Depeche Mode's fourth album, Some Great Reward, was a bit of a departure for the band. After releasing three album's of synth-heavy Britpop — Speak & Spell, A Broken Flame, and Construction Time Again — the UK-based group moved into more socially relevant, and darker territory.
From the packaging (a couple getting married in a cold, desolate factory) to the album's singles ("People are People," "Blasphemous Rumours," "Master and Servant"), Some Great Reward dealt with larger issues than not getting enough of whatever they couldn't get enough of on "Just Can't Get Enough." "People are People" dealt explicitly with racism and exclusion, growing concerns in 1984, the year of the album's release. "Master and Servant" dealt explicitly with the carnal order of who's on top ("It's a lot like life/played between the sheets/with you on top/and me underneath/forget all about equality/let's play/master and servant"), framed in the context of socially manipulation ("Domination is the name of the game/In bed or in life/they're both just the same").
But beyond the singles, Depeche Mode crafts a dark, intense, and spooky industrial sound that heightens the impact of the more mature lyrics. "Something to Do," the album's opener, begins with a quick, horror-movie-style rhythm, complete with a tinkling piano in the background like you could hear while watching Halloween. "Somebody," on the other hand, is a less throbbing track, opening with the sounds of an ethereal wind and a distant, ghostly train whistle.
Some Great Reward laid the groundwork for the sound that would become Depeche Mode's trademark on their next three albums, Black Celebration, Music for the Masses, and Violator, propelling the group to pop's upper echelons. And on Rhino's remastered Some Great Reward, released as a two-disc set that includes a DVD in October, the proto-industrial soundscapes and lyrics Depeche Mode experimented with sound better than ever.
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