• Voto:
Dopo l'album del disincanto "Construction Time Again" i Depeche Mode (Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder, Andrew Fletcher) non riposano sugli allori di canzoni come "Everything Counts" (tanto per citarne una), ma si mettono al lavoro nei Music Works Studios di Londra e negli Hansa Studios di Berlino con il produttore del precedente lavoro Gareth Jones e con il loro pigmalione Daniel Miller boss della Mute. Il risultato delle loro fatiche è "Some Great Reward", un album bellissimo e particolare, scritto quasi interamente da Martin Gore, che li allontana ancora di più dalla spensieratezza degli inizi e in alcuni episodi ("Blasphemous Rumours" per esempio) risulta una sorta di preludio al successivo e cupo "Black Celebration".
La tracklist si apre con "Something To Do" e il suo beat incalzante e i suoi rumori metallici, quasi un marchio di fabbrica dell'album, che fanno da contraltare a un testo che riflette la durezza del lavoro operaio e la voglia di evasione da questo. A seguire c'è uno tra i migliori episodi del disco a mio avviso, quella "Lie To Me", dal cui testo è tratto il titolo dell'album, interpretata dalla voce suadente e calda di Dave Gahan che invita la sua partner a mentirgli in una riflessione sull'importanza della verità. Con la terza canzone "People Are People" si torna ad atmosfere più leggere, musicalmente parlando, mentre le parole descrivono una storia di incomprensione che sfocia in violenza narrata dal canto di Gahan e Gore. Segue una canzone d'amore dolcissima, "It Doesn't Matter", con un testo toccante reso magistralmente dalla splendida voce di Martin Gore e un accompagnamento sonoro di matrice quasi "ambient". Nella successiva "Stories Of Old" torna a cantare Gahan che ci racconta le perplessità di un uomo che non vuole sacrificare nulla all'amore, consapevole della precarietà di questo sentimento, mentre la traccia numero sei, "Somebody", è una raffica di emozioni che arriva dritta al cuore e che lascia stupefatti per la disarmante sincerità della richiesta di amore e comprensione espressa in essa. Si capovolge tutto nell'arrembante e famosissima "Master And Servant" che segue, dove il sadomasochismo è il tema principale di un quantomeno singolare rapporto a due, con la "classica" sottomissione volontaria di chi ama farsi dominare dall'altro; ci si avvicina alla conclusione del disco e prima del capolavoro finale c'è l'unico pezzo firmato da Alan Wilder, quella "If You Want" che secondo me abbassa un pò il livello del lavoro. Eccoci giunti finalmente alla canzone migliore dell'album, la già citata precedentemente "Blasphemous Rumours". Si tratta di un connubio riuscito straordinariamente tra musica e testo, dove suoni cupi e metallici da brividi fanno da sottofondo a racconti di suicidi mancati e tragedie tutti orchestrati da un Dio con "uno strano senso dell'umorismo" secondo la visione religiosa dei DM.
"Some Great Reward" secondo me è un disco favoloso, da ascoltare e riascoltare prestando attenzione a come sonorità orecchiabili fanno da contraltare a liriche introspettive. In definitiva, un album da riscoprire a più di vent'anni dalla sua pubblicazione e imperdibile per i fan dei Depeche.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Something to Do (03:46)
My little girl
won't you come with me
come with me
tell me
Is there something to do
I'm going crazy with boredom
come with me
tell me
Grey sky over a black town
I can feel depression
all around
you've got your leather boots on
I can't stand another drink
it's surprising this town
doesn't sink
you've got your leather boots on
Your pretty dress is oil stained
from working too hard
for too little
you've got your leather boots on
You're feeling the boredom too
I'd gladly go with you
I'd put your leather boots on
I'd put your pretty dress on
02 Lie to Me (05:03)
Come on and lay with me
Come on and lie to me
Tell me you love me
Say I'm the only one
Experiences have a lasting impression
But words once spoken
Don't mean a lot now
Belief is the way
The way of the innocent
And when I say innocent
I should say naive
So lie to me
But do it with sincerity
Make me listen
Just for a minute
Make me think
There's some truth in it
Come on and lay with me
Come on and lie to me
Tell me you love me
Say I'm the only one
Promises made for convenience
Aren't necessarily
What we need
Truth is a word
That's lost its meaning
The truth has become
Merely half-truth
So lie to me
Like they do it in the factory
Make me think
That at the end of the day
Some great reward
Will be coming my way
Come on and lay with me
Come on and lie to me
Tell me you love me
Say I'm the only one
03 People Are People (03:52)
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
So we're different colours, and we're different creeds
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me, though I've done nothing wrong
I've never even met you, so what could I have done?
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
Now you're punching and you're kicking and you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced, but I'm sure it exists
It just take a while to travel from your head to your fist
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
05 Stories of Old (03:14)
Take a look at unselected cases
You'll find love has been wrecked
By both sides compromising
Amounting to a disastrous effect
You hear stories of old
Of princes bold
With riches untold
Happy souls
Casting it all aside
To take some bride
To have the girl of their dreams
At their side
But not me
I couldn't do that
Not me
I'm not like that
I couldn't sacrifice
Anything at all
To love
I really like you
I'm attracted to you
The way you move
The things you do
I'll probably burn in hell
For saying this
But I'm really in heaven
Whenever we kiss
But oh no!
You won't change me
You can try
For an eternity
I wouldn't sacrifice
Anything at all
To love
Take a look at unselected cases
You'll find love has been wrecked
By both sides compromising
Amounting to a disastrous effect
Now I've got things to do
You have too
And I've got to be me
You've got to be you
So take my hand
And feel these lips
And let's savor a kiss
Like we'd savor a sip
Of vintage wine
One more time
Let's surrender
To this love divine
But we won't sacrifice
Anything at all
To love
06 Somebody (04:27)
I want somebody to share
share the rest of my life
share my innermost thoughts
know my intimate details
someone who'll stand by my side
and give me support
and in return
she'll get my support
she will listen to me
when I want to speak
about the world we live in
and life in general
though my views may be wrong
they may even be perverted
she'll hear me out
and won't easily be converted
to my way of thinking
in fact she'll often disagree
but at the end of it all
she will understand me
I want somebody who cares
for me passionately
with every thought
and with every breath
someone who'll help me see things
in a different light
all the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
to anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to stay clear
of those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
who will put their arms around me
and kiss me tenderly
though things like this make me sick
in a case like this
I'll get away with it
07 Master and Servant (04:12)
There's a new game
We like to play you see
A game with added reality
You treat me like a dog
Get me down on my knees
We call it master and servant
We call it master and servant
It's a lot like life
This play between the sheets
With you on top and me underneath
Forget all about equality
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
It's a lot like life
And that's what's appealing
If you despise that throwaway feeling
From disposable fun
Then this is the one
Domination's the name of the game
In bed or in life
They're both just the same
Except in one you're fulfilled
At the end of the day
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
Come on master and servant
09 Blasphemous Rumours (06:22)
Girl of sixteen
Whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists
Bored with life
Didn't succeed
Thank the Lord
For small mercies
Fighting back the tears
Mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame
It's always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays
I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humour
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing
Girl of eighteen
Fell in love with everything
Found new life
In Jesus Christ
Hit by a car
Ended up
On a life support machine
Summer's day
As she passed away
Birds were singing
In the summer sky
Then came the rain
And once again
A tear fell
From her mother's eye
I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humour
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Treasure
"Puoi cavartela in ogni modo quando hai prodotto un bel pezzo."
"Master And Servant è la proiezione di fantasie dom/sub di Gore, ma anche di un disincantato realismo che pervade tutti i testi."
