Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, October 23, 1998, Page 7A, Image 7

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    Friday, October 2.\ 19%
©rcgottSKlEmeraUi
juasey Neill reviewed
The Celtic-folk-punk trio }s offbeat
music proves a popular seller among
all ages/
PAGE 9A
Ani DiFranco live
The ever-evolving singer
radiates charisma on the
Halt Center stage/
PAGE 8A
Volume 100, Issue 39
L
Courtesy
photos
Photos
were
taken from
‘Depeche i
Mode 101.’ 1
The Singles 86>98
Depeche Mode
TYPE: Pop
PUBLISHED BY:
Mute Records
RATING:
★★★★★
Bittersweet
l/ is w isi
rBv Evan A. Denbaum
These are bittersweet times for
serious Depeche Mode fans.
“For the Masses” is fun for a while —
fans can wax rhapsodic as Depeche
Mode’s contemporaries such as The
Smashing Pumpkins and The Cure take
cracks at the classics — but in time it be
comes abundantly clear that these covers
are vastly inferior to the original songs. In
fact, attempting to listen to the album
from beginning to end is a true test of en
durance. There are few fans with enough
verve to sit through Rammstein’s belch
ing rendition of “Stripped,” which closes
the tribute with a song-butchering as of
fensive to listen to as the album’s nuclear
orange CD is to look at.
Then, just when Depeche Mode die
hards are beginning to recover, “The Sin
gles 86>98” comes along. Now, with one
moderately priced purchase, anyone can
easily own a set of the Depeche Mode
songs that matter most.
For those who shelled out for every al
bum since ’86 (many with song redun
dancies) and scavenged for the maxi-sin
gles going for $6.99 a pop, this latest
release is bittersweet at best. But no real
fan can resist having these band-defining
tracks in a neat little double-CD package.
There goes another twenty-three bucks
and a little pride.
At least serious fans can still take so
lace in the ultra-obscure, maxi-single B
sides that didn’t make the "86>98” com
pilation. The general public might now
get exposed to the radio play version of
the powerful, lyrically superb “Walking In
My Shoes” on "86>98,” but they won’t get
the “Grungy Gonads” remix buried deep in
the maxi-single. “Enjoy the Silence” might
enjoy a renaissance, but the “Ricki Tik Tik
Mix” is still safe, as is the treasured acoustic
Turn to DEPECHE MODE, Page 10A
Bands cover Depeche Mode—for better or worse
By Evan A. Denbaum
lor the Emerald
Tell me there’s an album featuring
The Smashing Pumpkins, The
Cure, Veruca Salt, God
Lives Underwater and Dish
walla, and you’ve got my at
tention. The list reads like an
MTV Music Awards lineup
— on a good year. Tell me
they’re all covering Depeche
Mode, a band of equal if not
higher caliber, and you’ve got a
sale.
But is “For the Masses” actu
ally any good? The back cover
and CD are an obnoxious, bright
orange, to start—but the album it
self does make for a good time.
The Pumpkins track is pleasant,
although nothing spectacular. God
Lives Underwater’s cover of “Fly on
the Windscreen” has grown on me
mimciiaeiy. rcu
pie either love or
hate Failure’s
grungy interpreta
tion of the great
“Enjoy the Si
lence.” If you like
it. I’d seriously
recornmena cneciang out ranure s
latest album, “Fantastic Planet.”
One of the gems on “For the Mass
es” is Hooverphonic’s cover of
“Shake the Disease. ” The song serves
as a forum for people to hear Hoover
phonic, an up-and-coming band from
Belgium that on its latest album
sometimes sounds like a fusion of
The Sundays and Aphex Twin. Its
earlier album, “A New Stereophonic
Sound Spectacular,” has a distinct,
dynamic sound, as well.
But in an album stocked with big
names and rising artists, it’s little
known Locust that truly does the
most with a Depeche Mode original.
A male and a female vocalist playful
ly duel with Depeche Mode’s lyrics
— effectively playing out the roles of
“Master and Servant” — adding an
other dimension to the song.
Even if you liked “Du Hast,” the
single that brought the German group
Rammstein some attention, skip the
last track. Just pretend Rammstein is
n’t there. You’ll feel better about the
album and save yourself some agony.
I promise.
Film is astounding, but not easily‘Beloved’
Though
well made,
‘Beloved’
explores
complex
issues and is
sometimes
hard to
follow
By Amy Boytz
Oregon Daily Emerald
There are a lot of reasons why “Beloved,”
the new movie starring Oprah Winfrey and
Danny Glover, should be astounding.
The film is based on the revered book of
the same name by Nobel Prize winner Toni
Morrison. The movie project has been in the
works for almost a decade. And hours of
preparation and filming went into the mak
ing of “Beloved.”
In all honesty, the film is astounding.
But it is also disturbing, horrific — and
sometimes difficult to follow.
“Beloved,” set in reconstruction-era Ohio,
is the story of Sethe (Winfrey), a runaway slave
trying to make a life for herself. Sethe lives
with her daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise), a
young woman trapped by her own fears.
Sethe cannot shake the bad memories of
her life as a slave.
Also haunting her and Denver is the ghost
of Sethe’s dead baby girl. The ghost inter
rupts their daily life, making it difficult for
Sethe and Denver to be accepted bv others
Beloved
DIRECTED BY:
Jonathan Demme
STARRING:
Oprah Winfrey
RATING:
in their town.
Glover plays Paul
D, an ex-slave friend
of Sethe’s from
Sweet Home, the
place where they
were enslaved. Paul
D comes to visit
Sethe and becomes
the father figure, the
missing element in their lives.
All is well until Beloved (Thandie Newton),
a mysterious, ghostly young woman, shows
Turn to BELOVED, Page 9A
Courtesy photo
Oprah Winfrey stars as Settle,a former slave who is literally haunted by her past, in
the film version of Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison's 'Beloved.'