Music

Depeche Mode is Back in Fashion

Thirty years later the electronic group is still going strong

by Sarah Shanok   |   Aug 1, 2009

Depeche Mode is Back in Fashion

Depeche Mode

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Mention Depeche Mode to anyone born in the 80s and their minds are flooded with mental pictures of the band’s forward thinking, grainy, artsy videos, for singles including “Personal Jesus,” “Enjoy the Silence,” “Just Can’t Get Enough,” “Walking In My Shoes,” “People Are People” and “Everything Counts”—the latter incorporating extensive use of the timeless melodica—just to list a few! The electronic group quickly dominated MTV in its music video heyday by cranking out hit singles featuring breathy vocals and moaned versus set atop pop dance tracks, with visuals to match. Taking advantage of state of the art effects, vintage Depeche Mode videos still capture the attention without entirely devolving into 80s clichés; though doves, movie montages, and slow motion shots of people running nowhere in particular prevail in each.

Formed in 1980, Depeche Mode, or DM as their fans refer to them, persevered as a foursome until 1995 when Alan Wilder left the band. Choosing a band name that loosely translates to “fashion forward,” DM has managed not to stay ahead of the trends, so much as maintain them, till they’ve come back around. Now, almost 30 years later, original members Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher have carried on, continued touring and released a synthesizer heavy, drum machine inflected new album, Sounds of the Universe, to mixed but generally positive reviews. Sounding like vintage DM, the songs carry malevolent messages masked in dance beats, sung with the same tortured conviction as their 80s catalogs.

Choosing just 20 songs from 230 recognizable hits will be the band’s greatest challenge, when they perform to sold-out crowds two nights at the Garden this month, but expect a mix of the old and the new—we challenge you to distinguish between the two! Though DM’s live sound hasn’t been compromised, and Gahan’s vocals have held up well after all these years, anticipate ample audience participation. We eagerly await harmonizing with Gahan, belting “I’m taking a ride with my best friend/I hope he never let’s me down again” and lingering on “Feel the fever coming you’re shaking and twitching/You can scratch all over/But that won’t stop you itching.”

Having influenced bands from Marilyn Manson to the Killers, Depeche Mode proves to be not only the best, but also the most enduring, band to emerge from the 80s. We’ve got our ticket! And we hope to see you there!