If I like Depeche Mode, what others bands will I like?

Answer 1

Depends on what era of Depeche Mode you are talking about.

Early era Depeche Mode sounds a lot like Yaz (Yazoo, as they were known in England) and Erasure, since the same keyboardist played in all three bands.

Back in the 1980's, my friends who were Depeche Mode fans also tended to be fans of The Pet Shop Boys, The Cure, Book of Love and Scritti Politti. You might also enjoy Ultravox, The Human League or Heaven 17. All of these bands focused on dance/rock with lots of synthesizers in the mid-1980's.

While Depeche Mode took on a more heavy sound later in their careers, their success (and the success of bands like them) also helped lead to other bands creating a more aggressive style of synth rock in reaction. For example, while Ministry's first album ('With Sympathy') sounds a lot like Depeche Mode, all of the rest of their albums have more of an Industrial/Metal feel. Bands like Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 and KMFDM (whose name was rumored to be an acronym for "Kill MF'n Depeche Mode) also spearheaded this sound in the late 1980's. Nine Inch Nails, of course, also started as part of this wave of synth bands in the late 80's.

This is important because later Depeche Mode ("I Feel You," for example) has a lot more in common with the late 80's industrial synth rock than their earlier work.

So, in summary, if you are a fan of their early-80's work, check out some of the first set of bands I mentioned. If you are a fan of their later work, check out some of the industrial bands of that period.

Answer 2

Yaz or Yazoo (UK) and Erasure were both founded by Vince Clarke (a founding Depeche Mode member and the original song-writer.)

Those are the two closest ones. The stuff Vince wrote for both Yaz and Erasure is better than the stuff he wrote for DM (Martin Gore writes the best DM stuff and took over the song-writing after Vince left early in the 80s.)

Yaz is awesome. It has a Allison Moyet as the vocalist. They have two full albums.

Erasure is great as well, but the lead vocalist, Andy Bell, is a very outspoken homosexual and it's obvious in the lyrics often. That's the only thing that puts me off Erasure a bit. They have a TON of albums, most of it is excellent.

DM, Yaz, and Erasure are the best written and most consistently good bands of the euro synth-pop crowd.

Other goods ones:

New Order
Pet Shop Boys
Nitzer Eb
Front 242
Thompson Twins
Talk Talk
Anything Box
Information Society
Nine Inch Nails (early stuff, Pretty Hate Machine)
Tears for Fears

Cause & Effect had a few good songs. Their whole sound is a direct copy of DM. The vocalist even sounds very much like Dave Gahan.

Answer 3

The Clash, for one. I love Depeche Mode. Nice to know that others like you do as well. You might want to get something from "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" they were a cool early 80's band to. I like NIN, they are real alternative like Depeche Mode is to, only heavier. ROCK ON!!! - Voodoo

Answer 4

going REALLY far backward in time....
Nitzer Ebb or Front 242.

And if you haven't heard it before, there was a modern-day compilation disc out called "For The Masses" with DM covers by the Pumpkins, Monster Magnet, and others.

Answer 5

New Order

Answer 6

TV on the Radio
Muse
U2(try their early 90's stuff)