Speak And Spell - Depeche Mode

What I loved most about the 1980s and the synthesizer, is that it had even more do it yourself appeal than punk did. With punk you had to learn to play the guitar or bass or drums to some degree to get something that resembled the genre. Then along comes a rash of bands, whose melodys just seemed to get simpler and simpler. All you needed was a monosynth, one finger and a knowledge of nursery rhymes to plunder for melody ideas. Depeche Mode, I feel, were one of these bands (and does anyone remember Our Daughter's Wedding for simplicity?), in fact I feel they were THE band for championing the simplest of melodys. I sound as if I am doing ...  Read the complete review

This was the first album from Depeche Mode when the band included Vince Clarke. Typically eighties this album can be classified as new romantic pop. The sound is very heavily dominated by Vince Clarke who was one of the pioneers of electro pop with one or two early attempts! by Martin Gore. It is surprising that even on this early Depeche Mode album the classic Just can't get enough should still be the most played DM song of all. For anyone who hasn't listened to this album before be warned however! There are a few songs that are definitely worth listening too but there are even more that are not only outdated but probably always have ...  Read the complete review

OK, so this album is not Depeche Mode's finest hour but at its time of release it did offer an interesting alternative. Released back in 1981 and mainly written by Vince Clarke the album has a very 'poppy' feel with a bit too many 'baby' this and 'baby' that for my liking, although 'New Life' and 'Just Can't Get Enough' are classics. Exclusive use of Synthesizers for a song was still pretty a novel idea at the time and the music still needed to mature. On later albums Martin Gore took over the main song writing duties and his style is quite different to that of Vince Clarke's having more depth and standing up to ...  Read the complete review

I have a terrible secret. Its something that lurks after me behind the corners like the fear. Its something I'm not really proud of and its something I don't tell anyone but my closest friends and fiends: I absolutely LOVE 'Speak and Spell'. It is the epitome of all things ludicrously cheesy about New Romantic music and how good, impressionable minds like the boys can be led into laughably-low situations by naivety. 'Speak and Spell' starts off with the so-catchy-you-want-to-bite-your-ears-off 'New Life'- which is Gary Numan drunk and doing his funniest B-side; then into the inappropriately dark 'Puppets', which Vince Clark wrote ...  Read the complete review