History Music / Ultra

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The narrator of "Barrel of a Gun" says a variant when he questions why he's being accepted for something despite prior misdeeds.
-->What am I supposed to do\\

* CloudCuckooLander: The addressee of the diatribe in "Useless":

''Ultra'' is the ninth album by British SynthPop / AlternativeDance band Music/DepecheMode, released in 1997. 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 ''Music/SongsOfFaithAndDevotion'' 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 ''Music/ABrokenFrame'' 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.

* LoveMartyr: Mentioned in the chorus of "The Love Thieves".

* GenreRoulette: Semi-averted: gone are the days of the eclecticism of ''[=SoFaD=]''. Singles are fairly heavy electrorock (with "Barrel of a Gun" and "Useless" leaning closer to AlternativeRock), the remaining tracks are downtempo items; "Home" is a beast of its own, though.

* TheReasonYouSuck: This verse from "Useless" is this:

* ShoutOut: David Gahan walking in a sheepskin coat with burning lights in the video for "Barrel of a Gun" might be an allusion to a sleeve for ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' by ''Music/PinkFloyd''.

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 dialled 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 GreatestHitsAlbum ''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 Creator/AntonCorbijn 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 ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', "Should Be Higher" from ''Delta Machine'' and "Where's the Revolution" from ''Spirit''.

''Ultra'' is carried by the strength of its four singles: "Barrel of a Gun" (released 3 February 1997), "It's No Good" (released 31 March 1997), "Home" (released 16 June 1997), and "Useless" (released 20 October 1997). The first and the last of these are the [[MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness hardest]] numbers on the album, electrorock with the stress on the last syllable, and probably the rockiest songs ever put out by the band alongside 1993's "I Feel You" and 2005's "John The Revelator". The synthier "It's No Good" was however the most enduring hit single, more of a throwback to the band's earlier sound and considered on par with the material they had crafted with Wilder and going on to become the definitive song of Depeche Mode's late 90s period. The lushly atmospheric "Home" meanwhile was one more otherworldly downtempo ballad sung by Martin Gore, tapping into Gahan's newfound sobriety (''"and I thank you for bringing me here / for showing me home"'') in the wake of his overdose. The singles nearly completed the first side of the record, with the only non-single track from this half being "The Love Thieves", a psychologically deep and heartfelt song about an evil maneater.

The album's tracks on the second side are mostly pieces of languid nocturnal music, informed by the band's growing interest in TripHop that would also manifest on subsequent standalone single "Only When I Lose Myself" and on their following album ''Exciter''. Jaki Liebezeit of Music/{{Can}} drummed on "The Bottom Line", which probably prompted a few {{Krautrock}} aficionados to check this track. "Insight", the final track, is a somewhat standout item, but here the rocking is much more subdued.

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 dialled 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 GreatestHitsAlbum ''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 Creator/AntonCorbijn 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 ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', "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. While considered a step down from ''[=SoFaD=]'' by both fans and critics, it was and still is mostly well-regarded, being considered a worthy follow-up to its 1993 predecessor and being ranked alongside ''Playing the Angel'' as one of the two best albums of the post-Alan Wilder era (which is otherwise accused of SeasonalRot). In 1999, Ned Raggett ranked ''Ultra'' as the 50th best album of the decade, and the record is more widely recognized nowadays for its heavy influence on the Polish rock scene, with local magazine ''Tylko Rock'' ranking it at No. 71 on ''100 Albums That Shook Polish Rock''.

''Ultra'' is the ninth album by British SynthPop / AlternativeDance band Music/DepecheMode, released in 1997. 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 ''Music/SongsOfFaithAndDevotion'' 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 ''Music/ABrokenFrame'' in 1982 and taking over a year to finish recording for the album. Such was the trauma of this period, the remaining trio 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.

''Ultra'' is the ninth album by British AlternativeDance band Music/DepecheMode, released in 1997. Prior to recording, the group experienced a protracted phase of turmoil: Alan Wilder quit in 1995, disillusioned with life as a member of the band after the chaotic production of ''Music/SongsOfFaithAndDevotion'' 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 band ceased to be a creative powerhouse, reverting to a trio for the first time since ''Music/ABrokenFrame'' in 1982 and taking over a year to finish recording for the album. Such was the trauma of this period, the band 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.

