PLAYING THE ANGEL

WELCOME

The sight of Martin Gore and Dave Gahan

LIFE AND DEATH

IT’S BEEN A PIVOTAL FEW YEARS FOR DEPECHE MODE: ASCENSION INTO THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME TEMPERED BY THE SUDDEN PASSING OF FOUNDING MEMBER ANDY FLETCHER. NOW THE LAST TWO STANDING, MARTIN GORE AND DAVE GAHAN, ARE BACK WITH A BOLD NEW ALBUM, PROVING THAT WHATEVER FAT E THROWS AT THEM, THE BEAT GOES ON…

MEMENTO MORI

MY COSMOS IS MINE A compelling opening, like

“IF I HAD GONE TO THE CHIP SHOP WITH FAD GADGET I WOULDN’T HAVE SEEN THEM”

THE MUTE RECORDS FOUNDER, DEPECHE MODE FINDER, FATHER FIGURE, UNOFFICIAL MEMBER, COLLABORATOR, PRODUCER AND SYNTH DONATOR LOOKS BACK AT OVER FOUR INCREDIBLE DECADES. IT’S BEEN AMAZING, IT’S BEEN CRAZY, AND THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY MOMENTS TO CELEBRATE, HE SAYS. BUT THANK GOD DANIEL MILLER DIDN’T GET A BAG OF CHIPS ON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT…

WITH OR WITHOUT YOU

VINCE CLARKE LED DEPECHE MK.1 TO INSTANT CHART SUCCESS THEN PROMPTY LEFT THE BAND TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES. CLASSIC POP EXAMINES THE GROUP, BEFORE AND AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THEIR FIRST GREAT CREATIVE FORCE – AND ON TO NEW HORIZONS…

PUTTING THE ‘POP’ IN SYNTHPOP?

AFTER MORE THAN 40 YEARS IN DEPECHE MODE, THE SAD PASSING OF ANDY FLETCHER IN 2022 LEFT THE QUESTION HE WAS MOST OFTEN ASKED LARGELY UNANSWERED: WHAT EXACTLY DID HE DO? WELL, IT TURNS OUT THAT FLETCH MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN THE ONE MEMBER WHO KEPT THE BAND ON AN ELECTRONIC POP PATH…

A BROKEN FRAME DEPECHE MODE

THEIR MAIN SONGWRITER WAS GONE, BUT WITH MARTIN GORE NOW AT THE WHEEL, DEPECHE MODE’S SECOND ALBUM WAS – ALL THINGS CONSIDERED – AN UNLIKELY SUCCESS, WITH A TRIO OF HIT SINGLES AND AS A SIGN OF THE BRIGHT FUTURE THAT LAY AHEAD…

SOME GREAT REWARD DEPECHE MODE

DEPECHE MODE’S NON-CONFORMIST FOURTH ALBUM, RECORDED AT THE HALLOWED HANSA STUDIOS IN BERLIN, JOINED THE RICH LINEAGE OF GERMAN-RECORDED POP CLASSICS – AND FINALLY BROKE THE BAND IN THE STATES

DELTA MACHINE

DEPECHE MODE

THE LANDSCAPE CHANGING

IT WAS THE PIVOTAL AND RIVETING THIRD ALBUM THAT FULLY WELCOMED NEW MEMBER ALAN WILDER INTO THE FOLD AND OPENED UP THE WORLD OF FOUND SOUNDS AND SAMPLING. CLASSIC POP TAKES A DEEP DIVE INTO CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN, HOME OF ONE OF THE BAND’S BEST-LOVED TRACKS, AND A COMPLETE OVERHAUL OF THEIR SOUND…

GLITTER IN THE GLOOM

A RETURN TO BERLIN FOR THEIR FIFTH ALBUM, BLACK CELEBRATION, SAW DEPECHE MODE ENTER FAR DARKER CLIMES. CLASSIC POP TOASTS A SHADOWY CLASSIC – AND A MILESTONE IN THEIR CAREER

TOP 40 DEEP CUTS

CLASSIC POP DELVES DEEP INTO THE SHADOWIER CORNERS OF DEPECHE MODE’S BACK CATALOGUE TO UNCOVER THE BEST OF THEIR LESSER-SPUN CREATIONS

