Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (CD)

what a piece of bullshit.

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Feb 26, 2002

Even comparing this superficial, dumb pop- crap to their latter albums is blasphemy.
This not DM, the is for morons.

A++

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 15, 2002

This is one of my all-time faves. A++

DM is good.

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Nov 26, 2001

Depeche Mode displays their knack for songwriting on their very first album.

classical

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Oct 16, 2001

can't stand to see this album so badly rated. otherwise i would give it a four, but now i'm furious, so it's five. kids simply don't get it...

RU mental?

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Sep 10, 2001

Reading the reviews on this album I must ask the question: Are you mental? (or just born 10 years after me). The first DM album will always be the best and one of the best techno pop albums ever.

C,mon, it's not that bad.

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Aug 6, 2001

Come on people this album isn,t that bad. I have all of DMs albums including this one and I love all of them.

Sure there's the laughable Boys Say Go .But there's the catchy Dreaming of Me and the funny Just Can't Get Enough.

I definately would recommend this one if you wan't some good early 80s new wave pop. Beware this is not for those who are deep into Black Celebration, Violator or Music For The Masses. None the less give this album a try.

I must admit I still laugh at DM for the dumbest song ever Boys Say Go! But they would improve dramatically after 1983.

Naif mais bon!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jun 17, 2001

Un des albums les plus importants de l'époque New Wave du début des années 80 est surement Speak & Spell. Bien sur la naieveté du groupe est presente, la base y est. Des chansons comme Photographic, Just can't get enough,Tora,Tora,Tora,Dre
aming of Me et New Life sont des classiques du groupe qui démontre bien la qualité bien supérieur de leurs musiques comparés aux autres groupe de ce temps.

this is pretty sad

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jun 6, 2001

The only reason this album is worth a listen is to fully realize how much Depeche Mode improved between 1980 and 1982. It also shows how lucky Depeche was that Vince Clarke split. As a Depeche fan I can respect a few songs on this album, but Depeche's true first album has to be a broken frame when Martin Gore took over the songwriting. They went from shallow sappy club pop shit to cruely ironic , depressingly honest and more complex songwriting.

I want the last word...

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Feb 19, 2001

<EOM>

Oh boys!Dave sang"U such a preety boy!","0

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 20, 2001

BUT!!!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 19, 2001

Far from their best album - I would give two stars based on it's individual merit - but 4 if one includes it's significance. Anyone trying to claim that this is DMs masterpiece, or their most original is simply trying to come off like they were "first on the bandwagon". Any true fan sees S&S for what it is - a debut album, a stepping stone, a nice first effort.

I agree with monab.

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Nov 10, 2000

Speak & Spell' s just cheap throwaway- pop, with no deep meaning normally offered on a DM- album.
Just like Erasure.
Try every other DM- album first.

Depeche Mode's most original piece...

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Oct 30, 2000

Of all the studio albums in Depeche Mode's catalog, it is their debut, "Speak & Spell" that is their most original. Perhaps the main reason this album stands on its own two legs rather than identify itself with subsequent releases begins and ends with the input of Vincent Clarke. No other Depeche Mode album even comes close to the recognition of commercialisim--it is Clarke's sense of foreshadowing that gives "Speak & Spell" its overwhelming sense of pop overtones, both lyrically and sonically.
That being said, "Speak & Spell" is an undeniable classic, a must own for anyone who has ever been interested in pop music. Beautiful arrangements and melodies are painted across the board, none hitting the mark any more than the goofy but straight-laced "Just Can't Get Enough." There are homoerotic sentiments on the album as well, with "Boys Say Go" and "Pretty Boy (What's Your Name)"--giving pure signs that the band was confident in their sexual orientations, specifically in Martin Gore's case. Gore even tries his hand at songwriting, with the dark "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff," in which both songs covertly predict the emergence of Gore as DM's primary sonwriter.
David Grahan is smooth and shaky on his vocal debut, hinting at what his voice can do. Not surprisingly, the only song in which his brooding chords are evident is Gore's piece, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" However, Grahan sounds confident, especially on "Nodisco" and "Just Can't Get Enough."
Without question, "Speak & Spell" is Clarke's genius, and Depeche Mode would be forever changed with his departure. Nowhere else on any other album did they sound so optimistic, so fresh, so riveting, so captivating and commercially appealing, all thanks to Clarke. "Speak & Spell" is so simple that is complex in nature to logically compare it with other DM albums, even the immediate follow-up, "A Broken Frame." Strangely, "A Broken Frame" is a sophomore slump of sorts, even though it did yield hit songs, but is not a just sequel to "Speak & Spell."
"Speak & Spell" is a Depeche Mode album you will either love or hate, but the melodies, simpleness, and creativeness cannot be denied. After all, imagine what Depeche Mode would sound like if Clarke never left--surely there would be no Voilator!


Px99

THIS IS THEIR MASTERPIECE

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Nov 20, 1999

This is their one true album. take it from a master of reviews. this is depeche mode when depeche mode was depeche mode. it was the when the best ever vince clarke synchronize the band. it also had some of the most unforgettable cuts "speak & spell", dreaming of me", and the minimoog favorite "i just cant get enough" it's a must own ........

dm rock!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Oct 13, 1999

dm rock! yeah.
Well speak and spell was their first album...it includes many classics including "dreaming of me" and "just can't get enough"...yes that's right my teenybopper friends...the song on the GAP commercial..hehe.