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Black Celebration
Studio album by Depeche Mode
Released	March 17, 1986
Recorded	November 1985-January 1986 at Westside, London and Hansa, Berlin
Genre	Synth pop
Length	45:27
Label	UK: Mute / US: Sire
Producer(s)	Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller, and Gareth Jones
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Depeche Mode chronology
Catching Up with Depeche Mode (1985)	Black Celebration (1986)	Music for the Masses (1987)

Black Celebration is the fifth proper studio album by Depeche Mode. Released by Mute Records on March 17, 1986, it further cemented the darkening sound that Alan Wilder initially hinted towards on their album Construction Time Again. It is often considered an unusually successful combination of electropop and gothic rock, and frequently categorized as dark wave.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Rerelease 3 Track listing 3.1 2007 re-release 4 Singles 5 Credits 6 Miscellanea

Black Celebration is considered to be a fan-favorite among fans, despite (maybe because of) its darkness and lack of "notable" singles. It didn't do as well as other albums did and none of the three singles were big hits. The album is one of their darkest as well, and focuses more on the band's bleak side rather than the poppy side, like their earlier albums.

Black Celebration is the Depeche Mode album that has the most songs with Martin Gore on lead vocals: "A Question of Lust", "Sometimes", "It Doesn't Matter Two", and "World Full of Nothing". The remaining tracks are sung by David Gahan.

The track "Fly on the Windscreen" had already been released as the B-side of the "It's Called a Heart" single. The band decided to rework the song (adding new effects and making it more stereophonic) and released it as the "Final" version on this album. It was later performed live, and given a slight hip hop edge during the 1993 "Devotional" tour. A recorded performance of this version is featured in the live video "Devotional" and a special live single of "Condemnation".

In 2007, Black Celebration was re-released with a bonus DVD. It was released as a part of the third wave of re-issues. (Along with Construction Time Again) The first CD was remastered and (except in the USA) was released on an CD/SACD hybrid. The bonus DVD includes the B-Sides in addition to the singles and B-Sides for "Shake the Disease" and It's Called a Heart", two songs that were recorded a little bit before the album and were released too early to be put on the album. There are also several live versions of some of the songs from Black Celebration. The album is released the way it was originally intended and ends with "New Dress" and not "But Not Tonight" or "Black Day."

Like the other re-issues, the DVD includes a documentary on the album. The title (seen below) is Martin paraphrasing Daniel Miller about his demos for Black Celebration in the film. The double-documentary discusses both The Singles 81>85 and Black Celebration, its more challenging commercial success (especially the song "Stripped") and all five related singles. It also includes a plethora of behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Black Celebration and the ensuing tour. Highlights include the band meeting The Cure, and behind the scenes footage of several of the music videos. The documentary is nearly an hour.

It was released March 20, 2007 in the USA, and will be released March 26 in the UK and April 2 in the rest of Europe.

The remastered album is set to be released on "deluxe" vinyl April 2, 2007 in Europe only.

All songs written by Martin Gore, except Black Day written by Martin Gore/Alan Wilder/Daniel Miller.

UK LP/CD

1. "Black Celebration" – 4:55
2. "Fly on the Windscreen - Final" – 5:18
3. "A Question of Lust" – 4:20
4. "Sometimes" – 1:53
5. "It Doesn't Matter Two" – 2:50
6. "A Question of Time" – 4:10
7. "Stripped" – 4:16
8. "Here Is the House" – 4:15
9. "World Full of Nothing" – 2:50
10. "Dressed in Black" – 2:32
11. "New Dress" – 3:42

    UK CD version only:

12. "Breathing in Fumes" – 6:07
13. "But Not Tonight (extended)" – 5:13
14. "Black Day" – 2:36

US LP/CD

1. "Black Celebration" – 4:55
2. "Fly on the Windscreen - Final" – 5:18
3. "A Question of Lust" – 4:20
4. "Sometimes" – 1:53
5. "It Doesn't Matter Two" – 2:50
6. "A Question of Time" [U.S. version] – 4:10
7. "Stripped" – 4:16
8. "Here Is the House" – 4:15
9. "World Full of Nothing" – 2:50
10. "Dressed in Black" – 2:32
11. "New Dress" – 3:42
12. "But Not Tonight" – 4:15

The U.S. version of "A Question of Time" has a slightly different intro (the screeching sound is repeated twice, while the original version is smooth).

