Mega Mega Vote Thing - UNDERWORLD (Smith/Hyde) in ILM Artist Poll #102 - Campaigning, Discussion, Equivocating until 22nd May

Not sure how anyone can possibly vote for less than 20 tracks.

I'll be doing the full 77 and already think there'll be some tough choices about what i want to leave out

Spoon Deep
215 Miles
Most Ospitible
Thing In A Book

All the Dark and Long “remixes” are career bests for any other band

I didn't include track times for the Riverruns because they're just what one rando with free editing software made up, but at least you posted them in the clearest, most practical way possible ;)

man... they were gold from the moment "spikee" dropped

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, May 7, 2020 11:57 PM (yesterday)

I also called up [the radio, as a teenager, to huff] when an announcer played something off dubnobasswithmyheadman and said "Nothing to do with the group that had a #1 single with Underneath The Radar! Completely different band."

― Elon's musk (sic), Wednesday, May 6, 2020 8:36 AM (two days ago)

Seriously considering sitting this out since ranking their tracks seems impossible.

Vote!

Imagine the hardest part will be ranking the Top 20 or so - after that it'll be fairly arbitrary anyway

I haven't even got to dubnobasswithmyheadman and I've already found a case where I much prefer a different mix, hmm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCKJWdIdHTM

I didn't include track times for the Riverruns because they're just what one rando with free editing software made up, but at least you posted them in the clearest, most practical way possible ;)

yall fucks with cuesheets, don't front

UND3RWORLD: big rooms, bass & collabs era

Downpipe (Original Club Mix) • [Mark Knight & D.Ramirez v Underworld, 2009] 8:10
Downpipe (Original Dub Mix) • [Mark Knight & D.Ramirez v Underworld, 2009] 8:10


Scribble • single and Barking [2010] 6:58
You Do Scribble • [broadcast 2008, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 8:04
You Do Scribble (Abbey Road version) • [iTunes bonus track 2010] 5:49
Scribble (Instrumental) [b-side] • [b-side 2010] 6:42
Scribble (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 7:05

Always Loved a Film • single and Barking [2010] 6:52
Always Loved A Film (Extended Club Mix) [2010] • [2010 remix] 7:52
Always Loved A Film (Lemonworld Mix) • [broadcast 2003, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 7:24
Always Loved A Film (Instrumental) • [b-side & promo 2010] 7:45

Bird 1 • Barking [2010] 6:51
Strumpet Groove • [c. 2008, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 7:10
Bird 1 (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 6:53
Hamburg Hotel • Barking [2010] 5:18
Hamburg Hotel Essex • [early version, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 3:21
Hamburg Hotel (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 5:16
Grace • Barking [2010] 5:11
Grace (Telematic Peal Mix) • [c. 2008-09, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 7:37
Grace (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 7:13
Between Stars • Barking [2010] 6:06
Between Stars (Lemonworld Mix) • [DJed 2009, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 4:55
Between Stars (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 6:35
Diamond Jigsaw • Barking [2010] 5:36
Diamond Jigsaw (Demo Mix) • [early version, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 3:51
Diamond Jigsaw (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 5:51
Moon in Water • Barking [2010] 5:42
Moon in Water (Lemonworld Mix) • [c. 2008, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 5:53
Moon In Water (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 5:50
Louisiana • Barking [2010] 5:05
Louisiana (Jumping the Cran) • [broadcast 2008, Barking Alternative Versions 2010] 2:05
Louisiana (Instrumental) • [promo 2010] 4:54

(every track bar Louisiana was finished by or with an outside producer; the Alternative Versions disc presents versions in varying developmental stages, but all from before they left Smith's desk.)


Simple Peal • [Japanese exclusive 2010] 4:32

The First Note Is Silent • [High Contrast feat. Tiesto & Underworld, 2011] 5:58


Caliban's Dream (feat. Dockhead Choir, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Only Men Aloud!, Elizabeth Roberts, Alex Trimble) • [Isles Of Wonder, 2012] 7:16
And I Will Kiss (feat. Dame Evelyn Glennie) • [Isles Of Wonder, 2012] 17:16
And I Will Kiss [A Collection 2 version] • [different intro on 2016 anthology version] 17:13

238 Days • [High Contrast feat. Underworld, 2012] 5:12

Ten (Club Mix) • [Sander van Doorn, Mark Knight & Underworld 2013] 6:08

Barking is surely their weakest record

I liked Barking a lot initially but some of the tracks are too straightforward to invite repeat listens. I'll probably still make room on my ballot for one or two tracks

Barking contains some incredible music. The lyrics to Bird 1 are my favorite 'story' songs of Karl's. There aren't many, but this one is very evocative. It was much better live as Strumpet. It ended up getting ruined for the album, same with Holding the Moth on Oblivion. Much better live. They ended up ruining the groove for it on the album. Also, I'll rep for both Moon In Water and Louisiana. I know remixes don't count, but their remix of William's Last Words by Manic Street Preachers is beautiful and fits the same vibe as those two. I'm pretty sure Karl re-did the vocals on that remix too, so it's essentially an Underworld cover of the Manic Street Preachers.

all the outside collaborations didn't really do them any favours by making them sound less like underworld

maybe it's wrong but i'll more readily listen to barking than a hundred days off

both great

a hundred days off is their second weakest imo but at least it has "two months off" and "sola sistem"

re: barking, the concept is cool if imperfectly executed, the songs are all pretty awesome. "between stars" is gonna be on my ballot

Only knew the singles, so familarising myself with Barking by listening to the instrumental version of the album, then the just-Underworld demos album, before the final version.

