Music for the Masses

I was tempted to make the obvious "music for them asses" joke but it really is a good record.

Oh, boy. Here we go, again. Crappy 80s synths. Hideous echoey drums emphasizing the backbeat. Inconsequential melodies and song structures. We don't even have the saving grace of interesting rhythms or song lyrics. This is self-serious, humorless tripe, the dullest of dull pop. It's not even danceable. It makes me want to curl up and die. Not even the moderately original album closer Pimpf, with it operatic vocals, comes close to redeeming this dreadful album. 1 star out of 5 and only because I can't give it less. I'm beginning to have my doubts about the curators of this list.

I get why it is here and I appreciate it but I don’t wanna listen to it anymore

This is my first time hearing Depeche Mode and I must say that I loved this album. It is brooding and driving with interesting instrumentation and song construction. There's an expansiveness to this music that I really enjoy. British New Wave is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

"Music for the Masses" is the 6th album by Depeche Mode. It was produced by David Bascombe and the album title was meant to be tongue-in-cheek as the band thought the music was anything but for the masses. And, on the surface I would agree with the music dark and the songs about sex, sin and drugs. However, this album (and the previous one "Black Celebration") pretty much taking these guys beyond sort of cult status to playing in front of 60,000 people. The music is eerie, hypnotic and I must say I enjoyed more and more with repeated listens. The songs switch lead singers between David Gahan and Martin Gore with a definite flow to this album. The album contains some of their bigger hits. "Never Let Me Down Again" starts things off with a great dark and hypnotic intro and appears to be about drug use seeking euphoria. Obviously, Gahan at the lead here. "Strange Love", another big song and great intro, adds more of a dance beat. An interesting take on probably sinning (cheating) and keeping a relationship. "Behind the Wheel" adds even more of a dance beat and really sounds like early Depeche Mode to me. I love it when a song has an emotionless feel and is good. This is one of those. Not having a dance beat but creating an eerie, almost Goth feel is "I Want You Now". Martin Gore takes the lead here with Gahan groaning in the back. Lust the theme here. It has been awhile since I listened to this album and I thought it might sound dated, being of its time. I get some of that but it still sounded great and you can see why they became so big.

Now that this record is over, I can truly Enjoy the Silence.

I’m not sure I know why but this album just ticked every box for me. Dark, moody synthesizers, driving beats, interesting multipart harmonies, it all just works. I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to.

Some days this project is enjoyable. This was not one of those days.

1. thought the 1st track was like a cute platonic friendship type thing, nope-- drugs lol. 2. good i think, i forgot, need another listen. 3. STRANGELOVE SLAPS. 4. sacred also a bop. imma mishun-airyyy 5. good, lotta drama. lyrics hmm, needa re-listen. 6. ooooooh. 7. SEXY. 8. also good, eerie, needa another listen tho. 9. bop. nothaaaaang 10. spooky piano/orchestra/choir instrumental, me likey!!! DELUXE 11. MORE SPOOKY-MOODY PIANO & other sounds, I LOVE. 12. bop. periodt. i could dance to this 13. it's aight, not a fave. 14. more moody piano--hell YEAH. more of a calm vibe this time. still got drama. 15. it's moonlight sonata, c'mon. gorgeousness. overall thoughts: on first listen I'd give the album a 4/5. i think with more listens it'll become more perfect to me. i love the eerie vibe of it all, some bops here and there. def got tracks I can come back to which is poifect.

This was Depeche Mode's bridge album between their more classic 80's synth period (Black Celebration) and their all time classic Violator. But from the album cover to the music, this album is both a classic and truly iconic in its own right. There is not one bad song on here. 5/5

Depeche Mode could write a catchy, fresh and innovative song about anything or nothing. Oh, look they actually did write it...

Depeche Mode knows that if you're going to use "again" to rhyme with a word ending in an "ane" sound, you need to pronounce it "a-GANE". I'd be tempted to give it five stars just for not cocking it up like everybody else. Thankfully the album is also very good.

I feel like this is the sweet spot for Depeche Mode's music. It is moving past the poppier sound and headed more towards brooding. An amazing album.

