Originally released on 14 April 1997, Ultra is the ninth studio album by Depeche Mode. It was the first album without Alan Wilder as a member of the band since he fully joined in 1983, making it the second album Depeche Mode recorded as a trio after A Broken Frame in 1982. Ultra was produced in London at Abbey Road Studios, Eastcote Studios, Westside Studios, Strongroom, and RAK Studios, in New York City at Electric Lady Studios, and in Los Angeles at Larrabee West. It features the singles Barrel Of A Gun, It’s No Good, Home, and Useless. Initially the album wasn’t released on vinyl in North America. Over the years, Ultra has been remastered and reissued several times.
LP – UK
Mute – STUMM 148 (released 14 April 1997)
A1 Barrel Of A Gun 5:36
A2 The Love Thieves 6:34
A3 Home 5:43
A4 It’s No Good 5:59
A5 Uselink 2:21
A6 Useless 5:12
B1 Sister Of Night 5:58
B2 Jazz Thieves 2:55
B3 Freestate 6:40
B4 The Bottom Line 4:27
B5 Insight 6:26
B6 Junior Painkiller 2:11 (not listed)
Get your original edition of Ultra on vinyl format from eBay (subject to availability).
CD – UK
Mute – CD STUMM 148 (released 14 April 1997)
- 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 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:11 (not listed)
Limited edition box set promo – UK
Mute – BX STUMM 148 (released in April 1997, containing the regular “Ultra” CD, the Ultra Electronic Press Kit VHS, and an Ultra t-shirt)
- CD – CDSTUMM 148
- VHS – V STUMM 148
- Ultra – Electronic Press Kit 18:08
- interviews with all three band members
- the music video for Barrel Of A Gun (by Anton Corbijn)
- directed by Emma Davis
- t-shirt
2xCD limited edition – France
Mute – Labels – 7243 8440202 0 (released in April 1997)
CD 1
- 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 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:11 (not listed)
Bonus CD
- Barrel Of A Gun (Live at Adrenalin Village 1997) 6:02
- It’s No Good (Live at Adrenalin Village 1997) 4:06
CD promo sampler – France
Mute – CD REPS 119 (released in April 1997)
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:29
- Painkiller 7:28
- It’s No Good 5:58
- Useless 5:12
- The Love Thieves 6:34
- The Bottom Line 4:26
- Barrel Of A Gun (Underworld Soft Mix) 6:29
- Barrel Of A Gun (Underworld Hard Mix) 9:37
CD promo – Europe
Mute – PCDStumm148 (released 14 April 1997)
- 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 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:11 (not listed)
CD-R promo – UK
Mute – CD STRUMM 148 (issued 15 January 1997)
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:31
- The Love Thieves 6:30
- Home 5:39
- It’s No Good 5:57
- Uselink 2:21
- Useless 5:12
- Sister Of Night 5:55
- Jazz Thieves 2:54
- Freestate 6:37
- The Bottom Line 4:23
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:11 (not listed)
CD – US
Mute – Reprise Records – 9 46522-2 (released 15 April 1997)
- 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 6:43
- The Bottom Line 4:26
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:09 (not listed)
CD promo – US
Mute – Reprise Records – 2-46522-AB (released in 1997)
- 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 6:43
- The Bottom Line 4:26
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:09 (not listed)
CD-R album sampler promo – US
Reprise Records – no catalogue number (issued 5 December 1996)
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:27
- Painkiller 7:28
- The Love Thieves 6:30
- The Bottom Line 4:25
- It’s No Good 6:01
- Useless 5:13
- Sister Of Night 6:04
CD-R promo – US
Reprise Records – 2-46522 (issued 25 February 1997)
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:31
- The Love Thieves 6:30
- Home 5:40
- It’s No Good 5:58
- Uselink 2:21
- Useless 5:12
- Sister Of Night 5:55
- Jazz Thieves 2:54
- Freestate 6:37
- The Bottom Line 4:23
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:09 (hidden track)
SACD + DVD remastered collectors editions
Europe: Mute – DMCD9 – 0094638416425 (released 1 October 2007, multichannel CD/SACD hybrid + DVD)
US: Mute – Reprise Records – 2-108988 (released 2 October 2007, remastered CD + DVD)
SACD
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:36
- The Love Thieves 6:34
- Home 5:43
- It’s No Good 5:59
- Uselink 2:21
- Useless 5:12
- Sister Of Night 6:05
- Jazz Thieves 2:55
- Freestate 6:44
- The Bottom Line 4:27
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:10 (not listed)
DVD
Ultra (PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1)
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:37
- The Love Thieves 6:34
- Home 5:43
- It’s No Good 6:08
- Uselink 2:11
- Useless 5:12
- Sister Of Night 6:04
- Jazz Thieves 2:54
- Freestate 6:43
- The Bottom Line 4:27
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:07 (not listed)
A Short Film
- Depeche Mode : 1996 – 98 (“Oh well, that’s the end of the band…”) 47:30
Live in London, April 1997
- Barrel Of A Gun 6:00
- It’s No Good 4:08
- Useless 5:23
Bonus tracks (PCM Stereo only)
- Painkiller 7:29
- Slowblow 5:25
- Only When I Lose Myself 4:35
- Surrender 6:20
- Headstar 4:25
Get your remastered collectors edition of Ultra on SACD + DVD format from eBay (subject to availability).
CD – various remastered & reissued editions
Europe: Mute – CDXSTUMM148 (released 1 October 2007)
Europe: Sony Music – 88883751132 (released 5 August 2013, in 2018, and in 2020)
US: Reprise Records – RR2 46522 (released 16 June 2017)
- Barrel Of A Gun 5:36
- The Love Thieves 6:34
- Home 5:43
- It’s No Good 5:59
- Uselink 2:21
- Useless 5:12
- Sister Of Night 6:05
- Jazz Thieves 2:55
- Freestate 6:44
- The Bottom Line 4:27
- Insight 6:26 / Junior Painkiller 2:10 (not listed)
LP – various remastered & reissued limited editions in gatefold sleeve
Europe: Mute – DMLP9 – 0094638416418 – STUMM148 (released 8 October 2007)
US: Mute – Reprise Records – WBA1-234364 (released in 2007 and 25 March 2014)
Europe: BMG – Music On Vinyl – MOVLP945 (released 28 March 2014)
Europe: Sony Music – 88985336911 (released in 2016 and 10 February 2017)
A1 Barrel Of A Gun 5:29
A2 The Love Thieves 6:34
A3 Home 5:42
A4 It’s No Good 5:58
A5 Uselink 2:21
A6 Useless 5:12
B1 Sister Of Night 6:04
B2 Jazz Thieves 2:54
B3 Freestate 6:44
B4 The Bottom Line 4:26
B5 Insight 6:26
B6 Junior Painkiller 2:11 (not listed)
Note: Ultra was also released on the cassette format, and on the Blu-spec CD2 format in Japan.
Depeche Mode – Ultra
- all tracks written by Martin Gore
- produced by Tim Simenon and Depeche Mode
- highest chart position 1 (UK) 5 (US)
- 1997 Depeche Mode was Andrew Fletcher, David Gahan, and Martin Gore
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