I definitely consider Depeche Mode an Eighties band, but they have some '90s cred too.

Depeche Mode has been around since the early 80s.  They're 80s, 90s, and 00s. 

^ Absolutely right, Sm. O0 They've released music in all three decades...and had some good stuff. 8)

'80s...but their Violator period was an important part of the transition from dance-pop/dance-oriented electronic new wave to "electronica"/house, along with Madonna's "Vogue."

They've released songs in the 80s, 90s & 00s. They aren't strictly an 80s, 90s or 00s band.

Technically both, if we're just talking about release dates, but as far as what they're defined, I'd call them a "1990ish" Home Alone-era band. That's when "Enjoy the Silence" came out (my favorite song of theirs, actually the only one I know off the top of my head).

Eighties...and then skip ahead to "Playing the Angel"!
8)

80's, which I think they were more popular

Eighties...and then skip ahead to "Playing the Angel"!
8)


You got that right 8)

80s 80s 80s

They are a band that transcends time and label.

80's, which I think they were more popular

They were more innovative in the '80s. The band was at its creative zenith in the 1983--1987 period. That's when Martin Gore's Einsturzende Neubauten influence was most evident. That's when they took the most creative approach with creating music from processed found sounds and things like that. The following albums and their adjunct singles:

Construction Time Again
People Are People (U.S. only)
Some Great Reward
Catching Up With...Depeche Mode
Black Celebration
Music For The Masses

I did like the "Violator" album, primarily the two big hits. The rest of it was kind of lackluster. "Personal Jesus" is one of DM's best songs. I got disgusted with Dave Gahan's ham-handed attempt to cash in on Grunge. He tried to claim there was always a lot of "Grunge" in DM. Huh? Again, I did like several songs from the "Songs of Faith and Devotion" period, but I had to pretend they weren't by Depeche Mode!

I would say DM's zenith of popularity was Violator. After 101 they were famous on the level of U2. The problem is the group began to disintegrate. The lads were split between London and Los Angeles. The obsession was selling and touring, not making interesting music.

Apparently, DMs popularity in Europe and Asia remaind fairly constant. In Britain and Europe, the boring albums like "Exciter" and "Ultra" didn't do as well. I thought the band was toast after Alan Wilder* left...and they were in a creative sense. A lot of bands would have just broken up. It looked like Dave was either going to die from a heroin overdose or commit suicide. Prospects seemed bleak to me. After the turn of the millennium, I had written them off completely. I heard the next album was going to be more "rock-oriented," and Dave was writing some of the songs, and thought, "here we go again with mullets and bad guitar riffs. Then the "Playing the Angel" album came out and sent me reeling over backwards! It was a return to the sound that made DM great...possibly the best album since their early period peaked with "Black Celebration."

*Alan Wilder needs a band. Recoil is a producer-driven project. It's Wilder and guests. Sort of like what Anton Fier has with Golden Palominos (or what Vince Clarke wanted to do with The Assembly). The problem with producer-drven work is it tends to be glossy but flat. Wilder's talents would be better served as part of a band with a long-term musical relationship.

They were more innovative in the '80s. The band was at its creative zenith in the 1983--1987 period. That's when Martin Gore's Einsturzende Neubauten influence was most evident. That's when they took the most creative approach with creating music from processed found sounds and things like that. The following albums and their adjunct singles:

Construction Time Again
People Are People (U.S. only)
Some Great Reward
Catching Up With...Depeche Mode
Black Celebration
Music For The Masses

I did like the "Violator" album, primarily the two big hits. The rest of it was kind of lackluster. "Personal Jesus" is one of DM's best songs. I got disgusted with Dave Gahan's ham-handed attempt to cash in on Grunge. He tried to claim there was always a lot of "Grunge" in DM. Huh? Again, I did like several songs from the "Songs of Faith and Devotion" period, but I had to pretend they weren't by Depeche Mode!

I would say DM's zenith of popularity was Violator. After 101 they were famous on the level of U2. The problem is the group began to disintegrate. The lads were split between London and Los Angeles. The obsession was selling and touring, not making interesting music.

Apparently, DMs popularity in Europe and Asia remaind fairly constant. In Britain and Europe, the boring albums like "Exciter" and "Ultra" didn't do as well. I thought the band was toast after Alan Wilder* left...and they were in a creative sense. A lot of bands would have just broken up. It looked like Dave was either going to die from a heroin overdose or commit suicide. Prospects seemed bleak to me. After the turn of the millennium, I had written them off completely. I heard the next album was going to be more "rock-oriented," and Dave was writing some of the songs, and thought, "here we go again with mullets and bad guitar riffs. Then the "Playing the Angel" album came out and sent me reeling over backwards! It was a return to the sound that made DM great...possibly the best album since their early period peaked with "Black Celebration."

