The Catalogue Collection (2025)

[Lx_Nen]

This https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TCi5hCVyvkk just appeared on the band's YouTube channel.

[DwarfeD]

Nice shoes.

[TheBang]

The audio is one song from each of the first 7 albums, in order. So, it certainly seems like vinyl reissues of those albums is coming. Which is good, because they're all out of print, and there is a fair bit of demand out there for them.

[aphasein]

Great news, but wonder if this means no deluxe version coming for AHDO. I think some of us were assuming that from the Xmas email and there had been news years ago that one had already been compiled, but that email only really mentioned vinyl making it right.

We'll see - would really love to hear some unreleased ambient stuff from that time period and maybe the album-length Peel Session they did...

[lemonjelly]

weren't there reissues of the vinyl for dubno, stiti, and BF when the deluxe boxsets came out though?

Interesting that there is activity tho!

[TheBang]

weren't there reissues of the vinyl for dubno, stiti, and BF when the deluxe boxsets came out though?
Yes. They're all out of print though and going for premium prices on the secondary market. I assume it would be repressings of those.

[potatobroth]

new 4 of 7 shows ADHO album sleeve/cover.

[negative1]

well, why not... even though i have them already a few times
on vinyl, except 'barking'.... too bad some weren't 3xlp..

ODDLY enough, didn't get strawberry hotel.... i can wait on that,
and it doesn't 'fit' in with the rest....

hope they come out around the same time, or there's going to be a lot of waiting


March 28, 2025

Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future: Vinyl LP ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99


barking: Vinyl 2LP ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99


Oblivion with Bells: Vinyl 2LP ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99


A Hundred Days Off: Vinyl 2LP. ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99


Beaucoup Fish: Vinyl 2LP ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99


Second Toughest In The Infants: Vinyl 2LP ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99


dubnobasswithmyheadman: Vinyl 2LP ? 1

Release date: 11 April, 2025

$43.99

Subtotal
$307.93
Shipping
$12.00
Taxes
$0.00
Total
$319.93



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[DwarfeD]

Just ordered Dubno, AHDO en OWB on vinyl. Great to finally have those.
Too bad there is no deluxe version of AHDO yet though.

[2dreamofluv]

Thank god they aren't colored or else I would be forced to triple dip on some of these...

[StrangeLastName]

AGH... I spent so much time and money chasing down the OG pressings of some of these. (AHDO, OWB, and Barking, really) I wish there were some more photos so we could see what the new design/packaging details are other than the spines.

[saintrik]

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_Dubno_3_65134840-15f9-4154-984a-a6ce3c6a2e26.png?v=1743091274&width=2000

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_STITI_3.png?v=1743090793&width=2000

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_Beaucoup_3_02773de0-3413-4c6d-8ecc-97113a2f19a2.png?v=1743092045&width=2000

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_AHDO_3_3.png?v=1743092647&width=2000

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_OWB_3_889aa142-ed65-4d91-ad8a-ce78a32a6dff.png?v=1743089213&width=2000

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_Barking_3_2_9bf8f5f3-d97d-4110-bab4-812a725020b0.png?v=1743089277&width=2000

https://store.underworldlive.com/cdn/shop/files/UW_-_BBWFASF_3_77522b11-bd66-45d0-bea5-3ebfef5a2076.png?v=1743153846&width=2000

[aphasein]

Wow. "We heard you. These are for you." Are they though?

Missed all this while at work today, and not to quibble, but it's apparently what I do now. I'm sure we've been asking for reprints on all of these, but doubt anyone's been looking for a redesign of them. Fans tend to want the originals for nostalgic reasons. Deluxe editions are a great time to give an old design a twist or refresh, but these are straight catalog replacements.

Underworld is generally amazing on the design work and these are fun, but the spine treatment definitely sets them apart, can't really use them to fill in holes in a previous collection. Seem as much marketing idea as design inspiration (got to recollect them all to match now, even if you have already them). I know everyone double-dips, but always rubs me wrong. They probably just see it as an exciting way to rejuvenate what's old to them, though.

