Depeche Mode - Ultra

In 1996-97 Martin Gore did something not everyone thought was possible, the former bank teller penned an album which restablished Depeche Mode in the mainstream consciouness during a time in which tastes had changed a bit and the band was recovering from internal strife with the departure of Alan Wilder, and the near death of their frontman David Gahan to drug overdose.

Ultra, the result,is more akin to their 1989 album Violator than to 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion. Itexhibits a steady professional hand that has both style and theme well in hand. Depeche Mode's album classic Ultra, was a Billboard Top 5 album when it was released in 1997, and a #1 album in the U.K.

Acorrding to Gore the album's title Ultra is "a really great, a great symbol, and I can't believe no one's ever done it before. I had to go back through old chronicles of albums just to make sure it's never been done and so far as I can tell it hasn't. I'm really surprised by that."

The primary instrumentation is the familiar synthesized and sampled sound that has become the Depeche Mode trademark, but holding them and accenting them are the sounds of guitars that were less prominent than the riffs on Songs of Faith and Devotion but in the forefront more than when they appeared on their earlier albums Music for the Masses and Violator.

When it came time to record Ultra the group called in a number of collaborators including bassist Doug Wimbash (Living Colour, Billy Idol's Cyberpunk) who laid down the groove on "Useless", Keith Le Blanc (Tackhead, and one of the producers for NIN's Pretty Hate Machine), who provided the drums for the same track. For "The Bottom Line" they recruited B.J. Coles who plays the heck out of the steel guitar.

There is a lot more soul and blues on Ultra than on previous effort and the phenomenon is neither suprising nor jarring. Gore, the chief songwriter has confessed to having a heavy blues influence in the past and it really shows through this time. To accomplish this feel without betraying their core sound, DM opted not to to use producer Flood who had helmed their most successful albums. Instead they opted for Tim Simneon, who credits include Seal, Bjork, Sinead O' Connor, and Neneh Cherry. Simenon, with his permanent crew keybaordist Dave Clayton, and sound engineer Q., helped to flesh, refine, and hone Gore's skeletal song demos. The result is the hits like "Its No Good", "Home", "Barrel of a Gun", and "Useless", as well as gems "The Jazz Thieves" and "Sister of Night".

Additionally Gahan worked with a vocal coach to help repair his voice from the effects of nearly two years of constant touring, as well as extremely heavy drug use. Fans can be rest assured though, unlike some sections of Songs of Faith and Devotion where Gahan sounds for all the world as if he's just crawled directly from the pit of Hell itself, his contribution to Ultra return once again to the smooth vibrato-laden dulcet tones for which we all have come to adore.

Quite simply Ultra is classic Depeche Mode. For a dance album it is a little to Zen but after all when did a sense of calm and reserve ever bother a Depeche Mode fan?

Ultra is available at the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Ultra/dp/B00122L1GC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237985008&sr=8-3

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=264603140&s=143441

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1034244/a/Ultra.htm

http://www.rhino.com/store/productdetail.lasso?number=108988

http://www.recordstore.co.uk/productdetail.jsp?productPK=unittest-4QqL95vGPgGF252gqN3IEb-1