Depeche Mode “Some Great Reward” released on this date, September 24th, 1984. Mute Records. I bought this album in either late ‘84 or early ‘85 during the height of my Brit new wave/synth pop obsession and while not my favorite Depeche Mode album, it certainly still gives me all the feels with its dark industrial beats, minor chords and borderline sinister content.

Some Great Reward was Depeche Mode’s fourth album and it reached #5 in the UK and #54 in the US. The first single, “People are People,” was released about six months prior, in March of ‘84, and became DM’s breakthrough in the US market where it hit #13 (and #4 in UK) with the support of its video on heavy rotation on MTV – where I saw it and was instantly in love. The sado-maschocistic industrial dance track “Master and Servant” was the second single from Some Great Reward and, despite the controversy surrounding its material and ban on many US radio stations (I guess the synthesized whips and chains were a bit too over the top for our tender ears), it made it to #87 on the US charts and #9 in the UK. The last two singles were actually a double A-side of “Blasphemous Rumors” and “Somebody.” “Blasphemous Rumors” is, to me, their most disturbing song and one that I often find unlistenable, not because it’s bad but because it’s ridiculously painful. “Somebody” – notable for being the first DM single sung by Martin Gore (reportedly recorded nude) is also painful, but in a completely different way – it’s the desperate agony and ache of love vs. the devastation of depression, sickness, death and loss of faith.

Allmusic says about Some Great Reward “The peak of the band’s industrial-gone-mainstream fusion, and still one of the best electronic music albums yet recorded, Some Great Reward still sounds great, with the band’s ever-evolving musical and production skills matching even more ambitious songwriting from Martin Gore. “People Are People” appears here, but finds itself outclassed by some of Depeche Mode’s undisputed classics, most especially the moody, beautiful “Somebody,” a Gore-sung piano ballad that mixes its wit and emotion skillfully; “Master and Servant,” an amped-up, slamming dance track that conflates sexual and economic politics to sharp effect; and the closing “Blasphemous Rumors,” a slow-building anthemic number supporting one of Gore’s most cynical lyrics, addressing a suicidal teen who finds God only to die soon afterward. Even lesser-known tracks like the low-key pulse of “Lie to Me” and the weirdly dreamy “It Doesn’t Matter” showcase an increasingly confident band. Alan Wilder’s arrangements veer from the big to the stripped down, but always with just the right touch, such as the crowd samples bubbling beneath “Somebody” or the call/response a cappella start to “Master and Servant.” With Reward, David Gahan’s singing style found the métier it was going to stick with for the next ten years, and while it’s never gone down well with some ears, it still has a compelling edge to it that suits the material well.”