DEPECHE MODE

Ultra

$24.98 Vinyl

$24.98 CD

 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. Colored by a heavy fusion of guitars and synths, it marked longtime keyboardist Alan Wilder's departure, Tim Simenon's arrival as producer, and presented the band revitalized after weathering troubled times for lead singer Dave Gahan. Rhino's two-disc CD + DVD edition features the original album in remastered stereo on the CD and DTS 5.1 (24bit/96k), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (24 bit) and high-resolution PCM stereo mixes - including rare unreleased bonus material - on the DVD. 

 In its original review, Rolling Stone Magazine wrote of ULTRA, “…guitars are again prominent - moaning sensuously in the gently funky “Useless,” groaning darkly in the eerily driving “Barrel Of A Gun,” wailing over bittersweet strings in the plaintive “Home.” Songwriter Martin Gore has plenty of dark passion to document…moody, pulsating ballads such as “The Bottom Line” and “The Love Thieves” are ideal vehicles for Gahan's brooding baritone and for the band's ever-increasing sense of tender intuition.” 

 “Barrel Of A Gun” went on to become a signature Depeche Mode song, its distortion-heavy, raw dance rock creating an indelible sonic landscape. Stand-outs also include the swaggering “It's No Good,” a Top 40 pop hit and the edgy “Useless,” the album's final single. 

 ULTRA's DVD disc features five PCM stereo bonus tracks - including “Painkiller” and “Only When I Lose Myself” - and “Live In London, April 1997,” a three-song concert recording presented in PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Among the selections is a vintage performance of “Barrel Of A Gun.” 

 The DVD also includes the specially commissioned short documentary film Depeche Mode 1995-98 (Oh Well, That's The End Of The Band…)featuring band interviews and chronicling the Depeche era that generated ULTRA. 

 The 16-page booklet includes original LP art, new photos, lyrics and liner notes by Daniel Miller. 

 Originally rooted in the U.K.'s late '70s New Romantic movement, modern rock icons Depeche Mode first formed in 1980 with founding partners Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher. Their pioneering, synthesizer-based music made them techno-pop superstars who loomed as large as cult heroes as commercial heavies. From mesmerizing dance raves to industrial dirges, their complex and brilliant sound is that of a global phenomenon. 

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