Ultra (Depeche Mode album)

Ultra is the ninth studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 14 April 1997 by Mute Records. It was the band's first album following the departure of Alan Wilder. 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, with these duties being handled by Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass fame. Though not directly supported by a full-length tour, it was promoted via a brief series of concerts promoted as Ultra Parties.

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and at number five on the US Billboard 200. By April 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".

The album was preceded by the singles "Barrel of a Gun", released on 3 February and "It's No Good" which was released on 31 March. It was followed by the singles "Home", released on 16 June and "Useless", released on 20 October.

Background and composition

Depeche Mode had released their eighth studio album Songs of Faith and Devotion in 1993, the recording of which was fraught with inter-personal conflicts and made more difficult by lead singer Dave Gahan's heroin habit, songwriter Martin Gore's alcohol abuse, and Andy Fletcher's struggle with depression. The 1993–94 Devotional Tour, dubbed "the most debauched rock 'n roll tour ever" by Q magazine, led to further problems, and in June 1995, band member Alan Wilder announced his departure from the band, citing the uneven workload, internal problems, and personality conflicts. Gahan would later say, "To be honest, I felt that if anything was going to split up the band, that [Wilder's departure] was what it was. A very valuable person had left. Suddenly, musically, for me, there was a big hole. That inspiration and musicality wasn't there," later saying of Wilder's absence, "I miss him." Mute Records owner and occasional Depeche Mode producer Daniel Miller convinced the band to continue to record, suggesting that they start with a few songs, and maybe just record a short EP instead of a full album. Gahan later said, "I was using intravenously, but it hadn't been working for two years, so by this time I was mixing heroin with cocaine, and using so much I couldn't fill the rig up any fuller. The last time I did it I knew something was wrong and I asked my friend not to fill the rig up so much. It's a long story, but I had a heart attack." Gahan had already had one reported drug-induced heart attack in October 1993 during the Devotional Tour. Gahan's friend called paramedics, who arrived quickly and were able to revive Gahan. Said Gahan later,

Upon being released on bail by band manager Jonathan Kessler, Gahan was met by television news crews outside the county jail and said,

Despite this statement, upon being released, Gahan continued to use heroin in his Los Angeles apartment, but after a few days he said it finally dawned on him that he was "going nowhere." The press in the UK reported on Gahan repeatedly following his arrest, with Gore and Fletcher bemoaning the near-constant coverage, with Gore saying that the press "only want to talk about drugs ... I get really depressed, thinking, 'It's always going to be like this. That's all they're ever going to talk about forever.'" At this point, Miller started to have doubts about the band, saying that at that point, "Nobody thought they were ever going to make it through that album. Even I, for the first time, wasn't sure if they were going to make it." The release date for the album, initially thought to be slated for late 1996, was officially pushed back to early 1997.

The band held an intervention with Gahan and forced him into rehab again, and on 6 June 1996, he checked into Exodus Recovery, the same rehab center Cobain had last attended before committing suicide in 1994. Before he entered rehab, Gore gave Gahan an ultimatum: quit drugs or quit the band, and at this point, Gore was forced to contemplate breaking the band up and releasing the songs he had written as a solo album. The pressure from the band and the treatment at Exodus had an effect on Gahan, who said,

Los Angeles sessions

After a four-week stay at Exodus, Gahan was released into a court-ordered "sober living house" where he continued his recovery. During this time, he started working with Simenon and the band to continue recording tracks for Ultra. Said Fletcher, Gahan "did come good in the end. He gave up drugs and drink, got all his vocals done. He got himself together, basically."

Abbey Road sessions and mixing

Final recording for the album, including some of Gahan's vocals, were completed at Abbey Road in London between November and December 1996, where the album was mixed. The demo version is similar in feel to the final version, although it was recreated from scratch. The drum pattern was cut up from a loop and re-sequenced, as Gore did not want to use an unedited drum loop, but also felt that loops can provide an "immediate atmosphere".

Musically, the band explored many sounds within the realms of alternative rock but with larger electronic and trip-hop influences. The band also felt that they wanted to do something different since Alan Wilder had left the band.

"Sister of Night", "Useless" and "Insight" were the first demos to have been written. The band played these demos to Simenon when they met, and despite their simplicity he was impressed. Upon hearing the demo of "It's No Good", he considered it to be a classic Depeche Mode song. While the project started out as a small set of songs, it eventually evolved into a full album.

Release

In January 1997, the band performed "Barrel of a Gun" on Top of the Pops in a performance that included Anton Corbijn on drums and Simenon on keyboards. In interviews with the press, the media would ask about Gahan's drug addiction and arrest. Gahan treated many of the interviews as a form of therapy, later regretting it, saying "At first, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about it. But I'm not so sure anymore. ... People should try and concentrate on positive things."

"It's No Good" was released as the album's second single on 31 March. Given the stress of the Devotional Tour, the band elected not to tour for Ultra, instead supporting the album's release with a live performance in London on 10 April 1997, at which they performed "Barrel of a Gun", "Useless", "It's No Good", "Home" and "Never Let Me Down Again". Ultra was released on 14 April 1997 by Mute Records in the UK. Released with catalogue number STUMM148, a promotional interview was released on CD as VERBONG2.

On 13 May, the band's official website, depechemode.com was launched to support the new album. On 16 May, the band performed a second record release party, this time in Los Angeles. That same week, performances of "It's No Good" were aired in Germany on RTL Samstag Nacht and in the US on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The album went gold in Germany and was a top-five hit in eight countries, including the UK, US, Germany, and France where the album made it to number one.

On 2 October 2007 (3 October in North America), Ultra was re-released as a two-disc set, featuring a remastered version of the original album and on the second disc, a DVD which features the album in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM Stereo.

Critical reception

Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune stated the album "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."

Depeche Mode

David Gahan
Andrew Fletcher
Martin Gore

Additional musicians

Kerry Hopwood – programming
Dave Clayton – keyboards, keyboard programming ; string arrangements
Victor Indrizzo – percussion
Jaki Liebezeit – percussion
B. J. Cole – pedal steel guitar
Gota Yashiki – drums
Keith LeBlanc – drums
Danny Cummings – percussion
Doug Wimbish – bass
Daniel Miller – System 700
Richard Niles – strings score, strings conducting
Graeme Perkins – strings coordination

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 at The Exchange (London)
Evelyn Halus – vocal coach
Gareth Jones – mixing ; additional vocals engineering

Artwork

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

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Ultra

! scope="col"| Chart (1997)

! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position

! scope="row"| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)

| 1

! scope="row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)

| 3

! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)

| 1

! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)

| 1

! scope="row"| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)

| 5

! scope="row"| Irish Albums (IFPI)

| 39

! scope="row"| Portuguese Albums (AFP)

| 1

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Year-end chart performance for Ultra

! scope="col"| Chart (1997)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 38

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)

| 35

! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)

| 21

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 17

! scope="row"| Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)