On the one hand you’ve got the ridiculous hits like ‘People Are People’ and the S&M festival of ‘Master And Servant’ on the other the twee ‘Stories Of Old’ and the bombastic void of ‘Something To Do’. Then it all goes cod reggae on ‘Satellite’ and everyone looks awkward. By the time we get to ‘Monument’, they’re inventing techno just like Derrick May always said. The only plausible reaction to opener ‘Leave In Silence’ is ‘Good Christ, what have we here?” as it throbs and whumps into DM’s new dark heart. It could’ve all gone tits-up when Vince Clarke left after their debut album, but Depeche Mode came out fighting. But for all the rubbish like ‘PipeLine’, ‘Shame’ and ‘More Than A Party’ (rock’n’roll Mode, anyone?), there’s an ‘Everything Counts’ to soothe the pain. Another alarming development was Martin Gore whipping out a guitar for ‘Love In Itself’ on Top Of The Pops. Something has to come last, and what better than the first time Depeche Mode tried Industrial? Inspired by Einstürzende Neubauten, they decided it all meant moving concrete slabs and hitting pots. Seems the time’s ripe for assessing the Basildon synth-pervs’ weighty back catalogue. Today (22 March) marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Depeche Mode’s eighth album ‘Songs Of Faith And Devotion’ and also the eve of the release of new – 13th – studio album ‘Delta Machine’, which on first listen sounds like another forbidding techno-industrial beast.
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