Mute: DM CD 5 (CD/SACD + DVD) / CDX STUMM 26 (CD/SACD)

• Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
• Disc 2 is a DVD which includes "Black Celebration" in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material

1. "Black Celebration" – 4:55
2. "Fly on the Windscreen - Final" – 5:18
3. "A Question of Lust" – 4:20
4. "Sometimes" – 1:53
5. "It Doesn't Matter Two" – 2:50
6. "A Question of Time" – 4:10
7. "Stripped" – 4:16
8. "Here Is the House" – 4:15
9. "World Full of Nothing" – 2:50
10. "Dressed in Black" – 2:32
11. "New Dress" – 3:42

Live in Birmingham, April 1986 (in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo):

1. "Black Celebration"
2. "A Question Of Time"
3. "Stripped"

Bonus Tracks (PCM Stereo):

1. "Shake The Disease"
2. "Flexible"
3. "It's Called A Heart"
4. "Fly On The Windscreen" (Original)
5. "But Not Tonight"
6. "Breathing In Fumes" (Remix of "Stripped")
7. "Black Day" (Sung by Gore)
8. "Christmas Island" (Instrumental)

Additional Material:

1. "Depeche Mode 85-86 (The songs aren't good enough, there aren't any singles and it'll never get played on the radio)" [57 Minute video]

1. "Stripped" (10 February 1986)
2. "A Question of Lust" (14 April 1986)
3. "A Question of Time" (11 August 1986)
4. "But Not Tonight" [North America-only] (22 October 1986)

• David Gahan
• Martin Gore
• Andrew Fletcher
• Alan Wilder

• The voice at the beginning of "Black Celebration" is Daniel Miller (impersonating Winston Churchill) saying "A brief period of rejoicing."
• Black Celebration is the only Depeche Mode album that has a title track. However, there are three other Depeche Mode albums that get their names from lyrics in songs on the albums: Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward and Playing the Angel.
• Black Celebration is the only Depeche Mode album which does not have a track featured on The Best Of: Volume 1
• Black Celebration was the last Depeche Mode album to feature Brian Griffin as cover photographer.
• The song Stripped was covered by German Industrial Rock band, Rammstein. A single featuring remixes of Rammstein's version has also been released [1]
• The lyrics of Dressed in Black are quite similar to the song Baby's in Black by The Beatles.

Depeche Mode
David Gahan | Martin Gore | Andrew Fletcher Vince Clarke | Alan Wilder
Depeche Mode discography
Studio albums: Speak & Spell | A Broken Frame | Construction Time Again | Some Great Reward | Black Celebration | Music for the Masses | Violator | Songs of Faith and Devotion | Ultra | Exciter | Playing the Angel Compilations: People Are People | The Singles 81>85 | Catching Up with Depeche Mode | The Singles 86>98 | Remixes 81 - 04 | The Best Of, Volume 1 | The Complete Depeche Mode Live Albums: 101 | Songs of Faith and Devotion Live | Recording the Angel Tribute Albums: For the Masses | A Techno Tribute to Depeche Mode | Color Theory presents Depeche Mode Singles: Dreaming of Me | New Life | Just Can't Get Enough | See You | The Meaning of Love | Leave in Silence | Get the Balance Right | Everything Counts | Love, in Itself | People Are People | Master and Servant | Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody | Shake the Disease | It's Called a Heart | Stripped/ But Not Tonight | A Question of Lust | A Question of Time | Strangelove | Never Let Me Down Again | Behind the Wheel | Little 15 | Everything Counts (Live) | Personal Jesus | Enjoy the Silence | Policy of Truth | World in My Eyes | I Feel You | Walking in My Shoes | Condemnation | In Your Room | Barrel of a Gun | It's No Good | Home | Useless | Only When I Lose Myself | Dream On | I Feel Loved | Freelove | Goodnight Lovers | Enjoy the Silence 04 | Precious | A Pain That I'm Used To | Suffer Well | John the Revelator / Lilian | Martyr
Videography
Videos: The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg | Some Great Videos | Strange | 101 | Strange Too | Devotional | The Videos 86>98 | One Night in Paris | Touring the Angel: Live in Milan
Related articles
Synthpop | Depeche Mode Tours | Mute Records | Paper Monsters | Counterfeit e.p. | Counterfeit² | Toast Hawaii | Recoil
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