Quite often upon the dawn of a new decade, you tend to hear music or even entire genres of music pop up that define the era. In the ’70s, you had Black Sabbath giving birth to entire metal subgenres (and the genre itself), and in the ’80s you had new wave. What did the ’90s bring? Just about everything was fair game – alternative metal, grunge, teen pop, hip-hop, and of course, more electronic and synth-pop music. While it’s certainly true that the latter two (especially Depeche Mode) had established themselves early in the previous decade, new recording technology was developing to the point where electronic-based music was able to develop exceedingly fast. That’s one of the reasons why you hear a huge difference in The Cure and Depeche Mode’s early material to the classic albums they released, like Disintegration and Violator. Especially the latter, which was released March 19th, 1990. But most of all, it was just great songwriting.
Buoyed by some of the band’s most popular hits like “Enjoy The Silence”, “Policy Of Truth”, and “Personal Jesus”, this Depeche Mode album simply exploded the band’s fanbase. It’s not surprising, in retrospect. Compared to previous works, it really does sound like the dawn of a new decade, one that, alongside NIN’s Pretty Hate Machine, helped synth-pop emerge alongside other alternative genres of the era.
The album also ended up being the band’s breakthrough in North America, setting the stage for future albums to sell even more copies. And the best thing about the album? It’s not even a record dominated by its singles, because you have other underrated gems like “Halo” and the lengthy but rewarding “Waiting For The Night”. A dark album, sure, but one that you could dance to.