I'm pretty sure Karl re-did the vocals on that remix too, so it's essentially an Underworld cover of the Manic Street Preachers.

I ID3-tagged the two versions into two of my mega-compilations of non-album/non-era Underworld, rather than at the end of my two mega-compilations of UW remixes. Missing my ipod this week tbh, RIP.

looking forward to playing Barking again... fully expect it to place last but agree that it has a lot going for it. I guess they were in a rough time around then, almost breaking up around the Olympics (I'm not sure Karl worked on that stuff at all?). Apparently they found their spark again around the 2014 dubnobass reissue. I'm almost finished Karl's book (fun read).

Hundred Days, Barking, and Beaucoup Fish will all be a close call for me. I'm sure the latter will place high, but to me it's 4 absolute classics followed by a bunch of filler. Wonder if anything after that point could crack the list at all.

Looking forward to seeing all the ballots eventually!

Barking is a fine album on its own merits but it really could've been better - the only track the outside remixing really works on is "Between Stars". I like "Scribble" a lot too but man the original they played on that Live in Tokyo album, what a corker. also really love the original "Diamond Jigsaw" with the Van Halen synth though the one on the album is pretty sweet as well. original "Moon in Water" - gold, obviously, the remixed version is just a totally different tune

in retrospect the real disappointment was the bonus disc, I wanted something like Barking w/o the outside collaborators, but this was just a bunch of demos

Oblivion with Bells is the only proper album that I felt had truly nothing for me.

And A Hundred Days Off I think much more belongs with the three that cake before it than anything that came after.

Cake, came, both are good.

"crocodile" into "beautiful burnout" is a real high-point and while the rest never reaches the same heights the only track that doesn't work for me is "ring road" which is a sort of underworld track that's never done anything for me (don't like "bruce lee" etc. much either)

Holding the Moth & Best Mamgu Ever are also incredible

the thing with both 100 Days Off & OWB is that they're both incredible sounding albums. I mean they all are really but those two have so much depth to them

revisited Barking and my opinion hasn't really changed. it's not bad by any means but never particularly memorable and feels quite anonymous. doubt anything from it will make my ballot

is the Karl Hyde solo album at all worthwhile? as mentioned before i really love the Eno/Hyde records

ok A Hundred Days Off is a lot better than i remember. still probably one of their weaker albums, but that's more about how strong their discography is. the percussion on this album rules so much.

I like Barking a lot. ALAF is an out and out banger and there's some other good tracks too.

For me, Oblivion With Bells is their weakest by a country mile. Apart from Best Mamgu Ever I'd be happy never listening to any of the other tracks again.

"ess gee" is the best underworld guitar interlude

good evening

luna luna luna luna

UNDER｜｜｜ORLD: babs & bobs

Baby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Misterons 12'' Mix) • [Frankie Knuckles cover 12", 2015] 7:48
Baby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Heller & Farley 12'' Mix) • [Frankie Knuckles cover 12", 2015] 9:27

I Exhale • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 8:10
If Rah • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 7:12
Low Burn • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 6:44
Santiago Cuatro • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 4:00
Motorhome • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 6:23
Ova Nova • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 5:31
Nylon Strung • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 6:48

Twenty Three Blue • [b-side/bonus 2016] 6:45

Eventually But • [b-side to Long Slow Slippy, 2017] 2:57


Bells & Circles • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:30
Trapped • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:44
I’ll See Big • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 4:47
Get Your Shirt • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:31
Bells & Circles (Instrumental Version) • [Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:30
Get Your Shirt (Instrumental Version) • [Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:31

Too Little Too Late • [Joris Voorn feat. Underworld, 2019] 5:49
Too Little Too Late (Club Mix) • [Joris Voorn feat. Underworld, remix 2019] 7:03

looking forward to the extensive documentation of all the Drift alternate versions

i think i might have Barbara Barbara very very high, it's one of their most enjoyable to listen to as a whole. the only low-point is "Santiago Cuatro" which isn't bad, just quite a bit more out of place than the guitar interludes usually are.

listening to "big meat show," an outtake from dubnobass that's on the 1992-2012 comp, and it's..... fantastic???? they produced enough incredible music for three albums during and around that one

starting to think "why why why" is also going to be surprisingly high on my ballot

I've probably mentioned this on other threads but to me UW have three peaks, the '92-'94 era with all those awesome singles & EPs leading to dubnobasswithmyheadman (perhaps one of the only albums in history that justifies the five disc deluxe reissue), the '05-'07 era with Riverrun, OWB, and all sorts of interesting tracks being played on radio broadcasts & live shows, and the recent Drift period. I think all these periods produced like, 4-5 albums worth of quality material but Drift was the only one to actually just release it as such

