There are a lot of great bands that took a hard shift in their sound at some point in their career. Sometimes it destroys them and sometimes it saves them. In the case of Depeche Mode, their switch from 80's dance pop to a darker, more experimental sound rescued them from the growing obscurity of synthesizer-based acts at the end of the decade. By making a niche for themselves in a less techno-industrial corner of electronic music, the band went from being the best in their genre to creating an entirely new soundscape.

• Freelove

2001 saw the release of Exciter, Depeche Mode's first album in four years. It was their bid to return from pending irrelevance. It featured a clean and sober Dave Gahan and a strangely of-the-time sound. The album is a bit too lopsided to be called a proper comeback, but it still hit a respectable place on the charts.

• I Feel Loved
• In Your Room
• Mercy in You

The early 90's were good years to be a Depeche Mode fan. They released Violator in 1990 followed by Songs of Faith and Devotion in 1992. Those just happen to be the two strongest albums in the band's entire catalogue.

• Never Let Me Down Again
• Nothing

1987's Music For The Masses is rather ironically titled. It is easily the most artsy, inaccessible album Depeche Mode ever produced. The whole thing is like a deep breath before the blast that would be the next five years of their career.

• One Caress
• It's No Good

1997's Ultra came on the heels of the most troubled period in Depeche Mode's history. Long-time chief songwriter Alan Wilder left the band in 1995, Dave Gahan had a heroin addiction that nearly killed him and he even attempted suicide before finally entering rehab. Much of Ultra is marked by the sound of a band on the verge of falling apart. Gahan's voice hadn't yet recovered from his drug abuse and the songwriting just isn't as solid. Many critics and listeners called Ultra the whimpering swan song of Depeche Mode.

• World in My Eyes
• Personal Jesus

But before all of the mess in the mid-90's, Depeche Mode knocked off more than a few socks with a perfect little album called Violator. This is really the Depeche Mode album. It's a nice combination of dance tracks, contemplative electro-ballads and dark romanticism.

• Waiting for the Night
• Policy of Truth
• Enjoy the Silence

Depeche Mode's biggest hit to date. It's one of the great love songs of our time and I have yet to hear a decent cover of it by a major artist. The only cover of "Enjoy the Silence" I've ever heard that was even competent was done by someone over at the Somethingawful.com forums, of all places. Regardless, this track is a classic. It was the first Depeche Mode song I ever heard and it's what made me seek them out in the first place.

• Fragile Tension
• John the Revelator

Though Depeche Mode intended 2001's Exciter to be their comeback album, there's a lot more interesting stuff going on in Playing The Angel from 2005. The songwriting is more distributed through the remaining members of the band, so there's a better sense of the band as a band, not just a standout individual taking turns with another.

• Miles Away
• Nothing's Impossible
• Peace
• Perfect
• Wrong

And so we end with the first single from Depeche Mode's most recent album, Sounds of the Universe, released just last month. Sounds is easily the most vital album the band has released in over a decade and hopefully a sign of things to come. It's strangely tight and powerful for a record released by a 30-year-old band.

Depeche Mode is nothing if not an example of resilience. While most of the great synth acts of the 1980's have long gone the way of the dinosaur, Depeche Mode has continued to make good music. They've yet to abandon their unique edge just as they've yet to grow redundant.