Depeche Mode Biography, Songs, & Albums |

Experts say gaming will be the first real use case for blockchain, revamping the industry and making games more immersive than ever. How gaming navigates the remaining hurdles will become a case study for other industries considering mass blockchain adoption. Topic: Depeche Mode Biography, Songs, & Albums | Category: Celebrities Depeche Mode is a British electronic music band that formed in 1980. The group’s original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Alan Wilder.

Depeche Mode is a popular electronic music band from Basildon, Essex, England. The band was formed in 1980 and has been active since then. They have released over 100 singles and albums.

Biography of the Artist

Neil Z. Yeung is the author of this piece.

Depeche Mode, a pioneering English band, took the early 1980s underground electronic club sounds and scaled them up to stadium-sized proportions within a decade, becoming one of the best-selling worldwide acts in the process. They were one of the first bands to establish a musical identity based entirely on the use of synthesizers, beginning with a bouncy electro-pop spirit that gradually evolved into a darker, more dramatic synth-rock style that firmly established them as one of the most iconic alternative bands of their time. With early albums like 1981’s Speak & Spell and 1983’s Construction Time Again, they gained a small European following before breaking through in the United States in 1984 with their platinum-certified fourth album, Some Great Reward. With successful ’90s albums like the legendary Violator and their first U.S./U.K. number one, the grunge-influenced Songs of Faith and Devotion, Depeche Mode remained a regular on the worldwide Top Ten. While internal strife and drug addiction threatened to derail them by the late 1990s, their ever-evolving sound adapted to the times, whether it was delving into gloomy trip-hop on 1997’s Ultra or digitizing with experimental electronic on 2001’s Exciter. With the chart-topping electro-rock Playing the Angel in the late 2000s, the trio experienced a popular resurgence and renewed drive, ushering in a new era that positioned Depeche Mode as elder statesmen of the genre, dominating sales with each subsequent release and even embarking on their longest tour to date, in support of their 14th album, 2017’s Spirit.

Depeche Mode began in 1976, when Basildon, England-based keyboardists Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed the ensemble No Romance in China, which was a product of Britain’s new romantic movement. The band was short-lived, and by 1979, Clarke had established French Look, a duet with guitarist/keyboardist Martin Gore; Fletcher joined shortly after, and the group was renamed Composition of Sound. Initially, Clarke was in charge of vocals, but vocalist David Gahan was brought in to round out the band in 1980. After a final name change to Depeche Mode, the band dropped all instruments save their synthesizers and focused on a sleek, techno-based sound to highlight Clarke’s infectious songs.

Depeche Mode debuted in 1980 with “Photographic,” a tune featured on the Some Bizzare Album label compilation, after gaining a following in the London club scene. They released “Dreaming of Me” in early 1981 after signing with Mute Records; although neither the single nor its follow-up, “New Life,” were very successful, their third attempt, “Just Can’t Get Enough,” became a Top Ten U.K. smash, and their first LP, Speak and Spell, was also a hit. However, just as Depeche Mode seemed to be on the verge of a big commercial success, main songwriter Clarke suddenly left to create Yazoo with vocalist Alison Moyet, casting uncertainty on the band’s future.

While Gore took up compositional duties, the surviving members of the band recruited keyboardist Alan Wilder to fill the technical vacuum left by Clarke’s departure. While A Broken Frame, released in 1982, only marginally differed from Depeche Mode’s previous work, Gore’s foreboding compositions became more confident and complex by 1983’s Construction Time Again. The following year, they released Some Great Reward, which featured Gore’s dark, kinky preoccupations with spiritual doubt (“Blasphemous Rumours”) and psychosexual manipulation (“Master and Servant”); the egalitarian single “People Are People” was a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic and typified the music’s turn toward more industrial textures.

The gloomy Black Celebration, released in 1986, maintained the trend toward dismal sadness while also establishing the band as a commercial powerhouse; it ultimately sold over 500,000 copies in the United States, earning them gold certification. Music for the Masses, released in 1987, catapulted the group into the mainstream with three Hot 100 singles: “Strangelove,” “Never Let Me Down Again,” and “Behind the Wheel.” The album is expected to sell over a million copies in the United States alone. Following a sold-out tour, the 1989 double-live set 101 was released. The performance was taped in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and was accompanied with a concert video produced by D.A. Pennebaker.

