Enjoy the Silence

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“Enjoy the Silence”
Single by Depeche Mode from the album Violator
B-side	"Memphisto", "Sibeling"
Released	February 5, 1990
Format	vinyl record 7", 12", CD
Recorded	1989
Genre	Synthpop
Length	7" - 4:15 12" - 7:18
Label	Mute Records
Writer(s)	Martin Gore
Producer	Depeche Mode and Flood
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Personal Jesus" (1989) "Enjoy the Silence" (1990) "Policy of Truth" (1990)

“Enjoy the Silence 04”
Single by Depeche Mode from the album Remixes 81 - 04
B-side	"Halo [Goldfrapp Remix]"
Released	October 18, 2004
Format	CD, Vinyl record (12")
Recorded	Originally in 1989, Remixed in 2004
Genre	Synthpop
Length	3:32
Label	Mute Records
Writer(s)	Martin Gore
Producer	Mike Shinoda
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Goodnight Lovers" (2002) "Enjoy the Silence 04" (2004) "Precious" (2005)

 Music sample:

Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence" (1990)

26 second sample from Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence".

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's twenty-fourth UK single, released on February 5, 1990, and the second single from the album Violator. "Enjoy the Silence" was re-released as a single in 2004 for the Depeche Mode remix project Remixes 81 - 04, and was titled "Enjoy the Silence (Reinterpreted)" or, more simply "Enjoy the Silence 04". The "Reinterpreted" version was remixed by Mike Shinoda, the rapper and producer for the American nu metal/alternative rock band Linkin Park. As it is one of Depeche Mode's most well-known songs to date, it has been recorded as a cover version by many other artists, including Keane, Tori Amos, Failure, It Dies Today, Tanghetto, The Academy Is... with Cobra Starship, Anberlin, HIM, Lacuna Coil, Matthew Good, Bell X1, and No Use for a Name.

[edit] Background

When "Enjoy the Silence" was written by Martin Gore, it was intended to be a slow-paced ballad in C minor; the demo featured a harmonium with Gore singing. Alan Wilder saw hit potential in the track, and composed an upbeat tempo and structure for the song. Despite initial resistance from songwriter Gore, who felt the spirit of the song was not suited to an upbeat track, the rest of the group liked it. After some self-described "sulking", Gore came around and added more to the embryonic fast version together with producer Mark "Flood" Ellis, notably the guitar riff heard throughout. Depeche Mode lead singer David Gahan contributed his distinctive lead vocals to the track, and within hours, the band was convinced they had a hit single on their hands. At Gore's insistence, the demo would later be remade into the "Harmonium" version (available on the limited edition 12" vinyl release), featuring Gore on vocals.

[edit] Chart success

"Enjoy the Silence" became one of the band's most successful singles, and its highest-charting since the early '80s. The single rocketed up the UK Singles Chart to #6, remaining there for three weeks. This was the band's highest-charting single since "People Are People" peaked at #4 in 1984. Additionally, other than "People Are People", only two other singles released by the band had reached as high as #6: 1982's "See You" and 1983's "Everything Counts".

On top of this, the song reached #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, to date the only Depeche Mode single to achieve top 10 status. At the time, the only other Depeche Mode single to hit the US Top 20 was "People Are People", which hit #13. The single also topped the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, another first for the band (as this chart had been created in 1988). The chart measures radio airplay on US modern rock stations.

"Enjoy the Silence 04" was almost equally successful in the UK, peaking at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached #25 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play. In addition, the limited edition vinyl releases also charted, but due to the fact that their lead track was not "Enjoy the Silence", these releases charted separately. As a result, "Something to Do", the A-side to the L12 release, spent one week at #75 on the UK Singles Chart.

[edit] Song versions

Cover of the Limited Edition 12" release

The original release of the single included a wide variety of remixes. The standard 12" version of the song is the "Hands and Feet Mix", while the B-side of the 12" version included a dub mix called the "Ecstatic Dub". The limited edition 12" release included three more remixes: the aforementioned "Harmonium" version which follows the structure of the original demo, the "Bass Line" version, and the "Ricki Tik Tik Mix." The latter one is actually an edit omitting a synth part in the middle because Mute had to fit everything on a 3" CD. The boxed rerelease finally had the full version. One of the more unusual mixes is "The Quad: Final Mix" which expands the song to over fifteen minutes in length, making it the longest commercially available Depeche Mode track.

In addition to the "reinterpretation" by Mike Shinoda, there were several more remixes of the song released in 2004. The 12" version of the release included remixes by Timo Maas and Ewan Pearson, while one of the limited edition CDs included a remix from Richard X.

