Black Celebration  by Depeche Mode

The fifth studio album by Depeche Mode comes two years after their last work and is none other than Black Celebration in 1986. From now on, everything changes. Depeche Mode take their compositions very seriously and begin their journey toward their musical maturity. Producer Daniel Miller manages to convey the darkness that Martin Gore had delivered to him in the demos he had prepared. The synth-pop of the '80s gains with this album one of its best albums.

Even the cover plays its role and prepares you to know that you will not hear something easy and digestible. The album is full of audio samples that Depeche Mode themselves created, staying true to their belief that they did not want to borrow anything from others.

The album was also a great commercial success, not in Britain, but everywhere else. Indicatively, the 60,000 copies sold in Britain could not compare to the 500,000 in the U.S. or Germany, nor to the 100,000 in France. The Black Celebration promotion tour even took them to Japan for three performances (!)