While ''Ultra'' continues the mix of SynthPop and {{grunge}} that marked ''[=SoFaD=]'', Depeche Mode realized that without Wilder, they could hardly once again reach the scope and depth of that album, and another vinyl LP-length record would've been considered a notch or more below its grandiose predecessor. Perhaps to compensate, the album ended up being much longer than any of Depeche Mode's prior releases, clocking in at a whole hour and informing the more CD-oriented lengths of most of their following records.

''Ultra'' is carried by the strength of its four singles: "Barrel of a Gun" (released 3 February 1997), "It's No Good" (released 31 March 1997), "Home" (released 16 June 1997), and "Useless" (released 20 October 1997). The first and the last of them are the hardest numbers on the album, electrorock with the stress on "rock". "It's No Good" was the most enduring hit single, being considered on par with the material the band had crafted with Wilder and going on to become the definitive song of Depeche Mode's late 90s period. These three songs were probably the purest specimens of alt-rock ever put out by the band alongside 1993's "I Feel You" and 2005's John The Revelator. "Home" meanwhile was one more otherworldly downtempo ballad sung by Martin Gore, being far more esoteric yet at the same time far more stark via tapping into Gahan's newfound sobriety in the wake of his overdose. The singles nearly completed the first side of the record, with the only non-single track from this half being "The Loves Thieves", a psychologically deep and heartfelt song about an evil maneater.

The album's tracks on the second side didn't fare as well, being mostly forgotten quickly after the album's release. "Insight", the final track, is a somewhat standout item, but here the rocking is much more subdued. The remaining songs meanwhile are pieces of languid nocturnal music, informed by the band's growing interest in TripHop that would more readily manifest on ''Exciter'' four years later. Jaki Liebezeit of Music/{{Can}} drummed on "The Bottom Line", which probably prompted a few {{Krautrock}} aficionados to check this track.

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 dialled 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 out of any member of the band, 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 GreatestHitsAlbum ''The Singles 86>98''. (This tour would only encompass North America and Europe in spite of having a slightly larger amount of shows than the 1994 ''Exotic'' tour before it, with the smaller-scale model being retained until 2009, when the band returned to worldwide touring in support of ''Sounds of the Universe''.) Longtime collaborator Creator/AntonCorbijn started to dial down his involvement with the band as well: while he directed almost all of the videos for this album barring "Home", his only later contributions to the band were the videos for "Suffer Well" off ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', "Should Be Higher" off ''Delta Machine'', and "Where's the Revolution" from ''Spirit''.

* BrokenRecord: The outro of "Insight" is made up by ''You've got to give love, you've got to give love'' repeated many many times.
* BSide: Two of them: "Painkiller" for the single release of "Barrel of a Gun" and "Slowblow" for "It's no Good". Though considering that "Junior Painkiller" (a shortened version of the former) was included on ''Ultra'' anyway as a HiddenTrack, it's not exactly B-side-exclusive.

** Two tracks on this album are named "Uselink" and "Useless". They are placed side to side on ''Ultra'' -- with the short instrumental "Uselink" literally a link into "Useless" from the preceding track.
** Two other tracks are "The Love Thieves" and the instrumental "Jazz Thieves". They are far apart on the record.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: In the video for ''It's no Good'' David Gahan probably [[PlayingWithATrope did not get a hooker]]. The girl who had been accompanying him, behaved like a prostitute, also she immediately quit him when his money had been stolen.

* EmptyEyes: David Gahan's eyes occasionally turn into this during the video for "Barrel of a Gun" ; in several scenes they lack pupils.
* EpicRocking: OK, "rocking" is a strong word for it, but "The Love Thieves", "Sister of Night", "Freestate" and "Insight" all surpass the six-minute mark, even when excluding "Junior Painkiller" from the latter's runtime. The album as a whole also deserves special mention, with its 60:04 runtime being longer than anything the band had put out up to that point. It would remain the band's longest studio album for 12 years, eventually being knocked down to No. 2 by the 60:52 ''Sounds of the Universe''.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: For the clerks and the tailors, the sharks and the sailors who try to court the heroine of "The Love Thieves".
* FemmeFatale: The character described in "The Loves Thieves" appears to be one.

