Ultra (Depeche Mode album)



Ultra is the ninth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 14 April 1997 by Mute Records. It is the band's first album since the departure of Alan Wilder, who had left the band in 1995 having become disillusioned with life in Depeche Mode. Wilder's departure and lead singer Dave Gahan's drug problems, which culminated in a near-fatal overdose, had caused many people to speculate that the band was finished. This is their first album as a trio since 1982's A Broken Frame, along with it being their first album where the band themselves were not involved with production.

Ultra debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and at number five on the Billboard 200. By April 2006, the album had sold 584,000 copies in the United States. The project was initially conceived as an EP.

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 in its list of "100 Albums That Shook Polish Rock".

Promotion
To promote the release of the album the band played two short concerts in London and Los Angeles, titled Ultra Parties. The London concert took place on 10 April 1997 at Adrenalin Village and the Los Angeles concert was held on 16 May 1997 at the Shrine Exposition Hall. The Shrine show was produced by Philip Blaine whose 1500 Records was at that point compiling the soon to be released Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses. The shows featured Christian Eigner on drums and Dave Clayton on keyboards. The Los Angeles show was filmed by MTV but the performance was never broadcast in its entirety.

Setlist
 * 1) Instrumental intro, "Uselink" on Los Angeles, "Junior Painkiller" on London
 * 2) "Barrel of a Gun"
 * 3) "Useless"
 * 4) "It's No Good"
 * 5) "Home"
 * 6) "Never Let Me Down Again"

2007 re-release
On 2 October 2007 (3 October in North America), Ultra was re-released in a two-disc set, along with Exciter, completing the Depeche Mode Collectors Edition catalog. The first disc is a remastered version of the original album, on a SACD/CD hybrid (except for in the U.S., where it's 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.

Finally, 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 "deluxe" vinyl 30 March 2007 in Germany and 1 October 2007 internationally.

Track listing
All songs written by Martin L. Gore.

2007 re-release (CD/SACD)

 * Disc 1 is a hybrid SACD/CD with a multi-channel SACD layer.
 * Disc 2 is a DVD which includes "Ultra" in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo plus the following bonus material:


 * Live tracks in London, April 1997 (in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo)
 * 1) "Barrel of a Gun"
 * 2) "It's No Good"
 * 3) "Useless"


 * Bonus tracks (in PCM Stereo)
 * 1) "Painkiller"
 * 2) "Slowblow"
 * 3) "Only When I Lose Myself"
 * 4) "Surrender"
 * 5) "Headstar"


 * Additional material
 * Depeche Mode 95–98 (Oh well, that's the end of the band...) (50-minute documentary)

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Ultra.


 * Area – sleeve design
 * Jamie Campbell – assistant engineering
 * Audie Chamberlain – assistant engineering
 * Dave Clayton – string arrangements ("Home"), keyboards, keyboard programming (all tracks)
 * BJ Cole – pedal steel guitar ("The Bottom Line")
 * Anton Corbijn – art direction, front cover, photography
 * Danny Cummings – percussion ("Useless", "Freestate")
 * Brian Dowling – colour prints
 * JD Fanger – London office
 * Lee Fitzgerald – assistant engineering
 * Gary Forde – assistant engineering
 * Greg – assistant engineering
 * Evelyn Halus – vocal coach
 * Paul Hicks – assistant engineering
 * Kerry Hopwood – programming
 * Victor Indrizzo – percussion ("Barrel of a Gun", "It's No Good")
 * Jim – assistant engineering


 * Gareth Jones – additional vocal engineering ("The Love Thieves", "Home", "Freestate"), mixing ("Uselink", "Jazz Thieves")
 * Robbie Kazandjian – assistant engineering
 * Jonathan Kessler – management
 * Keith LeBlanc – drums ("Useless")
 * Jaki Liebezeit – percussion ("The Bottom Line")
 * Mike Marsh – mastering
 * Guy Massey – assistant engineering
 * Daniel Miller – System 700 ("Uselink")
 * Richard Niles – string conductor, string score ("Home")
 * Graeme Perkins – string coordinator ("Home")
 * Lee Phillips – assistant engineering
 * Q – engineering, mixing
 * Tom Rixton – assistant engineering
 * Tim Simenon – mixing, production
 * Doug Wimbish – bass ("Useless")
 * Gota Yashiki – drums ("Useless")