Enjoy the silence
“Some songs are part of our lives. Even when we don’t think about it, certain types of melodies resonate in our heads. ”
Sometimes even tunes we don't like. We find ourselves whistling them or singing them without noticing it. When I was a young musician, I remember thinking about the guitar riff of Enjoy The Silence. Even if, at the time, I wasn't that familiar with Depeche Mode's music, I had a certain familiarity with the melodies and sounds they were producing.
We already wrote about Depeche Mode here on hiphopelectronic.com, and we talked about Personal Jesus, the first single taken from Violator (1990), the band's seventh studio album, recorded with producer Flood. After the great success of Personal Jesus, Depeche Mode released a second single taken from the album, Enjoy The Silence.
Originally a ballad by Martin Gore, the song underwent several changes and, under Alan Wilder's insistence, was reworked into the up-tempo version released on the album. Gears used by the band for the song were an EMS VCS3, a Minimoog, an Oberheim OB-8 synths, a Roland Space Echo, Manley amplifiers, and an ARP 2600 synth.
In 1989 the band was already very successful, and the production of Enjoy The Silence is a true master in music production, inspiring generations of musicians and producers for many years. Nowadays, we can find hundreds of videos on the internet analyzing every aspect of the track, but the guitar riff doubled with synths and brass, which was the real key for the song to become such an influential hit. On top of all of this, Dave Gahan's voice. Andy Healy from Albumism explained well that the song sang about "those tender moments when silence fills the void, and your lover is in your arms, and the world ceases to exist." A mood and a vibe that a vast audience could easily relate to.
The 1990s were the years of MTV, our most significant influencer. Its music programs and specials about bands played a considerable role in the career of many artists. The video of Enjoy The Silence went on heavy rotation and made Depeche Mode one of the decade's biggest bands. Enjoy The Silence reached number six in the UK, and a few months later, it reached number eight in the US, winning the category Best British Single at the 1991 Brit Awards.
With Enjoy The Silence, the band made their final step into international stardom. The extensive tour that followed the album's release gave way to the band playing several stadium shows in the United States. An estimated 1.2 million fans saw that tour worldwide.
The song was also covered by many artists who almost repeated the original version's success. Tori Amos and the metal band Lacuna Coil recorded the most famous versions of the song.
