A Decade of Depeche: Rarely In Fashion

"Hey, have you heard of Depeche Mode?"

"Yah, of course."

"That's awesome. What's your favorite song of theirs?"

"Umm...that one, you know the one, it's got that funky beat in the background and these synthesized voice thingies and he's singing about some metaphor for something I think..."

Okay. It happens to all of us. There are some bands that we've all heard of, yet they're perpetually relegated to the tips of tongues. For example, there's The Cars, A-Ha, Donny Osmond, Club Nouveau...and Depeche Mode. Now granted, there are some staunch fans out there, but the rest of us know Depeche Mode in passing, if at all. But trust me, we've all heard Depeche Mode. Yes, even you. Get your hands on the single "Enjoy the Silence." That's right! They played them at the eighth grade dance!

Now that Depeche Mode's (debatable) historical validity has been established, we come to the matter at hand--The Singles 86>98, a recently released compilation of the group's singles of the 80's and 90's. This two-CD set does indeed span twelve years of releases, which is odd considering that the band has been around for eighteen years. There's a good reason for this--Depeche Mode reached an epiphany of sorts around 1986 (didn't we all?). Pre-1986 Depeche Mode was pretty out of control. The band only hit its groove with the release of Black Celebration (1986). This album and the four following albums, Music for the Masses (1987), Violator (1990) and Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) are widely considered to be the best work of Depeche Mode, and tracks from these albums comprise the bulk of this compilation.

In French, Depeche Mode is roughly equivalent to "fast fashion." Now forget that. Their sound has nothing whatsoever to do with "fast fashion." In a whimsically unimaginative fit, the band named themselves after a French fashion mag. So you can put the French-English dictionary away and concentrate on the music.

Depeche Mode's biggest influences were David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Roxy Music. Sound eclectic? Well, so does this album, Musically, it's all over the place, but the set remains uniformly strong. The styles range from the richly balladic "Condemnation" to the mainstream "Enjoy the Silence" to the NINish "Stripped." Regardless of the individual style of the music, you can count on it being driven by synthesizers and being immoderately gloomy.

A prime example is "Strangelove." The song begins with a rousing synthesized beat and dives right into such glum, semi-introspective lyrics as "I give in to sin because I like to practice what I preach." If you listen to Depeche Mode over and over again without ever listening to the lyrics (I highly recommend this), they sound like the perfect band. But when you take your ears off cruise control, what you're hearing are songs of two varieties: pretentious self-loathing and nasty love stories. Verdict: great sound, questionable lyrics.

The songs do vary quite a bit--songwriter Martin Gore is a whiz at varying themes. In one two-disc set we have: moody angst, angry angst, depressed angst, hopeless angst, lusty angst and the ever-popular violent angst. Yes, violent--most of Depeche Mode's songs are depressing, but one song, "Stripped," is fiercely so. In "Stripped," Gore seems to have taken a cue from Trent Reznor, and has penned such harsh lyrics as "Let me see you stripped down to the bone" and "Let me hear you crying just for me." Didn't know Depeche Mode had it in them. Indeed they do not have it in them to be vicious. Moody yes, violent no. "Stripped" is probably the worst track in the set. Whining about hurting people doesn't really fly--waifish Brits turned savage just comes across as silly, not impressive.

The songs may range a bit in style, but Depeche Mode has always been securely grounded in electronica. They were one of the first bands to rely heavily on the synthesizer, and they're still enjoying success in that medium. In fact, Depeche Mode was one of the few electronic bands to weather the early nineties rush to Seattle-based grunge and acoustic rock. They get little credit for really sticking to their guns as far as their overall sound goes. Depeche Mode is progressive in its own right but that evolution stayed within the bounds of the original medium.

The merits of that progression are, of course, questionable. Depeche Mode walks a thin line between being innovative and inane. Sometimes, the synthesized noises sound untempered. Embedded in the songs are sounds of cars screeching, giant coins spinning, undersea environments, etc. The Band can do some very weird things--a listener is led to wonder whether the weirdness is unintentional, or whether Depeche Mode may have a fetish for appearing goofy. Maybe it's a big joke on the listeners. The terrible screeching that opens "I Feel You," the stereophonic mayhem in "Behind the Wheel," and the sounds of the manic jogger in "Personal Jesus" could only be jokes, right? Right? (Nervous laughter).

Basically, Depeche Mode is as annoying as they are good. You're getting the cream of the crop in The Singles 86>98, and it can be very pleasing. The music is complex and invigorating. The lyrics and kitschy sounds effects are not invigorating. But hey, we can look past that. It's Depeche Mode. Aware of it or not, like it or not, they're a big part of your musical pre-adolescence. They deserve some respect. Next time someone asks you the name of a Depeche Mode song, try to dredge one up from your memory. The Middle School Years will thank