Customer Rating:  
Summary: A Good Starting Point
Comment: DM have gone through many distinct phases since their inception at the beginning of the 1980's. This compilation CD, while not "perfect" by the standards of serious fanatics--how could it be?--is a good place to start when you're just trying to get a feel for the band's sound.
Unlike the two singles compilations released in 1998, the tracks here are sequenced to showcase the band's diverse history rather than a chronological progression. "Personal Jesus" was not DM's first single, but it did become their most recognizable hit of all time. It also grandfathered a series of songs that pay homage to it later in the band's career. Try listening to the bluesy guitar riff in "Jesus" and then "I Feel You," "Dream On," "Suffer Well," and "Martyr." The lineage should be clear even to casual listeners.
But there are of course other strains of Depeche Mode, and that's why "Just Can't Get Enough" is such a shock when sequenced back to back with "Personal Jesus." Who knew that the same band was capable of bouncy bubble gum pop on the one hand, and a monument to God, Elvis, and Kraftwerk on the other? That's the trick to Depeche Mode: it lies somewhere between Johnny Cash and A-ha, biblical allusion and trendy disposability, tortured guitars and Moog synthesizers. No wonder many people don't really know what to think about this band. There are identifiable waypoints along this tangled path: try sequencing the sincerity of "See You" and the menace of "Never Let Me Down Again" between those polar opposites, and maybe you get something close to a straight line from point A to B.
For a while DM was about pushing the buttons of the BBC. Nowadays, when a song about being bi-curious hits number one on the charts, "Master and Servant" might seem quite acceptably deviant. But in 1984 it was a kind of firebomb tossed on pop music, and when you consider other politically- and culturally-charged salvos of the time such as "Everything Counts," "People Are People," and "Strangelove," you can see why Depeche Mode has sometimes been synonymous with subversion.
But when all is said and done, what might be best about Depeche Mode is its pensiveness, its navel-gazing, its proclivity for being romantic and emotionally distant at the same time. Hence "Enjoy the Silence" and "Shake the Disease." "I'm not going down on my knees," Martin Gore writes, "begging you to adore me." And he still manages to come off as hopelessly in love and terrified of being hopelessly out of love all over again. Which leads quite naturally to the pained confessions of weakness and defeat in "Walking in My Shoes" and "Precious." It's never cut and dried, never direct and easy for this band when it comes to attachments, and that's a big part of its lasting appeal.
There aren't many acts in music that can display such longevity and varied success in its catalogue, but Depeche Mode is one of them. And that's the story this disc tells as effectively as it realistically could in less than eighty minutes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: pointless!
Comment: Ok, I just bought Singles 86-98, which has one disc of good++ music and one disc I don't care for. I would have thought this compilation would have been a good way to occupy the blank space on the jewel case after I throw out Disc 2 of Singles 86-98, but this compilation DOES NOT have "Blasphemous Rumours", which is the only good song missing from Singles 86-98. this is like that Cure "Greatest Hits" CD released in 2001, that had a bunch of random songs, missing arguably the definitive Cure song - "Pictures of You". I wouldn't go so far as to say "Blasphemous Rumours" is THE DEFINITIVE DM song, but it's a much better song than "Just Can't Get Enough".
Customer Rating:
Summary: Definitely some of their best songs
Comment: This is definitely one of the best from Depeche Mode. Many of these songs exude creativity and emotion. They are also so believable where you can picture the lead singer David Gahan singing them to you. This is one of my favorite cds because when I first bought this cd I listened to it alot after work and its good for working out and making out. In my opinion what helps make this cd a masterpiece is many of these songs are creatively erotic and sensual but there are also some songs that appeal more to ones emotional side and spiritual side. In this cd there is something for everyone. Some of my favorites on this cd are just can't get enough, strangelove, dream on, personal jesus, people are people, walking in my shoes, and feel you. If you want a versatile cd that you can listen to on numerous occassions then your money spent on this cd is well worth it. This is is another classic that you will be happy to have bought.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great... awesome!
Comment: Okay i know some devoted DM fans say this isn't the greatest recompilation Cd, i know, they have so many albums and so many good songs that it's impossible to include them all, but i guess there will be a volume II? hopefully...
I like this cd a lot, i think they picked the right songs, I'm a relatively new fan(like a year ago) and before this cd i bought their last work "Playing The Angel",DM are one of the few bands thay i can say have not a really bad song, they are awesome. Buy this CD you will like it, specially if you dont know them that well after listening to all this great songs you will be like okay i have to buy more cds of depeche!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Depeche Mode - The Best Of Volume 1
Comment: I feel it would be pretty difficult to compile all the Depeche Mode hits onto a single disc, and I was right. Obviously there are some missing tracks on here, and maybe a few that could have been left off, but I understand that you just can not appease everyone. I do think that this is a great representation of their career however, and it is a very impressive career so that was no small feat. This would be a great place for people new to the band to start, as you could get a taste of their many facets, and as a long time fan, I can also appreciate many of my favorites being in one convenient place. Excellent compilation.
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