Music / A Broken Frame

"All I wanna do is see you..."

A Broken Frame, released in 1982 through Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the US, is the second album by English Synth-Pop band Depeche Mode. Their first album without primary songwriter Vince Clarke, who left the band shortly after the release of Speak & Spell in favor of working with Alison Moyet in Yazoo, the album sees Martin Gore stepping into the role of lead songwriter. Gore had previously contributed two songs to Speak & Spell, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Big Muff", the former of which was oddly gloomy in comparison to the bouncy Silly Love Songs Clarke was known for. Indeed, the songs on A Broken Frame would be noticeably moodier than what previous material indicated, and the band would only continue to get moodier under Gore's penmanship. This would be the only album that Depeche Mode made as a trio until Ultra in 1997, following the departure of later member Alan Wilder in the wake of 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion and its Troubled Production.

As the band had yet to formulate a definitive sound for themselves in the wake of Clarke's departure, the music on A Broken Frame continues the straight Synth-Pop style of previous material, but aims for a more atmospheric approach compared to Speak & Spell's emphasis on bounce and danceability. The harder beats in comparison to Clarke's oeuvre would additionally hint at the later experiments with industrial influences that would permeate the band's later work, though as Gore had yet to discover his interest in blending industrial music with synth-pop, this album lacks much of the heaviness that would later define Depeche Mode's work— that would first come a year later, with Construction Time Again.

A Broken Frame produced three singles: "See You", "The Meaning of Love", and "Leave in Silence".

Tracklists:

UK Mute Records release:

Side One

1. "Leave in Silence" (4:51)
2. "My Secret Garden" (4:46)
3. "Monument" (3:15)
4. "Nothing to Fear" (4:18)
5. "See You" (4:34)

Side Two

1. "Satellite" (4:44)
2. "The Meaning of Love" (3:06)
3. "A Photograph of You" (3:04)
4. "Shouldn't Have Done That" (3:12)
5. "The Sun & the Rainfall" (5:02)

US Sire Records release:

Side One

1. "Leave in Silence (Longer)" (6:28)
2. "My Secret Garden" (4:45)
3. "Monument" (3:14)
4. "Nothing to Fear" (4:16)
5. "See You" (4:35)

Side Two

1. "Satellite" (4:40)
2. "The Meaning of Love" (3:06)
3. "Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden" (4:20)
4. "A Photograph of You" (3:04)
5. "Shouldn't Have Done That" (3:10)
6. "The Sun & the Rainfall" (5:02)

What can I say? I don't want to trope anymore:

• An Aesop: "Shouldn't Have Done That" starts off with the words "Plans made in the nursery can change the course of history", and then goes to talk about a boy's upbringing and things his parents shouldn't have done that would eventually result in him becoming a political leader. The song is typically thought to refer to Adolf Hitler.
• Darker and Edgier: Thanks to Martin Gore taking over songwriting duties in the wake of Vince Clarke's departure, the songs on A Broken Frame have a decidedly moodier and more experimental tone compared to the primarily Clarke-penned Speak & Spell.
• Dark Wave: This is the first Depeche Mode album that can be considered such, on account of its combination of Synth-Pop instrumentation and moody subject matter; it and its successors would collectively help codify the genre.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Not as severe compared to Speak & Spell, but the straightforward Synth-Pop that dominates this album is still a far cry from Depeche Mode's later work.
• Epic Rocking: The 12" mix of "Leave in Silence" included on US copies.
• Fading into the Next Song: In some US pressings of the album, the ending of "Shouldn't Have Done That" segues into the start of "The Sun & the Rainfall".
• Happy Ending Override: If one interprets "A Photograph of You" as a Sequel Song to "Dreaming of Me", it could count as this, given how the lyrics discuss the narrator being so broken-hearted about a past lover that he can't even look at a photograph of them.
• I Am the Band: The entire album is penned by Martin Gore. Could be slightly subverted though in that Dave Gahan is the lead vocalist, rather than Gore.
• New Sound Album: First album without Vince, no Alan, comparatively moody.
• Non-Appearing Title: "Nothing to Fear" and "Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden" on account of them being instrumentals.
• Instrumental: "Nothing to Fear", as well as "Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden" on US copies.
• Sequel Song: "A Photograph of You" appears to be one to "Dreaming of Me" and "Photographic".
• Precious Photo: Inverted in "A Photograph of You", in which the narrator's grief over a failed relationship keeps him from being able to look at photographs of his lost lover.
• Shout-Out: "Nothing to Fear" quotes the iconic bassline of the Doctor Who theme, specifically the arrangement used between 1967 and 1980.
• Socialist Realism: The cover photograph is designed in this style.
• Surreal Music Video: "Leave in Silence", consisting of the band hitting everyday objects on a conveyor belt table, Dave Gahan turning deep blue after being hit with a hammer and him playing a ball game with a red Martin Gore and a green Andy Fletcher, occasionally rage quitting.
• Synth-Pop: This and Speak & Spell are the band's only two albums to be just straightforward instances of this genre.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: The primary theme of "The Meaning of Love".
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The protagonist in "Satellite" The song is about how a bunch of bad events have led him to become a "satellite of hate."