Depeche Mode

The unexpected American success of "People Are People," which remained the band's biggest U.S. hit until the start of the '90s, prompted this stateside-only compilation, very much a dog's breakfast of new and old songs alike. Earlier album cuts such as "Pipeline" and "Told You So" appear here, but the four new tracks understandably received the biggest attention. The title track itself, though the bandmembers have long since expressed embarrassment over it, still sounds like what it became, an engaging, instantly memorable pop hit - if the lyrical sentiments are among Martin Gore's most naïvely sociopolitical before or since, David Gahan delivers them strongly, with Gore providing a fine counterpoint vocal…

The full addition of Alan Wilder to Depeche Mode's lineup created a perfect troika that would last another 11 years, as the combination of Martin Gore's songwriting, Wilder's arranging, and David Gahan's singing and live star power resulted in an ever more compelling series of albums and singles. Construction Time Again, the new lineup's first full effort, is a bit hit and miss nonetheless, but when it does hit, it does so perfectly. Right from the album's first song, "Love, In Itself," something is clearly up; Depeche never sounded quite so thick with its sound before, with synths arranged into a mini-orchestra/horn section and real piano and acoustic guitar spliced in at strategic points. Two tracks later, "Pipeline" offers the first clear hint of an increasing industrial influence (the bandmembers were early fans of Einstürzende Neubauten), with clattering metal samples and oddly chain gang-like lyrics and vocals…

Depeche Mode prepares for the 101st and final concert of its massive 'Music For The Masses' world tour at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, while a group of fans who won a contest travel to the concert across the United States on a bus…