A singles collection chronicling the band's first five years, Catching Up with Depeche Mode
is the perfect primer for would-be fans. The first three tracks feature
Vince Clarke's inimitable brand of bubble-gum synth pop, brimming with
catchy counterpoint and wonderfully predictable chord progressions. The
remaining songs chart Martin Gore's evolution as a composer, his
earlier Clarke-esque material gradually transforming into the darker,
noisier synth works that characterized mid-to-late-'80s Depeche Mode.
The band's other defining elements, i.e. Gore's fragile vocals
contrasted with David Gahan's resonant baritone are well represented. 'Master and Servant', 'Shake the Disease', 'It's Called A Heart',
and 'Fly on the Windscreen' are the best songs here.
Track listing
1. Dreaming of Me
2. New Life
3. Just Can't Get Enough
4. See You
5. Meaning of Love, The
6. Love in Itself
7. Master and Servant
8. Blasphemous Rumours
9. Somebody
10. Shake the Disease
11. Flexible
12. It's Called a Heart
13. Fly on the Windscreen
Product Details
- Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
- Original Release Date: 1985
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Reprise / Wea
Depeche Mode Biography
Originally a product of Britain's new romantic movement, Depeche
Mode went on to become the quintessential electro-pop band of the
1980s. One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based
completely around the use of synthesizers, they began their existence
as a bouncy dance-pop outfit but gradually developed a darker, more
dramatic sound that ultimately positioned them as one of the most
successful alternative bands of their era.
The roots of Depeche
Mode date to 1976, when Basildon, England-based keyboardists Vince
Clarke and Andrew Fletcher first teamed to form the group No Romance in
China. The band proved short-lived, and by 1979 Clarke had formed
French Look, another duo featuring guitarist/keyboardist Martin Gore;
Fletcher soon signed on, and the group rechristened itself Composition
of Sound. Initially, Clarke handled vocal chores, but in 1980 singer
David Gahan was brought in to complete the lineup. After one final name
change to Depeche Mode, the quartet members jettisoned all instruments
excluding their synthesizers, honing a slick, techno-based sound to
showcase Clarke's catchy melodies.
After building a following on
the London club scene, Depeche Mode debuted in 1980 with
"Photographic," a track included on the Some Bizzare Album label
compilation. After signing to Mute Records, they issued "Dreaming of
Me" in early 1981; while neither the single nor its follow-up, "New
Life," caused much of a stir, their third effort, "Just Can't Get
Enough," became a Top Ten U.K. hit, and their 1981 debut LP, Speak and
Spell, was also a success. Just as Depeche Mode appeared poised for a
major commercial breakthrough, however, principal songwriter Clarke
abruptly exited to form Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet, leaving the
group's future in grave doubt.
As Gore grabbed the band's
songwriting reins, the remaining trio recruited keyboardist Alan Wilder
to fill the technological void created by Clarke's departure. While
1982's A Broken Frame deviated only slightly from Depeche Mode's
earlier work, Gore's ominous songs grew more assured and sophisticated
by the time of 1983's Construction Time Again. Some Great Reward,
issued the following year, was their artistic and commercial
breakthrough, as Gore's dark, kinky preoccupations with spiritual doubt
("Blasphemous Rumours") and psychosexual manipulation ("Master and
Servant") came to the fore; 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.
Released in 1986, the
atmospheric Black Celebration continued the trend toward grim
melancholy and further established the group as a major commercial
force. After the superb single "Strangelove," Depeche Mode issued
1987's Music for the Masses; a subsequent sold-out tour yielded the
1989 double live set 101 as well as a concert film directed by the
legendary D.A. Pennebaker. Still, despite an enormous fan base, the
group was considered very much an underground cult phenomenon prior to
the release of 1990's Violator, a Top Ten smash that spawned the hits
"Enjoy the Silence," "Policy of Truth," and "Personal Jesus."
With
the alternative music boom of the early '90s, Depeche Mode emerged as
one of the world's most successful acts, and their 1993 LP Songs of
Faith and Devotion entered the charts in the number one slot. However,
at the peak of its success, the group began to unravel; first Wilder
exited in 1995, and then Gahan was the subject of a failed suicide
attempt. (He later entered a drug rehabilitation clinic to battle an
addiction to heroin.) After a four-year layoff, Depeche Mode continued
onward as a trio and released 1997's Ultra, which featured the hits
"Barrel of a Gun" and "It's No Good." A year later, the band embarked
on a tour in support of its newly released hits album, The Singles
86>98. Depeche Mode played 64 shows in 18 countries for over one
million fans. Each member took some considerable time off after the
tour's completion, and Depeche Mode would not regroup for another three
years.
Exciter, the band's follow-up to Ultra, was released in
2001, with the singles "Dream On" and "I Feel Loved" finding moderate
success on international radio outlets. Two years later, Gahan issued
his debut solo album, the dark and sultry Paper Monsters. Gore also
followed suit by issuing the all-covers Counterfeit², a full-length
sequel to his similarly themed 1989 EP. Each member supported his work
with respective tours of the U.S. and Europe; however, the bandmembers
soon resumed working together, and Playing the Angel, their 11th studio
album, became a Top Ten hit upon its release in October 2005. Produced
by Ben Hillier (Doves, Blur, U2, Elbow) and studded with singles like
"Precious" and "John (The Revelator)," it topped the album charts in 18
countries and went multi-platinum and/or gold in 20 countries. Depeche
Mode went on to play for more than two and a half million fans
worldwide, and the DVD release Touring the Angel: Live in Milan (2006)
captured one of the band's greatest shows. Sounds of the Universe, also
made with the assistance of Hillier, arrived in early 2009.
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