Depeche Mode Music for the Masses 1st Orig 1987 Sire Shrink Rare HYPE NM Listen

$

25

Above are actual photos and not stock photos of the record  

Summary 

This is the 1987 original US 1st press of “Music For The Masses” by Depeche Mode (Sire 1-25614) in original shrink with original liner. Super rare to find this record in this condition “Record grade-Near Mint, Play grade-Near Mint, Cover grade-Near Mint”. This has the rare sought after “Gaps between Songs” hype sticker issued on the earliest presses on the original shrink. I give out very few near mint gradings and I stand behind this record 100%.

Includes regular set list favorites such as “Never Let Me Down” and “Strangelove”. My listings run very long because I like to be as comprehensive as possible for you. You work hard for your money and deserve value for what you’re spending. I’ve been collecting records for over 50 years and it’s time for me to sell down my collection. If you want to know more about this record feel free to read the notes at the end of this listing. Please note my 100% feedback and bid with confidence!

In summary a collector grade record you can play!

I have unfiltered sound samples for you. I haven’t given the whole song just a sample. If you're reading this you know the tunes. Works on most browsers except Firefox. Just hit play wait a few seconds for it to load sit back and enjoy!

Artist: Depeche Mode

Album: Music for the Masses

Label: Sire 1-25614

Country: USA

Released: 1987

Genre: Electronic, Synth-pop

RECORD CONDITION: NM

VISUAL GRADE 

Side A: NM

Side B: NM 

Grading Notes: Glossy record in great condition. Inspected under bright lights. Graded under Goldmine standards. I am conservative with my grading.   

Mint>Near Mint> Exc>Very Good+>Very Good>Good+>Good>Fair>Poor

Other Notes:

Has the original lyric liner (see photos)

Since I have too many records I am selling down my collection. You will have no issues with this record. Saw Depeche Mode at the Rose Bowl concerts back in 80s. A great record.

PLAY GRADE 

Side A:  NM. Plays clean.

Side B:  NM. Plays clean.

I play grade all records and take pride is being very honest and critical in my grading. I have bought over graded records before which are only visually graded from resellers. This original pressing sounds amazing!

LABEL GRADE

Side A  NM 

Side B  NM

Deadwax:

Side A 1-25614-A

Side B 1-25614-B

Format: Vinyl,12 inch LP 33 RPM LP

COVER CONDITION

Near Mint Front/Back: In original shrink in pristine condition with super rare “Gaps Between Songs” sticker.

ADDRESS: Made in USA   

TRACKS

A1 Never let me down again

A2 The things you said

A3 Strangelove

A4 Sacred

A5 Little 15

B1 Behind the wheel

B2 I want you know 

B3 To have and to hold 

B4 Nothing

B5 Pimpf

Want to know more about “Music for the Masses”? See below

SHIPPING 

U.S. Domestic shipping only via USPS Media Mail: $4 for first record. $1 for each additional record. Shipping in cardboard LP record mailer. LPs are shipped outside of cover jacket. Bubble wrap used. Shipping is within 1 business day of receiving payment.    

PAYMENT By Paypal only   

RETURNS 

All records are guaranteed to be in the condition stated. All returns accepted within 14 days after receiving the item. Refund will be given as Money Back after receiving the item.    

About “Music for the Masses”

From Wikipedia:

Music for the Masses is the sixth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 28 September 1987 by Mute Records, and was supported by the Music for the Masses Tour.

Album development

Daniel Miller, who had produced Depeche Mode's previous album, voluntarily stepped away from production duties for this album, citing the growing tension in the studio that they had experienced during the recording of Black Celebration. With Miller's approval, the band co-produced the album with David Bascombe, who had previously worked as a recording engineer with Tears For Fears and Peter Gabriel.

Band members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore both explained the album's title was conceived as a joke. Fletcher said, "The title's ... a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. Everyone is telling us we should make more commercial music, so that's the reason we chose that title." According to Gore, the title "was a joke on the uncommerciality of [the album]. It was anything but music for the masses!"

Cover art

The megaphone (or its iconic representation) on the album's cover was used during the breadth of the album's release: at press events, on the covers of the album's singles, and during the tour. Alan Wilder gave credit to Martyn Atkins, who had been a longtime Depeche Mode collaborator, for the use of the megaphone. "[Martyn came] up with this idea of a speaker, but, to give the kind of ironic element which the title has, to put this speaker in a setting which wasn't really to do with the masses at all. It was, in fact, the opposite. So you end up with this kind of eerie thing where you get these speakers or megaphones in the middle of a setting that doesn't suit it at all, like a desert or whatever." The deserted natural setting in question being Peak District.

