A Broken Frame by Depeche Mode

A Broken Frame, Depeche Mode's second album, came out on Mute on 27 September 1982, and it's the sound of a band learning to survive without its chief songwriter. Vince Clarke had quit in December 1981 to form Yazoo with Alison Moyet, so the Basildon boys carried on as a trio, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher, with Gore writing every song and the band producing alongside Daniel Miller. Alan Wilder had been hired for the road but played no part in the recording.

Gone is the bubblegum bounce of Speak & Spell. In its place are moodier, more wistful synth-pop tunes, still melodic but already turning toward the darker, more introspective band they would become. "Leave in Silence" is the brooding highlight, all clanking electronics and quiet desolation, and it joined "See You" and "The Meaning of Love" in the UK top 20, while the album reached number eight at home.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.