MUSIC FOR THE MASSES

DEPECHE MODE

ADVERTISING THAT MONEY CAN’T BUY

IN THIS EXCERPT FROM THEIR SUPERB NEW DEPECHE MODE BOOK, HALO, AUTHORS DAVID MCELROY AND KEVIN MAY FIND THE GROUP AT AN INSTORE SIGNING EVENT IN LOS ANGELES IN 1990 – THE BUZZ AROUND THE BAND’S NEW ALBUM, VIOLATOR, WAS PICKING UP PACE, BUT NO ONE WAS EXPECTING RIOTS…

" IT WAS LIKE A MINI WAR ZONE "

ANDY FRANKS, (UK) PRODUCTION DIRECTOR FOR THE WORLD VIOLATION TOUR REMEMBERS THE SHOCK OF SEEING 15,000 DEPECHE MODE FANS SURROUNDING THE WHEREHOUSE

Sweetest PERFECTION

CLASSIC POP SITS DOWN WITH THE WRITING DUO BEHIND HALO, THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK THAT CHRONICLES THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE MAKING OF VIOLATOR AND THE INSANE ERA THAT SURROUNDED IT

A KINGDOM COMES " THE MOST DEBAUCHED TOUR EVER"

IN THIS EXCERPT FROM HIS ACCLAIMED 2019 BIOGRAPHY, FAITH & DEVOTION, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR IAN GITTINS RETURNS TO DEPECHE MODE’S INFAMOUS DEVOTIONAL TOUR AS THE BAND REACH NEW HEIGHTS OF HEDONISM…

GREAT REWARDS

AS INDEPENDENT RECORD LABELS GO, MUTE IS SURELY AMONGST THE MOST ICONIC AND WELL-RESPECTED UK STABLES FOR INTRODUCING A SUCCESSION OF INNOVATIVE BANDS AND ARTISTS TO THE WORLD. WE STEP INSIDE THE HOUSE THAT HAS BROUGHT US EVERYONE FROM DEPECHE MODE, YAZOO AND ERASURE TO GOLDFRAPP, MOBY AND M83

MUTE SIDE HUSTLES

MUTE HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH A HOST OF SUB-LABELS WHICH ALLOWED THEM TO CHAMPION MUSIC OUT OF THEIR NORMAL REMIT, AS WELL AS ALLOWING ACCESS INTO DIFFERENT MARKETS ACROSS THE WORLD, HERE’S THE MAIN ONES…

10 OF MUTE’S FINEST

WITH NEARLY 500 ALBUMS TO CHOOSE FROM, THERE’S DEBATE AHOY HERE, BUT HERE’S OUR SELECTION OF SOME OF MUTE’S KEY RELEASES…

ULTRA DEPECHE MODE

THAT DEPECHE MODE’S NINTH ALBUM EXISTS IS SOMEWHAT OF A MIRACLE GIVEN THE STRIFE THAT SURROUNDED ITS MAKING. BUT THE RESULT WAS ONE OF THE BAND’S BEST…

WHEN THE MACHINES ROCK

THE DEPECHE MODE SOUND HAS LARGELY BEEN BASED ON THE SYNTHS AND SAMPLERS THE BAND HAVE EMPLOYED FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES. HERE WE TRACE THE MACHINES USED, FROM EARLY MONOPHONIC SYNTHS ON BEER CRATES, THROUGH SAMPLING AND THE DIGITAL AGE, AND FULL CIRCLE RIGHT BACK TO MODERN MODULAR GEAR. THESE WERE THE MACHINES THAT PUT THE SYNTH IN SYNTH-POP…

THEIR OWN PERSONAL JESUS

IN 2006, AS DEPECHE MODE CELEBRATED A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF MUSIC MAKING, TWO FILMMAKERS TRAVELLED THE WORLD, TURNING THEIR CAMERAS NOT ON THE BAND BUT THE FANS WHO LOVE THEM MOST

SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE

DEPECHE MODE

FAITH AND DEVOTION

BAND BIOGRAPHER, DEDICATED BLOGGER AND AVID COLLECTOR DAVID MCELROY GIVES CLASSIC POP A GUIDED TOUR AROUND HIS ENVIABLE DEPECHE MODE STASH FROM CHARITY SHOP PROCUREMENTS TO A RUNDOWN OF TOUGH-TO-FIND RARITIES

WALKING IN THEIR SHOES 20 TRACKS INFLUENCED

FROM ROCK TO POP TO ELECTRONICA, DEPECHE MODE’S INFLUENCE IS UBIQUITOUS. WILL SALMON PICKS OUT 20 SONGS THAT OWE THEIR EXISTENCE TO THE BAND…

ALAN WILDER RETURNS

© Main Image: Getty/Inset: © Steve Gold/Michael Rose/Depeche