101 (album)

1989 live album by Depeche Mode

101 is a live album and documentary film by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 13 March 1989 by Mute Records. It chronicles the final leg of the band's Music for the Masses Tour and the final show on 18 June 1988 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Band member Alan Wilder is credited with coming up with the album's title; the performance was the 101st and final performance of the tour (and coincidentally also the number of a famous highway in the area). The film was directed and produced by D. A. Pennebaker.

The band's original concept for the film was going to be about how Depeche Mode "fitted into" the 1980s. After discussions with an "experienced director", they came to the conclusion that the (unnamed) choice was going to do something "too glossy" and that they wanted to present something more nuanced and interesting. At this point, they reached out to renowned documentary filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker. He accepted, but discarded their initial concept, feeling that it was "impossible to examine in an entertainingly cinematic fashion". Notably, the film prominently features a group of young fans travelling across America as winners of a "be in a Depeche Mode movie contest", which culminates at the band's landmark concert at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. Pennebaker used his direct cinema approach, which he described as "letting the camera run as unobtrusively as possible, thereby encouraging events to unfold on their own. [ ] You edit more and the film changes every three days, but [the band] were very nice and patient about it." In various interviews, DVD commentaries and on their own website, both Pennebaker and collaborator Chris Hegedus have cited 101 as "their favourite" and "the one that was the most fun to make" out of all their films to date.

In 2003, Mute Records reissued 101 as a hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD). In essence, the two disc set contained 101 in three formats—multi channel SACD, stereo SACD and PCM stereo (CD audio). The multi channel audio was presented in 5.1 and gave a better representation of the live experience. The SACD was not released in North America. Due to pressing errors, however, the first run of the set was marred by a mis encoded multi channel SACD layer that skipped and was unlistenable on the first disc. The stereo SACD and CD audio layers were unaffected. As a bonus hidden track, the multi channel layer also included the full version of "Pimpf".

In 2003, the film was released as a two disc DVD with the feature film on the first disc, including a new commentary track with Pennebaker, Hegedus and the band. The second disc contained all new interviews with Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher, with each interviewed about the solo projects they were working on at the time: Paper Monsters (Gahan), Counterfeit² (Gore) and Client (Fletcher). All three interviews were conducted separately by Pennebaker and Hegedus. Interviews with Daniel Miller, band manager Jonathan Kessler, and three of the "bus kids" were also included. Special bonus features included isolated video footage of the Rose Bowl concert, including previously unreleased footage. Alan Wilder left the band in 1995, and declined to be involved with the re release.

In 2021, the film was released on Blu ray with upgraded image quality based on 4k scans of the original film, along with previously unreleased footage. A limited edition box set was also released that includes a book, poster, and other special content.

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except "Just Can't Get Enough", written by Vince Clarke.