An electrifying new biography about the four Essex lads who became award-winning stadium superstars and champions of synth pop! Jonathan Miller's groundbreaking book features in-depth interviews with founder member Vince Clarke and producers Gareth Jones and Mark Bell, and contains never-before seen interviews with the band members themselves. With additional input from Gary Human, Howard Jones and Thomas Dolby this is a unique portrait of a band that almost lost control when their lives went off the rails and lead singer Dave Gahan's heroin addiction nearly killed him. In the end Depeche Mode not only survived, they triumphed, racking up a staggering 40 million-plus album sales on the way. This is their amazing story, told in full for the first time. Born out of the post-punk backlash in the early 80's, Depeche Mode took their name from a phrase in a French style magazine and became the definitive international synth-pop group. Vince Clarke, Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore had started out as an Essex guitar band but it was their bright and upbeat synthesizer-driven brand of pop fronted by Dave Gahan that was to find global acceptance and enjoy unlikely success in the US. Despite a handful of early plaudits in the music press, the group won only intermittent critical acceptance over the years, its often light musical approach contrasting with lyrics that sometimes plunge into darker topics like S&M, religious fetishism and the scourge of capitalism. But whatever the music press said, the fans finally bought into Depeche Mode in a big way. Their Violator tour at the start of the 90s sold millions of records and turned them into major US concert stars. In true rock style, Depeche Mode's members have suffered their share of internal strife over a long career. Dave Gahan reinvented himself as a lead singer with both a harder musical edge and a near-fatal drug habit, while internal acrimony often marred the later stages of their career. Jonathan Miller has made an exemplary job of telling the Depeche Mode saga in its entirety and goes a long way towards explaining how the group have managed to thrive when almost all their post-punk contemporaries fell by the wayside long ago.

THE FIRST AND ONLY BIOGRAPHY OF ONE OF MUSIC’S MOST INFLUENTIAL AND ENIGMATIC CHARACTERS.Dave Gahan’s extraordinary life as the frontman of one of modern music’s most successful bands is a tale unrivalled in rock and roll folklore. From a colourful childhood and youth in Essex, Gahan went on to become a huge star all over the world. For years each Depeche Mode album was more successful than the one before but in 1995 the increasing pressures on the band and within Gahan’s personal life almost killed him.From this harrowing abyss, Gahan has bounced back and forged a new acclaimed career as a solo artist. Gahan’s stunning rehabilitation as a songwriter and rejuvenated frontman means he deserves his own chapter in music history - this unauthorised biography includes new and exclusive interviews with numerous people who’ve worked with and around Gahan.Aside from recounting his turbulent private battles, this first ever book on Gahan examines his musical legacy and suggests he is arguably Britain’s most under-rated and interesting rock vocalist. Recounted for the very first time, Gahan’s tale away from his band-mates overshadows even the remarkable story of Depeche Mode - the combination of his difficult yet triumphant story plus the thrilling music he has recorded, make this a story like no other in rock and roll history.

The preeminent synth-pop outfit for four decades, Depeche Mode have endured an ever-shifting musical landscape, rising above fads and battles with personal demons, somehow managing to retain a hold on the charts and the audience, the latter which continues to grow as new generations discover them and become “devotees.” Depeche Mode FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Finest Synth-Pop Band shows how a group of schoolmates influenced by the likes of Kraftwerk, Joy Division, and mid-period David Bowie carved out their own musical niche until they became one of the most influential bands to come out of England. Depeche Mode were Europe’s best-kept secret in the early '80s with the albums Construction Time Again and the—perhaps—tongue-in-cheek-titled Music for the Masses. They became a worldwide phenomenon as the '90s dawned, with the landmark LP Violator, containing the smash hits "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy the Silence," and "Policy of Truth." But success came at a price as depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, and personnel departures threatened to derail the band. It wasn’t a question of whether the music of Depeche Mode would be able to withstand fickle industry changes, but rather if the members of the group themselves could make it out alive. Depeche Mode FAQ shows how they did, becoming legends in the process.

Depeche Mode are an 80s band still going strong into the 1990s. Based on detailed interviews and extensive research, this book probes into the motives and detours of their journey. Previous ed.: 1999.

How do we begin to carry out such a vast task-the examination of three millennia of diverse uses and influences of the biblical texts? Where can the interested scholar find information on methods and techniques applicable to the many and varied ways in which these have happened? Through a series of examples of reception history practitioners at work and of their reflections this volume sets the agenda for biblical reception, as it begins to chart the near-infinite series of complex interpretive 'events' that have been generated by the journey of the biblical texts down through the centuries. The chapters consider aspects as diverse as political and economic factors, cultural location, the discipline of Biblical Studies, and the impact of scholarly preconceptions, upon reception history. Topics covered include biblical figures and concepts, contemporary music, paintings, children's Bibles, and interpreters as diverse as Calvin, Lenin, and Nick Cave.