Depeche Mode in 1987: from left, Andrew Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Alan Wilder and Martin Gore
“I really hated Basildon. I wanted to get out as quickly as I could. I think being in a band was an escape. There was very little to do. It’s one of those places where you go drinking because that is your only option” (Martin Gore).
It is tough situations, those without easy solutions, that spark in humans the desire for redemption in life.
That is exactly what happened more than forty years ago in Basildon, a satellite town of London, far from the idyllic image commonly associated with the English countryside. A productive hub offering jobs and services, but lacking roots and the driving force that fuels dreams and hopes.
It was precisely here that a group of young boys gave birth to one of the most iconic and influential bands of all time.
The beginnings
It was 1980 when the paths of Vince Clarke, Andrew Fletcher, Martin Gore, and Dave Gahan converged: Depeche Mode was born from this encounter, with their originality already inherent in the name, taken from a French fashion magazine of the time. The band brought a breath of fresh air to the late seventies’ electronic new wave, which would soon evolve into synth-pop. Thanks to several tracks from Speak & Spell (1981), their debut album, the band gained attention and climbed the charts. The songs are accessible and danceable (think of ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ and ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’), but not frivolous: despite their young age, the members of the band displayed remarkable expertise, even in songwriting. Moreover, Dave Gahan’s voice remains unique and unparalleled: deep, confident, engaging, sensual; a dark, captivating tone that inspires confidence, even when the songs convey bleak atmospheres and express inner turmoil.
Everything seemed promising, but in 1982, Clarke left the band, mainly due to differing opinions on the musical direction to pursue. As a result, Martin Gore, who had been composing since the age of fourteen, became the primary lyricist. Meanwhile, Clarke was replaced by Alan Wilder, an exceptionally skilled multi-instrumentalist who would make a crucial contribution to the band’s musical evolution.
The dark shift
Wilder’s arrival led to the exploration of more complex structures, with a more introspective and intimate approach. Gore’s lyrics, so heartfelt in their immediacy, blend perfectly with this style, serving as a prelude to a gradual shift towards dark, industrial tones that guided the band into underground atmospheres, in line with emerging post-punk trends.
In 1983, the band moved to Berlin, the last frontier of the Western world and a hub of musical innovation, where they recorded three albums at the Hansa Tonstudio. The third chapter of this trilogy is Black Celebration (1986), a title that is ominous in itself, though unrelated to witchcraft. In fact, the album delves into themes of death, uncertainty, and despair—emotions and concerns that marked the final, harrowing years of the Cold War.
The lead single, ‘Stripped’, is a masterpiece of metallic sounds, seamlessly intertwined with one of the band’s most significant lyrics. The music video, filmed in a car scrapyard, stands out for its cold, nocturnal setting, permeated by a sense of fear. At 1:22, the Berlin Wall appears in the background, a raw symbol in a city long scarred by division. It becomes clear how the song is intrinsically tied to the tensions between East and West and the looming nightmare of nuclear war.
Depeche Mode 101, LP cover (1989)
The rise to success
After leaving Berlin, the four members worked at a relentless pace. In 1987, they released their sixth album, Music for the Masses, a deliberately provocative title, as Depeche Mode’s music had always been far from a mere commercial operation.
The harsh and introspective sounds that characterised Black Celebration were still partly present but now infused with more melodic, dreamlike, and at times epic nuances, heralding the brilliance of their imminent rise.
Thanks to ‘Strangelove’ and ‘Never Let Me Down Again’, powerful and compelling tracks emblematic of the album, Music for the Masses captured a new audience—the American public— and rightfully secured a place for the band on the global music scene. The ultimate consecration took place on 18 June 1988 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, when the band performed their 101st concert—the final show of this impressive world tour—in front of more than 60,000 ecstatic fans. This concert became the band’s first live album as well as a renowned documentary film.
It was the ‘conquest of America’, and nothing seemed capable of overshadowing this moment of glory. However, success could not soothe the anxieties that had been creeping into the hearts of the band members—a foreboding that, for the time being, remained locked away in a metaphorical drawer.
Backstage picture, Violator (1990)
The pinnacle
Just a couple of years passed by, and a new album was already on its way. On 19 March 1990, Violator was released—a record widely regarded as Depeche Mode’s perfect album, a masterpiece that definitively cemented the band’s global stature.
Recorded largely at Logic Studios in Milan, the album retained the band’s underground DNA, by now their unmistakable hallmark. This time, the synth-pop sound was enhanced and enriched with rock elements, evidenced by the introduction of the electric guitar; there were even refined melodic and blues notes. What emerged was a highly intriguing form of ‘electronic rock’, with very few known predecessors.
Making such a diverse and complex work accessible was no easy feat, but the contemporary relevance of the topics addressed was immediately recognised by the public, who welcomed the band’s seventh album with great enthusiasm. Even among their peers, there were expressions of admiration; in this regard, Pet Shop Boys admitted to feeling deeply envious of this work, which had significantly raised the bar for quality.
