Enjoy the Silence [Single, Import, Maxi, CD]

The 2 b-sides, Sibeling and Memphisto, are not for everyone. They are reminiscent of songs like the infamous song 'Pimpf' on Music for the Masses; they are mainly piano peices, and have no lyrics. Unlike Pimpf, there are no vocals at all, only strange synth noises and orchestral sounds. That is not to say the songs are bad, they have very strong atmosphere, and are perhaps among the absolute darkest songs DM has done; their minimalistic sound giving a feeling of utter desolation. That said, even if you respect the songs as well executed, you may not want to listen to them a lot.

Then you have the 6 remixes of "Enjoy the Silence". These remixes are not drastically different from the originals, here and there they emphasize parts of the song you may not have paid attention to individually in the original mix, and occasionally some new beats are thrown in, but there is nothing mind-blowing. The most unique mix is the "Harmonium" which is performed by Martin Gore singing by himself, playing on an organ, which gives the song a much more personal, mellow tone, which is nice to hear, but ultimately very minimalistic.

Sadly, The Quad: Final mix is missing from the version I have. As far as I know, it's only on the version included in the Singles Box sets. I used to have it on the limited edition bonus 3rd disc of the Singles 86-98 album, but unfortunately I lost it (there was no place for in the jewel case, it just came in a plastic envelope, which was a bad idea). I think it was the ultimate presentation of Enjoy the Silence; it was around 9 minutes long, and explored the song extremely throughly. It almost had a symphonic quality to it.

So, I say this one of the weaker singles because the b-sides don't compliment the title song very well (combining one of the most catchy songs of the bands career with 2 of the least catchy songs of their career was not the best idea) and the remixes as a whole are relatively ho-hum. They are still enjoyable to listen to, but there's no 1 mix that really blows you away with it's variation or innovation on the song. Also, it helps when there are remixes of the b-sides, or live cuts of other songs, to break of the monotony of listening to the same song 6 times in a row.

Therefore, while I would still recomend it, I would get it as an addition to a group of cds. I bought it together in one order from CDnow with Personal Jesus, World in My Eyes, and Walking in My Shoes, which was good. It's just that, if you place all your excitement on this on cd, you might be left waiting for something more.

For that matter, you might be better off going with the singles box set (#4). It accomplishes the "prerequisite" of getting it as part of a group, and the box set version includes the "Quad: Final" mix which is as good individually as all the other mixes combined.

a true classic!