Depeche Mode: MODE (2020) [18CD Box Set]

Collecting nearly four decades of material in one stylish package, Depeche Mode delivers their most comprehensive studio collection to date with the MODE box set. A whopping 18 discs' worth of music, MODE charts the band's evolution from their debut studio recording (the pulsing synth-pop "Photographic" from the 1981 Some Bizzare Album compilation) all the way to an electronic-washed cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" recorded live during their Spirit era. All 14 of their studio albums are included, packaged in sleek and stylish black sleeves with the original artwork darkened to match. In addition to the convenience of having every LP in one place, MODE justifies its existence on the back end, with four disc's worth of material – titled M, O, D, and E, naturally – that collects 63 B-sides, remixes, standalone singles, and compilation bonus tracks. Each disc provides a great snapshot of the general era in question, bridging their pop, alternative, and electronic sides in smooth succession. While almost everything here has been available in some form somewhere else for quite some time, having it all in one place is an ideal way to discover additional period treasures and enjoy them in the proper chronological context.

×

Depeche Mode: MODE (2020) [18CD Box Set]

Close

M kicks off with Depeche Mode's earliest material with Vince Clark and slowly gets darker over the course of their first four albums (Speak & Spell, A Broken Frame, Construction Time Again, and Some Great Reward). In addition to "Photographic (Some Bizarre Version)," M also includes highlights "Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead (Flexi-Pop Mix)," "In Your Memory," "It's Called a Heart," "Shake the Disease," "Fly on the Windscreen," and "Get the Balance Right!" As the mood shifts on the second disc, O, Depeche Mode hits what is arguably their cultural peak, the triumphant span from 1986's Black Celebration to 1990's Violator. This fertile period yields some of the best bonus material on MODE, including the classical breaks "Stjarna" and "Sonata No. 14 in C#m (Moonlight Sonata)"; the moody instrumentals "Memphisto" and "Sibeling" (from the "Enjoy the Silence" singles), and fan favorites "Pleasure, Little Treasure" and "Route 66." D casts a wider net, spanning 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion all the way to 2005's late-career peak, Playing the Angel. The uneven nature of this disc is reflective of the group's real-life turbulence, as longtime member Alan Wilder made his departure and frontman Dave Gahan plummeted further into his downward spiral of addiction. While Songs only gets one moment to shine with "My Joy," the "Only When I Lose Myself" single contributes not only that non-album single (bundled with the 1998 compilation The Singles 86>98) but also a pair of other highlights ("Surrender" and "Headstar"). The expansive electronics on those latter tracks segue perfectly into their course-shifting rebirth on 2001's Exciter, which pushes the trio down an even more experimental and atmospheric path. Fans of Playing the Angel are gifted with the pulsing "Newborn" and "Martyr," so good they could have been included on the album. Closing with E, Depeche Mode quickly wraps up the bonus material with two of their less impressive albums, Sounds of the Universe (2009) and Delta Machine (2013). More than half of the tracks are mined from the Sounds deluxe box and, like the Ultra B-sides, they provide more insight into a period that might be overlooked in favor of stronger classics, but which nevertheless contains a bevy of hidden gems. The throbbing "Oh Well" is presented in two versions, all the better for this standout, while Martin Gore gets his requisite time to shine with a typically gorgeous solo moment, "The Sun and the Moon and the Stars." The set ends with the one-and-only previously unreleased song, that Bowie "Heroes" cover, which joins the famed Hansa studios alumni in a moving moment recorded in New York City during the promotion of 2017's Spirit.

Arriving the same year that these electronic trailblazers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, MODE is a monument to Depeche Mode's enduring place in modern music, a fully comprehensive career retrospective from a band that has conquered time and defined a genre.

by Neil Z. Yeung, allmusic

Tracklist CD1 - 1981 Speak & Spell:

01 New Life
02 I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead
03 Puppets
04 Boys Say Go!
05 Nodisco
06 What’s Your Name?
07 Photographic
08 Tora! Tora! Tora!
09 Big Muff
10 Any Second Now (Voices)
11 Just Can’t Get Enough




Tracklist CD2 - 1982 A Broken Frame:

01 Leave In Silence
02 My Secret Garden
03 Monument
04 Nothing To Fear
05 See You
06 Satellite
07 The Meaning Of Love
08 A Photograph Of You
09 Shouldn’t Have Done That
10 The Sun And The Rainfall




Tracklist CD3 - 1983 Construction Time Again:

01 Love, In Itself
02 More Than A Party
03 Pipeline
04 Everything Counts
05 Two Minute Warning
06 Shame
07 The Landscape Is Changing
08 Told You So
09 And Then…
10 Everything Counts (Reprise)




Tracklist CD4 - 1984 Some Great Reward:

01 Something To Do
02 Lie To Me
03 People Are People
04 It Doesn’t Matter
05 Stories Of Old
06 Somebody
07 Master And Servant
08 If You Want
09 Blasphemous Rumours




Tracklist CD5 - 1986 Black Celebration:

01 Black Celebration
02 Fly On The Windscreen (Final)
03 A Question Of Lust
04 Sometimes
05 It Doesn’t Matter Two
06 A Question Of Time
07 Stripped
08 Here Is The House
09 World Full Of Nothing
10 Dressed In Black
11 New Dress




