1. “Love Is A Stranger” – Eurythmics: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Love Is A Stranger” – Eurythmics

(From the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This))

1983

When Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart met in the mid 1970’s they almost immediately became both romantic and musical partners. Ultimately, the pair ended up as part of a five-piece band called The Tourists that released three albums in 1979 and had a taste of success, even scoring two UK Top 10 singles. In spite of that success Lennox and Stewart found their time in The Tourists to be unhappy. Creative and personal tensions with their bandmates, their record label, and each other led to problems, and following a tour where The Tourists opened for Roxy Music, both the band and the Lennox/Stewart relationship ended. However, Lennox and Stewart found they did still share a desire to make experimental, electronic music with a pop sensibility, and so the former lovers decided to continue to work together as a new electronic group called Eurythmics. The Eurythmics soon decamped to Germany to work on their debut album. Can’s Conny Plank (someone who knew something about experimental and electronic music) produced the record and Eurythmics released their debut album In The Garden in 1981. In The Garden failed to make much of a commercial impact and so the duo quickly went back to work on a second album. Eurythmics second record Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) was released in January of 1983 and was initially another commercial flop. Three singles had been released prior to the release of the album and none had become a hit or generated much buzz. The most successful of the three singles was the third, the atmospheric and almost trance-like “Love Is A Stranger” which peaked at #54 in the UK and was ignored everywhere else. However, “Love Is A Stranger” is an interesting song that juxtaposes a detached coolness with a pulsing sexuality that at least hinted at what Eurythmics could accomplish. That same combination of detached coolness and pulsing sexuality would finally make the Eurythmics stars when they made a last effort at success and released the album’s title track, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” as a fourth single. “Sweet Dreams”, of course, became both a massive hit for the band and an iconic song of the 1980’s and when “Love Is A Stranger” was rereleased as the follow-up single to “Sweet Dreams” it found the success it had always deserved and became a hit in its own right, hitting #6 in the UK and #23 in the US.

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7. “It’s No Good” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “It’s No Good” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Ultra)

1997

The supporting tour for Songs of Faith & Devotion was incredibly long and grueling. It was also famous for its debauchery and bad behavior, even in the desensitized world of rock and roll. It would have been a difficult tour for a physically and emotionally healthy band to undertake, and Depeche Mode was anything but a physically and emotionally healthy band. The recording sessions for Songs of Faith & Devotion had been difficult and beset with bad blood and infighting, so the various band members were already at odds with each other. To make matters worse, singer David Gahan had acquired a serious heroin addiction that made him difficult to work with and, at times, unreliable to work around. On top of Gahan’s issues, Martin Gore was battling his own serious alcoholism which was severe enough to have led to seizures on at least two occasions. Meanwhile, Alan Wilder was increasingly upset by what he viewed as a lack of credit for his contributions and a diminished role within the band. All of these stresses eventually caused Andrew Fletcher, who was already suffering from serious depression, to have a nervous breakdown and have to exit the tour completely. Fletcher would return to the band once he regained his health, but when the tour finally ended Alan Wilder chose to leave the group. The three remaining members went their separate ways to rest. Gore and Fletcher used the time to heal and recover but Gahan sank further into his addictions. When Gore tried to get the band into the studio again to work on a new record Gahan often wouldn’t show up, and when he did he often was so unhealthy he couldn’t work. At one point the band had spent six weeks in the studio and had only recorded one usable vocal track. Not long after this Gahan overdosed on cocaine and heroin and was legally dead, with no heartbeat, for over two minutes before being revived. Gahan was ordered into a drug rehabilitation program. While in rehab Gahan was able to get sober and ultimately the work on the new album, titled Ultra, continued. Ultra was the first Depeche Mode album since 1982’s A Broken Frame to be made as a trio without Alan Wilder. It was also made as Gahan was in the infancy of his sobriety. Wisely, the band chose to not tour in support of the album. However, even without a tour to support it Ultra was a success. Lead single “Barrel Of A Gun” seemed to find a perfect midpoint between the band’s older electronic and newer rock-based sound. However, it was the second single, the pulsing and stylish “It’s No Good” that would be the album’s biggest hit and last American Top 40 single. Following Ultra Depeche Mode would continue to be one of the most successful band’s on the planet, even while settling into the role of revered elder statesmen of alternative rock. Indeed, their influence could be felt in the 90’s and beyond in genres as diverse as club music, rap, indie rock, and mainstream pop, while they continued to create albums that were both interesting musically and commercial juggernauts. Indeed, late career albums like Exciter, Playing The Angel, Sounds of the Universe, Delta Machine, and Spirit found the band refining their older sounds for a new era while also still pushing the band in new directions (and still having hits), including Gahan becoming an occasional songwriter for the group. The band achieved another milestone when they were inducted into the Rock ‘N Rol Hall of Fame in 2020. In early 2022 Andrew Fletcher unexpectedly died leaving Martin Gore and David Gahan as the only remaining members. Later that year the band announced a new album, Memento Mori, would be released in 2023.

