Day 3 of songs that inspired me to write.
When I read the news of Gahan’s heart attack in 1996, I feared the worst. He had already had one in ’93, while on tour for Songs of Faith and Devotion. Didn’t think he was going to make it the second time around. Martin Gore had seizures (due to alcohol consumption) and his writing his Depeche Mode’s backbone.
As much as I love Songs of Faith and Devotion, my second fave album of theirs, I hate what the tour did to them as a band. The loss of Alan Wilder felt like the end of an era.
Ultra was a real test for the band. ’97 saw many legacy bands in heavy states of duress. Smashing Pumpkins had lost tour member Jonathan Melvoin to an overdose and fired Jimmy Chamberlin. U2 was in disarray, recording POP up to its last moment. The lead up to Ultra’s release was fraught with many an issue.
Barrel of a gun was the perfect choice for a lead single. It confronted the band’s internal struggle with an honesty rarely seen on an act so big. It had the grit people expected from music without losing the velvet feeling Depeche Mode always sported even on their darkest moments.
I was hooked from day one and Ultra still is my fave Depeche Mode album. Every track is a winner, where the trip hop inspired instrumentals are the mise en place of each single.
Home is a song dear to my heart. I had a medical issue in the summer of 97 and spent a few days in the hospital. When I got back home, first song I had in my head was Home. Martin Gore’s dulcimer voice yearns throughout and I can’t imagine a version with Gahan working. This is Martin’s moment on the spotlight and he relishes every breath, every wink, every second spent on the song.
Home is a place of solace, a port in the storm. I stole its sentiment for the closing section of a book I started writing in ’96 and finished in 2000. It was full of ideas, not all of them good, and perhaps too many pages over a sane reading limit. It was a great experience writing it, and even after self-publishing it and actually earning a few pesos over the expense, the real joy was the experience. I’ve improved (I hope) over the years and still am fond of sections of that book, and every time I hear Home, I’ll think of that book and it’s slightly Pollyanna ending.
-Sam J. Valdés López
