About

Throughout Ultra, the core sense of what Depeche was meant to be in this new phase gets tested and subtly reinvented or reframed. They’re still an electronic group at base, part of a musical universe increasingly receptive to that idea, but they didn’t want to be limited by that description either. Part of that variety lies in the use of outside musicians beyond Clayton and Hopwood; while there had been a couple of extra performers and singers on Songs of Faith and Devotion, the numerous instrumentalists here take a bow, most often in the rhythm section, creating bespoke parts that were then looped into the final results.

Drumming pro Victor Indrizzo provided the beats for “Barrel of a Gun” and “It’s No Good,” while the crack Sugar Hill/Tackhead rhythm section of Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc delivered a sharp, roiling groove for another standout single, the emotional confrontation of “Useless,” further helped by Simply Red drummer Gota Yashiki. Meantime, one of two Gore lead vocals on the album, “The Bottom Line,” featured an unexpected but thoroughly striking pairing of UK steel guitar legend B.J. Cole and Can’s brilliant Jaki Liebezeit, on a performance that Gore assayed with reflective but compelling calm. — (via Pitchfork)

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When news surfaced in 1995 that Alan Wilder had departed Depeche Mode to concentrate on his solo project Recoil, the immediate concern among fans was whether the band would be able to hit past heights again. Though Wilder's profile was always much lesser than that of Martin Gore and David Gahan — and almost even that of Andy Fletcher, whose nonperformance live has always been a running joke in the fan community and who freely admits to generally being around merely to maintain a vibe with his childhood friend Gore — his capability at arranging the songs over the years gave the band its increasingly distinct, unique edge. Combined with Gahan's near suicide and lengthy recovery from drugs, things looked bleak. Happily, Ultra turned out a winner; hooking up with Tim Simenon, longtime U.K. dance maven and producer of arty fare such as Gavin Friday's Adam 'n' Eve, Depeche delivered a strong album as a rejuvenated band.

The most immediate change was Gahan's singing; for the first time ever, he took singing lessons beforehand, and his new control and projection simply shines, especially on the marvelous "It's No Good," a pulsing, tense, yet beautiful song with another deeply romantic Gore lyric. Opener "Barrel of a Gun" continues in the vein of arena-level stompers like "Never Let Me Down Again" and "I Feel You," with huge drum slams and scratching to boot, but Ultra mostly covers subtler territory, such as the slightly creepy "Sister of Night" and the gentle "The Love Thieves." Gore sings two winners: the orchestral, slow dance groove "Home" and "The Bottom Line," featuring steel guitar and Can's Jaki Liebezeit on drums, distinctly different territory for Depeche. Closing with "Insight," a quite lovely, building ballad, Ultra showed Depeche wasn't ready to quit by any means. — (via AllMusic)

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Label: Mute / Columbia
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Gatefold
Reissued: 2025 / Originally Released: 1997
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Blues
Style: Alternative Rock, Downtempo, Synth-pop

File under: Synthesisers
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