When I picked up Depeche Mode / Devotional, it had been a while since I'd listened to any of the band's music, so I was in for a pleasant reminder of how good the British group is, with its brooding yet entrancing music and distinctive lyrics. This concert DVD showcases Depeche Mode's 1993 Devotional tour, as the band promoted their album Songs of Faith and Devotion.

Some concerts are basically just live music venues, with minimal showmanship, while others are more of a grand spectacle. Depeche Mode's Devotional concert falls squarely in the "spectacle" category. Arranged on a huge, multi-level stage, the band is backed by enormous video screens that play surreal images, changing for each song; colored lights drench the stage in bold primary colors at times, while at other times lead singer David Gahan is cast in deep shadow and appears only as a silhouette. The total effect is quite impressive and memorable, though obviously less so for the home viewer than for the audience members actually present at the concert.

The sixteen songs performed in the 94-minute concert come mainly from the album that was current at the time, Songs of Faith and Devotion, with some additional songs coming from earlier albums such as Violator. It's an excellent selection, and the band's performance is very solid as well; while there's not a lot of variation from the studio version, there's certainly a lot of energy going into the live performance here.

Anton Corbijn's film of the concert is nicely done; the material is very well edited, with the camera shifting among different angles to present a lively, energetic visual experience. The focus of the concert is squarely on the music: it opens right away with "Higher Love" and keeps a steady pace, with no unnecessary chatter from the band members between songs.

The play list runs as follows:

The DVD

Depeche Mode / Devotional is a two-disc set, packaged in a single-wide keepcase. The concert and some special features are on the first disc, and the balance of the special features are on the second disc.

Video

Depeche Mode / Devotional is presented in a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks to be at the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It's tough to judge the image quality here, since the concert, with its extremes of light, shadow, and colors, must have been difficult to capture on film. The image is somewhat soft and lacking in detail, but again, that's most likely a result of the style of the live presentation. Colors are bright and vibrant, with the effects of the bold colored lighting captured nicely. Overall it's a solid transfer.

Audio

Viewers have two soundtrack options: Dolby 5.1 and uncompressed LPCM stereo (48k 16b). I compared the two tracks on several songs, and I'd say that the 5.1 is definitely superior. Both tracks have a nicely clean and crisp sound, but the 5.1 takes a step ahead with its greater depth and richness, as well as its nice use of surround sound. The sound is robust, with a strong but not overpowering bass element, and there's a definite sense of being immersed in the music.

Extras

On the first DVD, we get two bonus songs from the Devotional concert, "Halo" and "Policy of Truth." These are filmed in the same way as the main concert program, and have the Dolby 5.1 and LPCM soundtrack options.

The remainder of the special features are found on the second DVD; there's some interesting material, though not as much as I would have expected, given a whole second disc. The "Projections" section features eight songs from the concert, with the video image of each one consisting of a compilation of the surreal images that were playing on the background screens during the live performance of that song. The "Videos" section contains the promotional music videos for six songs, "I Feel You," "Walking in My Shoes," "Condemnation (Paris mix)," "In Your Room," "One Caress (U.S. video)," and Condemnation (Live)."

The "MTV Documentary" is a 22-minute piece that features interviews with the band; it's reasonably interesting, though it's nothing to really write home about. Next, the "Monologue by Anton Corbijn" has the filmmaker sharing his thoughts. Lastly, we get an image gallery with the tour programs for the 1993 and 1994 Devotional tours.

One word of caution: several of the special features (the promotional videos and Anton Corbijn's monologue) did not play on my DVD player, instead either locking up or displaying a garbled image, as if the disc were scratched. However, the DVD was in pristine condition, so it looks like there might be a production flaw at work; I'm not sure whether I just got a bad copy or it's more widespread.

Final thoughts

Depeche Mode / Devotional is a nicely done DVD of a visually (and aurally) impressive concert. Fans of Depeche Mode will certainly enjoy the selection of songs and the visual spectacle of the show, and the content is good enough to win over viewers who haven't really heard much of Depeche Mode's music. The sound quality here is, of course, very important, and it's outstanding. Highly recommended.