The Best of Depeche Mode, Vol. 1

As a fan of Depeche Mode since 1986, a new release is always cause for celebrtion. It used to mean a couple 12 inch singles would also be released with extended versions and maybe a b-side. then came cassette maxi singles and remixes. Followed by cd singles and imports, videos and downloads. The albums are all wonderful, and the singles have all spawned their own mini-albums...remember how many versions of Personal Jesus we got?!!? My point is that Depeche Mode does release GREAT singles. Awesome songs, and this compilation s great for someone wanting an overview. But as good as the singles are, there are many 'album tracks' that are the true gems...This is just the surface. Many singles are missing, including my 2 favorites "Stripped" from Black Celebration, and 'Behind The Wheel" from Music For The Masses. The exclusion of those tracks alone should send one running up to the nearest record store. If you like this stuff, there is much much more where it came from. Go get their albums and treat yourself to a couple of the cd remix singles. Indulge in the world of Depeche Mode. You won't be sorry. Can't wait for the new album in 2009!

DM have gone through many distinct phases since their inception at the beginning of the 1980's. This compilation CD, while not "perfect" by the standards of serious fanatics--how could it be?--is a good place to start when you're just trying to get a feel for the band's sound.

Unlike the two singles compilations released in 1998, the tracks here are sequenced to showcase the band's diverse history rather than a chronological progression. "Personal Jesus" was not DM's first single, but it did become their most recognizable hit of all time. It also grandfathered a series of songs that pay homage to it later in the band's career. Try listening to the bluesy guitar riff in "Jesus" and then "I Feel You," "Dream On," "Suffer Well," and "Martyr." The lineage should be clear even to casual listeners.

But there are of course other strains of Depeche Mode, and that's why "Just Can't Get Enough" is such a shock when sequenced back to back with "Personal Jesus." Who knew that the same band was capable of bouncy bubble gum pop on the one hand, and a monument to God, Elvis, and Kraftwerk on the other? That's the trick to Depeche Mode: it lies somewhere between Johnny Cash and A-ha, biblical allusion and trendy disposability, tortured guitars and Moog synthesizers. No wonder many people don't really know what to think about this band. There are identifiable waypoints along this tangled path: try sequencing the sincerity of "See You" and the menace of "Never Let Me Down Again" between those polar opposites, and maybe you get something close to a straight line from point A to B.

For a while DM was about pushing the buttons of the BBC. Nowadays, when a song about being bi-curious hits number one on the charts, "Master and Servant" might seem quite acceptably deviant. But in 1984 it was a kind of firebomb tossed on pop music, and when you consider other politically- and culturally-charged salvos of the time such as "Everything Counts," "People Are People," and "Strangelove," you can see why Depeche Mode has sometimes been synonymous with subversion.

But when all is said and done, what might be best about Depeche Mode is its pensiveness, its navel-gazing, its proclivity for being romantic and emotionally distant at the same time. Hence "Enjoy the Silence" and "Shake the Disease." "I'm not going down on my knees," Martin Gore writes, "begging you to adore me." And he still manages to come off as hopelessly in love and terrified of being hopelessly out of love all over again. Which leads quite naturally to the pained confessions of weakness and defeat in "Walking in My Shoes" and "Precious." It's never cut and dried, never direct and easy for this band when it comes to attachments, and that's a big part of its lasting appeal.

There aren't many acts in music that can display such longevity and varied success in its catalogue, but Depeche Mode is one of them. And that's the story this disc tells as effectively as it realistically could in less than eighty minutes.

Ok, I just bought Singles 86-98, which has one disc of good++ music and one disc I don't care for. I would have thought this compilation would have been a good way to occupy the blank space on the jewel case after I throw out Disc 2 of Singles 86-98, but this compilation DOES NOT have "Blasphemous Rumours", which is the only good song missing from Singles 86-98. this is like that Cure "Greatest Hits" CD released in 2001, that had a bunch of random songs, missing arguably the definitive Cure song - "Pictures of You". I wouldn't go so far as to say "Blasphemous Rumours" is THE DEFINITIVE DM song, but it's a much better song than "Just Can't Get Enough".

This is definitely one of the best from Depeche Mode. Many of these songs exude creativity and emotion. They are also so believable where you can picture the lead singer David Gahan singing them to you. This is one of my favorite cds because when I first bought this cd I listened to it alot after work and its good for working out and making out. In my opinion what helps make this cd a masterpiece is many of these songs are creatively erotic and sensual but there are also some songs that appeal more to ones emotional side and spiritual side. In this cd there is something for everyone. Some of my favorites on this cd are just can't get enough, strangelove, dream on, personal jesus, people are people, walking in my shoes, and feel you. If you want a versatile cd that you can listen to on numerous occassions then your money spent on this cd is well worth it. This is is another classic that you will be happy to have bought.

Okay i know some devoted DM fans say this isn't the greatest recompilation Cd, i know, they have so many albums and so many good songs that it's impossible to include them all, but i guess there will be a volume II? hopefully...
I like this cd a lot, i think they picked the right songs, I'm a relatively new fan(like a year ago) and before this cd i bought their last work "Playing The Angel",DM are one of the few bands thay i can say have not a really bad song, they are awesome. Buy this CD you will like it, specially if you dont know them that well after listening to all this great songs you will be like okay i have to buy more cds of depeche!