Uncluttered and svelte, each constituent part zings through the mix with bell-like clarity, with everything in service to the song. And yet through this efficiency, Speak & Spell dazzles, achieving a beautiful pop concision. But in carrying its context with it-- and in being somewhat critical to today’s pop-- Violator just stands as a moving, solid, record, a classic for the archives of popular music; it doesn’t so much carry a lot of the things that made Depeche Mode feel so much themselves. With 1987’s Music for the Masses, that stuff is all there-- which makes the music both harder to “get,” from today’s perspective, and also more interesting. The Depeche Mode of this album is the one that brought together a rabid audience of trendy coastal kids and middle-American teens who got beat up over stuff like this-- all of whom saw them not only as the peak of style, but as something positively revelatory, something speaking only to them (even in a crowded stadium), something alien and cool, disorientingly kinky, and entrancingly strange. For many, this was probably one of the first dance-pop acts they’d heard that didn’t seem to be entirely about being cool and having a good time; their music had been dark, clattery, and full of S&M hints and blasphemy, and on this record it reached a level of Baroque pseudo-classical grandness (see depressed-teenager shout-out “Little Fifteen”) that lived up to those kids’ inflated visions of the group. Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Depeche Mode; 'Speak and Spell ')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.

There’s no real stylistic leaps of faith here, but, understandably, there is a downbeat, subdued sense to many of the songs, a choice that suits the band well at their stage in their career. First single Ghosts Again probably put many people’s mind at ease, and when the excellent Before We Drown, Wagging Tongue, Soul with Me or Don’t Say You Love Me were added it’s hard to imagine anyone was disappointed to have new material. 7. Some Great Reward (1984) For some hard hearts, Just Can’t Get Enough has been dimmed by over-exposure like that other ‘81 synth-pop evergreen, Don’t You Want Me? As the 80s progressed, electronic pop became increasingly conventional; don’t blame Just Can’t Get Enough ’s deceptively simple pleasures, though. Play Depeche Mode: Speak And Spell next to Dare with its synthetic orchestral sheen and bang-up-to-date LinnDrum wallop, and it’s a bit skimpy… like electro-skiffle.For Clarke, pop tunesmith par excellence, this was no aberration. But that poppiness, as fizzy as soda, was precisely what the remaining group would soon disavow. Even the 12-inch sleeve seems eager to move on, projecting them into their kinky, industrial future.

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Ned Raggett described Speak & Spell as "at once both a conservative, functional pop record and a groundbreaking release", as well as "an undiluted joy." [2] Nitsuh Abebe of Pitchfork said that the album endures "not as stylish futurism (not anymore) but as the happy noises of teenagers who believed it to be stylish futurism—and with a charming earnestness." [1] In January 2005, Speak & Spell was included as an "essential" album in Mojo magazine's "Depeche Mode + the Story of Electro-Pop" special edition. [17] 2006 re-release [ edit ] Promotional poster for the album's release, including tour datesa b Sunie (7 November 1981). "Depeche Get in the Mode". Record Mirror. London. p.18. ISSN 0144-5804. The best DM album of the new millennium, Playing the Angel really does sound like a stadium band in their prime, at the height of their powers and delivering exactly what their audience wants. In essence, it mashes up all of the very finest elements of Depeche Mode from each of the 10 albums that had preceded it, whilst also sounding remarkably contemporary by 2005 standards. British album certifications – Depeche Mode – Speak and Spell". British Phonographic Industry. 1 December 1981 . Retrieved 16 February 2022. Speak & Spell (liner notes). Depeche Mode. Mute Records. 1981. STUMM 5. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link)