* GenreRoulette: Averted: gone are the days of the eclecticism of ''[=SoFaD=]''. Singles are fairly heavy electrorock (with "Barrel of a Gun" and "Useless" leaning closer to AlternativeRock), the remaining tracks are downtempo items; "Home" is a beast of its own, though.

* GrievousBottleyHarm: In the video for "It's No Good" this trope is played inconsistently. First various characters in a sleazy bar hit other characters with bottles ([[SoftGlass which all break in shards]]) and the victims are comically unperturbed, let alone unharmed. Some time later as the band quit the bar several people lie on the floor unconscious.

** In the video for ''Barrel of a Gun'' it's still long enough to rank with his LooksLikeJesus getup from the ''[=SoFaD=]'' era, with the song dealing with the drug issues that informed that album. The general importance of hair is further stressed by the montage when Dave's hairdo changes its shape every second.

* {{Instrumentals}}: "Uselink", "Jazz Thieves", and "Junior Painkiller". Unlike the short instrumental interludes in previous albums, which were unlisted and tacked onto the runtime of other songs, here the former two tracks are listed in their own right -- setting a pattern for subsequent Depeche albums. "Junior Painkiller" meanwhile is a short HiddenTrack at the end of the album (though the US CD release and the digital release also indexes it separately), a cut-down excerpt of the "Barrel of a Gun" B-side "Painkiller".

* LighterAndSofter: While still bleak, this album lightens up in comparison to ''[=SoFaD=]''. Gloom and despair are not predominant any more; mostly it's just sadness and melancholy. Rock songs are not cheerful, but at the same time do not feel like cries from an abyss.

* OneWordTitle: ''Ultra'', "Home", "Uselink", "Useless", "Freestate", and "Insight". The album title in particular stands out for the fact that it's the shortest in Depeche Mode's entire repertoire: at just five letters long, it beats out the runner-up, ''Spirit'', by a single character.
* PrettyInMink: The girls accompanying the band members in the video for ''It's No Good''. Also it might be argued that David Gahan is the one as he sports an outrageously tasteless fur coat and looks quite ''flashy''.

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Martin Gore sings "Home" and "The Bottom Line". The former even saw release as a single, a rarity in the band's discography.

# "Uselink" ''[instrumental]'' (2:21)

# "Jazz Thieves" ''[instrumental]'' (2:54)

# "Insight" (8:37) [[note]](includes the hidden instrumental track "Junior Painkiller" at 6:27)[[/note]]

* HiddenTrack: The closing song "Insight" ends roughly two minutes before the 8:37 mark on the tracklist, at which point the unlisted "Junior Painkiller" takes the reins for the remainder of the album's runtime; the track is indexed separately from "Insight" on digital releases. Notably, "Junior Painkiller" is ''not'' part of the "Interlude" series of hidden tracks that had began with ''Music/MusicForTheMasses'' ten years prior, and hidden tracks as a whole would remain absent from the band's output until 2009, when ''Sounds of the Universe'' finally threw in the fifth "Interlude".
* ImHavingSoulPains: In the lyrics for "Useless":
--->''Here I stand the accused\\
With your fist in my face\\
Feeling tired and bruised\\
With the bitterest taste''

** In the video for "It's No Good" he plays a sleazy character; his hair is still fairly long and messy.

* {{Instrumentals}}: "Uselink", "Jazz Thieves", and "Junior Painkiller". Unlike the short instrumental interludes in previous albums, which were unlisted and tacked onto the runtime of other songs, here the former two tracks are listed in their own right -- setting a pattern for subsequent Depeche albums. "Junior Painkiller" meanwhile is a short HiddenTrack at the end of the album, a cut-down excerpt of the "Barrel of a Gun" B-side "Painkiller".
* JumpCut: In the video for "Useless", to make the experience feel more jarring to watch; the end result is a good match for the angry mood of the narrator pronouncing on a diatribe.

