Artist: Depeche Mode
Title: M / Live In Mexico City
Genre: New Wave / Electronic Rock
Release Date: 5th December 2025
Label: Columbia (Sony Music)
Album / DVD Review
For more than 15 years now, every new DEPECHE MODE release create some very animated and passionate debates between fans and judging by what’s happening on various fans pages, ‘M’ makes no exceptions! There are many things to cover in this one: ‘M’ (the documentary), the full concert both in audio and video and the famous 4 songs the band talked about when ‘Memento Mori’ was released. I won’t cover the documentary as there are already thousands of different articles telling everything to be told since the theatre release.
Let’s start by the most interesting thing, the songs of the ‘Memento Mori’ sessions. I’m not the easiest fan to please and I had some strong words in my DEPECHE MODE reviews by the past… but I must confess I find the fans very harsh regarding those songs. A lot of them take those as “new material” and compare those to ‘Memento Mori’ or other albums. Quick reminder: those are not new songs as they were recorded at the same time and are part of the Memento project.
They were not considered by the band’s standard to be included in the album wherever because they were not as strong as the others, or they didn’t fit in. To see those songs release is to be taken just as it is: bonus tracks that would have certainly been used as singles’ B-Sides in the golden age of singles and maxi single releases. It’s then fair to compare them to past B-Sides and previous albums bonus tracks.
‘Survive’, a Gahan / Gore song. is an interesting track that reminds both ‘Ultra’ and ‘Exciter’. The lyrics are strong, and some couldn’t help to see a supportive message from Dave to Martin following Andy’s death, and an optimistic message for the future of DEPECHE MODE. A strong song that probably didn’t make it to the album because of the coherence of the sound?
‘Life 2.0’ is a very decent Martin’s B-Side. Quite experimental with vocoder and interesting vocal progressions but, like many other songs from the last decades, it leaves a feeling of unfinished business. You expect something bigger to happen during the second half of the song… but it never happens.
‘Give Yourself To Me’, a Butler / Gore collaboration, is probably the song that gathers the most positive reviews, and it’s well deserved! It’s probably one of the strongest track released by the band in years. Strangely, it reminds a lot some of Gahan’s solo work. A slow tempo song but very intense. It would have really deserved to be on the album.
‘In The End’, another Butler / Gore song, was revealed as the end credit song of ‘M’ in theatres last months. Very close to the ‘Ghosts Again’ mood, both musically and lyrically, which probably explains why it was skipped. Personally, I find it far better and much interesting than ‘Ghosts Again’ and would have prefer to have it on ‘Memento Mori’.
To conclude, it’s a nice gift for fans, some quality work… and, let’s face it too, a strong sale argument for the live album. A lot of fans had already claimed they wouldn’t have bought it if it was not for those studio tracks (really?).
Let’s move on to the ‘Live in Mexico’, audio and video. Let’s start by the really negative point, to say the least, of it: the scandal of the editing with sound and images not being synchronized. How could anyone in the production team hasn’t noticed this? Do anyone care anymore for anything in DEPECHE’s camp? I was about to stop the viewing of the concert after a couple of songs as it wastes totally the enjoyment. As many said, even bootleggers do a better job with their multi-cam fan made concerts on YouTube. It’s an absolute shame.
The filming and editing are not that impressive too. It made me think of a TV broadcast concert. It just feels like it was filmed without real interest. To be fair… there’s not much happening on stage to raise the interest. Visual screenings, stage design and light shows are poor (some will say “minimal”) and the dynamic between the band is not the most captivating thing happening on stage. Everyone sticks to his place and role and there’s not a lot of interaction between them. Dave often goes to Christian, Gordeno is… Gordeno and Gore switches as usual between Synths and Guitar, plus his two solo numbers.
We’re far from ‘Touring The Angel’ or ‘Devotional’ in terms of visual interest. On top of it, the audience is under mixed. While ‘101’ was criticized for years because the volume of the audience was over the top and way too loud, it’s the total opposite here. We can hardly hear the crowd singing ‘Everything Counts’ or ‘It’s No Good’… or even in between songs. All of this makes it very hard to really be into the concert. We’re watching it without really be part of it.
