ULTRA (ALBUM)

'''Ultra''' is Depeche Mode's ninth full-length album, which was released on April 15, 1997. The album is the first album after the departure of Alan Wilder, who left to focus on his solo project Recoil. The long time that separates this album from the previous was due to David Gahan's near suicide and recovery from addiction to drugs. These two events caused many to speculate the end of Depeche Mode, but this turned out to not be the case. The album is notable for being the longest the band has ever released, clocking at an hour.
''Ultra'' was eventually released, reaching number one in the UK Chart, and producing several hit singles. As of April 2006, ''Ultra'' has sold 584,000 units in the U.S.
The remastered album is set to be released on "deluxe" vinyl 30 March 2007 in Germany and October 1 2007 internationally.

Contents

Track listing

2007 re-release: (CD/SACD)

Singles

Personnel

Track listing

# "Barrel of a Gun" – 5:35
# "The Love Thieves" – 6:34
# "Home" – 5:42
# "It's No Good" – 5:58
# "Uselink" – 2:21
# "Useless" – 5:12
# "Sister Of Night" – 6:04
# "Jazz Thieves" – 2:54
# "Freestate" – 6:44
# "The Bottom Line" – 4:26
# "Insight" – 6:26
# "Junior Painkiller" – 2:11
★

★ All songs written by Martin L Gore. Martin sings lead on "Home" and "The Bottom Line", while Dave Gahan sings the other songs. "Uselink", "Jazz Thieves", and "Junior Painkiller" are instrumental interludes.

★
★ Unlisted bonus track. A 90 second pause separates "Insight" and "Junior Painkiller", the former is really only around four and a half minutes in length.

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 bonus material
# "Barrel of a Gun" – 5:35
# "The Love Thieves" – 6:34
# "Home" – 5:42
# "It's No Good" – 5:58
# "Uselink" – 2:21
# "Useless" – 5:12
# "Sister Of Night" – 6:04
# "Jazz Thieves" – 2:54
# "Freestate" – 6:44
# "The Bottom Line" – 4:26
# "Insight" – 6:26
# "Junior Painkiller" - 2:11 (unlisted bonus track)
'Live tracks in London, April 1997 (in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo)'
# "Barrel of a Gun"
# "It's No Good"
# "Useless"
'Bonus tracks (in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo)'
# "Painkiller"
# "Slowblow"
# "Only When I Lose Myself"
# "Surrender"
# "Headstar"
'Additional Material'

★ "Depeche Mode 95-98 (Oh well, that's the end of the band...)

Singles

# "Barrel of a Gun" (03 February, 1997)
# "It's No Good" (31 March, 1997)
# "Home" (16 June, 1997)
# "Useless" (20 October, 1997)

Personnel

★ Depeche Mode is:

★
★ David Gahan

★
★ Andrew Fletcher

★
★ Martin Gore

★ Produced by Tim Simenon.

★ Mixed by Tim Simenon & Q.

★ Engineered by Q.

★ Programming on all tracks by Kerry Hopwood.

★ Keyboards & Keyboard Programming on all tracks by Dave Clayton.

★ Recorded at:

★
★ Abbey Road - Eastcote - Westside - Strongroom - RAK, London

★
★ Electric Lady, New York

★
★ Larrabee West, Los Angeles

★ Assisted by Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, Lee Fitzgerald, Tom Rixton, Gary Forde, Lee Phillips, Jamie Campbell, Jim, Greg, Audie Chamberlain, Robbie Kazandjian.

★ Mastered by Mike Marsh at The Exchange.

★ Additional musicians:

★
★ Victor Indrizzo (misspelled in the credits as "Endrizzio"), percussion: "Barrel of a Gun" & "It's No Good".

★
★ Jaki Liebezeit, percussion: "The Bottom Line".

★
★ BJ Cole, pedal steel guitar: "The Bottom Line".

★
★ Gota Yashiki, drums: "Useless".

★
★ Keith Le Blanc, drums: "Useless".

★
★ Danny Cummings, percussion: "Useless" & "Freestate".

★
★ Doug Wimbish, bass: "Useless".

★
★ Daniel Miller, System700: "Uselink".

★ Vocal coach Evelyn Halus.

★ "Uselink" & "Jazz Thieves": Mixed by Tim Simenon & Gareth Jones.

★ "Home", "Love Thieves" & "Freestate": Additional vocals engineered by Gareth Jones at RAK Studios

★ "Home":

★
★ Strings arranged by Dave Clayton;

★
★ Strings scored by Richard Niles;

★
★ Strings coordinated by Graham Perkins.

★ Special thanks to: Daniel Miller, Howie Klein, Anton Corbjin, Andy Ferguson, Donna Vergier, Pepe Jansz, Gerald Myers, everyone at Mute Records, Craig Kostich, Rich Fitzgerald, Steve Tipp, everyone at Reprise Records, Ronnie Harris, Andrew Thompson, Keith Drinkwater, Michael Pagnotta, Bernard Doherty, Karen Stringer, John Kennedy, Daryl Bamonte, Lynn Newcombe, Michaela Olexova, Richard Bell, Richard Smith, Ian McAndrew, Emma Feather, Philip Bagenal, Dundas Brothers.

★ Management: Jonathan Kessler for Baron Inc.

★ London office: JD Fanger.

★ Art direction, photography & front cover - Anton Corbijn.

★ Color prints - Brian Dowling.

★ Sleeve design - Area.

★ Label: Mute