UB-Xa, meanwhile, offers a very convincing approach to OB-Xa and OB-8 at an even tighter rate.
As far as plug-ins emulating the OB-Xa are concerned, we can’t recommend highly enough the very good Obsession from Synapse Audio, as well as the Arturia OB-Xa V.
Sources: Stripped by Jonathan Miller (2003, 2009, Omnibus Press), Ethique synthétique by Sebastien Michaud (2001, 2007, Camion Blanc), Violator by François-Emmanuel Trapes (2019, editions Densité). Publications: Keyboards France, Sound On Sound, Magic revue pop moderne, New Musical Express.
