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. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Speak & Spell is the debut album from the British synthpop group Depeche Mode, recorded and released in 1981. The album peaked at #10 in the UK Albums Chart.
This was the only Depeche Mode album with Vince Clarke as a member of the band. Clarke wrote most of the songs for the band, before departing to form the synthpop duo Yazoo with Alison Moyet and later, the duo Erasure with Andy Bell.
The album is significantly lighter in tone and melody than their later work, a direction which can largely be attributed to Clarke's writing. After he left, Martin Gore would take over songwriting duties, writing almost all of the band's material. Later albums written by him would explore darker subjects and melodies.
The album title alludes to the then-popular "Speak & Spell" electronic toy.
When interviewed by Simon Amstell for Channel 4's Popworld programme in 2005, Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher both stated that the track "What's Your Name?" was their least favourite Depeche Mode song of all time.
2006 re-release
The album was re-released on 3 April2006 (along with Music for the Masses and Violator) as part of Mute's extensive Depeche Mode reissue schedule. This special edition release was a double disc set that included a Hybrid SACD/CD and a DVD. This format included the album in 5 formats - multi-channel SACD, stereo SACD, PCM stereo CD, DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1.
In the United States, the album was not re-released until June 2, 2006. The US version was only a CD rather than a SACD/CD Hybrid, though it still included the DVD which was identical to the European one (barring some different copyrights and logos).
The re-release somewhat preserves the album as it was originally intended. As such, while it is mostly the same as the British version, North America got a completely new version with some songs that have never been released there. For example, "New Life" was the original version, not a remix, and "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead" finally debuted in North America. However, "Dreaming of Me", the band's very first single which was not on the original album, was put at the end. The four bonus tracks on the original CD release in the UK, were left off of the re-issued CD, but were on the DVD.
Also included was a 28 minute documentary about the making of the album entitled Depeche Mode: 1980–1981 (Do We Really Have To Give Up Our Day Jobs?) featuring interviews with the group (including Vince Clarke) and other relevant presonnel such as Daniel Miller. There is various footage of the group's appearances on Top of the Pops including their very first appearance from 1981 performing "New Life". There is also vintage BBC footage of the Speak & Spell Tour from the same year.
The remastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl in March 2007.
Track listing
For all versions, all songs were written by Vince Clarke, except for "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Big Muff" written by Martin Gore. David Gahan is lead vocals on all songs except "Any Second Now [Voices]" which is sung by Martin Gore. "Big Muff" and the original version of "Any Second Now" are instrumentals.
"Shout!" (from the b-side of the "New Life" single) is listed on the CD and all subsequent releases as "Shout", without the exclamation mark.
The versions of "Dreaming of Me" and "Ice Machine" included on this CD have cold ends (as opposed to the fading-out versions on the original 7" single).
^ The first of six Depeche Mode singles not to be included on an album release, although it did appear on the original US release of Speak & Spell, in place of "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead". It was included on later editions of the album (as a bonus track) and on The Singles 81>85, along with the "Some Bizzare" version of "Photographic".
^"Suchergebnis". Charts-Surfer.de. Retrieved 24 February 2009. Note: User must define 'neuer suchbegriff' search parameter as "Depeche Mode".
^"Gold/Platin-Datenbank". MusikIndustrie.de. Retrieved 24 February 2009. Note: User must define 'Sie können nach Titel, Jahr oder Interpret suchen' search parameter as "Depeche Mode".