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6. “I Feel You” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

6. “I Feel You” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Songs Of Faith & Devotion)

1993

Depeche Mode had become international megastars at the forefront of alternative music with the success of their Violator album and its accompanying singles. However, not long after Violator made its mark, the state of alternative music (and ultimately mainstream music) changed when Nirvana’s Nevermind transformed both the sound and mainstream potential of alternative music. This put Depeche Mode in something of a strange place. On the one hand, they had unquestionably been one of the bands who helped to create the environment that allowed Nirvana and other alt rock bands to smash into the mainstream. On the other hand, Depeche Mode’s synth-based sound was quite different from the guitar and bass dominated sound of “grunge” rock and potentially could be seen as out of fashion and uncool. Depeche Mode tackled this challenge by choosing to make their next record, Songs of Faith & Devotion, an entire album based on the guitar rock meets synths formula of their hit song “Personal Jesus”. This choice turned out to be the perfect one as it allowed Depeche Mode to use one of their biggest hits as a launching pad to transform their sound for the 90’s without completely eschewing their roots. This change can be heard on “I Feel You”, the lead single for Songs of Faith & Devotion. “I Feel You” begins (and kicks off the album) with a long shriek of feedback, before settling into a stomp and grind that merges an aggressive guitar lick provided by Gore with Gahan’s yearning vocals that could be heard as a plea to either his lover or his God. This sonic attack is expertly supported by Fletcher’s bass-heavy keys and Wilder on live drums (a wise decision that made Depeche Mode feel more like a rock band that used electronics rather than a synth band trying their hand at rock) which helped keep the band sounding modern and relevant in the wake of Nirvana. “I Feel You” was undeniably a sonic cousin to “Personal Jesus”, but it was more than a mere rewrite. “I Feel You” took similar elements and inverted them, creating a song that was more aggressive than sexy; that feels rooted in rock music rather than borrowing from it. This musical transformation was also accompanied by singer Dave Gahan’s physical one. Gahan showed up to the sessions for Songs of Faith & Devotion transformed into a tattooed, long-haired rock god that resembled a strung-out Jesus. The recording sessions for Songs of Faith & Devotion were tense and difficult as the band battled through addictions and infighting, but when “I Feel You” was released it became another huge success for Depeche Mode, breaking into the Top 10 in Britain and Top 40 in America (and #1 on the alternative rock charts). Songs of Faith & Devotion also spun off several more successful singles (“Walking In My Shoes”, “Condemnation”, and “In Your Room”) and proved to be the perfect follow-up to Violator (going to #1 on the albums chart in both the US and UK) by pulling off the difficult task of keeping the group’s old fans loyal while reshaping their sound for a new era and bringing in new ones. However, Gahan’s new rock star look came with Gahan’s new rock star vices and the accompanying tour for Songs of Faith & Devotion would prove to be one of the most successful and debauched tours of all time, testing the very limits of the band and setting up its imminent crash.

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5. “Enjoy The Silence” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

5. “Enjoy The Silence” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Violator)