Martin’s simply poignant lyrics explore complex themes such as the power of love and the saving connection it can create between two individuals, faith, pain, guilt… and much more. The album’s title, once again provocative, serves as the interpretative key to the entire record, as it refers to a ‘transgressor’, a ‘desecrator’, symbolising humanity itself, which, after a painful journey, finds a way to rise again and continue living. Ultimately, the album is a quest for a higher form of salvation, an anthem of hope, an offering to the heavens.
Violator contains iconic tracks that need no introduction: ‘Personal Jesus’ stands out immediately with its steady, rhythmic sounds that are, in fact, their heavy footsteps recorded in the stairwell of the Milan studio. ‘Enjoy the Silence’ is perhaps the band’s most famous track, imbued with a solemn aura, as though it allows one to experience moments of pure eternity. The music video, directed by long-time friend Anton Corbijn, is one of the band’s most renowned clips and has entered the collective imagination as a metaphor for an inner journey through which one comes to understand the completeness of simplicity.
Backstage picture, Ultra (1997)
The fall and the comeback
Given these premises, ‘The World Violation Tour’ (1990) was a complete triumph. However, the exhaustion caused by constant travel, the gruelling performances, and the inner demons that seemed to have gained the upper hand plunged the band into a deep crisis. Despite the unstable situation, Songs of Faith and Devotion, the band’s eighth album, was released in 1993. It was characterised by a pronounced use of electric guitar, bass, and drums, shaping a work where the rock component is predominant. To grasp the difference from previous albums, one only has to listen to some of the highly successful tracks: ‘I Feel You’ and ‘Walking in My Shoes’, not to mention the original addition of ‘Condemnation’, a magnificent gospel insert and Gahan’s favourite song.
The subsequent ‘The Devotional Tour’ and ‘The Exotic Tour’ proved to be an even greater challenge. At this point, not even a blessing could save the band from such a devastating diagnosis: nervous breakdown for Fletcher, alcohol abuse for Gore, and drug addiction for Gahan. The growing frustration that plagued Wilder led him to make a radical decision—to leave the band. The news shook the remaining members, but the torment gripping Gahan led him to attempt suicide in 1995, followed on 28 May 1996 by an overdose of speedball (a mix of heroin and cocaine). Clinically dead, he miraculously came back to life after about three minutes. Aware of what had happened, Gahan began a strict rehabilitation process that led to his full recovery. In a heartfelt 1997 interview, Dave candidly explained the circumstances that drove him into that terrible dead end.
Ultra (1997), the band’s ninth album, characterized by great expressive power, marked the trio’s rebirth, thanks to a new-found balance that strengthened their long-standing friendship. ‘Home’, in particular, written and sung by Gore in this instance, stands out as one of the most moving songs, embodying a renewed cohesion and an authentic desire to find a ‘place’ where they could finally feel at peace.
Still from the video of ‘Ghosts Again’, Memento Mori (2023)
Themes
In the following years, the band released five more albums, in which new styles were explored. One of the English band’s strengths lies in its ability to reinvent itself over time without forgetting its identity. On the contrary, these ‘contaminations’ allowed them to go further, breaking free from the narrow limits of a single musical genre or a single way of doing and seeing things. This attitude, opposed to a stereotypical perception of reality, enabled a broader and unconventional view of life.
This characteristic has always been evident in their choice of themes and lyrics, where they tackle topics such as prejudice, hatred, fear, addiction; as well as loneliness, death, condemnation, torment, and damnation—but also hope, redemption, forgiveness, friendship and unbreakable bonds. Religion, in particular, is never addressed in a blasphemous way, as it might seem at first glance. Instead, it is a non-conventional approach that prompts reflection on concepts such as faith and spirituality, and how each of us relates to them. These themes form the foundation upon which the band’s entire production is built.
In their poems of notes and words, one can feel a profound sensitivity, an unrelenting search for meaning in a world that often puts us to the test.
The recent years
On 26 May 2022, Andrew Fletcher (aged 60), the band’s spokesperson and long-standing ‘pillar’ of stability, passed away suddenly in his sleep. This tragic event brought Dave and Martin closer together. Reflecting on their bond with ‘Fletch’, they chose to continue their journey. Thus, in 2023, they released their fifteenth album, Memento Mori. The ancient reminder echoes the loss of their friend but also underscores the fragility of existence, highlighted by the pandemic and the new socio-political tensions that accompanied the album’s creation. Every track is meticulously crafted, featuring melodic and synth-pop sounds, enriched with sharp ‘metallic’ elements. The splendid ‘Ghosts Again’, ‘Before We Drown’, and ‘Always You’ are prime examples.
With such an intense body of work, one can only wonder what other wonders the duo will deliver in the future. What remains certain is that Depeche Mode’s sound will never cease to speak, above all, to the hearts of people—like a light that, in the darkest hour, guides them through the shadows.
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