Jacob2004

Album number 6 by Depeche Mode (despite what the title might say) is probably the most outright experimental and gothic outing we’ve gotten from them so far. In fact I can say for certain that this is the album where the band’s gothic tendencies fully shine the most. It is certainly very similar to their previous outing delivering on the same excellent darkwave material, but I feel the general sound palette, instrumentation and production shows even more variety and evolution from ... read more

If Some Great Reward was the album that fully established Depeche Mode’s formula, than Black Celebration was the one that refined it to an absolute T. This album is viewed as a big fan favorite among their discography, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s an absolute rock solid collection of gothic infused synth pop and darkwave with some excellent songwriting that ranges from heartfelt like on the gorgeous A Question of Lust, or topical like the hard hitting and moody closer ... read more

So as alluded to in my previous reviews of this band’s albums, I essentially consider the first three albums to be Depeche Mode trying to find their sound and style. This album basically marks the point where they ultimately found that signature style and ethos that would go on to permeate essentially their entire discography moving forward. I also consider this album to be easily their best so far and to me, the start of Depeche Mode’s peak era. To start with, the production and ... read more

After two albums of simplistic synth pop oriented material, we now have Construction Time Again which marks the first album with Alan Wilder as a full time member, is the first album that attempts to expand their sound palette a bit and is what I consider the final album of Depeche Mode’s proto period (Basically the period before Depeche Mode ultimately found their true style). So, how does this one stack up? Honestly pretty well imo. This album seems to have a bit of a divisive reception ... read more