Ultra + DVD [Hybrid SACD, Original recording remastered, SACD]

In my humble opinion, this is a better album than SOFAD simply because it doesnt sound as pompous or hubristic. Don't get me wrong, SOFAD deservedly went to number one, but it almost verges into prog rocky hubris, probably because one poor overworked man was responsible for most of the production and arranging on it; he then left in 1995...

Tim simenon did a really sterling job with this, and the 5.1 mixes prove how good the original production was. This still has the BIG sounds that depeche are known and noted for, and the balance of stripping down the arrangements is just right. Im glad this album is enjoying a bit of a renaissance as Simenon deserves a lot of praise for the 2 odd years he had to "keep his hand in" to steer this to finish.

Really heartfelt performances, musicianship, and songwriting. Perhaps this will get the same praise as BLACK CELEBRATION one day...

Barcode: 0094638416425

With the new millenium drawing near, this album saw the band following on from the feel and sound of the dark, rocky SOFAD but as other reviewers have stated, Ultra softened this sound down. The songs became less harsh, more organic, more slickly produced.

I think the general public were confused about where Depeche Mode stood in modern pop music - beginning to be left behind by commercial radio stations, while the album and first two singles fared well (in fact reaching some of the highest positions ever attained by the band), things were less rosy on Useless and Home.

Despite that, i think Ultra will always have a special place in the hearts of many fans. It is with this album more than ever that you feel closest to the band, the emotion showing throw in bucketloads in the poeticism of Martin's lyrics and Dave's simply amazing voice. 'Home' remains to this date one of the most entrancing of all the band's songs, Martin's haunting voice playing wonderfully against a backdrop of atmospheric synths that build into a crescendo of strings in the chorus that still sends a shiver of pure wonder down my spine. I've said it before but the lyrics on this songs really are just amazing.

'Barrel Of A Gun' is really interesting, building slowly. Like SOFAD, this represents some of the band's rockier material yet its relentless assault on your senses with its thunderous beats and that intoxicating hummed hook it's one you'll keep coming back to for more. Awesome video too. 'It's No Good' soundwise takes a completely opposite route yet somehow feels completely at home on the same record as 'Barrel Of A Gun'. It's that masterfully woven tapestry of sound that just grabs you and surrounds you for the album's entirety - magic.

Ultra is music for dark, lonely nights - its a drink and confiding chat with an old friend. Every time i listen to the album i find myself thinking about just how good the album is, very consistent in its quality - brilliant album tracks like Freestate testament to that. But somehow, the album seems alien. Despite all its intense emotions and delicate blend of sounds - it feels cold and daunting.

This is a good thing though! Its the sound of a blank expanse where dreams become reality, the daunting coldness adding that indefinable tension that keeps you hooked to this album. If i could sum it up i'd say it was like a door you don't want to open because you aren't sure what you will find on the other side. But the curiosity kicks in and you look inside and find yourself in a place of magic and wonder - once listenting to the album you cannot tear yourself away, each song flowing beautifully into the next.

A lot of the songs on Ultra are very groove driven, percussion and basslines taking a prominent place but what i love is that there are so many little intricate details in each track that this album never loses its appeal, every listen presenting something new. It is truly an album to provoke an emotional response in the listener and their lies its timeless appeal.

In terms of this re-release (which comes in the standard top-quality digipak with accompanying and informative new album notes) there's a great documentary and although its slightly annoying the bonus tracks are on the DVD and thus not easily imported in iTunes, they make for a nice extra.

Depeche Mode have always been more than a music group to their fans. Members of Generation X who found themselves outside the rockier, faddier or simply plain cheesier streams of the years from the early 80's to the early noughties found something far, far more visceral and penetrating through the Mode. Euphoria, pain, addiction, akwardness, hope for a more subtle world - Depeche Mode gave a literal narrative philosophy to outsiders everywhere.
Then, in 1995, implosion. Dave Gahan almost dead. Martin Gore on the verge of breakdown. Andy Fletcher a burnout case. Alan Wilder - much the 'music meister' from Black Celebration (1986)onwards - out of the band.
What now? Surely the end?
We should have known better. They came back, they hired Tim Simenon to produce the album and made what some would argue as their most heartfelt and powerful body of work. This album is not only music, it is a story of pain and redemption, of bleak expectations and astonishing self-discovery. Musically, each track is impeccable - electronic meditation of the inner self and a call to action for the jaded ones among us. On 'Freestate'..'let yourself go, let your senses overflow, open the gate, freedom's a state' - you see, Depeche Mode being not just a music group again. Something else comes through on 'Ultra', something much greater and more compassionate than anything they did before. This album is full of things that will bring tears to your eyes whilst stiffening your spine for the journey ahead. Is this not what the Mode are all about in the end? Highly recommended stuff.