"Enjoy the Silence 04" also included a variety of remixes of other Depeche Mode songs, including a Goldfrapp remix of the Violator track "Halo", a Black Strobe remix of the Some Great Reward track "Something to Do", a Cicada remix of the single "World in My Eyes", and a Rex the Dog remix of the Speak and Spell track "Photographic".

[edit] B-sides

There are two instrumental B-sides to "Enjoy the Silence". "Sibeling" (the 12" B-side) is a soft piano-tune while "Memphisto" (the 7" B-side) is a darker, eerier track. The title of "Sibeling" refers to Finnish classical composer Jean Sibelius. Regarding "Memphisto", according to Martin Gore, "Memphisto is the name of an imaginary film about Elvis as a Devil, that I created in my mind". [1] As such, the title is a portmanteau of Memphis and Mephisto. "Sibeling" was produced by the combination of the band and Flood, who produced much of Depeche Mode's work from 1990 to 1993, while "Memphisto" was produced by the band alone.

[edit] Music Videos

The Anton Corbijn music video for "Enjoy the Silence" references the themes and storyline of the philosophical children's book "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Film of Gahan dressed as a King wandering around with his deck chair chasing the sunset is intercut with black and white footage of the band posing in a studio. Brief images of a single rose (which is also featured on the album cover of Violator) also appear throughout the video.

When Corbijn presented the concept of the video to the band, which at the time was simply "Dave dressed up as a king, walking around with a deck chair", they initially rejected it. They changed their minds, when he explained that the idea was that the King (Dave) was represented "a man with everything in the world, just looking for a quiet place to sit." Andy Fletcher jokes that he favored the video because "[he] only had to do about an hour's worth of work."

The video uses a slightly different mix of the song (the most notable difference being an extended introduction) that has not been released in any audio format. Long shots of the king walking through the snow show not Gahan but rather the video's producer Richard Bell. Gahan had left, tiring of the cold after a day in Switzerland. This story was recounted by Gahan in the intro to the The Videos (86-98) VHS/DVD.

An additional video for the song shows the band atop the former World Trade Center in the Top of the World observatory.

Uwe Flade directed an animated music video for "Enjoy the Silence 04". Monitors in the animation show performances of 'Enjoy the Silence' excerpted from Devotional and One Night in Paris, as well as footage from a concert from The Singles Tour filmed in Cologne in 1998 for MTV.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Enjoy the Silence

[edit] Notes and Personnel

• The US singles were released on February 27, 1990.
• All songs written by Martin L. Gore.
• David Gahan sings all versions of "Enjoy the Silence" except the "Harmonium" which is sung by Martin Gore.
• "Sibeling" and "Memphisto" are instrumentals.
• "Enjoy the Silence" was recorded at Puk Studios, Denmark and engineered by Peter Iversen.
• "Sibeling" and "Memphisto" were recorded and mixed at The Church, London and engineered by Steve Lyon.
• The 7" version of "Enjoy the Silence" and the "Ricki Tik Tik Mix" was mixed by Daniel Miller and Phil Legg at Master Rock Studios, London.
• The "Hands and Feet Mix" and "Ecstatic Dub" were mixed by Francois Kevorkian at The Church, London and engineered by Steve Lyon.
• The "Bass Line" version was mixed by Francois Kevorkian at Axis, New York and engineered by Goh Hotoda.
• The "Harmonium" version was mixed by Depeche Mode at The Church, London and engineered by Steve Lyon.
• "The Quad: Final Mix" was mixed by Tim Simenon, Holger Hiller, Gareth Jones with Mimi Izumi Kobayashi, and Adrian Sherwood with David Harrow at Worldwide Studios, London and engineered by Paul Kendall.