* LongestSongGoesLast: The 8:37 medley "Insight"/"Junior Painkiller" both outstrips every other track on the album and closes it out.

* TakeThat: Of a WMG/YMMV character. It is said that "Useless" was penned by Martin Gore to vent his anger about Alan Wilder's departure.

* WhamShot: In the video of "Useless", Dave Gahan spews a bitter monologue (supposedly to a significant other), always looking into the camera. In the end he walks away. In the very last moment the camera revolves and shows the viewer a charming blonde girl with discontented face and crossed arms.

''Ultra'' is the ninth album by British AlternativeDance band Music/DepecheMode, released in 1997. Prior to recording, the group experienced a protracted phase of turmoil: Alan Wilder quit in 1995, disillusioned with life as a member of the band after the chaotic production of ''Music/SongsOfFaithAndDevotion'' 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 gotten so tense that it was difficult to come up with usable material anymore. Thus, the band ceased to be a creative powerhouse, reverting to a trio for the first time since ''Music/ABrokenFrame'' in 1982 and taking over a year to finish recording for the album. Such was the trauma of this period, the band 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 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 dialled 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 out of any member of the band, spurned on in part by his near-fatal overdose and his subsequent motivation to finally clean up for good. For the sake of the band members' 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 GreatestHitsAlbum ''The Singles 86>98''. This tour would only encompass North America and Europe in spite of having a slightly larger amount of shows than the 1994 ''Exotic'' tour before it, with the smaller-scale model being retained until 2009, when the band returned to worldwide touring in support of ''Sounds of the Universe''. Longtime collaborator Creator/AntonCorbijn started to dial down his involvement with the band as well: while he directed almost all of the videos for this album barring "Home", his only later contributions to the band were the videos for "Suffer Well" off ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', "Should Be Higher" off ''Delta Machine'', and "Where's the Revolution" from ''Spirit''.

''Ultra'' is the ninth album by British AlternativeDance band Music/DepecheMode, released in 1997. Prior to recording, the band experienced a protracted phase of turmoil: Alan Wilder quit in 1995, disillusioned with life as a member of the band after the chaotic production of ''Music/SongsOfFaithAndDevotion'', Dave Gahan attempted suicide in 1995 and suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose the following year, and feelings among the band's members had gotten so tense that it was difficult to come up with usable material anymore. Thus, the band ceased to be a creative powerhouse, reverting back to a trio for the first time since ''Music/ABrokenFrame'' in 1982 and taking over a year to finish recording for the album; the band 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.

While ''Ultra'' continues the mix of SynthPop and {{grunge}} that marked ''[=SoFaD=]'', Depeche Mode realized that without Wilder, they could hardly once again reach the scope and depth of that album, and another LP-length record would've been considered a notch or more below its grandiose predecessor. Perhaps to compensate, the album ended up being much longer than any of Depeche Mode's prior releases, clocking in at a whole hour and informing the more CD-oriented lengths of most of their following records.

''Ultra'' is carried by the strength of its four singles: "Barrel of a Gun" (released 3 February 1997), "It's No Good" (released 31 March 1997), "Home" (released 16 June 1997), and "Useless" (released 20 October 1997). The first and the last of them are the hardest numbers on the album, electrorock with the stress on "rock". "It's No Good" was the main hit single, being considered on par with the material the band had crafted with Wilder and going on to become the definitive song of Depeche Mode's late 90's period. These three songs were probably the purest specimens of alt-rock ever put out by the band alongside I Feel You and John The Revelator in the future. "Home" meanwhile was one more otherwordly downtempo ballad sung by Martin Gore, being far more esoteric yet at the same time far more stark via tapping into Gahan's newfound sobriety in the wake of his overdose. The singles nearly completed the first side of the record, with the only non-single track from this half being "The Loves Thieves", a psychologically deep and heartfelt song about an evil maneater.

The album's tracks on the B-side, meanwhile, didn't fare as well, being mostly forgotten quickly after the album's release. "Insight", the final track, is a somewhat standout item, but here the rocking is much more subdued. The remaining songs meanwhile are pieces of languid nocturnal music, informed by the band's growing interest in TripHop that would more readily manifest on ''Exciter'' four years later. On a more trivial but still notable note, Jackie Liebezeit of Music/{{Can}} drummed on "The Bottom Line". This fact probably prompted a few {{Krautrock}} aficionados to check this track.

