Depeche Mode – Live In Berlin (A Film By Anton Corbijn)

I also bought this for the blu ray audio of Delta Machine. I only listen in stereo but the 96/24 pcm audio is superb. I have all of the Sacd sets which sound great and the box set of Sounds Of The Universe which does NOT include a hi res stereo mix on the dvd. WHY???

great, no blu-ray, and still mono instead of stereo.thats it, no release on my shelf yet ;)

Don't care much about the outdated dvd concert footage. I bought it for the Delta Machine in 5.1 blu ray audio. It's fantastic. Buy it for that alone.

A had a chance at seeing two of the shows on this tour. Seeing each tour live since 1988 it's a feeling like I almost have to instead of want to for the past 10 years. For a few reasons. And maybe this comment is about them as a touring band more than this actual DVD box set. But I will say a few things about this DVD a little bit later. First of all the new material being played. It's not bad. It's not great. It's pretty ok. But seems to get better if you force yourself to play it more and more. The problem that I have with depeche mode concerts and this has pretty much been the same about the last tour as well. The set list hardly changes. It only changes very slightly if they play the same city twice and they switch out a few Gore songs every other night roughly. So basically both of the last two tours you can pretty much predict every song by checking settling.fm. You know how boring that is? There are no surprises. You can always wish there were a few songs played that were not depending on your tastes. Leaving out classics like It's no good, world in my eyes or stripped certainly disappoints. The biggest hype about the tour and smaller opening shows was that they played But. Not Tonight. A song they have not played live ever in the 27 years since it was made. That's an example of how predictable the shows are. When you have over 30 years of music there is plenty to pick from in a two hour show. Certainly time stretching or editing the backing videos can work for any song they would want to switch out. Which is another complaint. Most of the backing videos were terrible. Videos of dogs during Precious?? The cheesy Apple IPod-esque I feel you is corny. Enjoy the Silence's silly yoga acrobats left in compromising positions?? when the videos matched the power of the music? stripped on the devotional tour? Clean during the world violation tour? The only decent one was You Should be Higher because of the way the sparks of the fire were transitioning to the smaller lower and higher screens giving the stage the depth it needed. The rest of the videos did not help the music. Audio wise the show was outstanding. Everything sounded well balanced and mixed. The band really makes the most of what they have. Dave is an outstanding performer and has worked hard at it. Really carrying the band. The stage was pretty cool. The lights that came down on the carriages with the twisting vents that exposed the light during Black Celebration were the highlight of the production of the show. It needed more moments like this. Overall the stage was pretty good cool.

This DVD is strictly for fans of the tour and Delta Machine. Which is fine. Not expecting some retrospect. The added film parts of interviews with the band and it's manager by Anton mostly about the bands history in where the concert takes place is ok. Just not enough of it. If you take all the parts and add them together it might be 20 minutes. For a box set that has 5 CDs/DVDs in it I wish there was more extra stuff on the band. It adds 2 acoustics of classics from SoFD album Judas and Condemnation done by Gore. So a DVD of the concert and another of the same concert adding the 15 or so interview minutes and 2 acoustic songs doesn't seem to add much value. Seems like overkill. Then you have a 5.1 of Delta Machine and then a 2 disc set of the exact same concert screams overkill. But alas it is the Delta Machine tour snapshot. Packaging and booklet are decent. Thankful the price is fairly solid for it. Got mine for about $34 which is fine considering its 5 discs. So the value is there but then it it's not as far as content.

As far as depeche mode continuing to tour. Every 4th year they seem to come. And as the guys are getting closer to their 60's the discussion will start to be is this their last time touring. And certainly that will bring a different and more meaningful want for people to go to their show. The first electronic band that really made it. They saw the depths and excess that being popular and successful can bring and made it through solidifying and standing true to their artistic expression and their way of doing it and presenting themselves. Through the changes in popular music their music took its own course for the better. Going to their shows is like a celebration that they were right. Like their music was the better music. When I was younger I always felt I needed to prove and show people that their music was great. And that they should be recognized. Their longevity is the answer to whether it was or not. And their fans who follow them to share it. It's a celebration of validity. Having a cult following having sold 100,000,000 copies is truly unbelievable. To the popular I will tell others that they are the Rolling Stones of electronic touring. Like I could see them touring into their 70s. And I'm sure we would all still go if you are going to see them now. I would hope that they would evolve and change their set list often to give their fans a true treat.