Do not underestimate Andy's effort to make the band what it was. As far as I know, he did a lot of managing behind the scenes, which enabled DM to work largely without employing an external manager. Something like this is not really visible in the creative end product, but invaluable to it ever becoming a reality. I do, however, agree that losing Alan severly cost the band, their music and their identity. It started the period when they could no longer perform their own songs live without substantial assistance from hired tour musicians, which always felt really poor to me. And for losing a quarter of its members, the band lost much more than that fraction in quality IMHO.

I think you are picky : this is a great collection for a ridiculously low amount of money. I am sure the smell will fade if the CDs are left to air.

Words cannot adequately describe how much Depeche Mode means to me. I was born in 1983, and my first CD at 11 was Some Great Reward. Being your typical depressed middle school kid, the album deeply resonated with me. I've seen them live four times as an adult, and as much as I still love them, they simply have not been the same since Wilder left. He really was the architect of their signature sound.

To me, Alan Wilder crafted the real DM sound. To this day, his arrangements of the classic DM songs are the best IMO. They should really cast their differences aside for one last tour. Have Alan arrange the songs and they would sell out stadiums. It won’t happen but they should consider it.

Wilder-Clarke!!!

alan=least tenured member more handsome than the rest very studio talented =he'd eventually catch someone's jealousy

I love your videos and I absolutely love Depeche Mode. It's been 2 years, but I would love for you to come back to this awesome KZfaq channel where you talk about Depeche Mode, Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys. Keep on making awesome videos in the future. 👍😀👍

He basically got the arse with it, Dave was off his nut on smack, Martin was drinking 24/7 and Fletch was vibing Alan because of his insecurities about his lack of musicianship. Alan was closest to Dave, but Dave was on another planet and Martin and Fletch were best mates. He worked extremely hard on the production which was under appreciated. Dave, Martin and Fletch all said this many years later - that they realised how they didn’t appreciate Alans talent as a musician and producer and should have done so - but that’s life.Alan did great things with Recoil, but I think got fed up with the music industry in general.

Alan Wilder is a top classy human being and he helped too much these low class gang members which never appreciated the value of his work, like Vince Clarke's value either. I would have dreamt about a collaboration between Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder for a dance instrumental album with atmospheric industrial mood, like Hydrology + Wonderland + Love in C Minor/Supernature !

Demo mode after Alan

It's my opinion that the band has always been able to evolve as necessary to continue to make music that reflected their growth. All members have been essential to its journey. It all happened as it was meant to. 🖤🖤🖤

Me, Dean Falcon. I really love Erasure, but I absolutely love Depeche Mode. When are you coming back on the "World In My Eyes" youtube channel? It's been 2 years and we all missed you so much.

Alan's a genius eh, he's what made them sound so Depeche Mode.

Alan Wilder was the real Depeche Mode - after that it was a different band

Alan added metal sounds (piano and lot others) to electronic. That contribute to DM atmosphere.

life long devotee, since 1983. Alan was the best person for the role and is the linchpin for their sound. i wish martin had checked in to AA instead of alan leaving but it is what it is.

Hi nick I'm crazy about Depeche mode and erasure looks interesting

Hi Nick huge Depeche mode fan looks like a lot of fun. Subscription for Depeche mode onlly.

What success would you say was made after Alan left? If you go to their live shows now….the energy is all around early work up to SOFD. My days are filled with DM music but the reality is Alan gave them much more than they admit or acknowledge. Even when they are asked about it today, very rude responses on who they have now and dismissive. I’m all for sounds evolving, but respect is due by Martin and Dave. Thousands come because of the success of Violator, which was largely crafted by Wilder. And before anyone says anything….look at their album sales decline since SOFD. I get bands have a success window, but even MM album is missing the legacy of the past! I’ve been to 30 DM shows….since 1998, I never got to see Alan! Maybe we still can hope for a special residency in Vegas like U2 where they give the fans what they want….

Awesome presenting.

Here's an interesting topic..."Why did Alan Wilder never rejoin Depeche Mode?"

