Memento Mori

Product Information

Trust me — they’re used to great effect here, and when you turn up the volume on Memento Mori, it definitely rocks the house (and maybe the rafters too, if you have them). Following stadium and arena shows across Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the US this summer and fall, Depeche Mode today announced 29 new European dates which will extend the tour into 2024. Looking at the video that accompanied Live in Berlin, I recognized this once-innocent, quirky little synth-pop band that my college roommates played a whole bunch back in the day had gone on to become massive arena rockers, now filling ginormous arenas and stadiums across the globe with a broad swath of fans who know every word, and every beat, of their songs. And we will question the quality of the master used for the vinyl record, which is not what one would expect. A poster is also included, and the band logo on the cover is even done up in fancy red foil stamping.

In fact, the best compliment I can wrap this review up with is this thought — how great is it that a band like Depeche Mode can still create compelling new music after all these years that doesn’t feel tired, and in turn rekindles and/or sparks interest in their past works? The spectrogram of the Qobuz version rises above 20kHz (yellow arrow), with some frequency peaks above 30kHz (white arrow). Following the article on the fact that analogue media can increase the dynamic range if its characteristics are not respected, here is a complementary analysis for the test of this album.In some ways, it feels like Memento Mori inevitably offers something of a sonic career summary for Depeche Mode. My only complaint — not unique to Depeche Mode, I must note — is related to using the fourth side for a laser-etched graphic element, which I think is a wasted effort. And if you have been following my reviews here, there, and everywhere, you know I tend to love it when artists make musical references to past works without stealing the entire concept (like numerous sampling artists might do).

Color variants are also available — including translucent red and opaque — for a few dollars more, depending on where you look. The vinyl is said to have been pressed at RTI, but we’re still trying to confirm that directly, and we’ll include an update here accordingly if warranted.The graph below represents the comparison of the waveforms of the Qobuz digital version, the vinyl and the tape for the first 4 tracks.

Strange/Strange Too will be released through SME worldwide, excluding USA, Canada and Mexico (where the title will be released through Warner Music Group). With a DR4, we are very low in dynamics and far from the quality we could expect from a band from the 80s. The first single is ‘Ghosts Again’, which you can preview above and the album itself will be available on CD, deluxe CD and black and coloured vinyl variants.Truth be told, I can’t say if Memento Mori is better or worse, as of yet — but I can say it easily stands proudly alongside those two albums. All image and audio content is used by permission of the copyright holders or their agents, and/or according to fair dealing as per the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Even more fans will now have a chance to experience the raw, emotive power of the Memento Mori Tour, hailed by Rolling Stone as "a stunning celebration of life and music. Finding ’70s prog and new-wave albums made with the etchings “Porky,” “Porky Prime Cut,” or “Porky Pecko” (and other, similar variants) indicate the album was touched by the knowing hands of the great George Peckham, who mastered many albums for artists as diverse as Yes and Elvis Costello. Before we get into the meaty beaty big and bouncy manifesto that is Memento Mori, here are some of the key album pressing stats we’ve ascertained thus far.

If you listen to this piece at low level, or in a very noisy environment, it’s fine, you can hear the music. Produced by James Ford, with additional production work by Marta Salogni, Memento Mori's gestation took place during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, resulting in themes inspired directly by that period.Like the band’s last album that I seriously got into, March 2013’s Delta Machine, Memento Mori is actually a very good record. Originally released on Mute/Columbia in March 2013, Delta Machine presented fans with Heaven (released as the album's lead single in January 2013), Soothe My Soul (released May 2013) and Should Be Higher (released October 2013). With over two million tickets already sold, the 110-date Memento Mori Tour is on track to be one of Depeche Mode’s largest to date, as well as one of the largest worldwide tours of 2023. Preceded by the single “Ghosts Again” on 9 February and the track “My Cosmos Is Mine” on 9 March (on streaming platforms) as well as the single “Wagging Tongue” released on 7 July, it is the first Depeche Mode studio album to be recorded and released as a duo, after the death of co-founder and keyboardist Andy Fletcher on 26 May 2022. Still, the question remains — and it’s probably on the minds of many of you reading this review — as to whether you need a digitally driven record like Memento Mori on vinyl.