It was 2001. The music world was obsessed with the jagged edges of the garage rock revival and the neon-soaked glitz of Britney Spears. Then came Mark Bell and a bunch of weird, organic digital clicks. When the Depeche Mode Exciter album dropped, the fan base basically fractured. Half the people thought it was a minimalist masterpiece, while the other half wondered where the guitars from Songs of Faith and Devotion had gone. Honestly, it’s a weird record. It’s quiet. It’s "glitchy." It sounds like a garden growing inside a computer motherboard.
If you were expecting another Violator, you were probably disappointed. But twenty-five years later, looking back at Exciter reveals something much more interesting than just a "mellow" album. It was the sound of a band finally exhaling after a decade of near-death experiences, drug overdoses, and internal warfare.
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The Mark Bell Factor and the Shift to Digital Minimalism
Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andrew Fletcher were in a strange spot after the Ultra era. They had survived. That was the main thing. But they needed a new direction that wasn’t just "industrial rock but slower." Enter Mark Bell. If you know Björk’s Homogenic, you know Mark Bell’s DNA. He brought a specific LFO-heavy, IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) sensibility to the table that Depeche Mode had never really touched before.
He didn't want big, crashing snares. He wanted "micro-sounds."
Listen to "Dream On." It starts with that acoustic guitar riff—which feels very traditional—but it’s quickly swallowed by these tiny, wet electronic pops and hisses. It was a digital intimacy. This wasn't the stadium-shaking goth-pop of the eighties. It was something you were supposed to listen to on headphones while staring at a rainy window. Some critics at the time, like those at NME, found it a bit too polite. They called it "bloodless." But they were missing the point entirely. The album wasn't trying to be aggressive. It was trying to be beautiful. Martin Gore was famously inspired by the "minimal techno" scene of the time, and you can hear that restraint in every single track.
Why the Depeche Mode Exciter Album Divided the Die-Hards
Fans are funny. They want change, but they also want the same thing forever. Exciter gave them something they didn't know how to categorize.
Is it a blues record? Sorta.
Is it ambient? In places.
Is it pop? Hardly.
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Take a track like "When the Body Speaks." It’s almost a lullaby. It features a string arrangement that feels more like a film score than a synth-pop anthem. For the "Black Celebration" crowd, this felt dangerously close to "adult contemporary." It was a huge risk. Dave Gahan’s voice had also changed. He wasn't screaming for salvation anymore; he was crooning. His delivery on "Sweetest Condition" is sultry and low-key, stripped of the rock star histrionics that defined the Devotional tour. This was the "clean" Depeche Mode.
Then there’s "The Dead of Night." This is usually the song people point to when they want to complain about the Depeche Mode Exciter album. It’s the one moment where they try to be "heavy," but it feels almost like a caricature of their older industrial sound. It’s crunchy and aggressive, but in the context of the rest of the album’s shimmering beauty, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Some love it for the energy. Others skip it every single time. It's the ultimate "love it or hate it" track on a record that is otherwise very cohesive.
The Production Secrets of the Exciter Sessions
The band recorded in Santa Barbara, New York, and London. They were looking for a specific atmosphere. Mark Bell pushed them to use gear that felt "alive." We aren't talking about just standard Moogs and ARPs. They were experimenting with software that was cutting-edge for 2001, creating textures that felt organic.
- Organic meets Synthetic: The use of acoustic guitars wasn't new for DM, but the way they were processed was.
- The "Bell" Sound: Tiny percussive elements that sound like glass breaking or water droplets.
- Gore’s Vocal Lead: Martin taking the lead on "Comatose" showed a vulnerability that balanced Dave’s newfound baritone strength.
The song "Freelove" is perhaps the best example of what they were trying to achieve. The album version is a slow, pulsing meditation. When it was later remixed by Flood for the single release, it became much more "radio-friendly," but the original Exciter version is far superior because it trusts the listener to sit with the silence.