Depeche Mode became one of the most popular bands in the world during the early 1990s alternative music boom. Violator, a triple-platinum blockbuster published in 1990, produced the songs “Personal Jesus” (number eight), “Enjoy the Silence,” “Policy of Truth,” and “World in My Eyes,” among others. Following the success of Violator, the band’s 1993 album Songs of Faith and Devotion, which included a major shift in the band’s extensive usage of electric guitars, became the band’s first to chart at number one in the United Kingdom and the United States. The Flood-produced album included the songs “I Feel You” and “Walking in My Shoes,” which were inspired by the emerging grunge sounds of Soundgarden and Nirvana. However, the group started to fall apart at its pinnacle of popularity, starting with Wilder’s departure in 1995. Gahan attempted suicide and subsequently sought treatment for his heroin addiction at a drug rehabilitation center.

Depeche Mode reformed as a trio after a four-year sabbatical and released Ultra in 1997, which included the Tim Simenon-produced singles “Barrel of a Gun” and “It’s No Good.” The band went on a tour to promote their newly released hits CD, The Singles 86>98, a year later. Depeche Mode performed 64 concerts for nearly one million people in 18 countries. After the tour, each member took a long break, and Depeche Mode would not reassemble for another three years.

Exciter was released in 2001 as the band’s follow-up to Ultra. The set had a more experimental and minimalist electronic vibe, as heard on songs like “Dream On” and “I Feel Loved,” with LFO’s Mark Bell at the lead. Gahan released his first solo album, the dark and seductive Paper Monsters, two years later. Gore followed suit with releasing Counterfeit2, an all-covers follow-up to his 1989 EP of the same name. The band members quickly reunited to make another album after supporting their solo projects with separate tours throughout the United States and Europe.

Their 11th album, Playing the Angel, was a Top Ten success when it was released in October 2005, kicking off a resurgent late period. It was produced by Ben Hillier (Doves, Blur, U2, Elbow) and included songs like “Precious” and “John the Revelator,” and it reached number one on the album charts in 18 countries and was certified multi-platinum or gold in 20 more. Depeche Mode went on to perform in front of over 1.5 million people across the globe, and the 2006 video DVD Touring the Angel: Live in Milan recorded one of the band’s most memorable performances. After another Gahan solo album (2007’s Hourglass), the three reunited in the studio with Hillier for 2009’s Sounds of the Universe, which was released at the end of the decade.

Depeche Mode welcomed in the new decade with Delta Machine, their 13th studio album and the third in a trilogy of Hillier-produced albums. Delta Machine premiered at number two in the United Kingdom and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 in the United States, mixed by longtime Depeche collaborator Flood. In November 2014, the concert video and CD Live in Berlin (directed by Anton Corbijn from a late-2013 performance) were released.

Spirit, the band’s 14th studio album, was released in early 2017. Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford produced the record, which was mainly motivated by the result of the 2016 US presidential election (Foals, Arctic Monkeys). Spirit debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, helped by the song “Where’s the Revolution.” They supported the record with a huge worldwide tour, which lasted till 2018 and was their longest to date. Spirits in the Forest, a commemorative tour documentary directed by Anton Corbijn, premiered onscreen in November 2019 and was subsequently published with the live CD LiVE SPiRiTS.

MODE Depeche Mode, along with Nine Inch Nails, T. Rex, and others, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. They issued MODE, a huge career retrospective box set, a week after the announcement was revealed, which included all 14 studio albums (complete with revised artwork) as well as four CDs of non-album singles, B-sides, and extra songs. A 228-page lyric and picture book was also included in the basic package.

Depeche Mode is a British electronic band that was formed in 1980. The group is known for its experimental and dark sound, which ranges from synthpop to industrial. They have released nine albums, three EPs, and two compilations. Reference: depeche mode new album 2021.