The 20 Best Depeche Mode Songs, Ranked

• From: Rock the Nations
• Release date: August 1986

In our opinion, "Waiting For The Night" is an under appreciated gem in the catalog of Depeche Mode as it doesn't get talked about nearly as much as it should when it comes to the overall debate of the band's top 20. A timeless song that will help get you through the toughest of times, "Waiting For The Night" is a beautiful heavy hitting masterpiece. Really and truly one of their greatest songs ever.

• From: Black Celebration
• Release date: April 14th, 1986

Released off the Black Celebration album as the second single, "A Question of Lust" is probably one of the saddest Depeche Mode songs when you really listen to the lyrics, and that's what makes it so freakin good. "Fragile like a baby in your arms, " and " Just like a punk with broken knees you’ll crawl from me," are just some of the profound lyrics in this cut, which really has a way of hitting home. The song was most recently featured in the Disney+ series Hawkeye, and the track reached No.28 in the United Kingdom.

• From: Black Celebration
• Release date: October 29th, 1984

"Blasphemous Rumors" is another dark and haunting Depeche Mode song that centers around a 16-year-old girl who attempts suicide and fails. Another masterpiece, the percussion and xylophone are what stands out instrumentation-wise, and dare we say, this is a song that has held up very well in the almost forty years it's been since it's release.

• From: Some Great Reward
• Release date: August 20th, 1984

Released as the second single from their fourth studio album Some Great Reward, “Master & Servant” is a BDSM-themed fully of subtle but not-so-subtle nuances that push the limit, but don't quite take it there fully. The instrumentation is once again a call out in this track, which hit the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 49 on the US Hot Dance Club Chart.

• From: Music for the Masses
• Release date: August 24th, 1987

The second single of their sixth studio album Music for the Masses, "Never Let Me Down Again" is regarded primarily for its vocals and lyrical content. The drums and guitar are another commendable element of the track, and is instantly recognizable upon the beat starting with the opening line "I'm taking a ride with my best friend." Even if you don't think you know this song, trust me, you do.

• From: Songs of Faith and Devotion
• Release date: April 26th, 1993

1990s Depeche Mode and their real transition into the indie/alternative rock scene is/was one to behold, and “Walking In My Shoes” is a track that's a great example of that with its deep nature. You never really know what someones life is like until you've walked a mile in their shoes, and Depeche Mode does a beautiful job reminding us of that. Reaching No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart, “Walking In My Shoes” was a hit.

• From: Ultra
• Release date: June 16th, 1997

Can we get a little more appreciation for "Home" please? It's truly an amazing track that deserves to make any top twenty Depeche Mode songs list. One of their greatest tracks from a writing standpoint, "Home" deals with the challenging elements and feelings life can bring about, and is super relatable to anybody who has gone through (or is currently going through) a rough time. Let it be known that Depeche Mode was a band that was tackling the ups and downs of mental health subject wise in their music long before it was popular to do so.

• From: Exciter
• Release date: April 17th, 2001

There's two "Dream On" songs that should automatically be in everyone's playlist—Aerosmith's "Dream On," and Depeche Mode's "Dream On." Released in April 2001 off their tenth studio album Exciter, this track is a smooth cut that has a catchy guitar lick and melody that repeats over and over again in your head. Apparently lots of other people felt the same way because "Dream On." reached the top of the charts in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Denmark, and the top ten in Canada, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the U.K., Wallonia, and Austria.

• From: Music for the Masses
• Release date: 1987

"I Want You Now" is another underrated jam in our opinion that deserves to be shown some more love. With lyrics like "There's a yearning inside and it's showing through," and "Reach out your hands and accept my love," this is a classic boy falls in love with a girl track emphasized by the captivating vocal performance of Martin. I've said this before and will probably say it again, but can we get the slow jams back? We need music like this again.

• From: Spirit
• Release date: February 17th, 2017

A relatively newer track from the band that was released at the beginning of 2017, it's hard not to appreciate a song like "Where's the Revolution," and the fact that all these decades later, Depeche Mode has never strayed from addressing the current issues going on in the world. Not many can say they've been consistently making music like that since the very beginning, but Depeche Mode can.

