Depeche Mode are an English electronic band that formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. Depeche Mode released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. In the new decade, Depeche Mode released Violator, a mainstream success. Depeche Mode have had 50 songs in the UK Singles Chart and thirteen top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Q included the band in the list of the “50 Bands That Changed the World!”. Depeche Mode also rank number 98 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. (More from Wikipedia)
To my mind, one of the most startling Christian rock songs was “Personal Jesus” by the English electronic rock band Depeche Mode. With its somewhat flippant title, I originally thought that the song might be mocking as well; but the heartfelt lyrics leave no question: “Reach out and touch faith / Your own personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who cares / Your own personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who’s there”.
“Personal Jesus” was the first single from the band’s 1990 album Violator that propelled them to worldwide success, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart. Other singles from the album were “Enjoy the Silence”, “Policy of Truth” and “World in My Eyes”. The album’s liner notes made clear that faith was important to the band, as did their next album, Songs of Faith and Devotion – which topped the album charts in the US and the UK – and the Devotional Tour that supported the album. Depeche Mode has sold 100 million albums, making them the most successful electronic band in history and one of the biggest selling rock bands of all time.
Rolling Stone magazine included “Personal Jesus” in their 2004 list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”; and the UK music magazine Q ranked the song as one of the “100 Greatest Songs Ever”.
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In 2010, Nina Hagen released an album called Personal Jesus that is described by James Christopher Monger in Allmusic as: “German punk icon Nina Hagen’s first collection of new music in nearly four years features 13 faith-based tracks that dutifully blend rock, blues, soul, and gospel into a sound that’s distinctly hers.” The album includes covers of the Depeche Mode title song, “Personal Jesus”, several traditional gospel songs, a Larry Gatlin number called “Help Me”, and a Woody Guthrie song called “All You Fascists Bound to Lose”.
(November 2014)