*Alan Wilder needs a band. Recoil is a producer-driven project. It's Wilder and guests. Sort of like what Anton Fier has with Golden Palominos (or what Vince Clarke wanted to do with The Assembly). The problem with producer-drven work is it tends to be glossy but flat. Wilder's talents would be better served as part of a band with a long-term musical relationship.


Max, I've heard you say Grunge started coming in around 1989-1990. How so? The only platinum selling Grunge album prior to Nevermind was Alice in Chain's debut, and that was quite held over from '80s metal anyway.  I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm asking why you think Grunge was big even during the Violator era.

Max, I've heard you say Grunge started coming in around 1989-1990. How so? The only platinum selling Grunge album prior to Nevermind was Alice in Chain's debut, and that was quite held over from '80s metal anyway.  I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm asking why you think Grunge was big even during the Violator era.

It was not until "Songs of Faith and Devotion" in 1993 that David Gahan adopted a Grunge persona and tried to push DM as a Grunge band. Grunge was big on the "indie" scene and on college radio since the early '80s. It was not called "Grunge."
I would say The Melvins, The Fastbacks, the Minutemen/Firehose, the Fartz, Sound Garden, Green River and Mother Love Bone (both pre-Mudhoney Mudhoney projects), UMen, The Accused, Sound Garden, Bad Brains, and Sonic Youth were either Grunge, or Grunge-influential in the '80s. A lot of the Seattle credit comes from lesser-known bands in the '80s playing the Seattle--Olympia axis. Some of these made up the early catalogs of Sub Pop (Seattle) and K Records (Olympia). Whether it was Mark Arm of Mudhoney or Jonathan Poneman of Sub Pop who first used the term "Grunge" to describe the musical style is in dispute.
I do forget the "Grunge" as a music style only became a household word in 1991. I had certainly heard of the seminal bands, including Nirvana and Alice In Chains by 1990. In fact, the first "Grunge" record I heard was a compilation my sister (who was attending Evergreen State in Olympia) sent me in '86 called "Let's Sea" from K Records. I hated every minute of it. If I kept that early K Records cassette, it might have become worth big bucks. Then again, maybe not.
I credit Grunge with killing my interest in pop music by 1991, thus forcing me to redirect my tastes, which eventually led me to the electroacoustic, experimental, aleatoric,  and avant-garde chamber musics I'm still passionate about today!

It was not until "Songs of Faith and Devotion" in 1993 that David Gahan adopted a Grunge persona and tried to push DM as a Grunge band. Grunge was big on the "indie" scene and on college radio since the early '80s. It was not called "Grunge."
I would say The Melvins, The Fastbacks, the Minutemen/Firehose, the Fartz, Sound Garden, Green River and Mother Love Bone (both pre-Mudhoney Mudhoney projects), UMen, The Accused, Sound Garden, Bad Brains, and Sonic Youth were either Grunge, or Grunge-influential in the '80s. A lot of the Seattle credit comes from lesser-known bands in the '80s playing the Seattle--Olympia axis. Some of these made up the early catalogs of Sub Pop (Seattle) and K Records (Olympia). Whether it was Mark Arm of Mudhoney or Jonathan Poneman of Sub Pop who first used the term "Grunge" to describe the musical style is in dispute.
I do forget the "Grunge" as a music style only became a household word in 1991. I had certainly heard of the seminal bands, including Nirvana and Alice In Chains by 1990. In fact, the first "Grunge" record I heard was a compilation my sister (who was attending Evergreen State in Olympia) sent me in '86 called "Let's Sea" from K Records. I hated every minute of it. If I kept that early K Records cassette, it might have become worth big bucks. Then again, maybe not.
I credit Grunge with killing my interest in pop music by 1991, thus forcing me to redirect my tastes, which eventually led me to the electroacoustic, experimental, aleatoric,  and avant-garde chamber musics I'm still passionate about today!


Would you say 1990 is the end of the '80s musical era? I've always thought 1991 and 1992 changed music a lot more, 1990 seemed more like 1989 Part 2.

Well 'New Life' was one of the first singles I bought. I love the fact Depeche mode kept evolving through the years. I would disagree with Maxwell over the albumn Ultra.They were still pretty big in the U.K at that time especially with the indie/goth crowd. They became a huge 'goth' band and toured with the Sisters of Mercy.