A Pleasant Surprise

Condemnation is not DM's most exciting song, but this single has actually gotten some of the most play out my entire collection of DM singles. The reason is that it's simply a good mix of different songs, with several remixes, a rare and unusual b-side, and mutliple live recordings from the Devotional tour, it's much more listenable than the usual single format of 7 remixes of the same damn song.



The Paris and Live mixes of Condemnation add subtle strength to the live, personal quality of the song. The Rush remixes provide some good aggressive bass pounding action.



The jazz mix of rare b-side Death's Door surpasses the original version (essentially just extending the length and adding more instruments) and beats buying the sound track to the movie Untill The End of the World.



The live cuts act not only as good energetic live performance of classic songs, but documents of the re-arangements and variations Alan Wilder did to the songs in preperation for the Devotional tour. Martin's guitar solo in the middle of Enjoy the Silence was not element in any of the studio mixes and almost makes the cd worth buying by itself.



I recomend buying this as part of the singles box set (#5) because that way you get the live version of Personal Jesus and the extra, rare Wild Planet Mix of Rush; although I like the track order of the non-box-set version better, you can always just make a cdr copy in whatever order you prefer.

Don't "condemn" this one.

The Paris Mix of Condemnation isn't a huge departure from the album version, but has a nice added percussion loop in the background and extra backing vocals. The real highlight of this single for me is the Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) remix of Rush, the Spiritual Guidance Mix. It takes the original version and expands on it with Jack's trademark bleeps, samples and hip-hop beats. A really punchy version. The Nitrate Mix of Rush is a club/dance style mix. The 3 live tracks at the end are a nice addition.

I don't remember why I bought it, but I'm glad I did

I don't buy singles. Ever. Well, not until the last year or so, when I started buying lots of NIN and DM singles to add B-sides and remixes to my collection. But I bought the Condemnation single back when it first came out--an unheard of thing for me to do back then! Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad I did. The standout for me is "Death's Door". It's a wonderful Gore performance and is from the 1991 movie Until the End of the World, which didn't impress me much (maybe I was too young at the time) but it had great music. I probably didn't realize at the time I saw the movie that this was even a Depeche Mode song because it fits in more with their newer, jazzier stuff than with the dancier stuff they did leading up to SoFaD. It's a very "mature" sound. Of course, as a recently reborn DM fan, I now realize that they're always doing the unexpected, so it shouldn't have surprised me that they would come up with this soulful number. The live versions on here are also very much worthwhile. I'm particularly fond of the live version of "Halo", as it's one of my favorite songs of all time.

live tracks

this is one of two parts to the condemnation single of the 1993 album 'songs of faith and devotion'. all four tracks are live and beautifully recorded. this particular version of personal jesus is very powerful and well done, while enjoy the silence offers an energetic and motivating groove to any collection.