Depeche Mode is one of the few bands I will go to great lengths to experience live. They were part of my bucket list - see one of my favorite bands on their home turf - and that I did. I saw DM in London at Queen Elizabeth Stadium surrounded by an English audience in 2017. The pinnacle was the first track of this album, Never Let Me Down Again. It started raining, the entire audience was swinging their arms back & forth, and the energy was electric. Fast forward to 2022 and I get to see an epic lineup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA - Cruel World Fest. I couldn't help to think about the infamous 1989 Depeche Mode show at the same venue - Depeche Mode 101. They pulled heavily from Music for the Masses (arguably one of the best live shows in modern history). If you've never experienced 101, I highly recommend it. It will make you wish you could travel back in time. Depeche Mode, my 4th favorite band & my favorite band to see live, will always get high ratings from me.

We've got splashy synths, and we've got plaintive piano. Yup. I'm sold.

Never really been a fan of DM I think mostly because they were an 80s band that, outside Personal Jesus, didn't really have any radio ready songs. I feel like they were more of an MTV band and by the time MTV was in most households I was out of high school. Also, rural America didn't get MTV until decades later. My point being, DM was not a band I had ready access to. That's why I love this site. It's got me to listen to and really enjoy a band I previously little interest in hearing. These guys are good. They are excellent, and most importantly, creative composers.

This is one of the biggest loves of all time! Unparalleled, gets to the bones..

I think this album cements Depeche Mode as one of my top 3 favorite artists of the 80s because—except for a few duds and a random moonlight sonata—this album was excellent. I don’t think its as right of an album as violator and doesn’t quite reach a 5 but it’s pretty darn close. The pure 80s synths and overall sound still holds up.

For me, Depeche Mode is "Just Can't Get Enough", "Personal Jesus" and the time in the late 80s when a reporter on an American entertainment show unironically called them "America's favourite rock 'n' roll band". Their Music for the Masses phase is interesting. It's an edgier sound and makes me think a little of Joy Division. "I Want You Now" was the most memorable track, with its disturbing respiratory sounds mixed with the loving but dark lyrics. It feels like a good stage in the creative life of la Mode.

Depressed Mode

At their best Depeche Mode are an overly serious version of Kraftwerk with a monotonous cabaret singer. At their worst a soulless New Romantic band of goth posers. PICK A LANE Depressed Mood! I will give the list a pass on one Depeche Mode album, but why two? At least I got them out ogf the way early. This has been a very below-average week. Hopefully next week isn't all Tom Waits and Rod Stewart 🫣 .

It's Depeche Mode's Music for the Mases featuring none of their greatest hits! Buy now and you can get all this maudlin synth pop absolutely free because absolutely no one else wants it!

I got into Depeche Mode after doing an episode of "my one track mind" and I really enjoy most of their material. This album is no exception. They sound like a link between Kraftwerk and Nine Inch Nails at times. Sucks that some of the track transitions seem to get flubbed by awkward pauses in-between songs on spotify (or maybe it's just my settings)? I love the 3 song run at the beginning of the album best. Listened to the 2006 remaster w/ bonus tracks.

Somewhere between New Order and Pet Shop Boys. Not as exciting, funny, or danceable as them, but roughly a hundred times better than I expected. Fey, melodramatic, and infectious.

Catchy and great. Keyboard hooks with more of a dark wave atmosphere than stuff that came before. I treated them more like a hits band than an album band (honestly speak and spell and violator were listened to a lot in my youth though), and this one shows that I should have dived into the fuller material much earlier. I should repeat listen to this more.

MUSIC FOR THE MASSES is truly and exceptional album, which is saying a lot, because for many Depeche Mode fans it ranks only 6th after VIOLATOR, SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION, SOME GREAT REWARD, ULTRA, and BLACK CELEBRATION. It was the first album that allowed Depeche Mode to become an arena act that could play arenas anywhere in the world. With the band becoming the first alternative act of the 1980s to be able to fill the Rose Bowl Stadium on their 101st and final show of the 1987-1988 world tour. Bascombe's production, coming after working with Tears for Fears on their career defining album SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR and Peter Gabriel's all time classic SO, was perfect for expanding the sound of the band with more guitar work, and more of a rock, soul, and gospel influenced exploration with synths and vocal harmonies.

Contrairement à l'avis totalement à côté de la plaque de mon compère elrodriguez, je n'ai pas été subjugué par cet album.

Not my thing. Boring and sad. Sorry.

