...While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band was approached by Daniel Miller (an electronic musician and founder of Mute Records), who was interested in them recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result of this verbal contract was their first single «Dreaming of Me», recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981, reaching number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, the band recorded its second single «New Life», climbing to number 11 in the UK charts. Three months later, the band released «Just Can't Get Enough» — its first single to enter the UK Top 10, peaking at number eight. This record was in many ways a breakthrough for the band, and its success paved the way for its debut album - Speak & Spell, released in November 1981, and eventually reaching number ten on the UK album charts. Critical reviews were mixed - Melody Maker described it as a «great album... one they had to make to conquer fresh audiences and please the fans who just can’t get enough», while Rolling Stone was more critical, calling the album «PG-rated fluff».

In January 1982, the band released «See You», their first single without Clarke, which against all expectations, managed to beat all three Clarke-penned singles in the UK charts, reaching number six. In January 1982, the band embarked on their first world tour, the «See You» tour. In the ensuing months of that year, two more singles were released — «The Meaning of Love» and «Leave in Silence».

Depeche Mode began work on their second album in July 1982. Their second album A Broken Frame was released that September. In October 1982, the band embarked on their second tour that year, the «Broken Frame Tour».

For their third LP «Construction Time Again», Depeche Mode worked with producer Gareth Jones, at John Foxx's Garden Studios and at Hansa Studios in West Berlin. The album saw a dramatic shift in the group's sound, due in part to Wilder's introduction of the Synclavier and Emulator samplers, in addition to their previously-used analogue synths. By sampling the noises of everyday objects, the band created an eclectic, industrial-influenced sound, with similarities to groups such as the Art of Noise and Einstürzende Neubauten, the latter having been published under the same label.

Similarly, Gore's lyricism was rapidly evolving, focusing increasingly on political and social issues. A good example of the new sound was on the first single from the album «Everything Counts», a commentary on the perceived greed of multinational corporations, which got to number six in the UK, also reaching the Top 30 in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany. Wilder also contributed on the songwriting front, notably on «The Landscape Is Changing.

In their early years, Depeche Mode had only really attained success in the UK, Europe, and Australia - however, this changed in March 1984, when they released the single «People Are People».

The song climbed to #2 in Ireland and #4 on the UK and Swiss charts - and gave them their first #1 (in Germany). However, it belatedly reached #13 on the U.S. charts in mid-1985. The song has since become an anthem for the LGBT community and is regularly played at gay establishments and gay pride festivals.

Sire, the band's North American record label, released a compilation of the same name. In September 1984, «Some Great Reward» was released. Some Great Reward saw the band experimenting with even darker subject matter, exploring sexual politics («Master and Servant»), adulterous relationships («Lie to Me»), and arbitrary divine justice («Blasphemous Rumours»). Also included was the first Martin Gore ballad («Somebody») - a concept that would be repeated on all following albums, and later became the first single sung by Gore. The album was also their first to enter the U.S. album charts, and made the Top 10 in several European countries.

In 1985, Mute Records released a compilation, «The Singles 81>85», which included the new hit singles: «Shake the Disease» and «It's Called a Heart». During this period, in some circles, the band became associated with the gothic subculture, which had begun in Britain in the late 70s, and was now slowly gaining popularity in the United States. In Germany and other European countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols, and were regularly featured in euro teen magazines, providing their detractors with more ammunition to use against them.

Arguably Depeche Mode's largest transformation came in 1986, with the release of their fifteenth single «Stripped», and its accompanying album «Black Celebration». Jettisoning much of the «industrial-pop» sound that had characterised their previous two LPs (although they retained their often imaginative sampling), the band introduced an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound, accompanied by some darker, bleaker, lyrics, as written by Gore. Also included on the album was a revised version of the song «Fly on the Windscreen;, which had originally appeared as the b-side to «It's Called a Heart». The band recognised the song's promise, and decided to improve it and include it on the album, renamed as «Fly on the Windscreen - Final».