As for the music, I’ll be honest, they really did a better work on this tour than the last three tours. The setlist is still not very exciting, but there are a couple (not more) of nice surprises. Five songs from the album made it to the setlist: ‘My Cosmos Is Mine’, a strong album and concert Intro. Gordeno on bass Guitar is something nice and the deep dark atmosphere of the song doesn’t lose anything in a stadium. Two out of the four singles are performed, ‘Wagging Tongue’ is as good as the album version, and ‘Ghosts Again’ is really improved by the live version, which is quite rare.
The beautiful and emotionally charged ‘Speak To Me’ - one of the highlights of the concert for me, with a splendid Gahan’s performance and ‘Soul With Me’, one of Martin’s number. I can only copy / paste what I wrote for the album review: “It’s a Martin’s song. It’s not a bad one. There are some good moments like choruses, synths bridges. Unfortunately, verses are a bit weak and a feeling of “heard it 101 times before”. Should the track have not been on the album, it really wouldn’t have mattered.”
As per good surprises, ‘Sister Of Night’ is a really good one. I think it’s the first time Dave sings it live with the full orchestration (opposite to the piano bar session of Martin). And it was a really bold move to perform this one in a Stadium tour. Gahan’s voice is really great on that one. ‘John The Revelator’ was another good surprise for me. This song is really one of their strongest since the last 20 years and it feels good to see some post 2000 songs becoming live classic.
The rest of the setlist is more or less the same as the last tours. But here and there, some nice little things appear in the live arrangements. The little synth notes taken from one of the remixes of ‘Walking In My Shoes’, the modernized version of ‘Everything Counts’ or the Lucont remix of ‘A Pain That I’m Used To’ (even if it was already perform like this previously). Overall, Gahan sings far better and more naturally than before even if his moves and ballerina dances can be really annoying (at least there’s no duck dance anymore), Eigner tries to contain himself (despites sometimes ruining moments by overusing cymbals and double kick) and Gordeno only manages to ruin ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ and ‘Personal Jesus’.
One thing annoying (another thing) is the tendency of replacing unique synths sounds and textures by factory presets. The very talented musician George Vaughn who’s done some great and very interesting video on DEPECHE MODE’s work (with great interviews of people like Gareth Jones) has published an excellent issue analyzing all those weak points (compressed drums, synth sounds…) and I couldn’t analyze it better than he did (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2tmxPF-4SU). My guess is I will listen to the live albums much more than watch the DVD another time.
To conclude, it’s a very frustrating result. I can’t say it’s a bad release, I can’t say it’s a crucial one to own… despite the ‘Memento Mori’ session tracks. I’m far better pleased than I was since the “Tour Of The Universe”, but not ready yet to throw money on the next tour. By the way, shall I notice ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ is credited to Martin Lee Gore in the end credits of the Live DVD?
Tracklist
Disc One: M, Mexico Documentary
Disc Two: Live in Mexico, Full Concert DVD
Disc Three: Live in Mexico, Full Concert CD1
Disc Four: Live in Mexico, Full Concert CD2
Tracklist Live In Mexico
01. Intro
02. My Cosmos Is Mine
03. Wagging Tongue
04. Walking In My Shoes
05. It’s No Good
06. Sister Of Night
07. In Your Room
08. Everything Counts
09. Precious
10. Speak To Me
11. Home
12. Soul With Me
13. Ghosts Again
14. I Feel You
15. A Pain That I’m Used To
16. World In My Eyes
17. Wrong
18. Stripped
19. John the Revelator
20. Enjoy The Silence
21. Waiting for the Night
22. Just Can’t Get Enough
23. Never Let Me Down Again
24. Personal Jesus
Bonus Tracks: The Memento Mori Sessions
01. Survive
02. Life 2.0
03. Give Yourself To Me
04. In The End
Line-up
Dave Gahan - Lead Vocals
Martin Gore - Guitars, Keyboards, Backing And Lead Vocals
Christian Eigner (Touring Member) - Drums, Keyboards (1997–Present)
Peter Gordeno (Touring Member) - Keyboards, Bass Guitar, Piano, Backing Vocals
Website
https://www.depechemode.com / https://www.facebook.com/depechemode
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 6
Images: 3
Extras: 10
Total: 6.5 / 10