If I ever get stuck in purgatory then this will be the soundtrack

The soundtrack to something absolutely terrible happening in a nightclub back room.

I picked this up in the local Our Price when it came out, lured in by the starkly evocative cover. Was not disappointed - quality '80s synth pop with quite intricate songs and the requisite amount of sinister, perhaps pervy allusions. I think it's their best, a perfect teenage bedroom record

Heard this album within days of it being released…if it weren’t for the last 2 tracks, this might be a perfect album. I love this album and it deserves accolades.

I've been meaning to listen to Depeche Mode for at least two centuries now and it was this list that finally got me there. Wow. This feels important. I can trace paths back to this band and this album from everywhere. But not only is it important (which ultimately doesn't guarantee a great listening experience) it is good. This album sounds sinister, with a depth to the lyrics that might not be profound, but at least there are attempts. The rhyme of 'houses' with 'trousers' actually hit for me. I'm definitely going to add tracks from this to playlists and listen to it more and more while looking into their catalogue. A resounding success.

Even though its title was intended to be ironic, this is the album where Depeche Mode went from being a dark dancefloor-aimed synthpop act to a whole other level. *Music For The Masses* sees Gore, Gahan, Wilder and Fletcher honing their skills to create an LP where the overall mood and dynamics are as important as the individual songs--a lesson they will use to even greater effects in their magnum opus *Violator*, released right after this LP. Gore's evocative songwriting had never been this subtle before, mixing innuendoes about debauchery with religious overtones, all of this above surprising-yet-pristine chord sequences complemented by a wealth of addictive keyboards hooks. And Gahan's performance reaches the soulfullness required to transcend such stellar writing. Highlights abound: epic opener "Never Let Me Down Again", lively "Strangelove", the ambiguous yet poignant synth ballad "Little 15", the driven and aptly-named "Behind The Wheel" or the angsty, existential "Nothing"... And between them, none of the other tracks disappoints, each one of them tying the whole thing into a neat package. It's like watching the rays of the sun piercing through an overcast sky: you can go through a sense of foreboding while still clinging for hope as you listen to those tunes. It's as if lust, impulse, stoicism and melancholy were all fighting for your soul, none of them ever having the final say or the upper hand. It's both dreadful and incredibly beautiful. Gothic yet naive. "Pop" while still being uncompromising most of the time. When the hectic arpeggios of "Pimpf" conclude the album you're still trying to make sense of it all, even if you never quite manage to put your finger of what this music does to you. This is the sort of mystery that nags you when you open your heart to said music. And this is what makes it timeless, as clearly from its day and age as it is. I've just read someone in here writing in their review that Tears For Fears was to them a better "electronic" band than Depeche Mode... Which, obviously, is a very *weird* take for me. Don't get me wrong: TFF released excellent singles in an admittedly close genre, and they had good tunes on the side, too. But if you compare the so-called "deep cuts" of *The Hurting* and *Songs From The Big Chair* to the ones of *Music For The Masses* or *Violator*, will you find the same spotless layering, or the same level of intensity and/or entranced elatedness? Tell me, friend, what would you write to praise Tears For Fears' secondary ditties as they explore a far less sweeping landscape ? What sorts of words would you use? Would you use that metaphor of sunrays piercing through dark clouds? And if you do, will you be truly faithful to the music? This here is exactly why I think Depeche Mode turned to better "album artists" than TFF ever were, as gifted as the latter were. And it all boils down to the "flow" and overall feel of Gore, Gahan, Fletcher and Wilder's best LPs. Here's an "electronic" ambient tradition that DM took from the forefathers of the genre, Kraftwerk, as different as the British lads were from their elder German peers. Tears For Fears is not so far from this picture, I'll grant you that. But when it comes to essential *albums* they're a notch under Depeche Mode. At least to me. And don't get me started on the disappointing hodgepodge that *Seeds Of Love* is, okay? 4,5/5 for this Depeche Mode LP, rounded up to 5 here. A perfect grade will then grace the masterpiece that *Violator* is. So next, please... Number of albums left to review: 576 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 204 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 98 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 126

This is probably one of my most listened to albums ever. I wasn’t that into DM until I saw them at the Rose Bowl on this tour (my 1st concert) w/ Wire, Thomas Dolby, & OMD. A few friends went along, and I ran into others I had no idea were going. Back then DM was largely an underground band. But then they got bigger and bigger, & it seemed they were always on the radio, everyone around my had this album & their next (“Violator”). This is one of the pinnacles of 80s New Wave/Electronic music. It’s Still great!

