Mode Music

British band Depeche Mode took its name from a headline in a Paris magazine. French for "fast fashion," its choice suggests that the band hoped to have an immediate, if short-lived, impact on the music scene. But after 25 years as one of the world's top techno-rock groups, Depeche Mode has proven itself to be anything but a flash-in-the-pan act.

The group - guitarist/keyboardist and primary songwriter Martin Gore, lead vocalist Dave Gahan, and keyboardist Andy Fletcher - has sold over 50 million records and played to over 10 million fans worldwide. Along the way, they've survived personnel changes, substance abuse, a suicide attempt, and the ever-fickle tastes of the music-buying public. Depeche Mode's 11th studio album, Playing the Angel, was released in October 2005, and was been hailed by both critics and fans as one of the band's best.

Playing the Angel received favorable comparisons to earlier Depeche Mode albums like 1990's Violator, and with good reason. The new album is not only similar in style to classic Depeche Mode; it's also similar in sound. Gore credits producer Ben Hillier with helping the band connect to its past.

"Ben is on the Internet every day hunting down old analogue synthesizers," Gore said in a recorded interview released to the media. "He brought a whole array [to the recording studio], so that was one of the things that helped define the sound of the record. The predominant sound [on the album] was from the analogue synths, which gave us a kind of direction, and which I think references old Depeche Mode stuff more."

Then there was the persistent rumor (bandied back and forth on various fan Web sites) that Playing the Angel would be Depeche Mode's final album and tour, hence the allusions to the band's history. Of course, that same rumor has been floated out ever since the release of 1993's Songs of Faith & Devotion, when four-year gaps between new Depeche Mode albums became the norm.

"I think you feel after every album it might be the last, and after every tour it might be the last," Fletcher says, "but … I think we're still making good records and still performing well, so it's quite natural that we've made another one, but you never know how much longer this is going on. We're getting old now."

Getting old[er] together is something Fletcher, Gore, and especially Gahan should welcome, considering the rocky road they've traveled together. The roots of Depeche Mode go back to Basildon, England in 1976, when keyboardists Vince Clarke and Fletcher formed a band called No Romance in China. It lasted only a few years, and by 1979 Clarke had formed French Look, another duo featuring Gore. Fletcher rejoined, and the trio renamed itself Composition of Sound. Initially, Clarke handled lead vocals, but in 1980 Gahan came on board as the lead vocalist and completed the lineup.

With Gahan's arrival, the band underwent its most significant transformation. They abandoned all instruments except for synthesizers, creating a slick, techno-based sound to showcase Clarke's catchy melodies. The final name change, to Depeche Mode, capped the group's stylistic makeover. The band met with quick success. "Just Can't Get Enough," the third single from their debut album, became a Top Ten U.K. hit. But just as Depeche Mode seemed poised for a major commercial breakthrough, principal songwriter Clarke left the band.

Gore took over as the band's songwriter, and keyboardist Alan Wilder was recruited to fill the void created by Clarke's departure. Gore's penchant for darker subject matter meshed well with the group's increasingly ominous instrumental textures, and laid the groundwork for the band's trademark industrial sound.

With albums like 1986's atmospheric Black Celebration and 1987's Music for the Masses Depeche Mode was hitting its creative and commercial stride. It reached a peak in 1990, when the band released Violator, a Top 10 smash which spawned the hits "Enjoy the Silence," "Policy of Truth," and "Personal Jesus."

The planets seemed to be lining up in the best possible way for Depeche Mode. Rock radio had shifted away from the heavy metal and grunge sounds that had dominated the late '80s, and began embracing alternative rock. Depeche Mode's 1993 release, Songs of Faith & Devotion, debuted at No. 1 on both British and American album charts.

Then, at the height of the group's success, things began to fall apart. Wilder left the band in 1995. Shortly thereafter, Gahan slashed his wrists in a failed suicide attempt. A year later, he nearly died of a heroin overdose. Fortunately, he later entered a drug rehabilitation clinic to battle his addiction. He has been sober ever since.

Perhaps the residue that remains from his experience is what Gahan uses to give voice to the dark subjects explored in many Depeche Mode songs. Appropriately, Playing the Angel is subtitled "Pain and Suffering in Various Tempos."

Ironically, while their songs focus on the negative, Gore, Fletcher, and Gahan say the group is the happiest it's been in years.

"We're very, very privileged 25 years on," Fletcher says. "We still think we're making great records. We still think we're a good group, and it's a very privileged position to be in. So will there be more Depeche Mode albums? Probably."