1990

Depeche Mode had finally broken into the mainstream with their massively successful single “Personal Jesus”. The success of “Personal Jesus” only added to the momentum that the band had built with the success of the 101 concert and film. “Personal Jesus” however was released as a single about seven months before the scheduled release of the Violator album, so a second single was released just prior to the release of Violator. That second single was “Enjoy The Silence” and it would become Depeche Mode’s biggest hit. Written by Martin Gore as a somber ballad, “Enjoy The Silence” was then transformed into a drama-filled epic that walks the line between pop excellence and dance club perfection by band member Alan Wilder. Initially, Gore was unhappy with the new arrangement of the song but ultimately came around to the changes when he was assured by the rest of the band that this version of the song would be a hit. They were right. “Enjoy The Silence” went to #6 in the UK and #8 in the USA, making it the only Depeche Mode song to crack the American Top Ten. “Enjoy The Silence” did even better on the American alternative charts, where it went to #1. In many ways “Enjoy The Silence” is the epitome of the sound that the band had pursued over the course of their career so far as the song is a melancholy synthpop number that melds a strong pop hook with cutting-edge electronic/dance influences. The combined success of “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy The Silence” meant that when the Violator album was finally released a month later it was also a huge success, going to #2 in the UK and #7 in the USA (and Top 10 in at least 12 other nations). A Top Ten album in America for an electronic-based, alternative band was simply unheard of, and the success of Violator helped make Depeche Mode one of the leaders of the rising new alternative music scene that would soon completely reshape mainstream music. “Enjoy The Silence” would be followed up by yet another massive mainstream hit with “Policy Of Truth” and then two more singles that did well on alternative radio with “Halo” and “World In My Eyes”. Depeche Mode had become bona fide rock stars and while the success was deserved and long overdue, the rock star life that came with it would soon threaten the very existence of the band.

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4. “Personal Jesus” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “Personal Jesus” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Violator)

1990

Depeche Mode’s Music For The Masses and its accompanying tour brought the band to the notice of more people than ever before. Depeche Mode, along with bands like U2, R.E.M., INXS, and a handful of others, were beginning to have enough success to bring “alternative” music into the mainstream; especially in the more musically conservative United States. This was the beginning of a change within mainstream music to be more open and accepting of music that was a little different, dangerous, subversive, or strange. A change that would ultimately be fully realized when Nirvana changed the musical landscape in the early 90’s. Depeche Mode would write, record, and release their next record – Violator – at the perfect moment for a wider audience to recognize its genius. In 1990 it was apparent that the zeitgeist was changing in music, but Nirvana had not yet established that punk, metal, and alt fueled guitar rock was the vehicle for that change. So Depeche Mode’s dark, sexy, bleak, and sharp Violator album was the perfect bridge between 80’s first wave alternative music and the new grunge and alternative rock that would soon dominate. This is because Violator draws on the synth and post-punk sounds and textures of the 80’s while finding its emotional center in the nihilistic angst of the 90’s and the album’s lead single – the guitar-driven stomp of “Personal Jesus” – was the perfect expression of this. Built up from a deep, percussive synth bass groove and showcasing a bluesy, acoustic guitar riff, “Personal Jesus” was both familiar and unlike anything that Depeche Mode had done before. Gore had begun to use guitars occasionally for texture prior to this (such as on the excellent “Never Let Me Down Again” on Music For The Masses) but a guitar had never been the focus of a Depeche Mode song the way it was on “Personal Jesus”. Married to this boot-stomping guitar lick and throbbing bass pulse was Gahan’s swaggering, yearning vocals of devotion and desire. Inspired by a passage in Priscella Presley’s biography Elvis & Me “Personal Jesus” explores the idea of being wholly dependent on another person, of finding salvation and acceptance in their love. Of course, the religious symbolism in such a secular setting caused controversy in some quarters, but that buzz only brought more attention to the song and “Personal Jesus” became a massive breakthrough hit for Depeche Mode in the USA where it broke into the American Top 40 at #28 while rising all the way to #3 on the American alternative rock charts. “Personal Jesus” was a smash hit in other areas of the world too, going Top 20 in ten other nations including peaking at #13 in their native Britain. Depeche Mode has taken a risk by expanding their sound, and then an even bigger risk by releasing that song as the lead single for Violator, and that gamble had paid off as “Personal Jesus” became one of Depeche Mode’s biggest hits and signature songs. And “Personal Jesus” was just the beginning, when Violator came out seven months later it kicked off the 1990’s with one of the best albums of the entire decade.

