Depeche Mode: David Gahan, Andrew Fletcher, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder, Vince Clarke.

Producers: Daniel Miller, Depeche Mode, Gareth Jones.

Engineers include: Eric Radcliffe, John Fryer, Gareth Jones.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Depeche Mode in the early-1980s existed on two fronts, equally deft at crafting intricately soul-baring albums and unleashing unforgettable dance-club ready hits. THE SINGLES 1981-1985, basically an extension of the earlier set CATHING UP WITH..., focuses on the latter. In its early stages, Depeche Mode's songs were more compactly packed; Gore's lyrics still wandered through the dark recesses of the human existence, but tended for the barrage over the slowly built sucker punch. Gahan's vocals were already sinister, but there was more of an Ian Curtis stoicism to his quaver than the Leonard Cohen deep groove of the later years.

The compilation is full of songs that have gone on to become New Wave classics and dance floor staples. The synth-heavy "Just Can't Get Enough" launched a whole series of 1980s collections. "People Are People" gave the outfit its first U.S. Top 40 hit and hinted at Depeche Mode's industrial future work. "Master and Servant" with its gleefully over-the-top S&M innuendo is immediately followed by "Somebody," one of the gentlest, most affecting love songs of the decade. Ultimately, it's a collection that, with its overabundance of definitive songs of the era, simply proves the importance of the New Wave vanguards...and this only covers the first four years.

Q (10/00, p.155) - Included in Q's "Best Best Of... Albums Of All Time" - "...16 corkers in four years..."