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"Useless" is Depeche Mode's thirty-fourth UK single, released on October 20, 1997, and the fourth and final single for the album Ultra. It was released with "Home" as a double A-side in the US due to "Useless" getting airplay on US radio stations before "Home" was announced.
"Useless" is an industrial rock track in the vein of "Barrel of a Gun", with more of a pop twist. The single remix, by Alan Moulder, changes the intro and has an updated beat (similar to the changes done to the 7" versions of "Walking In My Shoes" and "Condemnation"), and adds some extra synth during the chorus. It also contains more grainy vocals. The "The Kruder + Dorfmeister Session" is a very prominent remix by the DJ duo of the same name. On the US single, the single remix is replaced by the CJ Bolland Ultrasonar Edit.
There are no actual B-sides for "Useless", except for remixes and live versions of the song. Some versions of the CD single feature the videos for "Barrel of a Gun" and "It's No Good", accessible when the disc is inserted into a PC.
The 1997 music video for "Useless" was the last Depeche Mode video to be directed by Anton Corbijn for more than eight years. Though he still did some work for Depeche Mode on album/single covers and tour projections/designs, the band decided to experiment with new directors for music videos. Corbijn's next project with Depeche Mode was the video for "Suffer Well".
Depeche Mode licensed the Kruder And Dorfmeister remix of "Useless" to Victoria's Secret, for use in their "Natural Miracle Bra" ad campaign. It aired on US television for a few weeks.
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