Depeche Mode "Violator" [1990]

One of the most successful albums ever, it's still amazing to me that so many people were interested in the musical equivalent of getting felt up on the dance floor by a gay shirtless guy. At this point, the 90s had not established their cynical, disinterested slovenliness yet, so Depeche Mode was right there to fill the gap with its tired 80s come-ons in a world that had yet to successfully treat AIDS. In short, "Violator" may be the most unintentionally horrifying album ever recorded. It may be because the Reagan/Bush era was still playing out and most music fans were still in denial about the existence of homosexuality (and needle-delivered narcotics) in the world, thus everyone thought this was a great party record that made you seem deep for putting it on, because everything's played in a minor key and so much of it is too slow to dance to. But when it comes to sinister sexiness, these guys couldn't hold Dracula's codpiece. This bears out, too, when you consider that what's actually being lusted after here is not the touch of a nubile lover but simply lead singer Dave Gahan's latest shot of dope. "All I ever needed is here in my arms" -- I can picture the needle still injected, the hose still tied, as he's singing these words. Give it up to Depeche Mode, folks -- they may sound like pussies, but they were living very, very dangerously.