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3. “Strangelove” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “Strangelove” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Music For The Masses)

1987

Following the success of Depeche Mode’s fourth album Some Great Reward and its hit single “People Are People”, which finally earned the band a foothold in America, Depeche Mode released a singles collection (that also served as an entry sampler for new fans of the band) and took some deserved time off after completing four albums and four tours in four years. When the band reconvened to work on their fifth album Black Celebration it would be a different sounding record than anything that had come before. Part of this change would be due to the increased use of newer digital synthesizers rather than older analog ones, which would create a different and more complex sound on the record. Another part would be Martin Gore’s decision to sing lead vocals on nearly half of the songs on the record. Gore had sung lead vocals a few times before, most notably on “Somebody” from Some Great Reward, but never more than two tracks on an album. On Black Celebration Gore would sing lead vocals on five of the twelve tracks including the lead single “A Question Of Lust”. Black Celebration would be another critical, creative, and commercial step forward for the band; its dark hues and themes more firmly establishing the sound and style Depeche Mode would ultimately become known for. By this point Depeche Mode had become fairly successful in the UK and Europe and had some dance club and alternative/college radio success in the USA, but for their next record Depeche Mode decided to aim big. They named their sixth album (with a hint of irony) Music For The Masses and created a record that sounded big, sweeping and anthemic. Ironic or not, the album’s title turned out to be largely true as Depeche Mode released a string of hit singles and embarked on a massive tour that culminated in their famous sold out show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California as documented on the film and live album Depeche Mode 101. It was the kind of success that few, if any, “alternative” rock bands had seen before, especially in the United States. The lead single from Music For The Masses was the dark-edged dance pop of “Strangelove”. A sexy and sultry synthpop song featuring a strong melody and driving groove “Strangelove” became yet another in a long string of hits in Depeche Mode’s native Britain when the song hit #16. “Strangelove” saw more mixed results in the American market, where it hit #1 on the dance charts but only peaked at #76 on the American pop charts. This was a decent showing for “Strangelove” as in the US Depeche Mode had only hit the American Top 100 twice before. Furthermore, the song had hit #1 on the American dance charts, indicating popularity with the more edgy and underground scenes in the US. However, there had been hope within the record company that “Strangelove” could be a real breakthrough pop hit in America, and so in some quarters “Strangelove” was seen as something of a commercial disappointment. Indeed, after both “Never Let Me Down Again” and “Behind The Wheel” placed higher on the American charts than “Strangelove” did, “Strangelove” was rereleased as a single in a slightly different mix. This second version of the “Strangelove” single eventually peaked at #50 in the US, making “Strangelove” the second biggest hit Depeche Mode had scored in America to that point. Music For The Masses had been another British and international hit for Depeche Mode, and while the album had not quite launched Depeche Mode into the mainstream in the USA, the surprise success of Depeche Mode’s tour of the USA proved that they could have massive success there. And that massive success was coming.

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2. “Everything Counts” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “Everything Counts” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Construction Time Again)

1983

When Depeche Mode’s chief songwriter Vince Clarke left Depeche Mode following their debut album Speak & Spell most people thought it would doom the band. The three remaining members never gave any thought to ending the group though and almost immediately went back to work with Martin Gore stepping in as the new songwriter. This three-man version of Depeche Mode wrote and recorded their second album A Broken Frame. Released in 1982 A Broken Frame proved to be even more successful than Speak & Spell, putting to bed any fears that Depeche Mode couldn’t survive without Clarke (who soon formed his new duo Yazoo with Alison Moyet). A Broken Frame and its singles were successful in the UK and much of Europe, but the album was still a transitional effort for the band. Gore’s songs on the record seem split between pop-oriented synth songs patterned after Clarke’s (“The Meaning of Love”, “A Photograph Of You”) and the darker, moodier work Gore would become known for (“Leave In Silence”, “The Sun & The Rainfall”). However, the album’s most successful song would be the lead single “See You”, a moody pop song that seemed to split the difference between the two styles, that hit #6 in the UK. For the supporting tour Depeche Mode decided to go back to being a four-piece and so brought multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilder into the band. This four-man line-up of Martin Gore, Dave Gahan, Andy Fletcher, and Alan Wilder would be the “classic” line-up of the band that would make the next six albums together. Following the tour for A Broken Frame the band quickly returned to the studio to make their third record Construction Time Again. Construction Time Again was a continuation of the development of the band’s sound and was influenced by several factors. First, Martin Gore had attended a concert by German industrial pioneers  Einstürzende Neubauten which inspired him to use more industrial textures and found sounds in Depeche Mode’s music. Second, Gore had traveled to Thailand and had been affected by the poverty he saw there. This impacted the lyrical themes of the album which explore political themes in a way Depeche Mode had not previously done. Third, the addition of Wilder provided greater musical dexterity for the group and a secondary songwriter for the band as Wilder would provide two songs to the album. The highlight of Construction Time Again though is the Gore penned “Everything Counts”, an industrial-flavored synthpop masterpiece that attacks the ills of the music business, and by extension capitalism, in the form of a pop masterpiece. “Everything Counts” is the centerpiece of the album and would remain a key track for the band throughout their entire career. “Everything Counts” matched the success of “See You” in the UK when it hit #6 and was their first notable American success as well, peaking at #17 on the dance charts. Depeche Mode would follow-up this success a year later with their fourth album Some Great Reward, a superb album that serves as a capstone to their early career. Some Great Reward expertly weaves their poppy synth roots, gloomy dark electronic music, and industrial textures into Depeche Mode’s first truly great album. All of these elements can be heard on their next single “People Are People”, which became Depeche Mode’s first UK Top 5 (#4) and American Top 40 (#13) hit. Some Great Reward would also start a five album run of near-perfect albums that would see Depeche Mode rise to become international superstars that played a pivotal role in bringing “alternative” music to the masses, especially in the United States.

