Depeche Mode

With the band settling into their roles as spokesmen for eternal adolescence, Black Celebration cements DM's knack for framing dark explorations with catchy pop hooks. Although Martin Gore's belief that there is a carnal answer to every one of life's bleak questions gets old after awhile, David Gahan's vocals and Alan Wilder's synth boinks are stronger than ever.

Routinely dismissed as a band of synth-pop robots, Depeche Mode actually uses its
machines to make some of the most human sounds around. Black Celebration is certainly
this British quartet's most melodic effort to date: the clanging disco-concrete fusion of
early LPs like Construction Time Again has mellowed into a brand of brooding, romantic
music only hinted at on last year's Some Great Reward. "I haven't felt so alive in y... More >