Depeche Mode

The original line-up of Depeche Mode - Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke - was formed after all the musicians played in various groups in 70's together or separately: No Romance In China, The Plan, Norman And The Worm, The French Look and, the last one, Composition Of Sound. When the artists used the idea to try Gahan on lead vocals, they called their collective Depeche Mode under the influence of inspiration. However, in 1981, soon after the release of the debut disc Speak & Spell, Clarke left the band. He continued as the part of projects Yazoo and Erasure. As Clarke was the author of the majority of the songs of Depeche Mode, Gore and Gahan changed him in this respect. They proved to be good authors on the electronica album A Broken Frame, which saw light only a year after the debut. The success of this dance work with electronic sound was strengthened by the international tour. Alan Wilder entered the band as the new keyboardist.

The third disc Construction Time Again with the hit Everything Counts astonished the listeners with its industrial flavor and political-social issues. The single of 1984 People Are People, devoted to the theme of racism, gave Depeche Mode the status of international stars. The Black Celebration album, released in 1986, with the impressing composition Stripped finished the band's transition from cheerful dance music to dark electronica. Depeche Mode became associated with the gothic culture that was coming to force around that time. Full of experiments Music For The Masses disc made the band popular around the USA and was presented by tunes like Let Me Down Again and Behind The Wheel. After a lengthy tour supporting Music For The Masses the musicians got down to their new album - the cult Violator. It contained the rhythmical, mesmerizing single Personal Jesus and dark romantic song Enjoy The Silence. In 1993, the long play called Songs Of Faith And Devotion was released with the lead grunge-bluesy single I Feel You.

The support tour was problematic due to the drug addiction of Gore and Gahan. In 1995, Wilder left the band. Dave was persuaded to undergo medication in a rehab after he almost died from an overdose. However, the new album Ultra with singles Barrel Of A Gun and It's No Good, filled with Gahan's deep vocals, was issued in 1996. Exciter saw light in 2001 and was quite a disappointment for the band's fans due to the lighter sound. However, Playing The Angel of 2007 brought the band back on their high position. Depeche Mode got the Grammy prize for the song Suffer Well from this album. Besides, Gahan launched the solo career with the Paper Monsters disc in 2003. He continued with the impressing record Hourglass. In 2006, the band released the compilation of their masterpieces The Best Of Depeche Mode, Vol. 1 and proceeded to work over their new studio attempt. Entitled Sounds Of The Universe, it arrived in the first half of 2009. The new album’s music resurrected the period of the eighties, but with the contemporary top level arranging it sounded very attractive and unpredictable.