The sound isn't just lacking on the albums but on the tours too since Alan left. Though Martin's progression on guitar has been great to see.

Songs of Faith and Devotion was the beginning of the end. Probably the first record that I didn’t fully enjoy.

I think anyone with a little logic can find out that fletcher was indeed the craftman of the band, the alchemist, on their most glorious time, you can easily tell the diference on their sound with and without him, both lineups were good but with fletcher it was waaaaayyyy better, saludos fans de latinoamerica 🤟

Sounds like A Slice 🍕 of Heaven! DM🥀 cranked out a string of THE BEST!!!

Desde que Alan W. dejó la banda, ésta fue perdiendo "punch". Depeche Mode tiene buenas canciones y buen sonido después de Alan pero, podría haber sido muchísimo mejor. Alan es un genio del sonido.

For what it’s worth, I think Recoil is brilliant music and was very successful, just unfortunate that it didn’t make money. I am sorry you didn’t get financial remunerations with subHuman, Alan, (you should have received them with Depeche Mode, but they treated you like shit), I would have bought all the albums but I didn’t know of Alan’s existence until 2016, and I almost immediately saw through all the fuss over the band he was in before 1995. Recoil were brilliant way before, look at what Alan did with Doug McCarthy. Fantastic electronic music, a pity it wasn’t more widely appreciated. Now AW gone forever. 😢

It's what happens when people have to work together so closely. Beatles, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Pixies, Talking Heads etc. Some bands stop, some go on without matching there success, and some recover. Inter-human relations and genius don't match well, (for the most part).

DM ended in 93.

I understand the "if only wilder had stayed" type comments but they're pretty pointless and they miss one very unique and important point about DM (for me anyway).. They were one thing with Vince Clark.. They became something else with AW.. They then re-found themselves post Wilder's departure (which took a little time as it did when Clark left) and then after tragically losing Fletch we had the great Memento Mori a new DM again.. Contrast with other groups of their time the fact they keep moving forwards and taking their audience with them without resorting to being a heritage band is unparalleled.. I last saw them live on the violator tour then saw them again last night and they still do it! Yes I missed fletch.. Yes I missed wilder.. But I saw this new DM who still have some miles left in them

I agree with you, after Alan left, and the peak, the music is not the same, I went to their concert in November, great still and I will continue to listen the older tunes

DM is Fletch’s band. He was a bass player and became Depeches manager. It’s his band. Martin was hired because as a friend, he had a synthesizer and lyrics. They and Dave were from Basildon and like many out there, proudly territorial. Alan was not from Basildon and had a somewhat upper class, classical upbringing.

I can only imagine the music they would have made if Alan never left . Oh man !!!

Thank you for this.

Ultra is my favorite and I sometimes wonder what it would have been with Alan aboard.

Just allan know.... Nobody else can answer this question

He should've stayed for Ultra. Missed out on a few bob there especially now that he's selling everything off.

Alan is by far the best musician ever in DM

Just look at the setlist from the recent tours. It's 80% of the stuff he worked on.

Took only 13 years to write one of the most important pages in rock history. Without Alan, DM would never reached that status.

Ultra posses Alan’s musical DNA. Other than that, DM never fully recovered from Alan’s departure!

He showed once how the Real Mode should sound in 2010...

The truth is without Alan DM music became "garbage" and with every next album it was worse and worse...with all respect and gratitude for DM for my youth.Former fan of DM since 1989.

He was DM. They've never made a solid fully listenable album since he left. Sorry. That's a fact.

Nice collections 🔥❤️🇵🇭

Definitely agree, Alan was the 'sonic' heart of DM... though I'd also say 'Ultra' is among their top jobs, and the last.

Depeche Mode sans Alan Wilder, c'est comme Metallica sans Jason Newsted. Toujours fan des deux groupes depuis 40 ans, mais ils ont perdu leur âme en studio et sur scène.

What is your opinion about vinyl and pollution?

My favorite DM group photo was this SOFAD promo pic at 8:30. DM will always be these 4 members.

They lost the plot. Sounds like Martin Gore's ego was worth more than everything else. So sad.