My first experience of listening to Depeche Mode was the compilation album "The Singles 81-85". The album begins with catchy and original pop songs such as "Dreaming of Me", "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough". Despite Martin taking over as main songwriter in 1982, things continue in much the same vein with "See You" and "The Meaning of Love".
Then we encounter a real watershed moment. "Leave In Silence" dispenses with the sugary pop and applies a much darker veil. As the opening track on second album "A Broken Frame", this song makes a strong statement: "Vince is gone, we can do it on our own terms and things are going to be different."
The changes come not only from the composition, but also from the production techniques used. "Speak and Spell" makes heavy use of new technology such as the PPG Wave, Simmons SDS-V and the TR-808. So whilst this record was put together by largely the same team, it sounds very different to its predecessor.
"My Secret Garden" and "Monument" have some very naive lyrics but the music is accomplished and expertly produced. Dave's vocals aren't delivered with much confidence on this record and tracks such as "A Photograph of You" and "Satellite" reveal their fragility. Yet when you consider how young and relatively inexperienced the band were in 1982 this can easily be forgiven.
Instrumental "Nothing To Fear" is a grossly underrated composition that deserves better than being confined to this album. I fantasise about the day someone at Sony finds a master tape featuring an unused extended version and releases it. "The Sun and the Rainfall" remains a credible composition that forms the perfect ending. Yes this album is a bit twee and mawkish in places, but it doesn't deserve to be reviled and ignored by its creators. 3/5
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