The book by David and Kevin is, after all, an attempt to capture the moment and time when everything merged into a perfect formula, as the authors saw it and wanted it then, not as we thought. Because often a contemporary view of work even disturbs the original understanding of the record. The guys perfectly reflect the spirit of the times and the intensive production process of Alan, Flood, and François as well as other great professionals who appeared from the demos to the final sounds of the tour in November 1990 with the band. The event was scheduled to take place on 20 March 1990 and was due to start around 9pm. The demand for anything Depeche Mode related was so high that fans began camping out the night before the event and by 8pm on March 20, there were indeed around 10,000 fans queuing at the store as had been predicted. That number would only increase as the start time approached. More than an album biography, Halo goes deep behind the scenes of the band’s Violator period. The book takes the form of a detailed oral history from those who were there in the studio with the band, working behind the cameras, designing sleeves and appearing in the videos; support acts, tour managers, publicists and Depeche Mode fans. Martini: Have you ever heard or witnessed any bad opinions about Violator from fans in 1990 or in the present time? They trust it somehow’ … Depeche Mode in Santa Barbara, California, 2000. Photograph: 2020 Anton Corbijn

This period in the band’s history also found them working with now long-time collaborator Anton Corbijn to create iconic artwork, photography and videos for the album and its associated singles. The band were even at the centre of a riot in Los Angeles when tens of thousands of fans arrived for an album-signing session.Writers Kevin May and David McElroy are huge fans themselves, and this book has been a labour of love for them, the result of many years of interviewing everybody and anybody they could find who was involved in the creation of the album. The band are famously wary of publicity, and didn’t contribute to the book, but a vast number of people, from producers, mixers, engineers, but also video producers and editors, cover art designers and even pluggers are given the opportunity to recall the making of the album and the equally iconic videos, and their hugely important collaboration with photographer and director Anton Corbijn, which continues to this day. Mixed in with these recollections, space is given to some fans to tell their stories of their first listen to the album. I could easily imagine my own story having been included, reading the book led to me spending some time reminiscing about first hearing ‘Personal Jesus’, just after I moved to London, aged 18. This article was amended on 1 June 2021. An earlier version referred to photographs of Joy Division in snow-covered Manchester, and said they were taken by Corbijn. They were actually taken by Kevin Cummins, and this reference has been removed.

The book features detailed interviews with central figures involved with the band as they transitioned their sound and image to a stadium-friendly aesthetic, as well as those whose trusted contributions were essential for the creation of 'Violator'.HALO is written in a clear and simple style, making it accessible to readers with any level of interest in or knowledge of Depeche Mode. The personal accounts from producers and engineers include enough detail without getting overly technical. The personal reflections of fans are generally well formulated. The authors manage to offer readers “unique and exclusive accounts” from interesting people on what are perhaps lesser-known aspects of Violator as an album and all of the elements around it. Martini: And the final question is: When do we see the World Violation live video or audio released commercially 😀 Recorded in England, Denmark and Italy between May and September 1989, Depeche Mode’s seventh studio album Violator was a landmark record beloved by fans and universally regarded as the band’s creative highpoint. The undisputed heroes of that period are François Kevorkian and Flood. It was fantastic to read the stories describing the process of making covers, where Richard Smith from Area studio is the undiscovered hero of the second plan. While reading this fragment, I was simultaneously browsing Mute A Visual Document From 1978 -> Tomorrow (pp. 152/182 – 193). Moreover, in the book, there are many references to external sources that are worth reaching to complement the explored issue. I will not spoil your reading pleasure, so without details. Nevertheless, the stories of Pino Pischetola, Paul Kendall, and François Kevorkian are pearls. They were, in many respects, still seen as an underground band in the eyes of those in the mainstream music industry when it came to an album launch, relying on radio play from local or university radio stations.