Product Overview

Depeche Mode ‎– The Singles 81>85 / Sony Music Audio CD 1998 / 88883751272

Name: Depeche Mode ‎– The Singles 81>85 / Sony Music Audio CD 1998 / 88883751272
Brand: Sony Music
SKU: 888837512725
Price: 29.99 USD
Availability: InStock

UPC 888837512725

Product Details:

Label: Sony Music - 88883751272

Format: CD, Compilation+

Country: Europe

Released: 26 Oct 1998

Genre: Electronic

Style: Synth-pop

Description:

The Singles 81→85 is a greatest hits album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 14 October 1985 by Mute Records. The compilation was not originally released in North America, being replaced by its counterpart Catching Up with Depeche Mode. This was the first release to feature a picture of the band on the cover (aside from the compilation album People Are People, which was released exclusively in North America in 1984).

In 1998, to coincide with the release of The Singles 86>98, the album was reissued and remastered under the title The Singles 81>85, featuring new cover art and two bonus tracks (one of which had never appeared on an official CD to date). As of April 2006, the 1998 reissue had sold 283,000 copies in the United States.

Editorial Review:

Replacing the original Catching Up with Depeche Mode compilation, Singles 81>85 subtracts two tracks -- the lightweight curiosity "Flexible" and "Fly on the Windscreen," which surfaced to better effect on Black Celebration -- and adds two, the full six-minute remix of "Just Can't Get Enough" and the original version of "Photographic," Depeche's recording debut on a 1980 compilation album. The overall collection remains the same, though, namely, a run through the peerless singles that kept the band on the charts in the U.K. and elsewhere, as well as building up their increasing cult following in America. It's an embarrassment of riches, from such bouncy early hits as "New Life," "Just Can't Get Enough," and "The Meaning of Love" to the increasingly heavier sound of "Everything Counts," "People Are People," and "Blasphemous Rumors." Nearly all the tracks appear in the original single mixes, some quite different from their album versions, others essentially the same (the one subtle difference in "Somebody" is an echoey percussion pattern buried in the mix, for instance). Two otherwise unavailable singles also appear here: "It's Called a Heart" is pleasant enough, but "Shake the Disease" is great, an obsessive love lyric matched to a wonderful, slow dance melody and an excellent pairing of David Gahan's more aggressive and Martin Gore's gentler vocals. As an introduction to Depeche's brilliant knack for catchy tunes evolving over time into a more challenging but no less popular collection of songs, at once defining and expanding the boundaries of synth pop, look no further.

Tracklist:

1	Dreaming Of Me	3:46
2	New Life	3:45
3	Just Can't Get Enough	3:44
4	See You	3:57
5	The Meaning Of Love	3:05
6	Leave In Silence	4:02
7	Get The Balance Right	3:15
8	Everything Counts	3:59
9	Love, In Itself	4:00
10	People Are People	3:46
11	Master And Servant	3:47
12	Blasphemous Rumours	5:09
13	Somebody	4:22
14	Shake The Disease	4:49
15	It's Called A Heart	3:51
16	Photographic (Some Bizzare Version)	3:13
17	Just Can't Get Enough (Schizo Mix)	6:46

About the Band:

Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. The group as of now consists of a trio of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting), and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).

Depeche Mode released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Founding member Vince Clarke left after the release of the album; they recorded A Broken Frame as a trio. Gore took over as main songwriter and, later in 1982, Alan Wilder replaced Clarke, establishing a lineup that continued for 13 years.

The band's last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within the electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band's June 1988 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. In early 1990, they released Violator, an international mainstream success. The following album, Songs of Faith and Devotion, released in 1993, was also a success, though internal struggles within the band during recording and touring resulted in Wilder's departure in 1995.

Depeche Mode has had 54 songs in the UK Singles Chart and 17 top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Q included the band in the list of the "50 Bands That Changed the World!". Depeche Mode also ranks number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In December 2016, Billboard named Depeche Mode the 10th most successful dance club artist of all time. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and 2018, and will be inducted as part of the Class of 2020.

More Details:

Compiled By, Remastered By – Mike Marsh, Roland Brown
Design Concept, Art Direction – Mat Cook (2)
Engineer – Dave Allen (tracks: 15), Eric Radcliffe (tracks: 1 to 7, 17), Gareth Jones (tracks: 8 to 10), John Fryer (tracks: 4 to 7)
Management – Jonathan Kessler
Photography By [Photo Shoot Technician] – Lee Collins (3), P.A. Taylor
Photography By [Sleeve Photography] – Rick Guest
Photography By [Stills Production] – Elaine Macintosh
Producer – Daniel Miller (tracks: 1 to 15, 17), Depeche Mode, Gareth Jones (tracks: 11 to 14)
Written-By – M L Gore (tracks: 4 to 15), V Clarke (tracks: 1 to 3, 16, 17)