Best Depeche Mode Music Videos: Four Decades of Visual Innovation

The early 1980s were a time of experimentation in many creative fields, but arguably nowhere more so than in music. Synthesizers, which had gained prominence in the 1970s through artists such as Queen and Stevie Wonder, reshaped how songs were written and produced. Then, in 1981, MTV added a powerful new element: visuals. From that point on, sounding good was no longer enough — artists also had to translate their identity to the screen.

If there's one band that symbolizes both the electronic and video revolutions that took place in the music world over four decades ago, it's Depeche Mode. What started as a group of schoolboys experimenting with new sounds on their cheap synthesizers quickly became a global phenomenon, and their music videos played a huge part in that. Stay with us as we explore their visual and musical journey.

Depeche Mode had the good fortune of starting at the right time. Since videos and electronic synth-based music were relatively new to the mainstream, no one really knew what they were doing. Artists were taking shots in the dark to see what worked and what didn't, with results ranging from embarrassing to spectacular.

Their debut video, 1981's "Just Can't Get Enough," is the perfect example. It starts with a close-up of a keyboard and then switches to a close-up of Dave Gahan's teenage face. While he may have looked 14, his voice already had the instantly recognizable depth that makes even casual fans know a Depeche Mode song after a few seconds. It was also the first and only music video to feature Vince Clarke, who left the band shortly afterward and later became a part of another successful synth-pop band, Erasure.

Their next video was for the song "See You." Released a year later, it mostly shows Gahan walking around a department store with the other band members featured in the background. Everything about it is quintessential early '80s synth pop, with the band adopting a clean-cut image that they would eventually shed later. "The Meaning of Love" and "Leave in Silence" were released the same year, with the band still looking young, clean, and fresh. However, the videos gradually became more visually innovative and experimental.

Depeche Mode's stylistic shift from looking just like any other '80s synth-pop band to having a unique visual identity started to happen when they began working with Dutch director Anton Corbijn. Their first collaboration was for 1987's "Strangelove" video, and the most instantly noticeable difference was the darker overall look and feel, accentuated by black-and-white shots. With both the band's look and sound being significantly more mature than on their early work, this was the beginning of the band's artistic and visual peak.

By the late 1980s, the band was firing on all cylinders and had become a household name worldwide. The first single off their Violator record was "Personal Jesus," which was also directed by Corbijn. It featured the same dark look and occasional black-and-white shots as their previous collaborations and showcases the band parodying American cowboys in a desert landscape. It made its way to No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking their first success across the pond.

"Enjoy the Silence" followed in February of 1990. By then, the black-and-white, grainy visuals were an integral part of the band's identity, mostly due to Corbijn's vision. It shows frontman Gahan wandering up a mountain dressed as a king and holding a beach chair, with occasional black-and-white shots of the whole band.

As the band evolved over the years, so did their music videos. However, the style they developed during the years they worked with Corbijn remained ever-present. This is probably most obvious in their 2009 video, "Wrong." It starts by showing a driverless Ford Crown Victoria going backward in downtown Los Angeles and eventually reveals an unconscious man in a latex mask lying in the front seat. As he regains consciousness, he desperately tries to stop the vehicle and is eventually rammed by a pickup truck, with police sirens in the background.

We conclude by counting down the band's five most iconic videos. While the list is subjective and open to debate, it's based on general feedback from fans and critics over the years:

The video era gave some bands wings, while severely crippling others. The fact that Depeche Mode is in the first category is beyond a shadow of a doubt, with few bands managing to visually capture the essence of their sound and lyrics quite like the English synth-pop pioneers. Even in recent years, their music videos retain the specific feel that was introduced by director Corbijn while still somehow looking fresh and innovative. We don't know what the future has in store, but we hope it includes new music and videos from Depeche Mode.