Policy of Truth

"Policy of Truth"
Single by Depeche Mode
from the album Violator
B-side"Kaleid"
Released7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)
Studio
Genre
Length5:05
LabelMute
SongwriterMartin L. Gore
Producers
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Enjoy the Silence"
(1990) 		"Policy of Truth"
(1990) 		"World in My Eyes"
(1990)
Alternative cover
Cover art for the limited-edition 12-inch single
Music video
"Policy of Truth" on YouTube

"Policy of Truth" is a song by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 7 May 1990 as the third single from their seventh studio album Violator (1990). It is the only Depeche Mode single to chart higher on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (number 15) than on the UK Singles Chart (number 16), and it became the band's second chart-topper on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Background

Depeche Mode had met in early 1989 in a studio in Milan, Italy to record new material,[5][6][7] following the successful releases of their previous album, Music for the Masses in 1987 and a live album 101 in early 1989.[8] The band invited Mark Ellis, known professionally as Flood, to be co-producer of the new album.[9] The sessions in Milan resulted in the song "Personal Jesus", which was released as a single in August 1989 before the rest of the album was completed.[10] Following the Milan sessions, the band moved to Puk Recording Studios in Denmark to record the rest of their new material.[10]

Recording

Sessions at Puk Recording Studios started in the middle of 1989.[11][12] Following "World in My Eyes", the second track the band recorded at Puk was "Policy of Truth".[12] At the band's request, songwriter Martin Gore had brought in relatively simple demos for their new songs.[13] Flood explained that, for "Policy of Truth", they worked off of Gore's simple demo and soon "we got the guitar riff together and the way the drums were programmed".[12] He elaborated that "we started off a little bit in the way that it had been on the demo, but in the end decided to try and experiment, and try and get a feeling that was driven not by rock and not by synths."[6] This track, alongside "World in My Eyes", marked a shift in the band's attitude about how they approached the recording process for the rest of the songs on the album.[12] According to band member and producer Alan Wilder, the band went through over 100 different variants of the lead riff, trying numerous instruments before settling on a slide guitar. The intro melody uses a loop of a single note to obtain a vibrato effect.[14]

Gore later said of "Policy of Truth", "It has been one of my all time favourite songs that we've ever recorded. I really like the words to it and the whole concept of having to lie to keep up appearances – maybe it's better to do that. I just really like the whole subject matter of the song."[15]

Release and promotion

"Policy of Truth" was released as a single on 7 May 1990 by Mute Records in the UK.[16] The single was released on a variety of commercial formats, including a 7" vinyl single with catalogue number 7BONG19, a 12" vinyl single (12BONG19), a limited edition 12" vinyl single (L12BONG19), and CD release (LCDBONG19).[17] The timing of the releases of the vinyl singles were staggered throughout the month of May, starting with the 7" on 7 May and ending with the limited edition 12" three weeks later on 29 May.[18][19][20] Promotional-only releases included a CD single (BONG19R) and a 12" single (P12BONG19).[21] Notable contributors to the remixes were The KLF, François Kevorkian and Daniel Miller.[16] The single's B-side was a track called "Kaleid".[17]

On the album Violator, the song was slotted in as the second track on the second side, after "Enjoy the Silence" and before "Blue Dress".[22]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Policy of Truth" was directed by Anton Corbijn and appears on the 1990 video collection Strange Too,[23] The Videos 86–98 (1998) and Video Singles Collection (2016).

Subsequent releases

The song has appeared on several later Depeche Mode compilation or remix albums, including The Singles 86–98 (1998) and Remixes 81–04 (2004).

Live performances

"Policy of Truth" has been performed on several of the band's tours starting in 1990, including the 1990 World Violation Tour, the 1993 Devotional Tour, the 1994 Exotic Tour/Summer Tour '94, Touring the Angel in 2005–06, the Tour of the Universe in 2009–10, The Delta Machine Tour of 2013–14, the 2017–18 Global Spirit Tour, and the 2023–24 Memento Mori World Tour.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[24]
Melody MakerPositive[25]

Jon Wilde from Melody Maker wrote "Depeche has never sounded so cute as they did on their recent hit "Enjoy the Silence". Then again, they have rarely sounded quite as ineffectual as this, not since the days when they were busy composing jingles for the mix 'n' match department of Woolworths (Basildon)."[26] Paul Lester, in a review of the album from the same magazine, described the song as "based around a sadistic, cynical electro-riff and oozes with genuine danger" and suggested it would be a potential single from the album months before it actually became one.[25]

Track listings

All songs were written by Martin L. Gore.

