101 is a live album and documentary by Depeche Mode released in 1989 chronicalling the band's 1988 Music for the Masses US tour, and the final show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Group member Alan Wilder was credited with coming up with the name, as the performance was the 101st, and final performance of the tour (and coincidentally also a famous highway in the area).
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101 is mainly considered a documentary/film, however a CD is also available containing all live tracks. The film is considered to be pioneering due to the fact that it contained one of the first examples of reality television. The film covers three Depeche Mode fans (Chris, Oliver and Jay) that won an LA radio station giveaway allowing them to tour with Depeche Mode through the last leg of their 88' North American tour. The film was directed and produced by D.A. Pennebaker.
The film begins by showing a clip of Depeche Mode entering an empty Rose Bowl stadium in an old american car. This is where they announce their concert at the Rose Bowl during a live press conference there. The majority of the film revolves around the experiences of these three individuals traveling with Depeche Mode (in a separate bus and in separate hotel rooms). There are a couple instances of band members fraternizing with the three fans. Still most of the film shows both in separate situations. There is some footage of the band before various shows getting ready in the dressing room backstage. The dialogue is interesting in that it shows how the four members of the group interact.
The last part shows a live recording of Depeche Mode's sellout show at the Rose Bowl, where nearly 80,000 people were in attendance. The film of the concert is not complete however, as it does not present the entire concert from beginning to end, rather it contains twelve of their greatest hits at the time pieced together by Pennebaker (it is important to note that the band had absolutely no say in the directorial proccess, hence none of the scenes are scripted) and is missing some of the tracks performed that night.
Two points worth mentioning are in the performance of "Stripped" where Dave Gahan's intensity is unbridled as well as "Never Let Me Down Again", the band's closing track (not including encores), where the crowd's energy and enthusiasm is highly cathartic.
In 2003, the film was released on a two-disc DVD with the main film on the first disc. The second disc had interviews with the three winners and their experiences with the band. There were also interviews with Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andrew Fletcher, all three seperately, talking about their solo projects which they were working on at the time. Alan Wilder, who left the band almost seven years after 101 in 1995, chose not to be interviewed. Finally, there was an interview with Daniel Miller on the state of Depeche Mode, and even includes comments on Vince Clarke and the old Depeche Mode days.
In addition to the interviews, there were also isolated video footage of the concert, including new footage, although footage of a couple of songs were not able to be recovered.
Reissue
In 2003, Mute Records reissued 101 as a hybrid SACD. In essence, the 2 disc set contained 101 in three formats - multi-channel SACD, stereo SACD and PCM stereo (CD audio). The multi-channel audio was presented in 5.1 and gave a better representation of the live experience.
Due to pressing errors, however, the first run of the set was marred by a mis-encoded multi-channel SACD layer that skipped and was unlistenable on the first disc. The stereo SACD and CD audio layers were unaffected.
As a bonus hidden track, the multi-channel layer also included the full version of "Pimpf".
Album Track Listing
Disc One:
- Pimpf (0:58)
- Behind the Wheel (5:55)
- Strangelove (4:49)
- Sacred (5:09)
- Something to Do (3:54)
- Blasphemous Rumours (5:09)
- Stripped (6:45)
- Somebody (4:34)
- The Things You Said (4:21)
Disc Two:
- Black Celebration (4:54)
- Shake the Disease (5:10)
- Nothing (4:36)
- Pleasure, Little Treasure (4:38)
- People Are People (4:59)
- A Question of Time (4:12)
- Never Let Me Down Again (6:40)
- A Question of Lust (4:07)
- Master and Servant (4:30)
- Just Can't Get Enough (4:01)
- Everything Counts (6:31)
- All songs are written by Martin Gore except "Just Can't Get Enough" is written by Vince Clarke. Dave Gahan sings lead vocals on all songs except "Somebody", "The Things You Said", and "A Question of Lust" in which Martin sings lead.