Depeche Mode historic 1990 album ‘Violator’ among Discogs 25 best albums in history

With a career spanning several decades and millions of albums sold around the globe, the English rock group Depeche Mode are truly icons of music and culture.  Despite their steady output and strong collection of singles, there is one album that many feel truly is the definition of their sound and style and it has earned a distinction on Discogs as one of the all-time great records ever released.

While the remaining members of Depeche Mode, Martin Gore and Dave Gahan continue to look forward, just recently releasing the group’s 15th studio and embarking on their first world tour in five years, as well as the first without founding member Andy Fletcher, who passed away in 2022.  Of course, the duo will be utilizing their tour stops to dive into that strong back catalog, delivering tracks from throughout their career and from their iconic 1990 release, Violator.  The effort, the first to be co-produced by Flood, has long been felt as the group’s most substantial effort and a high water mark for their writing and studio work, delivering one of the group’s largest singles, Personal Jesus on the album.

As the group continues to tour arenas around the globe 33 years after the release of Violator, fans new and old are still returning to this entry in the Depeche Mode catalog for some of the best synth-pop songs ever put to tape.  In a recent online poll, the popular music marketplace Discogs asked fans on social media to vote for their all-time best albums. After receiving over 40,000 responses, the results are in.  Violator made the Discogs 25 Best Albums of All Time list, coming in at the #11 spot, sandwiched between Radiohead’s In Rainbows and the debut album from Pearl Jam, Ten.

Congratulations to Depeche Mode on the honor of making the list and feel free to revisit the iconic album Violator today.

Image Credit: Anton Corbijn