Onion (Madison and Milwaukee, WI.), April 24st 1997
[Insert the usual rambling about Dave and Alan here.]
That's saying nothing of the fact that its most recent album,
1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion, was a pompous, sodden bore.
The new Ultra is spotty but better: The single "Barrel of a
Gun" ia a hookless, forgettable non-song, and "The
Bottom Line" is a plodding nightmare, but "It's No
Good" is catchy and smartly arranged enough to compensate
for lyrics that seem swiped from a Billy Squier song (Sample:
"Don't say you want me/Don't say you need me/Don't say you
love me/It's understood.") While many tracks are overlong,
appropriately gloomy atmosphereics step in when they're sorely
needed: "Useless," "Home," and "Sister
of Night" are vastly preferable to arena-ready pap like
Faith and Devotion's "I Feel You." Ultra is far from
Depeche Mode's best album, but it's not the worst, either. And
that should be good news to fans who feared that very thing.
by Stephen Thompson
Onion (Madison and Milwaukee, WI.), April
24st 1997
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