Tag: Depeche Mode

Title: Depeche Mode – А Broken Frame (1982) [DMCD2 – 2006 Remaster]
Genre: Synth-pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

A Broken Frame is the second studio album by the British group Depeche Mode, released in 1982. The album was written entirely by Martin Gore and recorded after the departure of Vince Clarke, who had left the band to form Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet. Alan Wilder was part of a second tour in the United Kingdom occurring prior to the release of this album, but he had not officially joined the band yet, and thus, does not appear on the album.

Martin Gore has famously noted that Depeche Mode stopped worrying about its future when the first post-Vince Clarke-departure single, “See You,” placed even higher on the English charts than anything else Clarke had done with them. Such confidence carries through all of A Broken Frame, a notably more ambitious effort than the pure pop/disco of the band’s debut. With arranging genius Alan Wilder still one album away from fully joining the band, Frame became very much Gore’s record, writing all the songs and exploring various styles never again touched upon in later years. “Satellite” and “Monument” take distinct dub/reggae turns, while “Shouldn’t Have Done That” delivers its slightly precious message about the dangers of adulthood with a spare arrangement and hollow, weirdly sweet vocals. Much of the album follows in a dark vein, forsaking earlier sprightliness, aside from tracks like “A Photograph of You” and “The Meaning of Love,” for more melancholy reflections about love gone wrong as “Leave in Silence” and “My Secret Garden.” More complex arrangements and juxtaposed sounds, such as the sparkle of breaking glass in “Leave in Silence,” help give this underrated album even more of an intriguing, unexpected edge. Gore’s lyrics sometimes veer on the facile, but David Gahan’s singing comes more clearly to the fore throughout — things aren’t all there yet, but they were definitely starting to get close.~~ AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett

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Title: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) [DMCD1 – Remaster 2006]
Genre: Synth-pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Speak & Spell is the debut album by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, recorded and released in 1981. The album peaked at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart.

Though probably nobody fully appreciated it at the time — perhaps least of all the band! — Depeche Mode’s debut is at once both a conservative, functional pop record and a groundbreaking release. While various synth pioneers had come before — Gary Numan, early Human League, late-’70s Euro-disco, and above all Kraftwerk all had clear influence on Speak & Spell — Depeche became the undisputed founder of straight-up synth pop with the album’s 11 songs, light, hooky, and danceable numbers about love, life, and clubs. For all the claims about “dated” ’80s sounds from rock purists, it should be noted that the basic guitar/bass/drums lineup of rock is almost 25 years older than the catchy keyboard lines and electronic drums making the music here. That such a sound would eventually become ubiquitous during the Reagan years, spawning lots of crud along the way, means the band should no more be held to blame for that than Motown and the Beatles for inspiring lots of bad stuff in the ’60s. Credit for the album’s success has to go to main songwriter Vince Clarke, who would extend and arguably perfect the synth pop formula with Yazoo and Erasure; the classic early singles “New Life,” “Dreaming of Me,” and “Just Can’t Get Enough,” along with numbers ranging from the slyly homoerotic “Pretty Boy” to the moody thumper “Photographic,” keep everything moving throughout. David Gahan undersings about half the album, and Martin Gore’s two numbers lack the distinctiveness of his later work, but Speak & Spell remains an undiluted joy.~~ AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett

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