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1. “Just Can’t Get Enough” – Depeche Mode: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Just Can’t Get Enough” – Depeche Mode

(From the album Speak & Spell)

1981

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The origins of Depeche Mode go back as far as 1977 when friends and classmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called No Romance In China. After hearing early music from OMD Clarke decided to pursue electronic music instead. So Clarke and Fletcher put away the guitars and bass and bought and borrowed some synthesizers, renaming themselves Composition of Sound. Around this same time another friend and classmate of Fletcher and Clarke’s, Martin Gore, began to play guitar in an acoustic duo called Norman & The Worms. Ultimately, Gore joined Clarke and Fletcher in Composition of Sound and the seeds of Depeche Mode were truly planted. The trio continued playing as Composition of Sound with Clarke on vocals. Clarke however was a naturally reserved personality and did not enjoy being the frontman of the group. Composition of Sound soon found their frontman and vocalist though when Clarke saw a troubled art school student named David Gahan perform a version of David Bowie’s “Heroes” at a club and invited Gahan to join the group. Not long after the addition of Gahan the now four-man electronic band rechristened themselves Depeche Mode, a phrase taken from a French fashion magazine that roughly means “Fast Fashion” or “Fashion Update”. The band made a demo tape in hopes of earning a record deal and, in spite of interest from several major labels, signed a handshake deal with electronic musician Daniel Miller and his fledgling Mute Records label. Miller had been the man behind electronic music pioneer The Normal who had made the groundbreaking underground song “Warm Leatherette” and Depeche Mode both trusted him personally and knew he understood what they were trying to do. It proved to be an incredibly fruitful deal for both parties. Mute Records released Depeche Mode’s first single, “Dreaming of Me” in February of 1981 and to everyone involved’s surprise, the song became a minor British hit, going to #57. They followed this up with “New Life” which did even better, eventually hitting #11 in the UK and earning the group a coveted appearance on the TV show Top of the Pops. Depeche Mode’s unexpected success continued with the release of their third single “Just Can’t Get Enough”, a poppy synthpop confection that walked the line between futuristic (for the time) synths and addictive dance/pop ear candy, that hit #8 in the UK (and #26 on the American dance club charts). All three singles would be included on Depeche Mode’s debut album Speak & Spell, released a month after “Just Can’t Get Enough” in October 1981. Speak & Spell, featuring ten songs written by Clarke (including all three hit singles) and two by Gore, went to #10 on the UK albums chart and managed to crack the Top 200 albums in the USA without any real promotion or hit singles. Depeche Mode seemed to be a hot young band on the rise, one that captured the new sound and energy of cutting-edge electronic music like OMD, Gary Numan, and Berlin-era Bowie, and then reshaped it into something slightly more pop-oriented for the masses. Depeche Mode’s future seemed both bright and promising. At least until the main songwriter and driving force behind the band, Vince Clarke, announced he was leaving Depeche Mode shortly after the end of their tour in support of Speak & Spell. Clarke cited a dislike for touring as his primary reason for leaving, although in reality, it was likely a growing divide between his vision for the group and that of his bandmates. Either way, Clarke was gone and if Depeche Mode was going to survive they would have to do it without him.