The band themselves were also sated with public drama as a result of the hectic 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 out of any member of the band, spurned on in part by his near-fatal overdose and his subsequent motivation to finally clean up for good. In addition to dialing themselves back personality-wise, 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 ''The Singles 86>98''. This tour would only encompass North America and Europe in spite of having a slightly larger amount of shows than the 1994 ''Exotic'' tour before it, with the smaller-scale model being retained until 2009, when the band returned to worldwide touring in support of ''Sounds of the Universe''. Longtime collaborator Creator/AntonCorbijn started to dial down his involvement with the band as well: while he directed almost all of the videos for this album barring "Home", his only later contributions to the band were the videos for "Suffer Well" off ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', "Should Be Higher" off ''Delta Machine'', and "Where's the Revolution" off of ''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 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. While considered a step down from ''[=SoFaD=]'' by both fans and critics, it was and still is mostly well-regarded, being considered a worthy follow-up to its 1993 predecessor and being ranked alongside ''Playing the Angel'' as one of the two best albums of the post-Alan Wilder era (which is otherwise accused of SeasonalRot). In 1999, Ned Raggett ranked ''Ultra'' as the 50th best album of the decade, and the record is more widely recognized nowadays for its heavy influence on the Polish rock scene, with local magazine ''Tylko Rock'' ranking it at No. 71 on ''100 Albums That Shook Polish Rock''.

# "Uselink" (2:21)

# "Jazz Thieves" (2:54)

# "Insight" (8:37) [[note]](includes the hidden track "Junior Painkiller" at 6:27)[[/note]]

* {{Angst}}: Much less existential despair on this album compared to ''[=SoFaD=]''. In parts it is tranquil, in parts it is just said. Plus two or three very special rocky episodes.

* BSide: Two of them: "Junior Painkiller" for the single release of "Barrel of a Gun" and "Slowblow" for "It's no Good". Though considering that "Junior Painkiller" was included on ''Ultra'' anyways as a HiddenTrack, it's not exactly B-side-exclusive.

** Two tracks on this album are named "Uselink" and "Useless". They are placed side to side on ''Ultra''.
** Other two tracks are "The Love Thieves" and "Jazz Thieves". They are far apart on the record.

* EpicRocking: "The Love Thieves", "Sister of Night", "Freestate", and "Insight" all surpass the six-minute mark, even when excluding "Junior Painkiller" from the latter's runtime. The album also deserves special mention, with its 60:04 runtime being longer than anything the band had put out up to that point. It would remain the band's longest studio album for 12 years, eventually being knocked down to No. 2 by the 60:52 ''Sounds of the Universe''.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Somewhere in the middle the video for "Useless" is a man leading a pony by the briddle across the screen in the distance.

** In the video for ''Barrel of a Gun'' it's still long enough to rank among his LooksLikeJesus getup from the ''[=SoFaD=]'' era, with the song dealing with the drug issues that informed that album. The general importance of hair is further stressed by the montage when Dave's hair changes its shape every second.

** In the video for "Home", David Gahan is generally a living prop, but looks cleaned-up and civil. His hairdo is shorter.

* {{Instrumentals}}: "Uselink", "Jazz Thieves", and "Junior Painkiller".

* LongestSongGoesLast: The 8:37 medley "Insight"/"Junior Painkiller" both outpaces every other track on the album and closes it out.

* MinimalisticCoverArt: the sleeve for ''Ultra'' is some fairly odd and unidentifiable pattern courtesy of Creator/AntonCorbijn.
* MythologyGag: In the video for "Useless" Dave Gahan sings in the foreground while Martin Gore plays guitar in the background. Fletcher? He fetches a glass of something to Gahan, to jokingly remind the viewers of the general opinion considering his function in the band. Later he takes a guitar which is characteristically bigger than Martin's.

* ShoutOut: David Gahan walking in a sheepskin coat with burning lights in the video for "Barrel of a Gun" might be an allusion to a sleeve for Delicate Sounds of Thunder by ''Music/PinkFloyd''.

