Ultra

Ultra is the ninth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 14 April 1997 by Mute Records. It was the band's first album following the departure of Alan Wilder, who had become disillusioned with life in the band. Wilder's departure and lead singer Dave Gahan's drug problems, which culminated in a near-fatal overdose, had caused speculation that Depeche Mode was finished. Ultra was the first album the band recorded as a trio since A Broken Frame (1982); it was also their first where the band members were not involved with production.

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and at number five on the US Billboard 200. By 2006, it had sold 584,000 copies in the United States. In 1999, Ned Raggett ranked the album at number 50 on his list of the "Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties". That same year, the annual Ultra Music Festival in Miami was named after the album by its co-founder Russell Faibisch, and acknowledging its influence on the Polish rock scene, Tylko Rock ranked it at number 71 on its list of the "100 Albums That Shook Polish Rock".

Background and composition
Lyrically, much of the album was inspired by the turmoil the band had faced throughout the 1990s. Gore said that the opening track "Barrel of a Gun" is about realising that you do not have to fit someone else's view of the world.

Musically, the band explored many sounds within the realms of alternative rock but with a much more dark, smooth, and electronic feel. The band also felt that they wanted to do something different since Alan Wilder had left the band. "Barrel of a Gun" did not change much from its original demo and is one of the most aggressive tracks on the album.

On 2 October 2007 (3 October in North America), Ultra was re-released as a two-disc set, along with Exciter, completing the Depeche Mode collector's edition catalog. The first disc is a remastered version of the original album, on a SACD/CD hybrid (except in the United States, where it is a CD only). The second disc is a DVD which features the album in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo. The B-sides from the album's singles can be listened to as well, including the standalone single "Only When I Lose Myself" and its B-sides. Like the other albums, there is a documentary on the making of Ultra titled Depeche Mode 95–98 (Oh Well, That's the End of the Band...), the subtitle of which comes from Gore's thoughts about Wilder's departure. The documentary begins with discussion from all parties of Wilder's departure before moving on to early album sessions despite Dave Gahan's drug issues present. Eventually, it moves on to Gahan's "death" and rehab. The documentary then covers the recording of Ultra and ends with a discussion on The Singles 86>98 and its corresponding singles tour. The whole band is interviewed, along with Alan Wilder, Daniel Miller, producer Tim Simenon, Mute executives, touring keyboardist Peter Gordeno, touring drummer Christian Eigner, Anton Corbijn and others. The remastered version of the album was released on vinyl 30 March 2007 in Germany and 1 October 2007 internationally.

Artwork
Coming soon

Singles

 * 1) Barrel Of A Gun, released on February 3, 1997
 * 2) It's No Good, released on March 31, 1997
 * 3) Home, released on June 16, 1997
 * 4) Useless, released on October 20, 1997

Standard Edition
Note: The US CD release by Reprise Records sequences "Junior Painkiller" as a separate track from "Insight"; this configuration is also used on digital releases of the album.

2006 Collectors Edition CD + DVD

 * Disc one is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
 * Disc two is a DVD which includes "Ultra" in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus the following bonus material:

Additional material

 * Depeche Mode 95–98 (Oh Well, That's the End of the Band...) (50-minute documentary)

Reception
Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune stated, "Depeche Mode's core members, songwriter Martin Gore and singer Dave Gahan, are the Mopey and Dopey of self-indulgent synth-pop, but they keep the more embarrassing melodrama to a minimum on "Ultra," which ranks with their best work... this veteran British combo has made a disc that should please their millions of followers and provide a few guilty pleasures for the rest of us." Jim Farder in his review for Entertainment Weekly commented, "Ultra, their first work in four years, combines up-to-the-second synth effects (courtesy of producer Tim ”Bomb the Bass” Simenon) with rippling melodies — all supported by the grim sonic architecture that long ago made DM the darlings of many a sour teen. Imposing spires of synths, industrial rivets of percussion, churchy organs, and grave vocals erect an edifice of reverent dread." Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone added, "With 1990’s Violator and particularly 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion, the prior decade’s most arena-friendly techno-pop outfit began relying more on real instruments — guitars, primarily — to lend emotional urgency to its stark, computer-generated anthems." NME's James Oldham observed, "This album is at least partly the product of one of the most harrowing rock'n'roll sagas in recent memory. It's the tale of an unassuming quartet transformed into a colossal financial machine designed to bring gravitas to the masses: four cherubs from Basildon who were lauded as deities in America—only to discover they couldn't handle it... There is no dramatic reinvention, and as such we're left with an album that's every bit as flawed as its predecessors."

Tour
Depeche Mode hosted two mini-concerts or "parties" used to promote the release of their ninth album, "Ultra". Alan Wilder had left the band in 1995. These two concerts and the several promotional television performances are the first to have Christian Eigner on drums. Dave Clayton is on keyboards for these two concerts and television performances; Peter Gordeno replaces him starting with the 1998 "The Singles" Tour.

Personnel
Depeche Mode


 * David Gahan
 * Andrew Fletcher
 * Martin Gore

Additional musicians


 * Kerry Hopwood – programming
 * Dave Clayton – keyboards, keyboard programming (all tracks); string arrangements (track 3)
 * Victor Indrizzo – percussion (tracks 1, 4)
 * Jaki Liebezeit – percussion (track 10)
 * B. J. Cole – pedal steel guitar (track 10)
 * Gota Yashiki – drums (track 6)
 * Keith LeBlanc – drums (track 6)
 * Danny Cummings – percussion (tracks 6, 9)
 * Doug Wimbish – bass (track 6)
 * Daniel Miller – System 700 (track 5)
 * Richard Niles – strings score, strings conducting (track 3)
 * Graeme Perkins – strings coordination (track 3)

Technical


 * Tim Simenon – production, mixing
 * Q – mixing, engineering
 * Paul Hicks – engineering assistance
 * Guy Massey – engineering assistance
 * Lee Fitzgerald – engineering assistance
 * Tom Rixton – engineering assistance
 * Gary Forde – engineering assistance
 * Lee Phillips – engineering assistance
 * Jamie Campbell – engineering assistance
 * Jim – engineering assistance
 * Greg – engineering assistance
 * Audie Chamberlain – engineering assistance
 * Robbie Kazandjian – engineering assistance
 * Mike Marsh – mastering
 * Evelyn Halus – vocal coach
 * Gareth Jones – mixing (tracks 5, 8); additional vocals engineering (tracks 2, 3, 9)

Artwork


 * Anton Corbijn – art direction, photography, front cover
 * Brian Dowling – colour prints
 * Area – sleeve design

Trivia

 * Every track on the album besides instrumentals "Uselink" and "Jazz Thieves" is between 4 to 6 minutes long each, with "Freestate" being the closest to 7 minutes, and the only track of 4 minutes being "The Bottom Line".
 * Counting in B-sides, the range extends to 7 minutes due to "Painkiller", and the only other tracks to be 4 minutes long are "Only When I Lose Myself" and "Headstar".