The Legacy of "I Feel Loved" and the Club Scene
Funny enough, while the album was being called "mellow," it produced one of the biggest club hits of their later career. "I Feel Loved" was everywhere. The Danny Tenaglia remixes became legendary in the house music scene. It’s a relentless, thumping track that feels like a throwback to their dance-floor roots, but with that slick, 21st-century production sheen. It’s the heartbeat of the album. Without it, Exciter might have drifted off into the ether.
But even "I Feel Loved" has that trademark Exciter shimmer. It doesn't sound "dusty" like Ultra. It sounds like it was polished in a laboratory. This high-fidelity approach is why the album actually sounds better today than it did in 2001. A lot of records from that era sound "loud" and compressed—the "Loudness War" was in full swing. Exciter breathes. It has dynamic range. If you put it on a high-end system now, you’ll hear layers of sound that simply weren't audible on cheap 2001-era car speakers.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Era
People often say Exciter was a "weak" period for the band. That’s just wrong. It was a transitional period. Without the experimentation of the Depeche Mode Exciter album, we never would have gotten the grit of Playing the Angel or the bluesy swagger of Delta Machine. It was the palette cleanser.
The band was learning how to be a band again without Alan Wilder. They were learning how to use the studio as an instrument without relying on the old templates. It’s an album about recovery. You can hear it in the lyrics. Martin Gore was writing about love in a way that felt less like an obsession and more like a quiet realization. "Goodnight Lovers," the closing track, is basically a secular hymn. It’s a message of inclusion and peace. For a band that spent the nineties singing about "The Bottomless Pit" and "Walking in My Shoes," this was a radical shift toward the light.
Fact-Checking the "Flop" Narrative
Was it a commercial failure? Not really.
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- It hit Number 1 in several European countries, including Germany and Sweden.
- It reached the Top 10 in both the UK and the US Billboard 200.
- The Exciter Tour was a massive success, proving that the fan base was still hungry for the "new" Depeche Mode.
The "failure" was purely a narrative constructed by people who wanted Violator 2.0. But Depeche Mode has never been a band that repeats itself. Every time they find a winning formula, they set it on fire and move on. Exciter was the smoke from that fire.
How to Truly Appreciate Exciter Today
To get the most out of this record, you have to stop comparing it to Black Celebration or Music for the Masses. It’s not that kind of record.
- Listen at night. This is 100% a nocturnal album. It doesn't work in the midday sun.
- Focus on the textures. Don't just listen to the melodies. Listen to the "air" around the notes. Mark Bell was a master of spatial production.
- Watch the "One Night in Paris" concert. Seeing these songs performed live by the 2001 lineup—with those iconic backup singers—gives them a soul and a gospel energy that the studio versions sometimes hide.
The Depeche Mode Exciter album is a grower, not a shower. It takes five, maybe ten listens before the "hooks" actually sink in. But once they do, you realize that songs like "I Am You" are among the most sophisticated things Martin Gore has ever written. It’s a deep, dark, beautiful dive into what happens when a legendary band decides to stop trying so hard and just... exist.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific era, don't just stop at the standard 11-track CD.
First, track down the Exciter B-sides. Tracks like "Dirt" (a Stooges cover) and "Zenstation" provide a much grittier look at what was happening in the studio. They show a messier side of the sessions that didn't make the final, polished cut.
Second, if you're a vinyl enthusiast, look for the 2007 or 2014 heavy-weight reissues. The original 2001 vinyl pressings are notoriously expensive and sometimes hard to find in good condition. The reissues handle the low-end frequencies of Mark Bell's production much better than the original CDs ever could.
Finally, check out the documentary Depeche Mode 1999–2002 (Presenting the Intimate and Delicate Side of Depeche Mode). It’s included in the Deluxe DVD editions and features the band being incredibly honest about the struggle to create this sound. It’s the best way to understand the headspace they were in. Stop skipping this album. It’s time to give the "glitchy" Depeche Mode the credit they deserve.