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Policy of Truth"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[65] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Policy of Truth"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 7 May 1990 7-inch vinyl Mute [18]
21 May 1990 12-inch vinyl [19]
29 May 1990 Limited-edition 12-inch vinyl [20]
Australia 11 June 1990
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • cassette
 [66]
Japan 25 June 1990 CD [67]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cranna, Ian (April 1990). "Insidious". Q. p. 77.
  2. ^ Grow, Kory (13 March 2020). "Hear Heart's Nancy Wilson and Guitarist Eric Tessmer's Electrified Depeche Mode Cover". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit From Worst to Best". 28 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  4. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Violator – Depeche Mode". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. ^ Miller 2003, p. 409.
  6. ^ a b Burmeister & Lange 2017, p. 183.
  7. ^ Violator (remaster) (CD booklet). Depeche Mode. Sire Records. 2006. R2 77594.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ Burmeister & Lange 2017, pp. 174–179.
  9. ^ Miller 2003, p. 429.
  10. ^ a b Gittins 2018, p. 144.
  11. ^ Miller 2003, p. 419.
  12. ^ a b c d Hallard & Lane (2006)
  13. ^ Maconie, Stuart (17 February 1990). "Sin Machine". NME. London. pp. 34–35. ISSN 0028-6362. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2011 – via Sacred DM.
  14. ^ "Violator". Shunt. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  15. ^ Olexova, Michaela (September 1998). "The Singles 86>98 by Martin Gore". Bong 37. No. 37. pp. 18–19.
  16. ^ a b Burmeister & Lange 2017, p. 194.
  17. ^ a b Burmeister & Lange 2017, pp. 194–195.
  18. ^ a b "New Singles". Music Week. 5 May 1990. p. 35.
  19. ^ a b "New Singles". Music Week. 19 May 1990. p. 37.
  20. ^ a b "New Singles". Music Week. 26 May 1990. p. 30.
  21. ^ Burmeister & Lange 2017, p. 195.
  22. ^ Gittins 2018, p. 147.
  23. ^ Burmeister & Lange 2017, p. 196.
  24. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Policy of Truth – Depeche Mode". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  25. ^ a b Lester, Paul (10 March 1990). "Life support machine". Melody Maker. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  26. ^ Wilde, Jon (5 May 1990). "Singles". Melody Maker. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  27. ^ Policy of Truth (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Mute Records. 1990. BONG 19.
  28. ^ Policy of Truth (UK cassette single sleeve). Mute Records. 1990. C BONG 19.
  29. ^ Policy of Truth (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Mute Records. 1990. 12 BONG 19.
  30. ^ Policy of Truth (UK limited 12-inch single sleeve). Mute Records. 1990. L12 BONG 19.
  31. ^ Policy of Truth (UK CD single liner notes). Mute Records. 1990. CD BONG 19.
  32. ^ Policy of Truth (UK limited CD single liner notes). Mute Records. 1990. LCD BONG 19.
  33. ^ Policy of Truth (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). Sire Records, Reprise Records, Mute Records. 1990. 0-21534.
  34. ^ Policy of Truth (US maxi-CD single liner notes). Sire Records, Reprise Records, Mute Records. 1990. 9 21534-2.
  35. ^ Policy of Truth (US maxi-cassette single cassette notes). Sire Records, Reprise Records, Mute Records. 1990. 4-21534.
  36. ^ Policy of Truth (Japanese CD EP liner notes). Mute Records. 1990. ALCB-110.
  37. ^ "Australian (ARIA) chart positions outside the top 100 provided by ARIA, through response to chart inquiry received 5 June 2015". Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015 – via Imgur.
  38. ^ "Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  39. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Image 1307". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  40. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 26. 30 June 1990. p. V. OCLC 29800226. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022 – via World Radio History.
  41. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  42. ^ "Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth" (in French). Le classement de singles.
  43. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Policy of Truth". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  44. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2022. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Depeche Mode" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
  45. ^ Radio Luxembourg Singles. 27 May 1990.
  46. ^ "Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
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  48. ^ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  49. ^ "Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth". Singles Top 100.
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  52. ^ "Distribution Top Indie – Top 40 Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 2 June 1990. p. 38. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  53. ^ "Depeche Mode Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
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  55. ^ "Depeche Mode Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  56. ^ "Depeche Mode Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  57. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending October 13, 1990". Cashbox. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  58. ^ "Music Publishing" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. 54, no. 2. 18 August 1990.
  59. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (West Germany)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  60. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. 22 December 1990. p. 36. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  61. ^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts – 1990" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  62. ^ "The Year in Music 1990 – Top Dance Sales 12-Inch Singles" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 52. 22 December 1990. p. YE-31. ISSN 0006-2510 – via World Radio History.
  63. ^ "Dance Club Songs – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  64. ^ "Alternative Songs – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  65. ^ "American single certifications – Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  66. ^ "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 22. 10 June 1990. p. 19.
  67. ^ "ポリシー・オブ・トゥルース | デペッシュ・モード" [Policy of Truth | Depeche Mode] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

Works cited

  • Burmeister, Dennis; Lange, Sascha (2017). Depeche Mode: Monument. New York: Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-61775-593-4.
  • Gittins, Ian (2018). Depeche Mode: Faith and Devotion. London: Palazzo Editions. ISBN 978-1-78675-064-8.
  • Hallard, Ross (director); Lane, Phil Michael (director) (2006). Depeche Mode: 1989–90 (If You Wanna Use Guitars, Use Guitars) (DVD). Mute Records.
  • Miller, Jonathan (2003). Stripped: The True Story of Depeche Mode. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-415-2.
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