A couple weeks ago, Depeche Mode released a new album, Sounds of the Universe. The band has been going, in some form, for 30 years now and so it's more than a little impressive that they managed to stay vital. I thought this would be an appropriate time to use Artists Condensed to give Depeche Mode a guided retrospective. Though in that regard they've released a number of really good Greatest Hits compilations that go deeper than just the singles.

I had something of a debate about how to properly divide the two Condensed CD's I made for this week. Depeche Mode is certainly an electronic act, but they can't exactly be called a pure dance music band. Of course, dividing the compilations by dance and non-dance wouldn't properly demonstrate how the band transformed in the late 80's, which is arguably more important than their mix of club music and art-pop. Ultimately, I went for a chronological division. Today's entry deals with Depeche Mode prior to 1987. It's not the cleanest break in the world, but it's what had to be done to avoid the second CD growing into a monster. It's already pretty heavy at 20 tracks in length.

• Just Can't Get Enough

I came to Depeche Mode backward. I fell in love with the dark, emotionally intense music that made the band famous, then came to find their sunnier, poppier sound as a matter of course. When I first heard "Just Can't Get Enough" I was absolutely floored. How could the darlings of the goth club dance floor produce such borderline-goofy bubblegum? Placed in the context of early electronic music this stuff is revolutionary, but to a teenager without much musical knowledge prior to 1990 this kind of contrast is jarring.

• My Secret Garden
• Nothing to Fear
• Shouldn't Have Done That

I believe the reason that Depeche Mode has survived longer and more respectably than most of their synthesizer-focused contemporaries is because they are, at the heart of it, more of an art project than a pop group.

• Black Celebration

The thing that strikes me about this earliest of what most would consider a typical Depeche Mode track is that it fits very snugly with much of what was going on in the 80's. It's not terribly subversive or unusual, but the artistry of the instrumentation and Dave Gahan's dark lyrics set it apart from the crowd.

• Stripped

Of course, "Stripped" comes from the same album as the above and it's a completely different story. It's a little industrial, a little dance and even a little rock. It's one of the sexiest songs I've ever heard, but it's also a bit menacing. Basically, it's Depeche Mode in a beautifully synthetic nutshell.

• World Full of Nothing
• Dressed in Black

I consider Black Celebration to be Depeche Mode's first great front-to-back album. It has a cohesive sound without sacrificing variety. It wouldn't be the last to achieve this and not even the best, but at the very least it sounds like Depeche Mode becoming Depeche Mode.

• New Dress
• Everything Counts
• And Then...
• Lie To Me
• People Are People

Really, the only reason this is here is because it's the song that made Depeche Mode a hit in the States. It's not a bad song, but there are better tracks in the same style from this period. Like the below.

• New Life
• Nodisco
• Blasphemous Rumors

Much of Depeche Mode's music has been punctuated by Dave Gahan's conflicted lyrics, often stemming from his troubled life. They're more often bitter questions than outright attacks, but their audible clarity brings the challenge of faith and survival directly to the listener. The only thing left to determine is the level of irony and humor lurking beneath the bleakness.

I'll be back later this week to get into the thick of Depeche Mode's most satisfying period, as well as their near dissolve and triumphant return. Until then, listen well.