Depeche Mode - The Singles 81>98

Seventeen years of singles across three discs, and the striking thing is how completely the band remade itself over that span without ever quite abandoning what it started as. The Singles 81>98 collects the whole run, from four teenagers in Basildon with borrowed synthesisers to a stadium act in leather trousers.

Disc one belongs largely to Vince Clarke and the immediate aftermath of his departure: "Dreaming Of Me," "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough" are pure bubblegum electronics, and then Martin Gore takes over the writing and things get darker almost immediately with "Leave In Silence" and "Everything Counts." Disc two covers the imperial phase, "Stripped," "Never Let Me Down Again," "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy The Silence" and "Policy Of Truth," and if you want to understand why Depeche Mode filled the Rose Bowl this is the disc. Disc three tracks the band through addiction, near collapse and the guitar heavy Songs Of Faith And Devotion era, ending on "Only When I Lose Myself."

Alan Wilder's production shaped most of what is here and he left in 1995, which the sequencing makes audible. Remastered throughout.

Three CD box set on Mute and Sony Music, combining The Singles 81>85 and The Singles 86>98 in one package.