As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours, several songs from «Black Celebration» have appeared in tour setlists.

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 day.

Corbijn has directed 19 more of the band's videos (the latest being 2006's «Suffer Well») and live performances, and has been responsible for some of the band's album and single covers.

1987's «Music for the Masses» saw further alterations in the band's sound and working methods. For the first time a producer not related to Mute, David Bascombe, was called to assist with the recording sessions, and the band, for the most part, sided its sampling of industrial sounds in which their music used to rely, in favour of more synth experimentation. While the chart performance of the singles «Strangelove», «Never Let Me Down Again» and «Behind the Wheel» proved to be disappointing in Great Britain, they performed well in countries such as Canada, Brazil, West Germany, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, often reaching the top 10. Record Mirror described it as «the most accomplished and sexy Mode album to date» and it made a breakthrough in the American market, something which the band had failed to achieve with their previous albums.

As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours, several songs from Music for the Masses have appeared in tour setlists.

On the heels of Music for the Masses, the group played a follow-up world tour in 1987–88. The tour culminated on 18 June 1988 in a concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl with paid attendance of 60,453 (the highest in eight years for the venue). The tour meant a breakthrough and massive success in the United States and was documented in 101 - a concert film by D. A. Pennebaker and its accompanying soundtrack album.

On 7 March 1988 they played an inofficial gig (as it was not officially announced that DM was the band performing that night) in the «Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle», East Berlin. By that time the communist regime was still in power and Depeche Mode were among the very few western bands that ever played in former East Germany (GDR).

In mid-1989, the band began recording in Milan with producer Flood and engineer François Kevorkian. The initial result of this session was the single «Personal Jesus». Prior to its release, a marketing campaign was launched with advertisements placed in the personal columns of UK regional newspapers with the words «Your own personal Jesus».

Later, the ads included a phone number one could dial to hear the song. The resulting furore helped propel the single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest sellers to date; in the U.S., it was their first gold single and their first Top 40 hit since «People Are People», eventually becoming the biggest-selling 12-inch single in Warner Bros. Records' history up to that point.

In January 1990, «Enjoy the Silence», became one of Depeche Mode's most successful singles to date, reaching number six in the UK; a few months later in the USA., it became Depeche Mode's biggest hit, reaching number eight, and earning the band a second gold single. It won «Best British single» at the 1991 Brit Awards.

«Violator» went on to reach Top 10 in the UK and U.S. It has also been certified triple platinum in America, selling over 3.9 million units there.

The subsequent World Violation Tour was another notable success, with 40,000 tickets sold within eight hours for the New York Giants Stadium (in East Rutherford, New Jersey) show, and 48,000 tickets for the Los Angeles Dodger Stadium show sold within an hour of going on sale. Two more singles from the album, «Policy of Truth» and «World in My Eyes» were hits in the UK and USA.

As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours, several songs from Violator have appeared in tour setlists.

In 1993 «Songs of Faith and Devotion» saw them experimenting with more organic arrangements, based as much on heavily distorted electric guitars, keyboards and live drums.

Live strings, uilleann pipes and female gospel vocals were other new additions to the band's sound. The album debuted at number one in both the UK and the U.S., on the heels of the bluesy, grunge-influenced single «I Feel You».

The 14-month Devotional world tour followed. It was documented by a concert video of the same name, and a second live album, «Songs of Faith and Devotion Live». The live album was essentially a track-by-track reproduction of the eponymous album, designed to help boost sales figures of the studio album, and it proved to be a critical and commercial failure, reaching only #46 in the UK, it managed a #193 peak in the U.S., selling a mere 114,000 units there as of April 2006.

As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours, several songs from Songs of Faith and Devotion have appeared in tour setlists.

