Engineer Steve Lyon Talks About Alan Wilder, Production, Gear And More...

In this in-depth Geek Talk episode, Producer and Engineer Steve Lyon talks about how he got into Music Production, Gear, Alan Wilder & Recoil and more.

The Wilder years were their greatest years. They will never get that back. Alan was the architect that built the soundtrack of my life and his contribution cannot be understated. Even with two session artists doing whatever they do, they have never come close to replicating the soundscapes that Alan created. He is missed on every album and tour. That Alan Wilder sound is missing and nobody else can replicate it. Not then, not ever.

Maybe one day you can invite Alan the Maestro!!!

DM was never the same without Alan. He is still missed.

Alan, the Great.

I can see in Steve’s body language how much respect and admiration he has for Alan Wilder. What a fantastic show. Thank you so much again Vaughn for bringing this to us!

Bravo! For what it's worth, I'd pay to see a similar sit-down with Alan himself. Take my money!

So many comments lamenting Alan leaving. It was nearly 30 years ago... But then I had a scroll through the six albums released since his departure, and I was shocked to see that barely 15 tracks make it to a 'decent' líst in my humble opinion. Perhaps it can be the time of your life when you hear things, but albums like Black Celebration, Music for, Violator, and Songs of,.... even today, 90% or more of the tracks hold up and many still sound fresh. The production sound on all the albums since his departure are flat, lacking in atmosphere. The ability to sweep you off your feet in an epic soundscape, mixing Gore's lyrics with Gahan's vocals and new melodies and sounds on every album... simply evaporated. I've never really sat back much and thought about it... but it feels like most if not all the post Songs of Faith albums have been like a set of Gore demos that someone of far lesser creativity than Wilder has tried to stamp some originality on... and failed. The last 3 albums in particular have been pretty dire. Too much crooning Dave and no real leaps sound-wise. Perhaps it is a bit much to expect the changes we saw in the late 80s and early 90s, not only due to huge technological leaps but also the age and experience of the band members. I mean, how could anyone expect a Gore track from his 50s living a comfy life in the eternal sunshine of Santa Barbara to be anything like something he could produce as a 20 something living in 1980s Berlin? And when you listen to Alan's Recoil stuff, it also shows the other half of the equation. Amazing technological, production and sound originality, but otherwise, not really adding up to tracks that come anywhere near to 90s Depeche. It really is an amazing if somewhat sad example, of when something is worth far more than the sum of its parts. No wonder fans endlessly wonder what the last few albums would sound like if Alan had been there, sweating blood in the studio to create the masterpieces of the past. I guess we'll never know.

Happy 64th Wilder! 💖 Hoping this finds you truly happy & in good health. After all, you deserve the very best. Make a wish. 🌠

I’ve missed the Alan Wilder Alerts, so it was fun to see one again.

Current DM is still Demo Mode .Even Ghost Again after few times sounds boring already........but I can still listing the old DM many , many times and this music still sounds amazing.Alan was the secret ingredient

WOW this is the holy grail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He and Alan mixed all the devotional live recordings and set up the keyboard programming for the Devotional tour.....can't wait!!!!

Yes to a Trent and Alan collaboration, and I want a Gary Numan and Alan collaboration, oh and more Recoil too. One can dream! Thanks for the video Vaughn :)

awesome interview Vaughn. As much as Alan Wilder is my hero, It's only right to also recognize the efforts of people like Steve Lyon from back in the day.

Yes, Reznor & Wilder! Thank you to generous backers and sponsors. :-) Also, thanks for mentioning Peter Gabriel has something new.

I could never recover of Alans departure because his sound is like a finger print on their music since Alan’s gone I left too, I still love their music but definitely the most of Depeche Mode best times was in the wilders years at least to me the three of them were magical epic on music. Thank you for the interview , it was pretty interesting

I miss Alan Wilder so much it breaks my heart, im not happy with DM not asking AW back, its ego getting in the way....well done VG for this video.

Alan must be a delight! Not only do us fans miss his musical contributions, but Engineers as well. I currently do not play instruments, produce, etc. but as a singer and lyricists I’d simply love to meet Alan to have a normal chat (and pick his brain a little). I truly do hope he knows how much he is appreciated for his contributions thru both DM and Recoil.

One of the greatest examples of Alan's genius was his version of "To Have and To Hold" which made the final track listing cut on MFTM vs. Gore's Spanish Taster demo version. Not even close how much better Alan's version was.

Man! When you think it can’t get any better, it keeps going! This album review is shaping to be a great one!