I think my favorite is A Broken Frame. "My Secret Garden" is just a right brilliant song and I think it's when their music was the freshest.  8)

I think by the time Black Celebration came out they were starting to decline a bit in quality, the best Depeche was from 1981 to 1984 IMO. Their transition from a bubbly New Romantic outfit to thoughtful synthpop to dark wave is pretty interesting.

I think their downfall was when they started adding guitars, in my opinion Music For The Masses, while good, was a hint at what was to come after Violator, ie alt-rock mediocrity. I mean WTF wants to hear Depeche Mode music with guitars?

You missed People Are People (1984), Catching Up With Depeche Mode (1985) and 101 (1989).  I know why you didn't include them, but FTR, People Are People was the album where the title track reached the US charts and Catching Up (titled The Singles 81-85 for the world outside of North America) had 2 new songs.

I didn't like Music For the Masses.  Many DM fans regard it as one of their greatest albums, but of the 6 studio albums they put out in the 80s, I'd rank it 6th.  'A Broken Frame' is my favourite and always has been

You missed People Are People (1984), Catching Up With Depeche Mode (1985) and 101 (1989).  I know why you didn't include them, but FTR, People Are People was the album where the title track reached the US charts and Catching Up (titled The Singles 81-85 for the world outside of North America) had 2 new songs.

I didn't like Music For the Masses.  Many DM fans regard it as one of their greatest albums, but of the 6 studio albums they put out in the 80s, I'd rank it 6th.  'A Broken Frame' is my favourite and always has been


Oh yeah true. I was kind of debating whether I should include them, but I really wanted to focus on the meat and potatoes/real albums.

I agree about Music For The Masses. I like about half of the songs on there, "Sacred" and "Never Let Me Down Again" stick out, but I feel like it's probably the worst album they did until they went grunge with Songs of Faith of Devotion. Like I said I just don't like Depeche Mode with guitar and I found the album was a bit pretentious. Songwriting wasn't quite as good either and the synths were more forgettable.

Violator from 1990 was a bit of a step back towards their old style, and it's better than Music for the Masses but I actually think it's overrated too. The tracks don't seem as substantial as their early work for some reason, though "Enjoy the Silence" and "Policy of Truth" are amazing songs.

A Broken Frame was perfect because they ditched Vince Clarke's awful lyric writing, had gotten more talented as musicians but weren't gothic yet. Construction Time Again was good but had some dull moments ("Pipeline" sucks imo), Some Great Reward was a lot better.

Speak N Spell.  1981.  I don't know why?

A tie between A Broken Flame and Music for the Masses, but I have to learn towards A Broken Flame.  But Music For the Masses has some excellent songs.....

I agree about "My Secret Garden" in all its manifestations.  Still crazy about "A Broken Frame."

I think Black Celebration was their apogee.  It retained the crisp robotic synth-pop of their earlier records while introducing more lush textures and a stormy moodiness.  I'm thinking of "Black Celebration," "Sometimes," "World Full of Nothing," and "Here is the House," especially. 

I was a rabid Depeche Mode fan in the eighties, starting with "Some Great Reward" and the "People Are People" compilation.  Then I bought up their earlier stuff.  I remember being initially disappointed by the new tracks on "Catching Up," so "Black Celebration" being so tremendous was a nice surprise. 

"Music for the Masses" is a terrific album, but it didn't have quite the same magic as BC.  "Behind the Wheel/Route 66" was a bad harbinger of DM becoming an Americanized rock group with the emphasis taken from Martin and Alan's songs to Dave's butt. 
::)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW58H8Ai7Q8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLPdFr2yMMs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI4ueItsJUw