Put this on again recently around Andy's untimely death. Absolutely terrific album, some of their greatest ever songs, an easy 5. Also the Depeche Mode album I think which most influenced the glorious Turrican and Turrican 2 soundtracks.

Very good and easy listening. I had a great experience. I can’t think of anything other than the title and how fitting it is. Somebody made it and it’s art so I like it

one of the best albums of all time

This album made me want to snap Bo Burnhams neck

Music for the Masses Quite partial to a bit of Depeche Mode even if I’m not that familiar with them outside Violator and the singles/greatest hits. This does feel like a bit of a mix of their more overtly pop stuff and their more gothic whips and semi-knocking tinged electro stuff, it has some echoes of People are People, Everything Counts and New Life and Just Can’t Get Enough but also echoes of Master and Servant, Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence. They are really great at catchy synth hooks, seemingly done with one finger. There’s a couple of great ones in Strangelove, but they are scattered throughout on some of the excellent tracks on here; Never Let Me Down Again, Things You Said (hello Kraftwerk), Sacred, Behind the Wheel, Nothing. The combination of those poppy hooks and the drum sound with the dark lyrics and gloomy, brooding atmosphere is great. Aside from the obvious Kraftwerk reference you can also get a sense of Bowie and mostly Joy Division if Ian Curts hadn’t died, kind of meshing the music New Order make with the lyrical and atmospheric approach of Joy Division. It doesn’t always work though, Little 15 is way too musical theatre cabaret and is pretty annoying as a result, I Want You Now’s sex breathing and horizontal melody feels pretty flat. I half like and half dislike Pimpf, the repeating motif is nice, but that circularity does make it feel it never really goes anyway. I enjoyed this a lot, the great songs are great, but it doesn’t quite sustain the highs of Never Let Me Down, Strangelove and Nothing. But it’s still a very good album. 4. 💅💅💅💅 Playlist submission: Strangelove

Of course I know Depeche Mode (mostly the hits) and I quite liked them, but not enough to buy an album, it's always been more "radio music" to me. But listening to this album I must say - I really enjoyed it. No hits but a steady flow of good music, great to listen to in one sitting. Yes it has the typical electronic Depeche Mode sound but it's chilled and atmospheric, reminiscent of Talk Talk sometimes (and that's a huge complement).

I love Depeche Mode. This album had a bit of everything - some hits and some wonky tracks. Like what is "Pimpf" even doing. Anyways, when they're good they're SO good and when they're weird, they're like normal weird.

A haiku: Ooh, titillating! No, too sexy, too sexy! See you in boudoir

Depeche Mode is a band that I really like, UT wouldn't say that I love, but they do have some classic tracks. Really solid all the way through, almost as good as Violator in my opinion.

ah hell i'll take this over Violator. much more strange and menacing. Never Let Me Down Again is great obv (don't skip the Aggro Mix), but there are some great deep cuts too. Little 15 is crazy atmospheric and brooding. pretty neat. deserves to be one of the 1001? yes

Mick Picks: NEVER LET ME DOWN AGAIN, STRANGELOVE, BEHIND THE WHEEL. While I would've preferred a tighter album, I also enjoy that Depeche Mode didn't conform to those standards, per their moody, nihilistic aura.

I feel like people either love Depeche Mode or hate them. But I’m just stuck in the middle of thinking it’s OK.

I like Depeche Mode but never felt inspired enough to buy an album. This was wonderful but still would not buy it.

Best tracks were the instrumental focused ones toward the end. 2.5/5

This is a sulky thing, much of the time, putting on mum’s cocktail dress to sing sad songs before a full-length mirror, which may bring pride as well as solace. The influences reach back past Kraftwerk to a Teutonic romanticism, which can be breathtaking and monotonous at the same time. The songs live in this brooding ambivalence that had me longing for some sort of resolution - a soaring climax, a scream, a hummable chorus, or even just a fat, loud power chord. But the record’s compositional logic would deem that inelegant. “Nothing” promises a noir thrill ride with its menacing opening, but the John Carpenter-style synth riff ends up being back drop for pretty, abstract sound poses - I expected “Assault on Precinct 13” and received an Ingmar Bergman scene instead. I liked this more the second time through. The vocals and lyrics are still sway too much in front of the mirror for me.

