1 – Michigan: Karma Shines
2 – Sea of Sin: Ride The Sky
3 – Days of Fate: Lonely People
4 – The Dignity of Labour: Liquid
5 – The Human League: Empire State Human
6 – Seven Red Seven: Thinking Of You
7 – Children Within: Headbanger
8 – Starsign: Patience
9 – Iris: The Picture
10 – State of the Union: Fall from Grace
11 – Fake the Envy: Into The Night
12 – Edenfeld: Somehow, any day
13 – Rename: Maybe later I will fall
14 – De/Vision: Dress Me When I Bleed
15 – Wolfsheim: Approaching Lightspeed
16 – The New Division: Opium
17 – Elegant Machinery: Shattered Grounds
18 – Mesh: My Perfection
19 – Decence: Speaking
20 – Frozen Plasma: Hypocrite
21 –Statemachine: Play With Passion
22 – Portland: You Are Nobody
23 – Cause & Effect: The Beginning of the End
24 – Blue Birds Refuse to Fly: Burning
25 – CHROM: Blame You
Well, what we’ve really learned, throughout this whole ordeal? That synthpop as a genre, and especially as we known today, would not properly exist without Depeche Mode. Their influence was huge throughout the world, whatever and whenever the genre is heard or played. Early Depeche Mode – most prominently their albums released from early to mid-eighties – were a significant influence on most of the acts presented on this list, mainly because the generation of the musicians in question similarly coincide (they were probably mostly teenagers when Depeche Mode began its rise to stardom). Depeche Mode albums released from the mid-eighties to early nineties have played less importance on these groups in particular – and the songs featured on this list, with a fewer exceptions – mainly because most of them had already developed their styles, although Depeche Mode as an influence in general would never stop. And we have to take into consideration the fact that these bands mostly disbanded some time along the way, while Depeche Mode’s career never stopped, although their greatest and most successful period was until the early nineties, with their glorious days going until Songs of Faith and Devotion, their 1993 rock album, that was followed by a live version released that same year. From that time on, Depeche Mode would release only one album every four years (and this is a year for Depeche Mode to a release new material: a new album, titled Spirit, is scheduled to be out in the next month [the follow up of 2013 Delta Machine]). Oh, and yes, of course, on this article we learned also that synthpop is a genre specially loved and appreciated throughout Germany. I don’t have the slightest doubt on this matter!
Wagner