10 Greatest Ever Depeche Mode Songs
8. Shake The Disease (1985)
In 1985, Depeche Mode released Shake The Disease as a promotional track for their upcoming singles compilation. It would prove to be a pivotal moment in the band's dark progression.
Their previous album, Some Great Reward, had explored such dark themes as the alleged futile pursuit of religious devotion in Blasphemous Rumours, and sexual domination in Master And Servant. But Shake The Disease was a paradigm shift in how the band wanted to be perceived. Although it would, for a time, result in ridicule from their native United Kingdom, they would no longer be viewed as a throwaway synth-pop act.
Discussing the band's darker approach, Alan Wilder said of the track: "If we've got a choice between calling a song 'Understand Me' or Shake the Disease, we'll call it Shake the Disease. There's a lot of perversity and innuendo in our lyrics, but nothing direct."