Thirty years into a quite extraordinary career, Depeche Mode remain the most successful electronic band ever, having to date sold over 100 million records worldwide. And as they continue to release new and challenging material on a regular basis and perform in front of crowds that can exceed 80,000 in a single night, the enormous popularity of these former Essex Boys illustrates how their resolute determination to stick with their original vision has repaid them handsomely in the long term.
This film traces the almost surreal development of Depeche Mode from their flirtations with New Romanticism at the dawn of their career, through the urban industrial landscapes envisaged on Construction Time Again and Some Great Reward into the dark hollow of albums such as Black Celebration, Music for the Masses and Violator to conclude with the departure of Alan Wilder in 1995 - a point in their career at which they had achieved enormous commercial success but were now facing huge personal challenges.