Depeche Mode: Playing The Angel (+Best Of) era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour. The compilation.

Andy Fletcher

Today would have been Andy Fletcher's 61st birthday. Since he suddenly finished aging a few weeks ago, we can only celebrate this occasion in his absence.

Depeche Mode: Exciter era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour.

Imaginary setlist for Ultra

To this very day, Ultra remains the sole Depeche Mode studio album that wasn't followed by a tour to promote it. It's no secret that they had very good reasons to come to this decision: mentally (and possibly physically as well) the band just wasn't ready to go on the road at that point. This gives me the opportunity to come up with my own idea of what the Ultra Tour could have been.

Depeche Mode: Ultra (+ Singles) era

The album. The singles. The songs. The compilation. The tour.

A brief look back at 2018

Seems like I didn't have enough time or energy (or both) this year to write, luckily I was quite busy travelling and going to gigs, so there are a few things to look back at as we say goodbye to 2018.

Depeche Mode: Songs Of Faith And Devotion era

The album(s). The singles. The songs. The tour(s).

Depeche Mode: Violator era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour.

Depeche Mode: Music For The Masses era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour. The live album.

Depeche Mode: Black Celebration era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour.

Depeche Mode: Some Great Reward (+ Singles) era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour. The compilation album.

The best year ever

If we wanted to, we could use the 1987 calendar this year, as each day fell on the exact same day of the week. (Obviously, if there's one match and the years in question are both "normal" years or both leap years, all the other days have to match as well). Anyway, 24th August was also Monday back then, which is when new releases come out in the UK, and those included the Depeche Mode single "Never Let Me Down Again" 28 years ago - one of the best songs ever. I wouldn't say that such a treat appearing today is completely impossible, but I do feel that particular year was quite special, and it's not (just) nostalgia, as I was actually too young to appreciate it at the time.

Control freak

Exactly 20 years ago, on his 36th birthday, Alan Wilder announced his departure from Depeche Mode. He played a very important part in the band in multiple ways: he was the only trained musician, who was also great at production, arrangements and creating atmospheres, he was the one who enjoyed working endlessly in the studio until every single sound was in its right place, he was a perfectionist, and obviously his taste and opinion also influenced the end result. No wonder that fans weren't happy to see him leave, and since then he (unwillingly) plays a very odd part in Depeche Mode: whenever something's not up to fans expectations, it's because "he's no longer there". Although he issued a statement that made things quite clear, some people aren't sure why he left, so I'll take a look at that (I have to point out that I have no special insider info, just observations and assumptions), and briefly at what happened since.

Depeche Mode: Construction Time Again era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour.

The best album ever

I'm cheating a bit, because it's not a proper studio album but a live one. Anyway, 101 by Depeche Mode is my ultimate desert island disc (cheating again, it's 2 discs on both vinyl and cd), the one I can never get tired of, the one I listen to the most, simply put, the best album ever.

Violation

The period between 1986 and 1994 is largely considered as "the golden age" of Depeche Mode, the era of their creative and commercial peak. Even the band members seem to agree with that, given that their tour setlists heavily rely on material from those years ever since. They released 4 studio albums during that time, and 3 of those came out in mid-March, so last week was filled with opportunities to look back: Black Celebration turned 29 on Tuesday, Songs Of Faith And Devotion became 22 years old on Sunday, but a quarter of a century mark seemed more interesting, so most of the attention concentrated on Violator's anniversary on Thursday.

Depeche Mode: A Broken Frame era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour(s).

Depeche Mode: Speak & Spell era

The album. The singles. The songs. The tour.

My generation

Well, my chosen one, to be precise, I'm slightly younger than them. There might be several great solo artists, but the acts that had the biggest impact on me are bands, and I couldn’t help but notice that quite a few of my favourite bands are made up of guys who are roughly the same age, which could be more than just a coincidence.

The best band ever

Depeche Mode. I was born on Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday, but unlike him, I didn’t want to keep you in suspense for too long. They happen to be my favourite band as well, but that’s not the same thing: choosing a favourite is based on emotional response, calling something the best in its field is more of an evaluation, but I won’t pretend to be objective or unbiased, and I have my reasons.