Depeche Mode Sounds

2005's Playing the Angel proved to be one of Depeche Mode's strongest albums - the combination of Ben Hillier's production, the emergence of David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour. As a result - especially given the return of Hillier, the first producer to work on two Depeche albums in a row since Flood's heyday with Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion - Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single "Wrong" didn't undercut at all. After all these years, though, Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what's quite astonishing about Sounds is how they've returned to the equipment and textures of their early-'80s work in particular…

Limited double vinyl LP set includes bonus CD version of the album. 2009 release from the veteran British Electronic rockers. Eclectic and energized, the band's new release is their most dazzling and diverse album in decades. Recorded in Santa Barbara and New York, Depeche Mode returned to using a lot of vintage gear, from analogue synthesizers to drum machines, in order to conjure up the retro-futuristic arrangements featured on the album. Lyrically the release contains many of the group's enduring obsessions plus more overt black humor than any of their previous collections. The release marks a reunion between the band and producer Ben Hillier, who worked with the band on Playing The Angel. Features the single 'Wrong'. Mute.

Collecting nearly four decades of material in one stylish package, Depeche Mode delivers their most comprehensive studio collection to date with the MODE box set. A whopping 18 discs' worth of music, MODE charts the band's evolution from their debut studio recording (the pulsing synth-pop "Photographic" from the 1981 Some Bizzare Album compilation) all the way to an electronic-washed cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" recorded live during their Spirit era…

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…

Pioneering English band Depeche Mode took the underground electronic club sounds of the early '80s and expanded them to stadium-sized levels within a decade, becoming one of the best-selling international groups in the process. One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based completely around the use of synthesizers, they debuted with a bouncy electro-pop spirit which gradually developed into a darker, more dramatic synth-rock style that ultimately positioned them as one of the most quintessential alternative bands of their era. Earning a modest European following with early releases like 1981's Speak & Spell and 1983's Construction Time Again, they made their U.S. breakthrough in 1984 with their platinum-certified fourth LP, Some Great Reward…

There was a time when you could walk into your average record store and find the singles section by spotting the big block of black rows. These rows signaled the whereabouts of the Ds and tended to eat up a disproportionate space of the singles section. In 2004, the Mute label condensed all of these releases into Remixes 81-04, which itself was ironically (or fittingly) presented in multiple versions. This particular version is a triple-disc set that attempts to function as a representative sampling of Depeche Mode's innumerable remixes. It does an admirable job, making a point to highlight glorified extended versions and radical reworkings alike.