Hot Traxx: The Top 10 Depeche Mode Songs Of All Time
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon in 1980. The group consists of a trio of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher. Depeche Mode released their debut album, Speak & Spell, in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene.
10. Personal Jesus (1989)
In mid-1989, the band began recording in Milan with record producer Flood. The result of this session was the single "Personal Jesus", which featured a catchy bluesy riff and drum-based sound, radically different from anything the band had released thus far. Although not the first Depeche Mode song to feature guitar parts ("Behind the Wheel" and their cover of "Route 66" featured a guitar; "Love, in Itself" and "And Then..." from Construction Time Again and "Here is the House" from Black Celebration featured an acoustic guitar), it was the first time a guitar was used as a dominant instrument in a Depeche Mode song. The song was inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley.
9. Never Let Me Down Again (1987)
Former member Alan Wilder and the other members of the band considered the track an "obvious single" with much potential. They developed it throughout so that dramatic-type elements such as the Led Zeppelin-influenced drum patterns and Martin Gore's distinctive guitar riffs sound in the forefront. The lyrics of the song, starting with the strident vocals of "I'm taking a ride with my best friend", are generally regarded as reflecting drug use, with the track being labelled by NME music journalist Jane Solanas as a "masterpiece" that well conveys the feeling of "drug euphoria".
8. Just Can't Get Enough (1981)
The single version of "Just Can't Get Enough" is the same version that appears on the UK version of Speak & Spell. The 12-inch single featured a "Schizo Mix", which is an extended version with additional synth parts adding a sinister feel to the track. This version appears on the US version of Speak & Spell, the UK re-release of Speak & Spell, the re-release of The Singles 81→85 and Remixes 81–04.
7. Enjoy The Silence (1990)
Recorded in 1989, it was released as the second single from their seventh studio album, Violator (1990), on 5 February 1990. The single is Gold certificated in the US and Germany. The song won Best British Single at the 1991 Brit Awards. "Enjoy the Silence" was re-released as a single in 2004 for the Depeche Mode remix project Remixes 81–04, and was titled "Enjoy the Silence (Reinterpreted)" or, more simply, "Enjoy the Silence 04".
6. Everything Counts (1983)
The single introduced a transition in lyrical content for the group. "Everything Counts" specifically addresses the issue of corporate greed and corruption in Britain, as the chorus sings of "grabbing hands" that "grab all they can". Perhaps surprisingly, the single was released at a time when the band itself was not under a formal contract with Mute Records (Gore publishes his songs under the name "Grabbing Hands Music"). In addition to "found" sounds used as samples, the single also samples a variety of musical instruments, such as the xylophone and a melodica (which Gore has been known to play on stage for the song).
5. Strangelove (1987)
The original version of "Strangelove" is a fast-paced pop track. Though successful, this did not seem to fit with Music for the Masses's darker style, so Daniel Miller produced a slower version that became the album version. Alan Wilder, in the Q&A section of his Recoil website, writes that the band felt the single version was "too cluttered" and was the reason Miller's remix was commissioned. Miller expounded on this in the Music for the Masses re-master documentary DVD, stating he felt the original single version was too complicated and would benefit from being simplified.
4. Halo (1990)
"From memory, the drums were sampled from Led Zeppelin's 'When the Levee Breaks' (but secondhand from a rap record). It is one of the most commonly used drum samples – for obvious reasons as it has that very special Bonham sound. The same snare drum sound appears on DM’s 'Get Right With Me'. I've also heard that snare on a Massive Attack record and many others. [...] Other sounds on 'Halo', I'm more vague about, but we certainly would have used Flood's ARP 2600 in conjunction with other modular synths to create the bass parts and other sequencer parts. For the end choruses, there are some string samples which I think were derived from Elgar. One of my techniques is to find sections of classical strings and transpose / stretch these, then add my own samples, in order to formulate new and unusual arrangements. This was a case in point. The DM track 'Clean' utilized classical strings in a similar way." - Alan Wilder
3. It's Called A Heart (1985)
The song was included as one of two new tracks on the compilation The Singles 81→85 the same year, along with "Shake the Disease".The song reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The US version of The Singles 81→85, Catching Up with Depeche Mode, also includes the B-side, "Fly on the Windscreen", which reappeared in a slightly different mix on the band's 1986 album Black Celebration.
2. But Not Tonight (1986)
t's a B-side from the 'Stripped' single. Apparently Martin heard a piano version of this song somewhere, and he loved it very much. He played it a couple of times in the studio, and we decided to include it in the set list. And by the way, we are amazed at how the audience reacts to it! It's great! And how everyone sings along at the end!" - Andy Fletcher
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