Typical music from Depeche Mode. Generally I find them ok, some songs are really great, some not.

I had heard of Depeche Mode before, but I wasn't really sure what their deal was. This is a late '80s synth-pop / new wave album that's a bit more on the electronic side. As we know by now, synth-heavy is not my favorite music style at all. While I didn't love this, I did think this was better than a lot of the other music that's similar to this. It's still super synth-heavy, but it's a bit less pop, a bit darker and moodier. I liked this way less than Disintegration, but I get a bit of The Cure vibes here and there on this. I think this approaches that type of sound at its very best, but falls into electronic synth-overdrive at its worst. I just took a look at Depeche Mode's "fans also like" section on Spotify and the 4th band is The Cure (like) and the 5th is Duran Duran (meh), which pretty much describes exactly how I'm feeling (somewhere in the middle of the two, though probably a bit closer to meh overall). This is probably another 3.5 to me, but I think I'm more out than in so rounding down. Favorite song: Never Let Me Down Again Other: The Things You Said, Strangelove, Behind The Wheel, To Have And To Hold 3/18/24

This sounds so DATED, but I actually love it? Like it’s almost so cringe that it’s great. Screams 80’s and stuck in the chase Not very familiar with the artist, but I’ve heard some of these songs a TON. No idea why or where. The beginning of the album suffers from some sameish tendencies, but then it breaks loose and goes all over the place in the back half. Not something I’d listen to a ton, but was a fun listen

If I’m in the mood for 80s synth I’d go to New Order than this but they’re definitely doing their own thing compared to New Order. I didn’t connect with a decent bit of the songs here but it still managed to keep my attention the whole way through as you really don’t know which way the album is going to go next. Rating: 3.4

This sounded more like a movie soundtrack rather than a band's album. There were some spooky tracks on here. I was working and started getting anxious as hell with this on. Pimpf is an insane song. Pretty epic this ended with the moonlight sonata. 5/10

These Lost Boys looking, high school goth dorks are the original edge lords. Real Beta city energy. Everything is so serious, how can you dance or have sex to this without just laughing hysterically? Either relax and have a little fun, or go a little further and try and actually be edgy. There's no tension in the middle ground they occupy. The first song is really good tho, and the production is solid throughout. Might be worth listening to with headphones, by candlelight.

The last time I listened to a Depeche Mode album I really enjoyed this, however Music for the Masses felt underwhelming. I liked Pimpf mostly because it gave me something to chew on. The mixes were pretty fun too but the core of this album just wasn't for me.

The 80s were a mistake.

This album exemplifies most of what I dislike about 80s pop rock. Affected vocal styles, cheesy synths and electronic drums, lifeless and uninspired performances. Dark, brooding, and brain-numbingly boring...

Amazing

Como su título indica este disco les lanzó al estrellato masivo. Tres pelotazos como Never let me down again, Strangelove y Behind the wheel lo hacen imprescindible como su posterior 101 en directo. De aquí sale su trilogía imbatible con Violator y Songs of faith and devoción. Sacred es gótico, venían de Black celebration, pero bailable. I want you es bastante explícita, no es Master and servant pero sí tiene gancho. Nothing es otro buen tema como Little 15.

Magic

all the songs are really well produced and i really enjoy the sound of them and it had this sort of dark vibe to it (it was so random when it went dark souls mode at the end but i loved it) not an absolutely perfect album but its pretty close

Sure I know Depeche Mode. They had 2-3 hits in Europe. I know them as innovative composers who were master of the synthesiser craft. A bit dark maybe? So I was looking forward to listen a full album of theirs. Oh I like their beats. It‘s very groovy without much percussion. I like how understated the songs are. The songs are epic. On some of the songs (never let me down and sacred) I wished the singer had a fuller voice. This would work well as an opera or maybe as an Adele album. It has aged incredibly well. Close too modern deep house. I like their joke to call it music for the masses while they knew they will always stay an underground band and then putting megaphones on top of a mountain on the cover to underline the joke. Bottom line: fell in love with it. Exactly what I was looking for: new albums for me top 50 album list.

