The album. The singles. The songs. The compilation. The tour.
Barrel Of A Gun
First single, February 1997
What a glorious comeback! After years of bad news and everything pointing to the band falling apart completely, they return with one of their best songs ever. As usual, they chose the most daring song instead of the most commercial one to start a new era.
This single also marks an interesting point in the history of remixes: while they were getting further and further away from the original for quite some time, this is the point where they pretty much stopped using any musical elements from the songs. I'm not lamenting the change - I find the oldschool extended mixes not very interesting nowadays -, but the results in this particular case weren't convincing, making this probably my least favourite selection.
Painkiller
This is a slightly harder instrumental following in the footsteps of Christmas Island and Kaleid, but even better than those, probably my favourite of this kind. The single also contained the only enjoyable remix for this song: since there was no vocals on the original, the remixer had to use musical elements from the actual song (and maybe Plastikman's talent also helped).
It's No Good
Second single, March, 1997
This would have been the obvious choice for lead single: a very easy-to-listen-to, nice melodic song with not particularly challenging lyrics, and a very entertaining video.
The remixes are much better than the previous single, I quite liked Dom T's, Hardfloor's and Andrea Parker's rework at the time (and still do), but really disliked Speedy J's, which has grown on me since.
Slowblow
As the title suggests, a much calmer, but also instrumental B-side. Not too memorable, but still quite nice, and Darren Price's remix is really remarkable, basically an impoved version of the original with a nice closing section.
ULTRA
April 1997
The wait for this album felt incredibly long at the time, and I wasn't very optimistic: a member of the band very heavily involved in the overall sound had left, there was no way of knowing how it would impact the band, and I didn't feel too confident about their choice of producer: I vaguely remembered Tim Simenon's former band Bomb The Bass as a late 80's/early 90's dance act, and since dance music is usually not my thing, I was afraid he was gonna push them too much in that direction. I couldn't have been more wrong about that. The first 2 singles helped tremendously to put me at ease, and then the album convinced me: they were still Depeche Mode. Slightly different, but they were slightly different on every album, so that was to be expected. They started to move away from the very complex arrangements to a more minimal approach with less focus on every single note and sound, but the end result still sounded like them.
This era is also notable for the change of their public perception: teen magazines stopped featuring them (understandably), and a very wide range of musicians started acknowledge their significance.
Barrel Of A Gun
A brilliant but slightly misleading way to start the album: a very strong track that sounds very different from the rest of the album.
The Love Thieves
A nice soothing track follows the incredibly tense opener, which is much more indicative of the album's overall sound. I really like it, but I often wondered if it would have had the same effect if it wasn't so near the start.
Home
Another beautiful song, and a stellar vocal performance by Martin. No wonder it became a live staple.
It's No Good
The pop hit of the album. The album version might be slightly too long (and it's really odd that it was used on the single as well, where the radio edit would have been a better choice), but very enjoyable.
Uselink
The first of the instrumental interludes to have its own title listed on the sleeve, short but sweet.
Useless
A slightly louder track with wonderful atmospheric verses and a bit rockier chorus. Its return to the live set in the latter half of the Global Spirit Tour was a clear highlight.
Sister Of Night
This was the last DM album I bought on cassette before switching to CDs, and the opening track on side 2 matches that of side 1 in brilliance (but not in tone). Just as much as Barrel Of A Gun, this song is one of my favourites to this very day, I was over the moon to finally hear it live in Berlin in January 2018 (sung by Martin with piano backing, but still hauntingly beautiful).
Jazz Thieves
A strange turning point on the album: the first 7 songs are so strong that they're up there with all the classics, so a slight dip in quality is almost inevitable, but the contrast is a bit too strong. None of these remaining songs are bad, they're just a bit lacking, especially compared to the first half. This odd little instrumental interlude is probably the least memorable song on the album.
Freestate
A nice song, but at this point it really suffers from being yet another 5-6 minutes long slow-paced number. To return to an earlier thought, I wonder if it was switched with The Love Thieves, I'd have prefered this one out of the two. Probably not, but I'm not entirely sure.
The Bottom Line
A country-flavoured Martin song, not bad but pales in comparison beside Home.
Insight
I think most Depeche Mode fans like this song much more than I do, but I never really got into it. The chorus is very good, but the verses feel strangely forced to me, and the overall sound and its placement at the end of the album always made me call it a failed attempt at being Higher Love 2.
Junior Painkiller
After a whole minute of silence, this unlisted surprise closer, a short and quieter (but still quite menacing) version of Painkiller serves as an outro.
*
Home
Third single, June 1997
Songs with Martin on lead vocals are rarely picked as singles, but this is such an outstanding track that almost makes it an obvious choice. This is one of the rare occasions where the single version is longer than the album version - just a few seconds of ambiance at the start, but still.
I quite enjoyed the remixes as well, even the "Drowning In Time" one, which is so far from the original it's almost a different song disguised as a remix, but I could never got into the Grantby mix: it's not bad at the start, but a weird edit makes the vocals out of synch in the second verse, and that ruins it for me.
No proper B-side, but the live tracks sound really good.
The video is another milestone: the first one in a long time not to be directed by Anton Corbijn, but it's one of their best non-Anton ones.
Useless
Fourth single, October 1997
After the first 3, there weren't many choices left: maybe Sister Of Night gave them some second thoughts, but this song is more suitable.
No B-sides whatsoever, just remixes and a live version, but quite a stellar remix pack: Barry Adamson, CJ Bolland (with the ultrasonar mix, which was even edited for airplay in the US) and Kruder+Dorfmeister all did great versions, and the Cosmic Blues one is also quite good.
