Over 100 million record sales… let’s just sit back and take that figure in. Suitably mind-blown? You should be. Depeche Mode have managed to achieve Goliath-like status in the fickle world of music while still being perceived in many ways as the David of the whole stand-off. Much like that infamous Biblical parable – a lesson in courage, faith, and overcoming the impossible – their story holds the dynamics for a narrative of heroic proportions: sky-scraping highs followed by bottom-of-the-barrel lows.
Next year, it’s a story that’ll become four decades long. It’s a saga that’s taken in almighty – frankly frightening – bouts of hedonism that are now writ large in rock’n’roll folklore. It’s a myth that involves epic drug binges, near-death experiences, S&M sex parties and naps in coffins. Theirs is an epic tale more overblown than most. And while no-one ever let the truth get in the way of a good story, they are a band of extremes, and it is from within the depths of those extremes that their timeless, innovative – and utterly original – music has surfaced, often against all odds. Theirs is a mighty rock, launched from a humble sling.