I've come to realize lately that I tend to consider New Wave in pretty much only two ways. On the one end, you have pre-80's New Wave that's all experimental and post-punk-y. Think of bands like Talking Heads and DEVO. Then, we slam right into the other end with 80's New Wave, which itself subdivides into two further categories: radio-friendly MTV music and one-hit wonders. Y'know, Duran Duran in the former, "The Safety Dance" in the latter. Those are the bands I've had in mine whenever I discuss New Wave on this website. However, with this album, it just occurred to me I've missed a style of New Wave altogether. Frankly, it's a little embarrassing that I have, given that it seems to be the main style by which people these days know the genre: "serious New Wave," as I'll call it. The kind of New Wave where the singer typically has a deep-ish voice, and he's backed with these cold, mechanical synthesizers. There's a darkerness to it; they wouldn't dare be caught singing about how they're hungry like wolves or how this woman blinded them with science. That, as far as I can think, is the kind of New Wave you commonly hear whenever someone throws up a quick pastiche of the genre. It's the kind of New Wave I wouldn't think I'd like. I mean, yeah, I'd be judging it by its cover: it does **not** seem as enjoyable as the other genres. Like, come on, pre-80's New Wave is quirky, MTV New Wave is catchy, and one-hit wonder New Wave can be just plain fun. Serious New Wave seems more like the kind of music that mostly Important Rock Critics gas up because, y'know, it's "serious." It's **ART**, dang it! It aims to **say something**, unlike its peers! All'a that same ol' jazz you'd razz rock journalists for. But I'll tell you, MUSIC FOR THE MASSES worked for me. Obviously not as much as something like, say, DEVO's debut, or even RIO, but there is something going on about it that I greatly appreciate: it is very theatrical. The music on this album is just dripping in drama, and every song sounds just so big and important. They sound like they should each be scoring their own big, emotional scene in an indie flick — heck, some of these could work in **thriller scenes** for how dramatically they lean. It's quite the wonder to hear, honestly, and a testament to the compositions and instrumentation. To tell you the truth, I don't know if there's anything I can really rag on the album before. I know I can't touch on the lyrics because of course my AuDHD-rattled brain won't let me, but other than that... I guess I'm not too up on the transition out of "I Want You Now"? The breathing sounds were not my thing. As well, I guess there was the occasional synth choice where it was like... I'll never knock an album for sounding dated; it's often a plus in my book. Dang, though, if there ain't a synth sound or two on here that sound really goofy to my ears when paired with this gothic grandeur. Other than that, gawd, this thing is such a **mood**. And believe me, I **was** kind of looking for some reason to ding this thing a 4 and not a 5. Just this nagging thought in the back of my head that I don't wanna go too gung-ho all at once: maybe I'd find some other New Wave in this vein that'd make me look back at this and go, "Oh, that's not a 5..." Or maybe I'd hear another Depeche Mode album that'd cause me to think, "Yeah, this is good, but they can do so much better..." Or maybe my tastes would go, "As much as I like this, it's not the kind of New Wave I'd gravitate towards first: it ain't no 'Take On Me'..." Or maybe, on a closer look, it just wouldn't have that undefined "wow" factor. I gotta keep those 5's **special**, y'know? But honestly, as I keep listening back to clips... No, I really like the theatricality of it all just that much. It's not as easily poppy or quirky as I typically understand New Wave, but for what it's doing, it really is just that damn enjoyable. I'd for sure give this thing a couple more listens, honestly. I could see myself sitting back and Fantasia-ing this album, tryna picture the scenes these songs would score. It is, by my tastes, worthy of a 5. This is music for them asses whom know just how good a mood can carry things. And if nothing else, it helped remind me of what else New Wave is, and that kind of thing is always worth some good points.