[edit] Enjoy the Silence 04

[edit] Covers

• Apoptygma Berzerk covered "Enjoy the Silence" on their APBL98 album which was based on the APB Europe tour in 1997-98. The version has never been released as a studio recording.
• Anberlin covered this song for Fearless Records compilation, Punk Goes '90s; it also appears on their b-sides album, Lost Songs.
• Antimatter did a cover of it live with Danny Cavanagh of Anathema.
• Bell X1 covered the song on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM and occasionally incorporate it into their song "I'll See Your Heart And I'll Raise You Mine". It is a B-side to the single "Rocky Took A Lover."
• The Bloodhound Gang covered the song at Rock am Ring festival.
• Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub did a cover of the song that was also released as a single.
• Breaking Benjamin have covered the song live, and even recorded it, however it is unreleased but is a fan favourite.
• Jeff Bujak does a piano and Fender Rhodes version live. There is no available recording.
• The band easyworld have also covered this song.
• Entwine have covered the song on their album The Treasures Within Hearts.
• Evergreen Terrace, Floridan metalcore band, covered the song at the end their album Burned Alive By Time under the track "Heavy Number One (AKA: Shizzle My Nizzle)".
• Failure, alternative rock band, covered it for the DM tribute album For the Masses.
• HIM, Finnish Love Metal band, used to cover the song on their early tours.
• It Dies Today, American metalcore band, has also covered the song which was featured on the soundtrack for the Showtime horror series Masters of Horror.
• Keane covered this song.
• Janita, another Finnish native, also covered a melodic jazz/R&B version of the single which was released on her junior album titled Seasons of Life in May 2006.
• Lacuna Coil features it as their album Karmacode's 13th and final track.
• Matthew Good Band, a Canadian alternative band, covered the song for their 1998 limited EP, Lo-Fi B-Sides. It was later re-released for the lead singer's solo compilation release In A Coma, on the Deluxe Edition's second CD, in 2005.
• Margret Heater, Baltimore metal band, released their version on the album Manifest.
• Moonlight, a Polish progressive/Gothic band covered the song on their 1999 Inermis album.
• The punk-rock band No Use For a Name covered this song for the Warped Tour: 2001 Compilation CD.
• Noxious Emotion covered the song.
• Division Day has also covered the song.
• Ryan Star, a contestant on the CBS television show Rockstar: Supernova, performed his own arrangement during his elimination night performance, which aided in saving him from being kicked-off.
• Scala & Kolacny Brothers, a Belgian girls choir covered the song for their latest album.
• The Norwegian duo Susanna and the Magical Orchestra recorded a slow, stripped down version of the song on the record Melody Mountain in 2006.
• Kilna covered this song.
• Perfect Nova a California based alternative rock band, recorded a version of this song and its video is available on YouTube.
• Tanghetto, an argentine neo-tango band from Buenos Aires, did an instrumental version with the bandoneon taking the role of the lead voice. This was included in their Buenos Aires Remixed album as track #3. Tanghetto's version charted in Greece and other countries of Eastern Europe.
• Texas Lightning, a German country band with Olli Dittrich, did a cover of the song.
• The Dutch emocore band the spirit that guides us has covered this song on tours for years, and has recently included it on their We Are Under Reconstruction CD (2006) and DVD (2007). Before that it could be found on a Sally Forth Records sampler called Hits of the Eighties.
• Tori Amos recorded a sparse-sounding cover of the song for her Strange Little Girls album.
• Trance producer Mike Koglin recorded a trance track based on "Enjoy the Silence" in 1998, entitled "The Silence". The remix by Tekara, an alias of Matt Darey, is the most well-known trance version.
• Whiskyn's, a Catalan band, recorded a version translated to Catalan in order to help raise funds for investing cures to diseases in TV3's annual Telethon in 2006.
• Kim Wilde released her live version of "Enjoy the Silence" on the single "Baby Obey Me" in 2007.
• The Academy Is... with Cobra Starship will be releasing a cover of "Enjoy The Silence" as a single from The Academy Is...' new album that is to be released in August of 2008.

[edit] Lacuna Coil version

“Enjoy the Silence”
Single by Lacuna Coil from the album Karmacode
A-side	"Enjoy the Silence"
B-side	"Virtual Environment"
Released	June, 2006
Format	CD Digital download Vinyl single
Recorded	2005
Genre	Gothic Metal
Label	Century Media
Producer	Waldemar Sorychta
Lacuna Coil singles chronology
"Our Truth" (2006) "Enjoy the Silence" (2006) "Closer" (2006)
Alternative cover
Volume II

"Enjoy the Silence" is the second single by Lacuna Coil from their album Karmacode. It made the New York Times Top 100 Cover Songs list.

There is a UK version of the video and an International one. Both videos include the band performing in a dark room, but aside from that the UK version shows live clips of the London Forum show, while the International one shows scenes of a city, the countryside, and a bay.

The cover sounds very similar to the Reinterpreted version by Mike Shinoda, with only a few slight differences. The main similarities include how the guitar is present throughout the whole song (which was only used in the Reinterpreted version, the original only featured a faint, non-distorted guitar effect), and the "enjoy the silence" vocal looping several times in the outro.

There are three "volumes" of this single.

Volume I:

1. Enjoy the Silence
2. Virtual Environment (An unreleased bonus track)

Volume II:

1. Enjoy the Silence
2. To the Edge - Live
3. Fragile - Live
4. Tight Rope - Live

Volume III (Picture Disc):

1. Enjoy the Silence
2. Silence

[edit] Sample

Enjoy the Silence

"Enjoy the Silence" from Karmacode

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

[edit] External links

• "Enjoy The Silence '04" Music Video
• "Enjoy the Silence" lyrics
• "Enjoy the Silence" single information from the official Depeche Mode web site
• "Enjoy the Silence 04" single information
• "Enjoy the silence", pictures and tracklist form every edition of the single
• 100 Enjoy The Silence covers