Depeche Mode this summer will inaugurate a new series of box sets collecting audiophile-quality vinyl 12-inches of the singles released off of each of the group’s records, beginning with multi-disc sets for 1981 debut Speak & Spell and its 1982 follow-up, A Broken Frame.
Those two sets — which also include a replica poster and download card — are due out Aug. 31 via Rhino Records, and will retail for $59.98, according to the label. They’re both available for pre-order now.
The singles feature audio remastered at Abbey Road Studios from the original tapes, and will be packaged in replicas of the original vinyl artwork. The boxes themselves feature artwork that “draws on street art iconography inspired by the original releases,” according to Rhino.
Each contains three 12-inch singles, while the Speak & Spell box has a bonus replica of a flexidisc from Flexipop magazine in 1981 featuring Depeche Mode’s “Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead” on one side and Fad Gadget’s “King of the Flies” on the other.
Rhino says the Depeche Mode 12-inch box-set series will “continue over the coming years,” with plans to release collections containing the singles from each of the band’s albums.
Check out the tracklist below.
Tracklist: Depeche Mode, Speak & Spell: The 12″ Singles
Flexi Disc
“Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead” (Depeche Mode)
“King of the Flies” (Fad Gadget)
Dreaming Of Me 12-inch
“Dreaming of Me”
“Ice Machine”
New Life 12-inch
“New Life” (Remix)
“Shout!” (Rio Mix)
Just Can’t Get Enough 12-inch
“Just Can’t Get Enough” (Schizo Mix)
“Any Second Now” (Altered)
Tracklist: Depeche Mode, A Broken Frame: The 12″ Singles
See You 12-inch
“See You” (Extended Version)
“Now This Is Fun” (Extended Version)
The Meaning of Love 12-inch
“The Meaning of Love” (Fairly Odd Mix)
“Oberkorn (It’s a Small Town)” (Development Mix)
Leave In Silence 12-inch
“Leave In Silence” (Longer)
“Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden”
“Leave In Silence” (Quieter)
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Lol, another reissue, why not? They can’t make any money selling new records. Doesn’t help that the last 3 studio albums have been shyte. The Depeche Mode 4-year wheel:
1. Release boring, pointless new record
2. Tour, playing basically the same setlists as the last tour (with Martin shaking things up every so often)
3. Re-issue something
4. Put out a Greatest Hits
Rinse and repeat lol. But hey, business is business and they make a lot of money!
Wow, what a shameless cash grab. If you’re going to hawk this as potentially filling holes in a fan’s collection, at least provide the 7″ versions as well.
Now if they would just play some of those songs in their shows I actually might see them live again. Their stuff after Violator has been hit and miss with the last 3-4 albums mainly garbage
I’ve always believed that DM’s music suffered following the departure of Alan Wilder, who added a dimension they simply could not replicate.
Not just to bash, but specifically what I miss in recent DM releases are the epic songs. My favorites are songs like Black Celebration, Clean, Blasphemous Rumours… epics.
In Chains I thought was a good return of the form, Darkest Star had such potential but was watery and a miss.
The flexi-disc is what matters to me.
@ Archie C.
It’s odd you say that, I recently found a copy of this very flexi-disc at one of my local record shops for 5 bucks! BTW, the DM song on the flexi is also on the most recent Rhino reissue of Speak & Spell, if you’re only looking for that song.
Pfft….I won’t be bothering with this, they don’t even play these tracks live anyway, well apart from JCGE.
They have also just announced that the tour DVD will be filmed in Berlin for the second time in a row, so yet another European show to be released, wow, way to shake things up lads! Why not a US show for a change or one of the Latin American gigs they did this year!? Everything about Depeche Mode is just lazy nowadays, what a shame.
The great Depeche Mode of 1981 – 1993 RIP