* LoungeLizard: The character, played by David Gahan in the video, for Ultra is this.

* TheReasonYouSuck: This verse from Useless is this:

* {{Slimeball}}: Gahan plays the one in the video for "It's No Good", intentionally hamming it up.

The band themselves were also sated with public drama as a result of the hectic circumstances surrounding the album's production, and because the band 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 mature the most out of any member of the band, spurned on in part by his near-fatal overdose and his subsequent motivation to finally clean up for good. In addition to dialing themselves back personality-wise, 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 ''The Singles 86>98''. This tour would only encompass North America and Europe in spite of having a slightly larger amount of shows than the 1994 ''Exotic'' tour before it, with the smaller-scale model being retained until 2009, when the band returned to worldwide touring in support of ''Sounds of the Universe''. Additionally, longtime collaborator Creator/AntonCorbijn started to dial down his involvement with the band: while he directed almost all of the videos for this album barring "Home", his only later contributions to the band were the videos for "Suffer Well" off ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', "Should Be Higher" off ''Delta Machine'', and "Where's the Revolution" off of ''Spirit''.

The album's tracks on the B-side, meanwhile, didn't fare as well, being mostly forgotten quickly after the album's release. "Insight", the final track, is a somewhat standout item, but here the rocking is much more subdued. The remaining songs meanwhile are pieces of languid nocturnal music, informed by the band's growing interest in TripHop that would more readily manifest on ''Exciter'' four years later. On a more trivial but still notable note, Jackie Liebezeit of ''Music/{{Can}}'' drummed on "The Bottom Line". This fact probably prompted a few {{Krautrock}} aficionados to check this track.

Ultra is carried by the strength of its four singles: "Barrel of a Gun" (released 3 February 1997), "It's No Good" (released 31 March 1997), "Home" (released 16 June 1997), and "Useless" (released 20 October 1997). The first and the last of them are the hardest numbers on the album, electrorock with the stress on "rock". "It's No Good" was the main hit single, being considered on par with the material the band had crafted with Wilder and going on to become the definitive song of Depeche Mode's late 90's period. These three songs were probably the purest specimens of alt-rock ever put out by the band alongside I Feel You and John The Revelator in the future. "Home" meanwhile was one more otherwordly downtempo ballad sung by Martin Gore, being far more esoteric yet at the same time far more stark via tapping into Gahan's newfound sobriety in the wake of his overdose. The singles nearly completed the first side of the record, with the only non-single track from this half being "The Loves Thieves", a psychologically deep and heartfelt song about an evil maneater.

The album's tracks on the B-side, meanwhile, didn't fare as well, being mostly forgotten quickly after the album's release. "Insight", the final track, is a somewhat standout item, but here the rocking is much more subdued. The remaining songs meanwhile are pieces of languid nocturnal music, informed by the band's growing interest in TripHop that would more readily manifest on ''Exciter'' four years later.

Jackie Liebezeit of ''Music/{{Can}}'' drummed on "The Bottom Line". This fact probably prompted a few KrautRock aficionados to check this track.

* BiblicalMotifs: Present in the lyrics of "The Love Thieves" although the true implications are more than a bit muddy.

* BSide: Two of them, Junior Painkiller for the sinlge Barrel of a Gun and Slowblow for the single It's no Good.
* CloudCuckooLander: The addressee of the diatribe in "Useless":

* GenreRoulette: Averted, gone are the days of the eclectisism of ''[=SoFaD=]''. Singles are fairly heavy electrorock (with "Barrel of a Gun" and "Useless" leaning closer to AlternativeRock), the remaining tracks are downtempo items; "Home" is a beast of its own, though.

* ImportantHaircut: the length of David Gahan's hair shortens with every single.

* TakeThat: Of a WMG/YMMV character. It is said that Useless was penned by Martin Gore to vent his anger about Alan Wilder's departure.

* TripHop: The band begins to take influence from the genre on this album, more heavily informing their following non-album material and ''Exciter''.

* BiblicalMotifs: Present in the lyrics of "The Love Thieves" although the tru implications are more than a bit muddy.