7. “Love In The Age Of War” – Men Without Hats: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “Love In The Age Of War” – Men Without Hats

(From the album Love In The Age Of War)

2012

Men Without Hats had slowly moved beyond their synthpop based sound over the course of the 1980’s, although synthesizers had always remained a key part of the band’s sound. However, their two biggest hits – “The Safety Dance” and “Pop Goes The World” – were both unabashed synthpop hits and so as the 1990’s began and Nirvana changed the sound of what “alternative” music was Men Without Hats began to be seen as hopelessly out of step. After all, few bands were more associated with the sound of the 80’s than the band that had given the world “The Safety Dance”. Men Without Hats tried to adapt with the guitar-driven 1991 album Sideways, but unsurprisingly this new sound did not win over new fans or appeal to their old ones and the band ended in 1993. In 1997 Ivan Doroschuk released a solo album called The Spell while his brother Stefan worked as part of the alt-country group named The Parker-MacKenzie Group. Colin Doroschuk moved into opera and ballet, first becoming the director of Montreal’s Northern Opera Theatre before becoming the composer-in-residence for British Columbia Ballet Victoria. Former member Allan McCarthy died of complications from AIDS in 1997. Ultimately Ivan and Stefan Doroschuk reformed Men Without Hats in 2003 and released the largely ignored No Hats Beyond This Point before going on another long hiatus. In 2010 Ivan Doroschuk once again reformed Men Without Hats with a whole new group of musicians and returned to the band’s classic synthpop/new wave sound for the album Love In The Age Of War. Love In The Age Of War is an unabashed return to not only the synthpop/new wave origins of the band, but specifically to the early 80’s analog synths of the “The Safety Dance”. Indeed, nearly all of Love In The Age Of War sounds like sonic cousins to that 80’s classic and would have been at home on 1982’s Rhythm Of Youth album. Like all of Men Without Hats’ albums Love In The Age Of War is inconsistent, but the album does have a few songs that can sit beside their best work from the 80’s. Lead single “Head Above Water” is a catchy, midtempo synthpop song that might have been a hit in 1984. However, the best song is the title track “Love In The Age Of War” which closes the album. Built off a synth riff that is reminiscent of “The Safety Dance” without ever quite actually copying it “Love In The Age Of War” balances the silly and the serious in a way that classic Men Without Hats were always good at. Indeed, if “Love In The Age Of War” had been on Rhythm Of Youth and been the follow-up single to “The Safety Dance” it almost certainly would have been another big hit. As it is “Love In The Age Of War” is a late-career classic that sadly was not heard by very many people. In 2021 Men Without Hats released a covers EP called Again, Pt. 1 that contained songs originally by Lou Reed, The Tragically Hip, and David Bowie, as well as a slowed-down “cover” of their own “The Safety Dance”. A year later Men Without Hats released an album of new original material titled Again, Pt. 2. 

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6. “In The 21st Century” – Men Without Hats: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

6. “In The 21st Century” – Men Without Hats

(From the album The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate In The 21st Century)

1989

Men Without Hats followed up their comeback album Pop Goes The World just two years later with The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate In The 21st Century, an album that continued the direction of Pop Goes The World by continuing to slowly move the band away from its synth roots and toward more live instrumentation (although only to a degree, synths are still present) and by creating another loose concept album. The difference is that this time the concept and the music are more serious; nothing less than tackling the ills of humanity as we entered the final decade of the 20th century and moved into the new millennium. With that in mind, the album tackles issues like environmentalism, male violence, rampant commercialism, and other issues. Indeed, the lead single “Hey Men” was a Chuck Berry-inspired rocker with a strong feminist bent. The second single was the more synth-based environmental anthem “In The 21st Century”. “In The 21st Century” is built off a chugging, industrial beat that could be either a factory or a heartbeat and slowly builds to near anthemic status while introducing the themes of the album. Both songs were moderate hits in the band’s native Canada but stalled in most of the rest of the world (in part because the group had to largely postpone touring and promotion for the album when guitarist Stefan Doroschuk was hit by a car and broke his hand and both legs). The album is somewhat inconsistent but has a few other highlights besides the two singles. The best moment may well be the cover of ABBA’s “S.O.S.” which is reimagined as a warning from Mother Earth about our treatment of the planet. However, the ballad “Underneath The Rainbow” is pretty and features some good guitar work, while “Eloise & I” feels like a throwback to the sound of the songs on the Pop Goes The World album. Most of the world never paid The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate In The 21st Century any attention but it is another decent album from Men Without Hats that finds them trying to grow as artists and expand their sound.

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