Milestones is a periodic feature marking important album releases, concerts and figures in the history of ’80s college rock.
RELEASE: Depeche Mode, 101
PERSONNEL: Dave Gahan (vocals), Martin Gore (keyboard, guitar, vocals), Alan Wilder (keyboard), Andrew Fletcher (keyboard)
RELEASE DATE: March 13-14, 1989
BACKSTORY: Depeche Mode’s first-ever live album was recorded at the band’s mammoth June 18, 1988, concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., during the Music for the Masses tour. The two-disc document and accompanying D.A. Pennebaker documentary/concert film (see clip above, and several more below) in many ways captured DM as it crossed from widespread cult stardom to flat-out mainstream success, a move the group would complete with 1990’s blockbuster Violator. The live album also serves as a greatest hits set recapping the band’s first decade, sprinkled with some crowd noise and a lot of “Good evening, Pasadena!”
REISSUED? Yes, Mute Records released a hybrid SACD edition of 101 in 2003, a set that contained a 5.1 Surround mix of the entire Rose Bowl concert.
See full tracklist and more clips from Depeche Mode’s ‘101’ after the jump…
Tracklist: Depeche Mode, 101
Disc 1
1. “Pimpf”
2. “Behind the Wheel”
3. “Strangelove”
4. “Sacred”
5. “Something to Do”
6. “Blasphemous Rumours”
7. “Stripped”
8. “Somebody”
9. “Things You Said”
Disc 2
1. “Black Celebration”
2. “Shake the Disease”
3. “Nothing”
4. “Pleasure Little Treasure”
5. “People are People”
6. “A Question of Time”
7. “Never Let Me Down Again”
8. “A Question of Lust”
9. “Master and Servant”
10. “Just Can’t Get Enough”
11. “Everything Counts”
Video: Highlights from Depeche Mode’s “101” film
PREVIOUSLY IN MILESTONES
- Milestones: Minutemen, Black Flag recorded ‘Minuteflag’ EP 25 years ago this week
- Milestones: The Smiths’ ‘Meat is Murder’ released 25 years ago today
- Milestones: New Order’s ‘Technique’ released 21 years ago today
- Milestones: Remembering INXS’s Michael Hutchence on his 50th birthday
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Video: Alan Wilder, Martin Gore soundcheck Depeche Mode’s ‘Somebody’
- Video: Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, Alan Wilder discuss Royal Albert Hall reunion
- Video: Alan Wilder joins Depeche Mode on stage at Royal Albert Hall in London
- Vintage Video: Depeche Mode’s 1988 MTV Music Video Award home movies
- Video: Depeche Mode’s Alan Wilder on ‘The Posters Came From the Walls’
- Martin Gore of Depeche Mode subpoenaed in ‘World of Warcraft’ lawsuit
Great live album to accompany the “101” movie. The DVD release of the movie includes a commentary by Pennebaker, Dave, Martin, and Fletch (sadly, Alan declined to participate), which is the highlight of the DVD set for fans from way back when. I was 16 and living in Brooklyn when they did the auditions at the Malibu nightclub in Lido Beach, Long Island for 101. I was a religious WLIR/WDRE listener and wanted to go *so* badly. I remember they announced on the radio that you had to be 18 to audition, and I cried. LOL. 101 always brings back good memories though, both the album and the movie.
Still my favorite album of all time. This is classic Mode at it’s finest. I was lucky enough to see them on this tour in early June 1988. An unforgettable time in alternative music, luckily captured here forever!