Editing Depeche Mode (section)

===''Black Celebration'' (1985–1986)===
[[File:Depeche Mode 1985.jpg|thumb|Depeche Mode in 1985]]
{{See also|The Singles 81→85|Catching Up with Depeche Mode|Black Celebration}}
In July 1985, the band played their first-ever concerts behind the [[Iron Curtain]], in [[Budapest]] and [[Warsaw]].{{sfn|Malins|2001|p=95}} In October 1985, Mute released a compilation, ''[[The Singles 81→85]]'' (''[[Catching Up with Depeche Mode]]'' in the US), which included the two new non-album hit singles "[[Shake the Disease]]" and "[[It's Called a Heart]]", with the US version also including their B-sides ("Fly on the Windscreen", the B-side of "It's Called a Heart", would also be included on the next studio album ''[[Black Celebration]]'').

In the United States, the band's music appealed primarily to an [[Alternative rock|alternative]] audience who were disenchanted with the predominance of "soft rock and 'disco hell'"<ref>{{cite web |title= Alan Wilder's history – Historical evidence Part 1 |website= Recoil.co.uk |access-date= 19 October 2010 |url= http://oldsite.recoil.co.uk/afiles/hist/athree.htm |archive-date= 5 August 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210805183304/http://oldsite.recoil.co.uk/afiles/hist/athree.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> on the radio. This view of the band was in sharp contrast to how the band was perceived in Europe, despite the increasingly dark and serious tone in their songs.<ref>{{cite news|first= Francesco |last= Adinolfi |title= Dep Jam |newspaper= [[Record Mirror]] |date= 22 August 1987 |url= http://sacreddm.net/1980s/rmi220887/rmi220887main.htm |archive-date= 26 August 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110826141059/http://sacreddm.net/1980s/rmi220887/rmi220887main.htm}}</ref> In Germany, France, and other European countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols and regularly featured in European teen magazines, becoming one of the most famous synth-pop bands in the mid-'80s.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
Depeche Mode's musical style shifted slightly again in 1986 with the release of their fifteenth single, "[[Stripped (song)|Stripped]]", and its accompanying album ''[[Black Celebration]]''. Retaining their often imaginative sampling and beginning to move away from the "industrial pop" sound that had characterised their previous two LPs, the band introduced an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound. Gore's lyrics also took on a darker tone and became more pessimistic.

The music video for "[[A Question of Time]]" was the first to be directed by [[Anton Corbijn]], beginning a working relationship that continues to the present. Corbijn has directed 22 of the band's videos. He has also filmed some of their live performances and designed stage sets, as well as most covers for albums and singles starting from ''Violator''.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}