the tension in the band. Flood recalls Wilder and Gore having a very heated argument over the mix to "Judas", and that there were constant disagreements throughout the recording process between the members of the band and Flood himself. Despite the feeling the band were realising one of their greatest works, Flood commented that the "little things" of the recording process never ran smoothly, leading to constant, largely non-constructive, arguing. Conditions improved between the band when the recording sessions moved to Hamburg, largely in part as it was a return to normal studio routine, as opposed to living together. It was during the recording of the album that Wilder decided he had to leave the band, although he wouldn't leave until after the subsequent tour. Wilder later was comparing the friction between the members of The Beatles during the recording of The White Album to conditions working on Songs of Faith and Devotion: "we were in the worst possible state as members but we were creating some of our best work. The stories I hear about them [The Beatles] not being even in the same room together – that was very much the same with us, when one person would be in the studio and the other would be in another city, and then the next day that person would come and do their vocal and you'd go away, because you couldn't bear to be in the same room. ... at the time, it was a living hell. During the making of that album, I really made a decision to leave the group; even though I didn't leave until two or three years later, I remember thinking 'I'm never going to make another record under these circumstances again, because it's so much not fun'. And music should be fun – there should be some sort of enjoyment there." The album was mixed at the Olympic Studios in London by Wilder, Flood and Mark "Spike" Stent. Artwork Overlapping each image of the band members is a symbol representing that member, in a similar style to Led Zeppelin's fourth studio album. The symbols first appeared on the cover of lead single "I Feel You", which did not feature the band members, and as such, each featured its member's birthdate in the right-hand corner to identify the member. Reception Songs of Faith and Devotion became Depeche Mode's first studio album to reach number