Depeche Mode -- continuing on as a trio -- released 1997's Ultra, which featured the hits "Barrel of a Gun" and "It's No Good." A year later, the band embarked on a tour in support of The Singles 86>98 greatest-hits album. Depeche Mode played 64 shows in 18 countries for over a million fans. It also marked the end of a decade for the band. Each member took some considerable time off, and Depeche Mode would not regroup for another three years [....] Playing the Angel became a Top Ten hit upon release in October 2005, produced by Ben Hillier (Doves, Blur, U2, Elbow). With the success of the "Precious" and "John (The Revelator)" singles, Playing the Angel topped the album charts in 18 countries and went multiple platinum and gold in 20 countries. Depeche Mode went to on play to 2.5 million fans worldwide

While Duran Duran was recording the follow-up to Thank You in 1996, John Taylor left the band to pursue a solo career, leaving the group a trio of LeBon, Rhodes, and Cuccurullo. That follow-up, Medazzaland, was released in 1997 but failed to produce any major hits. 2000's Pop Trash suffered a similar fate [....] In March of 2001, the three Taylors -- Andy, John, and Roger -- met up in Wales and worked with each other for three weeks. Around this time, rumors of a five-member reunion began to circulate. Two months after Rhodes and LeBon denied the rumors, the reunion was confirmed. Duran Duran recorded on and off for a new album over the next three years and also toured sporadically. After signing with Epic, they released Astronaut in October of 2004.

As of 2006, it was estimated that Depeche Mode had sold over 91 million records (56 million albums / 35 million singles) worldwide and have had forty-four songs in the UK Singles Chart. They have had more top 40 hits in the UK without a #1 hit than any other artist. They have influenced many of today's popular recording artists, in part due to their recording techniques and innovative use of sampling. Although very influential in the modern electronic dance scene, they generally remain classified in the alternative genre[....] as of May 2007 Depeche Mode sold over 12 million albums in the USA alone.

Duran Duran is a British pop/rock band notable for a long series of popular, hit singles and vivid music videos. They were the most commercially successful of the New Romantic bands, and a leading band in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the United States. They are still often identified as an "Eighties band", although their career spans three decades. They have placed eighteen singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and thirty in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, and have sold more than 75 million records.