Ultra Parites
Painkiller / Uselink (intro)
Barrel Of A Gun
Useless
It's No Good
Home
Never Let Me Down Again
After barely surviving the previous tour and its aftermath, it was understandable not to do a proper tour behind Ultra. However, they did play live on several TV shows (mostly It's No Good, occasionally Barrel Of A Gun and sometimes both) to promote the album throughout April-May 1997, and they held two special album launch events: the first one was in London (10th April), the second one took place in Los Angeles (16th May). Both events included an intro excerpt of one of the album's instrumentals (Painkiller in London, Uselink in L.A.) followed by a 5-song live performance, 4 new songs (which all ended up as singles) and a 10 year old live favourite as set closer.
The band members were accompanied on stage (on all live performances, not just the 2 Ultra Parties) by Dave Clayton (who also worked on the album) on keyboards and Christian Eigner on drums.
*
Only When I Lose Myself
Single, September 1998
The band returned to the studio in early 1998 with Tim Simenon as producer once again, to record new songs for an upcoming single that would lead the next singles compilation. The result was spectacular, although none of these tracks scream "obvious commercial hit single", the 2 vocal tracks are both absolutely wonderful. My guess is Only When I Lose Myself probably got A-side status because they couldn't squeeze the full impact of Surrender into a radio friendly length, but that doesn't mean it's not a worthy addition.
The remixes unfortunately weren't the same quality, I only like the Subsonic Legacy mix of OWILM.
Surrender
Probably the best B-side of the band's entire career. That's it, nothing more to add.
Headstar
A surprisingly harsh-sounding instrumental, not as good as Painkiller, but still enjoyable.
*
Martin seems particularly fond of this era: Home is rarely missing from the live set, and he keeps coming back to this lot for songs to sing on multiple occasions, only missing out the 3 more up... well, mid-tempo singles (Barrel Of A Gun, It's No Good, Useless) and Freestate.
THE SINGLES 86>98
Compilation, September 1998
A collection of single A-sides released after the previous compilation (The Singles 81-85).
The songs are presented in their single versions, and in the order they were released, with 2 exceptions:
- Little 15 was meant to be a France only release (although it did end up having UK and German pressings as well), not a "full scale" single.
- Everything Counts was taken from the live album "101", and as a live recording with crowd noise, it was decided it did not fit inbetween the studio recordings.
These 2 songs were moved to the end as if they were bonus tracks.
The Singles Tour 86>98
Painkiller (intro)
A Question Of Time
World In My Eyes
Policy Of Truth
It's No Good
Never Let Me Down Again
Walking In My Shoes
Only When I Lose Myself
A Question Of Lust / Sister Of Night
Home
Condemnation
In Your Room
Useless
Enjoy The Silence
Personal Jesus
Barrel Of A Gun
Somebody
Stripped / Behind The Wheel
I Feel You
Just Can't Get Enough
Europe September-October 1998
North America October-December 1998
After a healing period, the band decided they were ready to hit the road again.
The change in the band's line up made it necessary to get a new keyboard player (Peter Gordeno), and they decided to employ a drummer (Christian Eigner) for the whole set, both of them have stayed as tour personnell ever since. On certain songs, 2 female backing vocalists (Jordan Bailey and Janet Cooke) also joined them on stage.
With a 21-track compilation, their usual setlist of intro + 19 songs didn't leave much room for experimentation. Little 15 with its "not a full scale single" status, and Everything Counts originating from 1983 seemed likely to be left out (and they were), and Behind The Wheel was re-introduced to the set late in the tour, leaving Strangelove, quite a signature tune of the 86>98 era to be a surprising omission, especially to make room for Just Can't Get Enough.
Other than skipping a few songs in late September due to Dave's throat problems, the set didn't change one bit until December, when they added a piano version of Sister Of Night sung by Martin (played instead of A Question Of Lust), and Behind The Wheel (replacing Stripped). These 2 slots had their original and newly added choices rotating for the remaining dates.
Looking at the arrangements, most of the set
didn't stray too far from the original studio or earlier live versions, Sister Of Night being an obvious exception, Only When I
Lose Myself had a very nice closing section added, and In Your Room was notable for being a live
rendition of the zephyr mix instead of the album version.
Probably thanks to the entirely hits-only setlist, the low-key setting and a more restrained Dave did not diminish the audiences' enthusiasm, as I was lucky enough to experience at the Olympiahalle in München.
On 12th December, the band played a special one off show at KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" event. The shortened set looked like this:
Barrel Of A Gun
Policy Of Truth
It's No Good
Walking In My Shoes
Sister Of Night
A Question Of Lust
Enjoy The Silence
In Your Room
Behind The Wheel
Personal Jesus
Never Let Me Down Again
To fit the "acoustic" bit in the event's title, they didn't only do the already acoustic piano version of Sister Of Night, they also played A Question Of Lust this way (an unprecedented version, which returned on Martin's solo tour in 2003 and then made it into the DM setlist in 2009 and occasionally since), and also a completely unique one-off acoustic version of Enjoy The Silence (with Dave on vocals, obviously). This was also the first time Never Let Me Down Again, a live highlight since 1987 was played in the encore, and to make it even more special, Billy Corgan joined them on stage.
This was their last tour to date not to be recorded for an official release, but there was a TV broadcast of 8 songs from one of the Köln dates in early October, and their entire set from KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas was also broadcast (on radio, which isn't very surprising, given the whole event was organized by a radio station). Both of those are well worth checking out.
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