Am glad they'll all be back and don't look a gift horse etc., but these past few years of this last album cycle have really thrown me with their choices and communication. Also surprised they are all at once and with CDs as well - guess this might be the final nail in the coffin for more Deluxe CD editions, we'll see.

Really hoping they still finally do a Riverrun collection in the fall (being the anniversary year), even if it's only all the original tracks with no extras. Definitely glad I snagged one of the anniversary Dubno vinyl reprints last year, even at $60 (which Amazon now has on sale at $50 if anyone wants that version; Drift also still available for $27).

Looks like they are up for order for anyone on the Underworld site, despite some confusing two week exclusive pre-order for mailing list info in the email. I do really like that they are all gatefolds now, as non-canon as that is. Always something... bring on that 30 years of Born Slippy drop.

[TheBang]

Wow. "We heard you. These are for you." Are they though?
Maybe not for you, but there are a lot of new fans and vinyl collectors who want the albums on vinyl. Like I said, the demand is there, and vinyl copies of all their albums have been going for $75-200 on the secondary market for a few years. Just look at the discussion here, there are a lot of people that are buying some or all of them:

https://www.reddit.com/r/underworld/comments/1jlqz2k/i_was_not_expecting_this/

[aphasein]

Maybe not for you, but there are a lot of new fans and vinyl collectors who want the albums on vinyl. Like I said, the demand is there, and vinyl copies of all their albums have been going for $75-200 on the secondary market for a few years. Just look at the discussion here, there are a lot of people that are buying some or all of them:

https://www.reddit.com/r/underworld/comments/1jlqz2k/i_was_not_expecting_this/

Sorry, guess my point was missed on this. I know and mentioned that reprinting them has been wanted/needed - it's not the availability, it's the redesign that I doubted was for us. As a fan, I'd like the original, the classic. Maybe that's not a big deal for new fans.

It is a fun design and guess it's minimal enough being mainly the spine different, but seems unnecessary and changes the wraparound style up. I will mention again how glad I am to have them - ended up ordering four of them as actually only had the two others I mentioned on vinyl. Just been in a paradoxical mix of excited and thrown by their recent releases, but guess that's me.

For those interested - outside the UK it seems to be really affordable on shipping the vinyl, which was very surprising currently. Only $12 total, so came out to $3 each for me, which is what sealed the deal.

[Yannick]

I was surprised too, im used to pay the same or maybe more for shipping than the actual record.

[purlieu]

This is the end of the deluxe editions, isn't it? They've had eight years to prepare AHDO, and yet the next reissues we get are vanilla ones. Given that the plan was to do all the albums up to OWB, it perhaps isn't so surprising that the two least well rated albums of that era end up not happening.



I will very happily be proved wrong, but I'm not holding my breath for any more boxsets now.

[2dreamofluv]

i don't see why reissuing these VERY basic editions of most of their out-of-print back catalog on vinyl has any bearing on future deluxe editions. they are serving two different purposes.

[aphasein]

i don't see why reissuing these VERY basic editions of most of their out-of-print back catalog on vinyl has any bearing on future deluxe editions. they are serving two different purposes.

I don't know... you are right, it is totally possible and one doesn't preclude the other. Guess it just feels highly unlikely now, given that they all came out together previously (Deluxe CD box, vinyl, regular CD, Blu-ray audio).

It was the CD repackaging for all of them along with the vinyl that was the surprise to me (after no hint of that from their email or video teaser) and makes it feel like this is all that's planned for them. We'll see, definitely still hopeful, just not optimistic.

[aphasein]

Speaking of the CD repackaging - anyone else have thoughts on the varying CD cover choices for Dubno and STITI?

Dubno seems to have the vinyl cover on outside and CD cover on its booklet, while STITI totally drops it's CD cover anywhere, sticking with the vinyl cover on the booklet and a cropped version of it also for the outer cover. Bit revisionist.

BF keeps it's classic different circle CD cover for both, though. May just be the product mockups, but kind of odd.

[TheBang]

Yeah, it is interesting that they chose to do that, apparently deliberately, since BF and Barking both have the correct (differing) covers for vinyl/CD.

