Faster paced than the upcoming albums, this is my favourite Mode album. It includes classics such as People are People, Somebody (my idea of a dream relationship), and Master and Servant. This is the time when I really liked them. The album has an dance-industrial feel to it.
This, in my opinion, is their last good album. It is very intense brooding music, somewhat gothic, with songs such as World Full of Nothing, which depresses me to no end each time I listen to it, and Stripped.
This is about the time I started disliking Depeche Mode. Until now, they were a good pop band. At this point they completely sold out, just as the title says. Their music was made for the masses and not out of self-indulgence. This is seen until their last album which, through some fortuitous incident, ends up sounding remarkably creative. It does include cool tunes like Strangelove.
This album is their last one with the techno feel. The next one (Songs of Faith and Devotion) has an harder edge. While it does have a few high spots with tracks like Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence, the album is rather mediocre.
I like the hard edge they have added to this album. I lost track of Depeche Mode after Black Celebration (Music for the Masses was a title that didn't appeal to me much, along with the music). But this album is cool---it has a lot of very good tunes in it. Hopefully a lot of it will be played during their concert.