Depeche Mode - The Singles 86-98 (1998)

The correct title of this article is The Singles 86>98. The Singles 86>98 is a greatest hits album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 28 September 1998 by Mute Records. It serves as a follow-up to the band's previous compilation, The Singles 81→85, which was also reissued in the same year. The compilation covers the band's seven-inch single releases spanning five studio albums (from 1986's Black Celebration to 1997's Ultra), while including the new song "Only When I Lose Myself". It also includes "Little 15" (from Music for the Masses, released as a single in Europe) and the live version of "Everything Counts" (from the live album 101), which was released as a single in 1989. All tracks on The Singles 86>98 were newly remastered, as was the case with the re-release of The Singles 81→85.

The band decided to release the album as a close follow-up to Ultra, Depeche Mode's first studio album after Alan Wilder's departure and Dave Gahan's drug addiction and resulting health problems, to maintain interest in the band. The four-month The Singles Tour that followed marked the first time Depeche Mode had toured since the 1993–1994 Devotional/Exotic Tour, since they had declined to tour Ultra a year earlier, playing only a few songs at a handful of shows instead.

The Singles 86>98 has sold 500,000 units in the United States (double albums count as two units), achieving platinum certification. The album was also listed on Blender magazine's "500 CDs You Must Own: Alternative Rock" list.