[.ca] A Broken Frame

the REAL first Depeche Mode album:
Sure this album has lots of cheesy, innocent synthpop jingles. It's not their best album ever. But it's interesting to listen to in the grand scheme of all that is Depeche. It's DM's first foray into darker, more alienated minimalism. With the obvious poppy tracks aside, A Broken Frame is icy to the core with some great little gems such as "Monument", "Satellite", "Leave In Silence", "The Sun & The Rainfall" and "Shouldn't Have Done That". With Vince's departure, Martin's cynical and biting wit jumps out. The lyrical content is already pointing to more socio-political views, as well as troubled relationships. The music is really interesting in it's stark and cold simplicity. The songs squiggle, pulse, ripple and bleep along with technological and calculated precision, living up to the standards of post-punk/synthpop. This album isn't for everyone, but I think it's quite interesting on it's own ;-)

dM's Unsung Masterpiece:
Yes, that's correct, "A Broken Frame" is Depeche Mode's quiet little under-rated masterpiece, a wonderful and important collection of songs that quietly helped inform Depeche Mode's career. Written by Martin Gore after Vince Clarke left the band to form Yaz, Martin honed his songwriting skills quickly and penned such classics as the popular single "Leave In Silence," the album cut of which is nothing short of fantastic. "My Secret Garden," "See You," and "The Sun & The Rainfall" strongly set the stage for Gore's political and deeply personal lyrics. Musically, dM grows tremendously and goes beyond any expectations that may have been divided with the release Clarke-heavy "Speak & Spell." Not only the above tracks, but "MSG's" excerpts and the classic instrumental "Nothing to Fear" demonstrate that dM were a band to be reckoned with. The foundations, both lyrically and musically, that were created with this album inspired the future of Depeche Mode and was the source that initiated the hiring of Andrew Wilder into the band during this album's tour. If you want to discover Depeche Mode and the singles albums aren't enough, start here. You won't regret it.

The Cover is the Only thing Interesting Here:
I bought this album when it first came out because, as other teenagers in the early 80s, I was mezmerized by any song with a synthesizer in it. At the time parts of it were somewhat fascinating. Now after years of listening to all sorts of electronic music, from Avante Garde to Trance, I must say that after a recent complete listen of this album, I probably will never put it back in my cd player again. I now find the songs are either boring, lackluster, or annoying. I will keep it for the excellent cover, which is what attracted me to it in the first place. There is just better DM stuff to listen to.

Far From A Broken Frame; This is a great album.:
This second album from the famous Goth-synth pop group Depeche Mode is more than likely their least known album of their entire career. Released in 1982, it ditches most of the sugar fluff of their debut album in favor of a darker and less accessible sound but still far away from the foreboding undertones of their latter works following this and their next album "Construction Time Again". "Leave In Silence" is an early classic that ranks up well against the heavier edge of their post-1984 singles like "Stripped", "Strangelove" and "Enjoy The Silence" despite it's much softer undertones. Others like "A Photograph of You" and "Shouldn't Have Done That" are rather average and don't do a whole lot for me. Overall though, "A Broken Frame" while not stacking up anywhere close to their more famous works, is nonetheless an essential must-have.

Depeche Mode's best album hands down:
I can't believe the luke-warm reviews this album is getting! I think this, Depeche Mode's second album, is by far their best. Put out in 1982 between Speak and Spell (1st album) and Construction Time Again (3rd), it takes the best elements of both while leaving behind the campy silliness of the first, and the boring gloominess of the 3rd. Not that there's anything wrong with DM at their campiest or gloomiest. It's just that A Broken Frame is a masterpiece of subtlety somewhere between the two.

• Leave in Silence
• My Secret Garden
• Monument
• Nothing to Fear
• See You
• Satellite
• Meaning of Love
• Further Excerpts from: My Secret Garden
• Photograph of You
• Shouldn't Have Done That
• Sun & The Rainfall