VARIOUS ARTISTS
THE BEST OF LOVES - A TRIBUTE TO DEPECHE MODE
COMPILATION ALBUM ENERGY RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 21, 2000 REVIEW: OCTOBER 4, 2000


A tribute consisting of previously released Depeche Mode tribute songs. The necessity of "The Best of Loves" is highly questionable. However, it holds a few interesting interpretations of some classics.
Pouppée Fabrikk's version of "Photographic" is perhaps more fun than good, but wins on the fact that it's significantly harder than the original. Statemachine's "Stripped" is another example of a cover that doesn't fall flat, as well as the S.P.O.C.K rework of "Ice Machine" and EnCounter's uptempo "The Love Thieves" version.
Dark Distant Spaces don't make fools of themselves but their cover of "A Question of Lust" is too close to the original. That's the case in several of the songs here.
A few German contributions can be found on "The Best of Loves", but the Swedish bands dominate this compilation. It would have been nice with a more geographically varied line-up. And the fact that not even one of the songs beats the original is as inevitable as it is sad.

NIKLAS FORSBERG