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Depeche Mode - Ultra
- “This is the first chance/ To put things right/ Moving on/ Guided by the light.”
These are strong, resonant words from any band, but they are especially meaningful coming from a group who suffered as much turmoil as Depeche Mode, whose song “Insight” is quoted above. Depeche Mode was a world-famous band in the mid-‘90s, having scored commercially and critically acclaimed albums including “Black Celebration,” “Music for the Masses” and “Violator” in their 15-year tenure as a band.
However, as they conquered the world, Depeche Mode’s members were beset by internal problems. Bassist/synth player Andrew Fletcher suffered a nervous breakdown during the band’s Devotional world tour, guitarist and principle songwriter Martin Gore had a string of seizures, keyboardist Alan Wilder left the band as tensions between him and the other members intensified and singer Dave Gahan continually found himself at death’s door due to his heroin addiction.
The remaining members of the band managed to pull themselves together and began recording again. Though the loss of Wilder and the other traumas suffered by the group almost meant the end of Depeche Mode, they persevered. The fruit of their recovery, “Ultra,” is probably the darkest album in the band’s catalogue. However, if the quality of the songs is any evidence, the members of DM truly found a divine light in crafting this record.
Almost all of the tracks on “Ultra” focus on redemption, whether it be the sweet relief of attaining grace (as in “Home,” “Freestate” and “Insight”) or the awful pain of searching for, and often not finding, it (nearly all the other songs).
Religion is also a popular subject on this album, with a number of tracks exploring the inherent contradictions and painful realities of devotion. It is a ground often explored by DM, especially in their signature tune “Personal Jesus” and on the entire prior record, “Songs of Faith and Devotion.” Thankfully, they present new insights here.
Album-opener “Barrel of a Gun” sees Gahan as a sinner who finds himself in a Calvinist’s worst nightmare: despite all the wrong he has done, he discovers he might be God’s chosen vessel. “The Love Thieves” equates the life of an adored figure to that of Christ, and how the influence of such a person can inspire hope and a desire for salvation in others, even when they are a false prophet. There is no attack on faith on “Ultra” as incendiary as the band’s earlier “Blasphemous Rumors,” but the album does maintain the high level of introspection on the subject DM has shown in the past.
The only song to directly address the band’s pet trope from earlier albums, love as a shelter from the cruel world, is “It’s No Good,” where Gahan sings to a lover that he’ll “be waiting patiently” for her to “come running to [his] open arms” once she has been hurt enough by others. Surrounding tracks show how much DM has departed from this message on “Ultra.” The beautiful, aching “The Bottom Line” finds the singer exhausted in his attempts to attain salvation from someone always too far away while the scathing “Useless” depicts the frustrations that set in when dealing with a dreamer who refuses to come down to earth. These songs serve as a reaction to DM’s earlier work, where they hoped love could save them from themselves; most of the tracks on “Ultra” depict the aftermath of seeking self-discovery and safety in worldly relationships, and the hollowness and bitterness that ensues when those quests fail.
Not all of “Ultra” is a journey into hearts of darkness. Three times during the album, Gore’s haunting words subside to make room for clanging, claustrophobic instrumentals, setting the dread-laden mood of the album even more. Unfortunately, these are the weakest portions of the record. The instrumental portions are well-made but they are throwaways that break the flow of the album as a whole. Fortunately, none of the wordless tracks are more than three minutes long, and the quality and stylistic coherence hardly detracts from the album.
When even the weakest songs solidify the tone of a record, it is evidence the listener is experiencing something incredible. This is what “Ultra” is: a sonic trip through a great band’s breakdown and triumphant return to form, following the holy light only a magnificent creative muse can deliver.
Reviewer: Adam Rowan
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Reviewer's Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 9-Jun-2009
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