Depeche Mode – Remixes 2. 81-11

Don't understand why In Chains (Myer vs Wilder Deconstruction) was not included on the CD? What are the people who don't use iTunes meant to do?? Would be greatful if anyone knows how i can get hold of a MP3 file.

Disc 3/
Criminal cropping of the Alex Metric remix of Personal Jesus - Cynics like me would say this was to sell the separate CD - But where to find it? Good Job its followed by tow absolute bangers. Eric Prydz is well known for his chart-busting cheesy mixes but his Never Let Me Down again remix means ALL IS FORGIVEN from me. So simple yet such a massive effect on the dance floors... I get that it may be minimal subtlety BUT for such a huge original track this remix is SO SO good. Clubbers love it, the bassline bars after the breakdown work a great system like magic. Then along comes Vince Clarke remixing Behind the Wheel - OMG what a piece of work. Vince's unrivalled synth appreciation and sonic landscaping creates a techno masterpiece. A track so good i wish I was on the dance floor myself every time it drops. Alan Wilders mix of In Chains is wonderful downtempo chugger but haven't managed to find the right place to play it yet. When the body speaks is nicely mixed by Karlson and Winnberg but the Next track Royksopp's re-wiring of Puppets is a proper curveball. Having been in love with the original since the first album dropped its hard for me to use this before the OG track even on contemporary floors. Tora Tora Tora is another original I love so Karlson & Winneberg have done the business here and I really rate their remix. Freestate is just too discordant for my crowds and unusable. I Want it All brings it back to the floor with a nice hypnotic chugger of a remix crafted by Roland M Dill. Good latter half of set track. The Joebot remix a question of time is unusable to me. Not that I dislike breakbeats but it just doesn't do it for me. The disc closes with the Medway Smith Remix of personal jesus and is a great finish to a brilliant package. Useable on many floors and finely crafted sonics. Overall a sold five star package off remixes. Its obvious that historic purest fans don't get out to clubs very often given the acerbic reviews. If you do and allow yourself to open your mind a little I guarantee this package is mostly killer with very little in the way of filler. DM we salute you

Disc 2/
Love Anders Trentmoller as a producer in his own right so his remix of wrong is going to be right up my street? er.. Hit and miss on various dance floors so I drop only when I know the crowd will ride or need to surf its somewhat discordant elements. Francois K's Remix of World In My Eyes is the stuff of legend and I have played that out many times where, especially in the US, it never fails to ignite the party. This dub gives the old track a new lease of life by allowing a good early set tease for when the full mix drops later in the set. Great DJ Tool. Strangelove (Simenon & Saunders) is a great mix but overshadowed by the absolute EPIC Jacques Lu Cont Mix of A Pain That I'm used to. Of the entire package this is the track I have dropped the most just a fantastic top drawer club track. Hypnotic, brooding, grooving, masterpiece of a remix proving that often less is so SO much more. Sounds fabulous on a big system, I have closed out a number of big sets with this track - it never fails. Monolakes remix of The Darkest Star is right up my street even though its tempo restricts it to the warm-up slot of new beat sets. I love it. I Feel you is one of this tracks that didn't grab me on release but in this form I like it a little more. Higher Love is a bit of a non-event to me as its sonics are too muddled without the separation and space in the frequencies to really work a good club system. Fly On the windscreen is not doing it for me either. I can think of goth clubs it would work in but not my scene. Only When I lose myself is similar fare and doesn't work in my sets. So just when I think the rest of Disc 2 is a write-off I find Le Weekend's remix of Ghost where Jay-Smith and Saint Laurent polish the original into a 5* club diamond. Brilliant track

Disc 1/
Whilst hard core fans my poo poo these remix packages there is no doubt that in clubs they are a great way for any savvy band / label to keep their music relevant. I have seen plenty of younger music fans react to these tracks, approach the booth and I am only delighted to switch them on to one of the most important electronic bands of all time. I was a fan from the get go and still have my 1981 tour booklet when Vince but as a working DJ I need these remix packages to stop me from playing the same tracks for decades. Referring to the CD's here's what works in the clubs:-
Dream On (Bushwacker Mix) works great on a tech house crowd. On a tribal dub trip it is a perfect early hours hypnoses track with its lyrics nursing dancers down from their peak in a dreamy trance. In Chains (Tigerskin) is a great come-up or afternoon after beach house track. The hedz love this track with its chugging rhythms and synth washes. Peace (Six Toes Mix) is in my box for poolside Ibizan sets.
Corrupt with its stereo pausing percussions will trance out any techno floor or late stragglers at the house club. The Huntemann & Bodzin Dub of Everything Counts NEVER leaves my box so you can guess what my DJ style is. In my opinion this is a masterful remix taking critical elements of the original and using them to create a Minimal MONSTER of a track. Old hedz and new LOVE this Dub and it has the power to peak a dance floor. When the phased lyric drop comes in and the resulting 'its a competitive world' is followed by the beat coming back its bedlam on the floor. The Orbs happiest girl remix doesn't work for me or my floors however the Walking In My Shoes remix by Anandamidic is a Belgian New Beat styled ANTHEM seemingly frozen in time from the Baccaccio where playing at 33rpm instead of 45rpm was an inspired act of cultural sabotage. Fits into my New beat sets and tears the roof off. The Stargate Mix of Personal Jesus is a peak time massive track. It is massive on every dance floor it is dropped at. My only criticism is its not long enough and has little of the long tease my sets crave for such a track. Of course modern DJ equipment allows us to do that but most of the time I loop it end-to-end as one big loop and play it TWICE. Never fails!

Some early copies of this release came with Personal Jesus 2011 CDBONG43 put over the booklet in the same box with 3 main CDs. Such edition holds the same sticker on the top left of the sealing film as the regular one.

For the hard-core fans: save yourself a bit of money and buy the Röyksopp "Puppets" remix on iTunes! It's the only great (fantastic actually) remix of all the new remixes (a bit disappointing considering Alan Wilder did a remix). All the older remixes are probably already in your collections and the new stuff is a preponderance of crap.
For the casual fan... it's your $40.