What was the last album you listened to?

Artist: Depeche Mode
Album: 101
Genre: Synthpop and New Wave
Year: 1989
Standout tracks: Stripped, Somebody, Things You Said, Nothing, A Question of Time, Never Let Me Down Again, A Question of Lust and Master and Servant

The concert video/documentary with the same name, was the one which got me into the whole synthpop/new wave era of british artists in the late 70s and early 80s, and I thought some of the live clips from 101 was very impressive and as an result, I did a lot of impulse purchases in the following days, not only that of Depeche Mode.
However, I rarely think I ever sat down a listened to the whole live record, but since I am through with their other 1980s studio releases, I thought I could finish of that decade with this album.

Disc: A

01. Pimpf - Where as the album version closing of Music for the Masses did absolutely nothing for me, at least this concert intro manages to do something which the original did not, as here it only last for less than a minute, but even by those small measures, it is still a complete "nothing" cut for my part.

02. Behind the Wheel - Follows up right afterwards, and while not a great one, still it was one of the few which stood out as one of the more memorable from their 1987 album. 

03. Strangelove - Dave's voice sounds a little off early on, but again the song is not a big favorite of mine and this live album seems to open up in a weak manner, lacking the punch I had hoped for.

04. Sacred - And the dull fillers keep on coming, Dave still seems to sing way too "low" and offbeat, and when the melody and music is such a bore, then once more it ends up making not much of a impressive opening of this concert album.

05. Something to Do - Finally, something which reminds me of a more upbeat and good live number. Still it sounds like the band has not yet reached "climax", the voice and music is still a little disappointing and the focus seems to be on how loud the teenage girls can scream, along with Dave and his constant and annoying "YEEEEEEEAH!".

06. Blasphemous Rumours - While not as powerful as the stunning closer from Some Great Reward, it still do sound very good here. 
However, such a thing of dark beauty such deserved to be among the closing acts, not among the opening ones, specially coming up after so many poor ones.

07. Stripped - Another stunning Depeche classic, and once again I cannot understand why they chose to use it so early on, should have been done during the last act as I think it would have been more effective. However, this is a great live performance and surely among the stand out cuts from 101.

08. Somebody - Even better and more powerful than the album version, as Martin surely delivers one hell of a performance here. 

09. Things You Said - Well, things did get not just a little better but improved greatly through the end of side 1, but as I have mentioned I wished these beautiful and atmospheric numbers would have worked out far better if they were brought in much later on, and instead focused on trying to boost up the poor start with more melodic and upbeat pop numbers.

Disc: B

01. Black Celebration - Comes nowhere as being nearly as solid as the album version, but still a superior start to part 2 than what I got with the intro of part 1.

02. Shake the Disease - Not sure if I have ever heard this one, cannot remember it was on any of their studio albums put out in the 80s, hm maybe as a bonus cut later on? Anyway, it does not much for me anyway.

03. Nothing - One of the few and best cuts of Music for the Masses, and compared to the dull and lame Sacred, Behind the Wheel and Strangelove, Nothing actually sounds miles ahead better and more powerful.

04. Pleasure Little Treasure - The poorest cut on this release and once again a number I have never heard before. Sounds cheap and when coming up after such a great act as Nothing, it ends up even even worse.

05. People are People - This I remember well from the documentary and concert movie, not great but surely among the better performances.

06. A Question of Time - Now this is the kind of great music they should have used far more of, earlier on but no matter where it ends up, it still sounds great.

07. Never Let Me Down Again - Probably the most famous cut from the 101 performance and rightely so. But I have always thought it was the final number to close it off with.

08. A Question of Lust - Feels and sounds like Stripped part 2, but in a fantastic way. And speaking of Stripped, these two would have worked wonders if they were coming up after each other, and not with so much space between them. 

09. Master and Servant - One of my favorite tunes from this concert and here it sounds better than the album version as well. 

10. Just Can't Get Enough - Surprised they could not find room for New Life but I guess this song was more famous or familiar with the american audience at that time.

11. Everything Counts - A good way of going out, but I would prefer Never Let Me Down Again, but that is just a small "complaint" from my part.

All in all, I have never been much of a concert/live album fan, as very few have lived up to the "hype" or big expectations, but I think in this case I actually enjoyed the movie more than the CD album, even if it does not include every song in its full.
I  guess this was Depeche Mode's "U2" flirting with america, as they seemed to only become bigger and more successfull with every new release and would probably hit their commercial and creative peak only a few years on.

Not a great live record, too many dull and forgettable fillers along with a few really bad ones. Also the song selection suffers greatly from having so many poor ones among a few great and makes it as a very frustrating at times, uneven album.

6/10