Construction Time Again

Editors’ Notes “It all seems so stupid, it makes me want to give up. But why should I give up when it all seems so stupid?” The perverse optimism at the heart of “Shame,” a highlight of Depeche Mode’s third album, Construction Time Again, could have come straight from Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. As the group continued to redefine pop for their ever-larger constituency, they put their synthesized hooks in the service of questioning the tenets of Thatcher- and Reaganism. “Everything Counts” is a hit single that takes on the essential greed at the heart of much ’80s culture, and “The Landscape Is Changing” even finds this sleek outfit championing environmental values. Such apparent surprises have helped keep Depeche Mode’s classic run sounding fresh.