An early alternative cover was rejected for the album. The rejected cover was also designed by Martyn Atkins and a test pressing copy was auctioned off by Alan Wilder in 2011.

Re-release

In 2006, Music for the Masses became one of the first Depeche Mode albums (along with Speak & Spell and Violator) to be released on a special 2-Disc SACD/CD Hybrid + DVD format, in the vein of their 2005 album Playing the Angel, which had a limited edition SACD + DVD release. The format was the same as Playing the Angel's, the first disc had a special digitally remastered version of the album, while the DVD had the album on three formats (PCM Stereo, 5.1 surround sound and DTS 5.1) plus bonus tracks, and a documentary on the album. The re-release preserves the album as it was originally intended. Thus, the four bonus tracks do not appear on the SACD, but appear on the DVD. The DVD also features all B-sides from the Music for the Masses era, but unlike the album and the bonus tracks, the B-sides are only available in PCM Stereo.

The documentary, a thirty-seven-minute short film called Depeche Mode: 1987–88 (Sometimes You Do Need Some New Jokes) is an extensive look at the album, featuring commentary from a wide variety of people, including the current Depeche Mode, former member Alan Wilder, producer Dave Bascombe, Daniel Miller, Daryl Bamonte, Martyn Atkins (who came up with the loudspeakers idea for the cover), Anton Corbijn, and others. The documentary features new facts on the album, and also an extensive look at the film 101.

The re-release was released on 3 April 2006 in Europe. The US version was delayed to 2 June 2006 and is only available on a CD + DVD format, with no SACD. The DVD on all the versions are region independent however, so one can simply import the SACD version without worrying about the DVD being incompatible. The remastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl 2 March 2007 in Germany and 5 March 2007 internationally.

According to Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani, Music for the Masses showed the gloomier side of the "post-punk synthpop" scene during the 1980s and was a success with both music critics and consumers. In a contemporary review for Playboy magazine, Robert Christgau complimented the abnormal road symbolism of the lyrics, particularly on "Little 15", and said that, apart from the sadomasochistic metaphors, Depeche Mode succeed in turning "adolescent Weltschmerz into something catchy, sexy and seemingly significant." NME magazine's Jane Solanas said that Gore is "at his obsessive best" on Music for the Masses, particularly on "Never Let Me Down Again", which she called "an intriguing masterpiece, combining homo-eroticism with drug euphoria." In a less enthusiastic review, Paul Mathur of Melody Maker was ambivalent towards the group's more mature, minimalist aesthetic and said that although they have departed from their simpler pop sound, the album is "seamless, fluid, and, once the lights are out, particularly dull."

In a retrospective review, Q magazine found the narratives on the album to be among Depeche Mode's most uncertain and contemplative, and that most of its songs "are real diamonds in the darkness ... this was the point at which Depeche Mode were first taken seriously." Alternative Press called the album "articulate, intricate electronic music that lacked the tinny feel of DM's early synth pop". Music for the Masses was later included in the book. Slant Magazine listed it at #75 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

AllMusic review by Ned Raggett

Initially the title must have sounded like an incredibly pretentious boast, except that Depeche Mode then went on to do a monstrous world tour, score even more hits in America and elsewhere than ever before, and pick up a large number of name checks from emerging house and techno artists on top of all that. As for the music the masses got this time around, the opening cut, "Never Let Me Down Again," started things off wonderfully: a compressed guitar riff suddenly slamming into a huge-sounding percussion/keyboard/piano combination, anchored to a constantly repeated melodic hook, ever-building synth/orchestral parts at the song's end, and one of David Gahan's best vocals (though admittedly singing one of Martin Gore's more pedestrian lyrics). It feels huge throughout, like they taped Depeche recording at the world's largest arena show instead of in a studio. Other key singles "Strangelove" and the (literally) driving "Behind the Wheel" maintained the same blend of power and song skill, while some of the quieter numbers such as "The Things You Said" and "I Want You Now" showed musical and lyrical intimacy could easily co-exist with the big chart-busters. Add to that other winners like "To Have and to Hold," with its Russian radio broadcast start and dramatic, downward spiral of music accompanied by Gahan's subtly powerful take on a desperate Gore love lyric, and the weird, wonderful choral closer, "Pimpf," and Depeche's massive success becomes perfectly clear.

You have many choices on Ebay. No one will do more to earn your business. Thank you for reading my listing!