10 Most Influential Electronic Rock Artists

In the grand scheme of rock and roll, making a dark record tends to feel like the kiss of death. When you start to hear about your favorite band going into some darker territory, it normally comes during the band documentary at the point where things begin to fall apart. Unless you're Depeche Mode...in which case you make the darker record 10 times and somehow get better each time.

If you were to even look at what Depeche Mode looked like in the early days of their career, it almost feels like day and night, with their usual pop sensibilities coming out on songs like Just Can't Get Enough. Though Martin Gore may have kept the pop hooks around, the tone dramatically shifted once the decade wore on, with albums like Some Great Reward and Construction Time Again showing their teeth a little more on songs like Blasphemous Rumours and People are People.

Even in the '90s, the decade that killed all other synth bands, Depeche Mode managed to thrive in their darkness, creating Violator and making songs that tilted more into rock while keeping the tone absolutely pitch black. While Dave Gahan has always insisted that Depeche Mode remain a pop band, something has definitely shifted in the coming years. This is what pop would sound like if had done a few stints in the crypt.