10 Greatest Ever Depeche Mode Songs
From Synth-Pop darlings to global megastars.
To the rather unfortunate ignorance of many within their homeland, Depeche Mode are one of the biggest bands in the world.
Having sold over 100 million albums worldwide, with all seventeen reaching the top ten of the UK singles chart, Depeche Mode deserve to be held in similar esteem to the most revered British acts of all time, from The Beatles to David Bowie. Sadly, somehow, they are not.
And that's despite the fact that the current world tour is reported as being the most lucrative of the summer, raking in nearly 50 million dollars from the first seventeen dates.
Over the course of nearly forty years, the band have cultivated a vast and diverse back catalogue. After beginning their career as front runners in the synth-pop movement of the early eighties, they have matured through phrases of brooding industrial electronica and grunge influenced rock to the all-encompassing behemoth they are today. They have evolved, and lost nothing of their impact.
As testament to their broad ranging genius, the band's best songs read like a wildly different collection, hugely creative and always relevant, and they really deserve more attention.
10. Going Backwards (2017)
In March 2017, Depeche Mode released Spirit, the fourteenth studio album of a career spanning four decades. In a departure from established conventions, the band traded tales of sexual promiscuity and repressed desires in exchange for a politically charged lament at the state of the world. Written before Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, the album is shrouded with an eerie sense of foreboding.
This attitude was revealed following the release of the album's first promotional single, Where's The Revolution, but is really best represented by Spirit's opening track, Going Backwards.
The title refers to the regression of the human race, tackling themes of alienation and dehumanisation. "We're going backwards to a caveman mentality" bemoans singer Dave Gahan, as the brooding six minute track escalates to its final refrain: "We feel nothing inside."
It is a testament to the song writing abilities of the band's creative virtuoso, Martin Gore, that he is still able to conjure up tracks of this calibre after nearly forty years in the music industry. Despite the album as a whole receiving a mixed critical reception, Going Backwards is one of the band's most complete offerings for the last two decades, and is already cementing its status as a fan favourite on their current world tour.