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Movie Reviews:

Depeche Mode - The Dark Progression
MVD Entertainment Group - 2009

This is a new unauthorized documentary that looks at the career of the most successful electronic band of all-time, Depeche Mode.  The beginning of the band is traced back to their roots in New Romanticism, which was established by original member Vince Clark, then the band moved to the urban industrial landscapes that came from Germany.  You find out which bands influenced DM and you hear pretty detailed history of each album that band recorded.  I found the talk of each album the most interesting part of the presentation.

Featuring brief interviews with all the band members as well as clips from friends and contemporaries such as: Gary Numan, Thomas Dolby, OMD's Andy McCluskey, Daniel Miller, band biographer Jonathan Miller, Depeche Mode producers Gareth Jones, Dave Bascombe, Phil Legg and Steve Lyon, and electronic music experts Mark Pendergast and David Stubbs.

It's hard to believe the band has been around for three decades but their entire history is gone over in this documentary.  You not only hear a bunch of their distinct memorable tracks such as "People Are People," "Stripped", "Never Let Me Down Again," "Strangelove," "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy The Silence" and "I Feel You" but there is archive footage, video clips, location shoots, news reports and more.

The producers share what the goals were for each album and we even hear from departed band member Alan Wilder, who left he band in 1995.  Watching this you learn Wilder was a much more important to the band's sound than people realize.  He's been greatly missed since his departure.

I do wish their would be another DVD where the band spoke out more themselves and the different problems they ran into such as Dave Gahan's suicide attempt and why Alan Wilder left the band.  I know Depeche Mode fans would like to know about things such as those.

Depeche Mode - The Dark Progression is a very informative DVD and it's always a pleasure to listen to the music of Depeche Mode.  I recommend this highly.

www.mvdb2b.com/