• From: Catching Up With Depeche Mode
• Release date: 1985

You kind of got to be deep in the Depeche Mode trenches to know this cut from the band as it wasn't released as a single, nor is it considered to be their most "popular" from a "mainstream" standpoint. That said, any true Depeche Mode fan knows that this is a top ten song from them—a song that very much deserved a music video, but we'll leave that one alone.

• From: The Singles 1981 - 1985
• Release date: April 29th, 1985

An edgy song considered to be one of their finest, "Shake the Disease" was one of the two new songs added to their compilation albums The Singles 1981 - 1985 and Catching Up With Depeche Mode, and boy are we glad they added it because we can't imagine the music world without this gem. A song that can become the soundtrack of your life and get you through the dark times, "Shake the Disease" reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart.

• From: Speak & Spell
• Release date: September 7th, 1981

When I first heard "Just Can't Get Enough" it legit put me in a trance. There's just something so unbelievably hypnotic about this record, and for me it's the undoubtedly the synthesizers. Remember when we said earlier you know Depeche Mode even if you think you don't? "Just Can't Get Enough" is an example of that because you'll instantly recognize the iconic beginning.

• From: Playing the Angel
• Release date: June 5th, 2006

Not sure we can talk to you if you don't have "John the Revelator" in your Depeche Mode top ten. Seriously. A song that takes a look at the topic of faith in many different angles/perspectives, "John the Revelator" is frankly one of the group's best ever. In fact, for a lot of folks who weren't around in the 1980s or 1990s, this was the song that introduced them to the band. There's something to be said for making classic records that challenge the status quo almost thirty years after you've debuted, and Depeche Mode was doing that beautifully in 2005.

• From: Music for the Masses
• Release date: April 27th, 1987

Released April 1987 as the lead single off Music for the Masses, "Strangelove" is a song that for some is in the upper half of their Depeche Mode song list, whereas for others it's in the top ten. We've got this record in our top ten because it's just so darn catchy. The piano, the vocals, the fact that "Agent Orange" is it's B-side—yeah there was no way we couldn't have "Strangelove" in our top ten. No way.

• From: Black Celebration
• Release date: February 10th, 1986

Phew. "Stripped" is a classic. A classic do you hear us? While it was released as a single off Black Celebration and experienced decent chart success, this is one of the cuts that has truly grown better with time. You probably won't hear this one on the 1980s stations that only play the most popular songs of the decade as opposed to some of the band's other tunes, but that certainly doesn't mean it isn't a heavy hitter. "Stripped" is absolutely a top five Depeche Mode song, and we'd like to have conversation with anybody who thinks it isn't.

• From: Memento Mori
• Release date: February 9th, 2023

If you haven't yet heard "Ghosts Again," it's probably because this is a brand new single that was just released from the band in early 2023. Once you listen to it, you'll automatically understand why it jumped into the top five despite pretty much being brand new. There's a reason why this single reached the top 20 in the U.K., which by the way is something that the group hasn't done since 2006.

• From: Violator
• Release date: February 5th, 1990

One time for Violator being a top five Depeche Mode album. Two times for "Enjoy the Silence" being a top five Depeche Mode song. Released as the second single from Violator, the track is renowned for its lyrics, dark melodies, and futuristic vibes. A top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and pretty much worldwide (Denmark, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands to name a few), "Enjoy the Silence" has a gold certification.

• From: Some Great Reward
• Release date: March 12th, 1984

Well what can we say? People are indeed people, and nobody understood this better than Depeche Mode, who released their smash hit "People Are People" as the lead single off their fourth studio album Some Great Reward. Recognized as being one of the great songs of the 1980s, "People Are People" is simply the jam. The loops, the rhythm, the drums...the jam.

• From: Violator
• Release date: August 29th, 1989

Admittedly, this is an editor's choice for the top spot. Whether you agree or not, there's no denying the impact "Personal Jesus" has made on music as a whole. What's even crazier is that a good percentage of that impact has come in the years/decades after its release (being on the 2K soundtrack for example) as the song isn't even their biggest hit chart-wise. If the doorbell sound, opening line "Reach out, touch faith," and the sick guitar intro that follows isn't enough to get you instantly hyped, well we're not sure what to tell you.