Riot Act

It’s time for Steve and Remfry to delve into their big box of classic albums and pull out another one of their all time favorite records. We’re going slightly off piste this week, as we delve deep into the career of electro pop innovators turned synth rock megastars Depeche Mode. In this first part, you might be surprised to learn, we have picked the band's 1987 sixth album Music For The Masses. Sandwiched between the groundbreaking Black Celebration and the commercial juggernaut of Violator, MFTM is scandalously overlooked in the DM back catalogue, and we discuss why it is the best (YOU HEARD ME, BEST) Depeche Mode album. Starting with a quick potted history of the band, and of electronic music, we look at the ongoing improvements in the studio, the increasing involvement of Alan Wilder, how the finished album started to change the perception of the band, the tour that followed the record and, of course, the huge Pasadena Rose Bowl show that cemented the band as a stadium act and was captured on the infa