ARTIST: Depeche Mode
TITLE: Speak & Spell
LABEL: Mute
GENRE: Pop
BITRATE: 197kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 44min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-04-03
RIP DATE: 2006-03-28

Track List

01. New Life                        3:46
02. I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead     2:18
03. Puppets                         3:56
04. Boys Say Go!                    3:08
05. Nodisco                         4:15
06. What's Your Name ?              2:45
07. Photographic                    4:43
08. Tora! Tora! Tora!               4:38
09. Big Muff                        4:24
10. Any Second Now (Voices)         2:35
11. Just Can't Get Enough           3:44
12. Dreaming Of Me                  4:01

Release Notes:

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.