Love me some moody 80's synthpop. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m at a 5. My first proper Depeche Mode album – all the big singles I know of are on the follow-up to this, “Violator” (which is also thankfully on the list), so I went into this one totally blind. I’m pleased to report that Depeche Mode is indeed that fucking good – this didn’t necessarily blow me away, but it did affirm that I’m a moron for never digging deeper, as has been proven multiple times by the list at this point. This album does feel exactly like what I’ve always assumed Depeche Mode to be like; a little moody, heavy on the synths, rhythmically pleasing as hell, and vocally gliding on all of these electronica-influenced pop beats. I’m actually surprisingly really impressed by the lyrics; maybe I’ve just never paid as much attention to the lines of “Policy of Truth” or “Enjoy the Silence”, but these tracks all felt really well-written, and despite the filter & the slightly monotone feel of the vocals, the inflections pull some really good emotions out. Of course, the emotions are brilliantly complimented by the instrumentals, which act as THE highlight of the album. The spatial awareness these guys have in terms of capitalizing on a moment in the soundscape feels really reminiscent of Kate Bush. When a beat drops like that, it turns the energy of the track up on a dime, and they use that trick to perfection. In many ways, these are crafted similarly to hip-hop beats, and the momentum of each track shifts naturally in the same way. That spatial awareness applies to the sound design as well; a track like “Behind the Wheel” doesn’t work as well without the spinning plate / hubcap intro, and “I Want You Now” probably isn’t as effectively desperate without the vocal sounds throughout. All in all, it’s just a really well-produced album. I wish I could gush more, but that was just 44 minutes that flew by in a heartbeat. The transitions on this album keep the pace moving really steadily, and the energy from the instrumentals is pretty infectious once they get going. This feels like a good hybrid sound between Eurythmics, Talking Heads, and a little bit of that goth rock vibe that The Cure explored on “Pornography”, whilst staying true to the synthpop trends of the mid-80s. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’m glad this was on the list and not just “Violator.” I’ll be looking forward to that one, though. For now, this gets a very easy 5 from me.

Diverse, hard to rate tbh

So many great songs in one album. Sounds and overall production is top notch. I really love the murky atmosphere of the songs, both musically and lyrically. Most of the songs are about human relationships, but with interesting twists. One of my favorite synthpop albums and definitely a 5 star album for me.

Great

Little known fact; that guy from Depeche Mode? Totally straight. "But that's impossible!" you'll say. "He's IN Depeche Mode!". Yeah well I saw a whole thing about him on the VH1. Anyways, don't think I've listened to this particular album before. I like it.

Are all of these songs about banging? They’re all about banging. Golden age DM.

Bong

Brilliant band. Great album

The album that really introduced me to DM

Ik vond deze echt de leukste tot nu toe

Amazing

Another perfect Depeche Mode record.

This one is great... Not every song, but the album as a whole creates an amazing atmosphere...

I love DM. I'm a bit surprised that the album starts with Never Let Me Down Again (one of my fav songs from them). I feel it would be better placed toward the end to give this magnificent track the emphasis it deserves. Of course, Strangelove, Behind the Wheel, and Nothing - other songs I regularly have in my playlist - are absolute highlights. And the album wraps up nicely with some pleasant instrumentals from Agent Orange

Yesss Depeche Mode, ik hou er van. Beetje hetzelfde maar toch heel anders dan Radiohead. Very good very demure.

MOODY NEW WAVE!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic, the 2nd best album of DM for sure with many great songs.

Kan kanske vara det bästa album på hela den här listan. Ett mästerverk.

One of my top albums from the 80s. Part of my soundtrack to Spring 1988 when I graduated high school. An absolute classic.

Best Depeche Mode Album.

really fun album

This one's pretty great. The synths ooze cool and the vocals have an enchantingly dark aloofness to them. I even listened to a few tracks again and liked them more the second time around. Favorite tracks: "Strangelove," "Agent Orange"

I've heard this album before and I've gotta say it's one of my favorites. I absolutely love Depeche Mode and I wish I could see them in concert someday.

Great album great band

What an amazing record. Never Let Me Down Again is one of the greatest tracks ever written

I goth goth

Easily the best in their catalog.

Fantastic atmosphere. Aged better than most 80s music. Teenage years bias, but I'll own it: 4.55

One of my ALL TIME favourite albums

A true masterpiece.

I own this on CD so it automatically gets bumped up, listening to it again I've really enjoyed it, my favorites are Nothing, Behind the Wheel, Never Let Me Down Again. I also learned that the CD might have a hidden track on it, which is interesting! Overall 5 star

Oh let’s just review the album that got me through junior high…

New wave-y in the best way. A gothy, very 80s alt rock album. I will relisten to this one.

Quintessential 80’s new wave album. Sstandouts "Strangelove", "Never Let Me Down Again", and"Behind the Wheel".