Recently been getting into Depeche Mode - not their earlier more well-known stuff, but everything from Ultra onwards.

Given the success of Kasabian, I'm surprised there hasn't been a critical re-appraisal of Ultra. Granted, Depeche Mode don't have a dancing monkey for a frontman, but you can guarantee that Kasabian would give their left bollock to write a tune like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiMNBOuSzSg

Anyhow, let's get to the cut-and-thrust of things. Plenty of people on these boards got a hard-on for Darkstar. Let's face it, Darkstar at their best can't even hold a candle to Dave Gahan at his worst.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy7FzXLin7o

Glad we all agree.