Back in January, I noted that Apple had teamed up with Depeche Mode to offer an ultimate collection of songs through iTunes, capturing all of the band's albums, plus previously unreleased live recordings and remixes, delivering 647 songs for "only" $169.99, approximately 26 cents per track, down almost 75% from the typical 99 cent price. After six months of trying to be good, I took the plunge last week, and finally bought it. Now, I'm in Depeche Mode heaven, listening to song after song, hour after hour of some of the best music ever - trying to remember note for note, word for word, each of the songs I first held dear on long-since discarded cassette tapes over the last two decades.Now, I'm re-acquainting myself with lesser-known excellent tracks from Depeche Mode like "Work Hard", "Dangerous", "Kaleid", "Route 66", "Oberkorn", and "Behind the Wheel", in addition to those that have gained the most airtime, like "Policy of Truth", "Personal Jesus", "People are People" and "Somebody". Like any good snob, it's the ones that didn't get the radio play that I like the best. (See my Last.FM track list for live updates)
Depeche Mode helped bridge the gap between electronic pioneers Kraftwerk and the DJs and techno artists of today like DJ Tiesto, Underworld and Chemical Brothers. Their songs, some a decade or two old, are just as good as the day they first hit vinyl. And having already approved payment for this latest splurge on my credit card, I have no regrets.