A Broken Frame

Updated on Nov 17, 2023

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Released 1982 Artists Depeche Mode, Marsheaux Label Sire Records		Length 40:55 Release date 27 September 1982 Genres Synthpop, New wave

Recorded Fall 1981– Winter 1982 at Blackwing Studios in London Producer Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller A Broken Frame (1982) Construction Time Again (1983) Similar Depeche Mode albums, Synthpop albums

A Broken Frame is the second studio album by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, released in 1982. The album was written entirely by Martin Gore and recorded after the departure of Vince Clarke, who had left the band to form Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet. Alan Wilder was part of a second tour in the United Kingdom occurring prior to the release of this album, but he had not officially joined the band yet, and thus, does not appear on the album.

Critical reception and legacy

Melody Maker noted that "A Broken Frame – as its name suggests – marks the end of a beautiful dream". Reviewer Steve Sutherland considered that the songs of A Broken Frame "sound like puerile infatuations papering over anonymity" with "weary words". He found that "Shouldn't Have Done That" is the only "ambitious departure" from their previous work.

Cover image

The cover artwork is a photograph, but is intended to resemble a painting. It depicts a woman cutting grain in an East Anglian field, near Duxford in Cambridgeshire. It was taken by Brian Griffin (who had previously done the cover photograph for Speak & Spell and press photos for the band) using a mixture of natural and artificial lighting. Griffin cited as inspirations Ukrainian and Russian art, especially the work of Kazimir Malevich, and German romantic art. Griffin has displayed on his website a gallery of alternative images from the same shoot.

It was featured on the cover of Life Magazine's 1990 edition of "World's Best Photographs 1980–1990".

Track listing

All tracks written by Martin Gore.

Some original US CD copies of the album tacked on the intro of "The Sun & the Rainfall" onto the end of "Shouldn't Have Done That", making "The Sun & the Rainfall" 4:54.

All compositions by Martin Gore.

Dave Gahan sings lead vocals on all songs except "Shouldn't Have Done That" which is a duet with Gore. "Nothing to Fear" and "Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden" are instrumental.

2006 re-release

Mute: DM CD 2 (CD/SACD + DVD) / CDX STUMM 9 (CD/SACD)

Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer. The track listing is identical to the 1982 UK release, except "Satellite" which is 4:43 long and contains a slight edit, or error, at the beginning of the track.

Disc 2 is a DVD which includes A Broken Frame in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus bonus material.

Additional Material:

"Depeche Mode 1982 (The Beginning of Their So-Called Dark Phase)" [27 Minute video]

Vinyl

All songs were written by Martin Gore.

Album credits

Depeche Mode

Dave Gahan – lead vocals

Martin Gore – keyboards, backing and lead vocals

Andy Fletcher – keyboards, backing vocals

Production

Produced by Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode

Engineered by John Fryer, Eric Radcliffe

Recorded at Blackwing Studios, London

CDD Pre-Mastering by WCI Record Group

Photography by Brian Griffin

Design: Martyn Atkins

Calligraphy: Ching Ching Lee

Clothes Stylist: Jacqui Frye

Publisher: Mute Records

Distributor: Warner Music (U.S.)

Label: Mute Records (UK) / Sire Records (U.S.)

Marsheaux cover version

In 2015, the Greek synthpop duo Marsheaux released a complete cover version of A Broken Frame on Undo Records. While the reviewer for Release Magazine wrote that this version was not "anything essential" but well done, other reviews were more detailed. The Electricity Club found influences of And One in the cover of "The Sun & the Rainfall" and concluded that Marsheaux had "used unconventional sounds and vocals to make this record their own". Reviews from Germany noted that Marsheaux had elaborated on the assetts and downsides of the original release. According to Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, the kitschy sides of the early Depeche Mode album were deliberately uncovered in tracks like "The Meaning of Love" while the Sonic Seducer lauded Marsheaux's darker and slower interpretation of this song.