Tracklist CD6 - 1987 Music For The Masses:

01 Never Let Me Down Again
02 The Things You Said
03 Strangelove
04 Sacred
05 Little 15
06 Behind The Wheel
07 I Want You Now
08 To Have And To Hold
09 Nothing
10 Pimpf




Tracklist CD7 - 1990 Violator:

2 Sweetest Perfection
03 Personal Jesus
04 Halo
05 Waiting For The Night
06 Enjoy The Silence
07 Policy Of Truth
08 Blue Dress
09 Clean




Tracklist CD8 - 1993 Songs Of Faith And Devotion:

01 I Feel You
02 Walking In My Shoes
03 Condemnation
04 Mercy In You
05 Judas
06 In Your Room
07 Get Right With Me
08 Rush
09 One Caress
10 Higher Love




Tracklist CD9 - 1997 Ultra:

01 Barrel Of A Gun
02 The Love Thieves
03 Home
04 It’s No Good
05 Uselink
06 Useless
07 Sister Of Night
08 Jazz Thieves
09 Freestate
10 The Bottom Line
11 Insight
12 Junior Painkiller




Tracklist CD10 - 2001 Exciter:

01 Dream On
02 Shine
03 The Sweetest Condition
04 When The Body Speaks
05 The Dead Of Night
06 Lovetheme
07 Freelove
08 Comatose
09 I Feel Loved
10 Breathe
11 Easy Tiger
12 I Am You
13 Goodnight Lovers




Tracklist CD11 - 2005 Playing The Angel:

01 A Pain That I’m Used To
02 John The Revelator
03 Suffer Well
04 The Sinner In Me
05 Precious
06 Macro
07 I Want It All
08 Nothing’s Impossible
09 Introspectre
10 Damaged People
11 Lilian
12 The Darkest Star




Tracklist CD12 - 2009 Sounds Of The Universe:

2 Hole To Feed
03 Wrong
04 Fragile Tension
05 Little Soul
06 In Sympathy
07 Peace
08 Come Back
09 Spacewalker
10 Perfect
11 Miles Away / The Truth Is
12 Jezebel
13 Corrupt




Tracklist CD13 - 2013 Delta Machine:

01 Welcome To My World
02 Angel
03 Heaven
04 Secret To The End
05 My Little Universe
06 Slow
07 Broken
08 The Child Inside
09 Soft Touch / Raw Nerve
10 Should Be Higher
11 Alone
12 Soothe My Soul
13 Goodbye




Tracklist CD14 - 2017 Spirit:

01 Going Backwards
02 Where’s The Revolution
03 The Worst Crime
04 Scum
05 You Move
06 Cover Me
07 Eternal
08 Poison Heart
09 So Much Love
10 Poorman
11 No More (This Is The Last Time)
12 Fail




Tracklist CD15 - 2020 M: 1981-1985:

01 Photographic (Some Bizarre Version)
02 Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead (Flexi-Pop Version)
03 Dreaming Of Me
04 Ice Machine (Single Version)
05 Shout! (Single Version)
06 Any Second Now (Single Version)
07 Now, This Is Fun (Single Version)
08 Oberkorn (It’s A Small Town) (Single Mix)
09 My Secret Garden (Excerpts From)
10 My Secret Garden (Further Excerpts From)
11 Get The Balance Right! (Single Version)
12 The Great Outdoors!
13 Work Hard (Single Version)
14 Fools (Single Version)
15 In Your Memory (Single Version)
16 (Set Me Free) Remotivate Me (Single Version)
17 Shake The Disease (Single Version)
18 Flexible (Single Version)
19 It’s Called A Heart (Single Version)
20 Fly On The Windscreen




Tracklist CD16 - 2020 O: 1986-1990:

01 Dressed In Black (Record Mirror Version)
02 But Not Tonight (UK Single Version)
03 Breathing In Fumes
04 Black Day
05 Christmas Island (Single Version)
06 Agent Orange
07 Fpmip
08 Pleasure, Little Treasure (Single Version)
09 Route 66 (Single Version)
10 Stjarna
11 Sonata No. 14 In C#m (Moonlight Sonata)
12 Dangerous (Single Version)
13 Memphisto
14 Sibeling
15 Kaleid (Single Version)
16 Happiest Girl (Jack Mix)
17 Sea Of Sin (Tonal Mix)




Tracklist CD17 - 2020 D: 1993-2005:

01 My Joy (Seven Inch Mix)
02 Death’s Door (Soundtrack Version)
03 Death’s Door (Jazz Mix)
04 Slowblow (Single Version)
05 Painkiller (Single Version)
06 Only When I Lose Myself
07 Surrender (Single Version)
08 Headstar (Single Version)
09 Easy Tiger (Full Version)
10 Dirt
11 Zenstation (Single Version)
12 Free
13 Newborn (Single Version)
14 Better Days (Single Version)
15 Martyr (Single Version)




Tracklist CD18 - 2020 E: 2006-2017:

01 Oh Well (Single Version)
02 Oh Well
03 Light
04 The Sun And The Moon And The Stars
05 Ghost
06 Esque
07 Long Time Lie
08 Happens All The Time Always
09 All That’s Mine
10 Heroes (Highline Session Version)



All thanks go to ALLexxess