Riverrun stuff isn’t available anywhere at the moment other than fan uploads on YouTube. Not sure why they don’t stick it on streaming or sell downloads anymore

oh wow i am gonna take part in a music poll! i do this almost never! display name relevant

looking at this poll and realizing how little i've actually listened to though, holy moly. i guess i just listened to dub a million times? i was like "well i'll try the other stuff, i prob won't like it as much anyway" and randomly started with barbara and was like "oh no i think i love this"

watched everything everything last night for the first time in like 10-15 years, goddamn underworld rules

the impression I get is that the Riverrun stuff didn't work out the way they wanted, none of the casual fans knew about it & a lot of people had trouble downloading them. there wasn't really the infrastructure for just putting stuff out the way there is now. when they started the project I think they had eyes on doing more than just 3 but I think they quickly learned that if it wasn't on a studio album most people just weren't gonna hear it

your idea of all these sustained peaks - challenging the very nature of a peak! - and none of them containing Second Toughest... just boggles the mind. But that's why this whole poll in bonkers. Happy listening yall

im actually doing my first 'second toughest' listen-thru ever right now! (i'm still on track 1 lol)

yesterday i did those two first albums which were fine but i don't think i'll vote for anything on them or for them. very interesting to hear their origins tho! had no idea they were doing that kinda stuff and then just pivoted hard into DNBWMHM. such a crazy pivot, such a perfect album

was supposed to see them on their tour next week. I am very sad about it. =(

ugh. hope they reschedule and you get a chance to see em! in the meantime might i recommend throwing the dvd on and dancing in front of your tv like i may or may not have at 2am oops

the deluxe remaster of dubnobass kinda bridges the gap. if you really look hard you can find a demo tape for the 3rd UW mk1 album which was never made. there's a version of "Mother Earth" on it. some of the other tracks from that era like "The Hump", "Big Meat Show", and "Can You Feel It" (which became part of "Skyscraper") also show their roots a bit. and they did some cool experimental stuff as Freur, most of it didn't make the albums though. but something like "Rez"...yeah, total left turn

your idea of all these sustained peaks - challenging the very nature of a peak! - and none of them containing Second Toughest... just boggles the mind.

I mean really everything from 1992 to 1999 is really great, but really there was just an insane wealth of stuff from 93 and 94 alone. STITI has a handful of really great B-sides & remixes of course, absolutely love "Oich Oich", "Puppies", "Cherry Pie", and "Tin There"...but overall idk if that deluxe set worked quite as well as the dubnobass one

that said I forgot about one of my favorite Underworld live tracks ever, a performance of the original "Born Slippy" from the infamous European Club Gig which is just fucking incredible. the whole gig is awesome but this part from 1:47:00 on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_HoEQ7ThvE

I really don't understand how people aren't in love with Barking, even given the rest of Underworld's discography. It's just a great album back to front.

but overall idk if that deluxe set worked quite as well as the dubnobass one

woah woah... 5 years of development vs the follow-up record... judge what's on the albums eh :)

I really don't understand how people aren't in love with Barking, even given the rest of Underworld's discography. It's just a great album back to front.

― DJP, Friday, May 8, 2020 10:50 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i really think of it as the underworld album that's all bangers

At this point, I may have played "Always Loved A Film" and "Bird 1" more than any other Underworld songs except maybe "Pearl's Girl", the original "Born Slippy", and "Dirty Epic"

yea those tracks are great. I just think the outside remixers smoothed over a lot of the nuance in favor of just making the tracks straight bangers. the original ALAF had this awesome bass line that's just not there in the Barking version. and Diamond Jigsaw had these massive chord changes which Paul Van Dyk didn't even seem to bother with.

before I forget...how about a little love for "Bamboo", from 2008 or thereabouts. kind of a fleshed out version of "Lenny Penne", one of my favorite unreleased tracks. I take it we can't vote for this??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqu-n3EJXiY

no Bamboo!

listening to "big meat show," an outtake from dubnobass that's on the 1992-2012 comp, and it's..... fantastic???? they produced enough incredible music for three albums during and around that one

how I (D3) break it down to an extent:

a 1992 album of singles, bar M.E.: 79 minutes
a 1993 album of two singles: 47 minutes
the actual 1994 album: 73 minutes
a 1994 "double CD" comp of Cows, Darks and Skyscrapers: 2 hrs 14
an 1995ish album of Slippy: 40 minutes

plus I have The Big Meat Show hived off with the Why? remixes and Second Hand into other compilations of b-sides and reworks

PLUS the band have also given us a 75-minute album of unreleased tracks and versions from 1993, PLUS an hour-long mix of the best bits of more unreleased versions, P L U S an hour-long album of The Evolution Of NUXX.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5qIqg9x4lKvq1DR4BKFXdX?si=yw8o4tJRTPyiCW_NS-5iVg

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxWLJazbXOaluH99S3_FgWInzNemME8RN

have kept the playlists of non-album material up to date with everything available pre-Drift, based on sic's documentation of it all. there's a few pretty obscure remixes etc. that aren't even on youtube though

an hour-long album of The Evolution Of NUXX

!!

??