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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Speak & Spell
1981
Album Summary
This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
Speak & Spell is the debut studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 29 October 1981 by Mute Records in the UK, and Sire Records in the US. It was the band's only album to feature founding member Vince Clarke.
The album peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, and was ranked number 991 in the 2000 book All Time Top 1000 Albums.
The album's cover, a "puzzling" picture of a swan wrapped in plastic, was designed by Brian Griffin and earned him a "brazingly inflated" £1000 fee (about £4,800 today). The band had agreed to not show their faces on their album cover, wanting the quality of the artwork to reflect their seriousness as musicians. Griffin would also shoot the cover artwork for Depeche Mode's follow-up album, A Broken Frame (1982).
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Sep 18 2025
3
The debut album of Depeche Mode is a nice synth-pop album. It has three good songs: "New Life", "Puppets" and "Just Can't Get Enough". Other songs vary between instantly disposable pop ("What's Your Name?"), subpar produced songs ("I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead") or forgettable tracks (sorry, I can't remember which). All in all it's ok, but you can better listen to their later work.
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Sep 18 2025
3
I really enjoyed the second song and the second to last, but Depeche Mode was never my scene. This album doesn’t bother me as much as Violator, but it won’t be going in my library (except for those two aforementioned songs). Good album, though. Well done. 3/5
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