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Ultra (Music)

 Ultra (Music)
type
 TVTItem
 Ultra (Music)
label
 Ultra (Music)
 Ultra (Music)
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 Ultra
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 Ultra is the ninth album by British Synth-Pop / Alternative Dance band Depeche Mode, released in 1997 through Mute Records in the UK and in conjunction with Reprise Records in the US. Prior to recording, the group experienced a protracted phase of turmoil: keyboardist Alan Wilder quit in 1995, disillusioned with life in the band after the chaotic production of Songs of Faith and Devotion and the extended mayhem of its subsequent tour; singer Dave Gahan attempted suicide in 1995 and suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose the following year, and feelings among the band's members had grown so tense that it was difficult to come up with usable material anymore. Thus, the group ceased to be a creative powerhouse, shrinking to a trio for the first time since A Broken Frame in 1982 and taking over a year to finish recording for the album. Such was the trauma of this period, the remaining three seriously considered breaking up in the midst of it all. However, they'd eventually overcome this turmoil and push through, remaining active up to the present day.The producer of their last two albums, Flood, was also gone; a new producer was brought in in the shape of Tim Simenon, who had scored several sample/collage-heavy UK Top Ten hits as Bomb The Bass in the early '90s and who helped lend the new songs a darkly slick sheen. While Ultra continues the mix of synth-pop and grunge that marked SoFaD, the band realized that without the classically-trained Wilder, whose sequencing, arrangements and live drums contributed greatly to the sonic architecture of that album, they could hardly once again reach the same scope and depth. Perhaps to compensate, the release ended up being much longer than any of Depeche Mode's prior LPs, clocking in at a whole hour and informing the more CD-oriented lengths of most of their following records.The band themselves were sated with public drama after the circumstances surrounding the album's production, and because they had much less room for controversy as a trio they dialed back their antics in time for the release of Ultra, appearing to suddenly mature even further than before. Dave Gahan in retrospect seemed to grow the most, spurred on in part by his near-fatal overdose and his subsequent motivation to finally clean up for good. For the sake of their health and sanity they also reduced the scale of their commercial ventures: a tour for the album did not happen at all, with the band's next tour occurring the following year in support of Greatest Hits Album The Singles 86>98. This would only encompass North America and Europe in spite of having a slightly larger amount of shows than the 1994 Exotic tour before it; the smaller-scale model would be retained until 2009, when the band returned to worldwide touring in support of Sounds of the Universe. Longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn started to dial down his involvement with the band as well: while he directed almost all of the promo videos for this album barring "Home", his only later video contributions to the band were for "Suffer Well" off Playing the Angel, "Should Be Higher" from Delta Machine and "Where's the Revolution" from Spirit.Despite all of this, the album still managed to be a strong commercial success for the band, topping the charts in the UK, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, Sweden, and the collective European Union, peaking at No. 5 on the US Billboard 200, and going on to be certified platinum in Italy and gold in the UK, the US, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.Ultra was supported by four singles: "Barrel of a Gun", "It's No Good", "Home", and "Useless".Tracklist: "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" (8:37) note (includes the Hidden Track "Junior Painkiller" at 6:27) And I thank you for bringing me tropes, for showing me tropes
 Ultra (Music)
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 2024-02-05T12:15:32Z
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 2024-02-05T12:15:32Z
 Ultra (Music)
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 Ultra (Music)
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 Ultra (Music) / int_name
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 Ultra (Music)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Ultra (Music)
hasFeature
 British Music / int_d50e811
 Ultra (Music)
hasFeature
 Dark Wave / int_d50e811
 Ultra (Music)
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 Hidden Track / int_d50e811