In 1996, Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer Tim Simenon; the next year, the album Ultra, and its two preceding singles, «Barrel of a Gun» and «It's No Good», were released. The album debuted at #1 in the UK and #5 in the US. "Home" and «Useless» were also released from the album, becoming a double A-side in the US.

A second singles compilation «The Singles 86–98» was released in 1998, preceded by the new single «Only When I Lose Myself», which had been recorded during the «Ultra» sessions. The band set off on a four month tour.

In 2001, Depeche Mode released Exciter, which was produced by Mark Bell (of the pioneering techno group LFO). Bell introduced a minimalist, digital sound to much of the album, influenced by IDM and glitch. The album failed to achieve the same levels of sales as the band's previous three releases, and was the first studio album by Depeche Mode to chart higher in the U.S. than the UK, although it reached the Top 10 in both countries. «Dream On», «I Feel Loved», «Freelove» and «Goodnight Lovers» were released as singles in 2001 and 2002. The critical response to the album was mixed. Whilst it received reasonably positive reviews from some magazines (NME, Rolling Stone and LA Weekly), others (including Q, PopMatters, and Pitchfork Media) derided it as sounding underproduced, dull and lacklustre. And on tours following the Exciter Tour (Touring the Angel and Tour of the Universe), the band have chosen to play only one («Goodnight Lovers» or «Freelove») or no songs whatsoever from the Exciter album.

In 2004, Mute released the DVD version of Devotional, filmed during their 1993 world tour, as well as a new remix compilation album Remixes 81–04 that compiled new and unreleased promo mixes of the band's singles from 1981 to 2004, including a reinterpreted version of «Enjoy the Silence» by Mike Shinoda entitled «Enjoy the Silence 04», which was released as a single, and reached #7 on the UK charts.

On 17 October 2005, the band released their 11th studio album «Playing the Angel». Produced by Ben Hillier, this Top 10 hit (peaking at #1 in 17 countries) featured the hit single «Precious», peaking at #4 in the UK charts. The album was backed by the band's first in-store signing since 1990, on the day of release in New York City. This is the first Depeche Mode album to feature lyrics written by Gahan and, consequently, the first album since 1984's Some Great Reward featuring songs not written by Gore.

To promote «Playing the Angel», the band launched the worldwide Touring the Angel in November 2005, taking them to North America and Europe. The tour continued through the first half of 2006. Depeche Mode also headlined both the 2006 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in California, and the O2 Wireless Festival, which took place on the last weekend of June 2006 in London's Hyde Park.

Some of the gigs were their first ever shows in certain countries like Romania and Bulgaria. In March 2006, the website announced two dates in Mexico (a country they had not visited for twelve years). More than 55,000 tickets for a stadium in Mexico City were sold, causing the band to schedule another date for the same venue. Recordings of 43 of the shows were officially released on CDs. These limited edition Depeche Mode live albums published under the scheme title Recording the Angel were much sought after by collectors.

On 25 September 2006 Depeche Mode released their live DVD-CD set «Touring the Angel: Live in Milan», directed by Blue Leach and recorded at Milan's Fila Forum on 18 February, and 19 February 2006. The DVD has a full concert on disc 1, bonus live songs «A Question of Lust» and «Damaged People» along with a 20-minute documentary featuring Anton Corbijn, official tour announcement from Germany in the summer of 2005, and the Playing the Angel electronic press kit on disc 2, and disc 3 is a CD with live versions of tracks from Playing the Angel. On the tour following Touring the Angel (Tour of the Universe), the band have chosen to play only one song («Precious») from the album.

At a press conference on 6 October 2008 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, the band announced plans for its «Tour of the Universe», the group’s first-ever European stadium tour, which commenced on May 6, 2009 with a warm-up show at Rockhal, Luxembourg.

On 15 January 2009, the official Depeche Mode website announced that the new album would be called «Sounds of the Universe». The album was released internationally on 20 April 2009 and in the USA on 21 April 2009.

«Wrong» was the first single from the album, released digitally on 21 February 2009.