[purlieu]

i don't see why reissuing these VERY basic editions of most of their out-of-print back catalog on vinyl has any bearing on future deluxe editions. they are serving two different purposes.
Because the very basic editions also accompanied the deluxe reissues - 1CD and vinyl editions came out alongside the boxsets. Especially as AHDO has been remastered, and one assumes the same for OWB, then I can't imagine them waiting eight years, putting them out as vanilla reissues, then doing the deluxes 18 months down the line with accompanying vanillas again, or just doing a CD boxset and no conventional releases.



Again, not saying it'll definitely never happen, but to me this, combined with the very, very long gap, really makes it feel like those last two boxsets have been scrapped.

[TheBang]

Yes, I agree with purlieu's reasoning. It does seem to make the possibility of further deluxe box sets less likely.

[aphasein]

I just hope we still get a Riverrun boxset, or at the very least dump them all on to digital (in the fall maybe? anniversary year? hello?)

They are an important part of their catalog (especially after Drift) and bordering on criminal (or at least neglect) that they are not available (as Karl has acknowledged).

And they are obviously their own thing, but they would also go some way toward covering a sense of extras/behind-the-scenes/alternate tracks from both the AHDO and OWB eras in absence of deluxe editions that offered those (which I hadn't actually thought of that way until just now).

[Cadevil]

Looks like shipping EXPLODED on these in the last week :eek:

Tariffs I guess.

[Dino3D]

Really don't understand why they never released Riverrun on CD especially when it could easily fit on 2 CDs, so it won't be that expensive release. Of course a 4 CD set would be better, but if they don't want it to be a pricey thing to produce, a double CD set would be fair enough with the 4 episodes.

[negative1]

just got my shipping order for it here in the US.

well, that's cool, they are on their way....

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[TheBang]

FYI, it looks like these are hitting regular record stores on May 16.

[aphasein]

Anyone in the UK/Europe get their order yet? Probably still too early, don't know if they shipped for release day delivery.

[orangepants]

Anyone in the UK/Europe get their order yet? Probably still too early, don't know if they shipped for release day delivery.

Mine (STITI, BF, AHDO and OWB) arrived on Friday (release day) - they were shipped on next day Royal Mail delivery. I quite like the idea of these being redesigned and re-released, I feel like it gets the records into the hands of people like me who want to listen to a high quality version on a turntable without necessarily overly devaluing the original pressings, although I could see the remasters from 2014-2018 perhaps taking a dip on the second hand market). Sound and pressing quality is great - nice and flat records with little to no surface noise that I've noticed.

[TheBang]

It looks like May 16 is the confirmed retail release date in US, UK, and Europe. I see pre-order listings in all 3 regions, like this:

https://www.bullmoose.com/search?q=underworld&so=0&page=1&af=-3006|-3008|-53
https://www.roughtrade.com/search?q=underworld&collection=Pre-Orders

I'm sure they will show up on Amazon soon too, as well as your favorite local record store, or other retailers where you may find discounts, bundle deals, free shipping, etc.

[Mike]

Any news on digital release? Are AHDO & OWB actually remastered?

[TheBang]

Any news on digital release? Are AHDO & OWB actually remastered?
Not sure about digital. AHDO is definitely remastered (the 2024 remaster we heard at Christmas time). The first 3 are the remastered from last decade. OwB and later are not remastered.

[aphasein]

Mine (STITI, BF, AHDO and OWB) arrived on Friday (release day) - they were a shipped on next day Royal Mail delivery. I quite like the idea of these being redesigned and re-released, I feel like it gets the records into the hands of people like me who want to listen to a high quality version on a turntable without necessarily overly devaluing the original pressings, although I could see the remasters from 2014-2018 making taking a dip on the second hand market). Sound and pressing quality is great - nice and flat records with little to no surface noise that I've noticed.

Sweet! That's actually the exact same four that I ordered. Glad to hear they are great pressings.

Got notice that mine shipped out from UK today and are supposedly being delivered in FL tomorrow, which is wild for only $12 shipping.

[negative1]

here's my records, everything came today a few hours ago:
===

https://i.ibb.co/TMtrvSs2/IMG-20250415-152757.jpg (https://ibb.co/hFVC7jS9)
https://i.ibb.co/C3j2YD6F/IMG-20250415-152819.jpg (https://ibb.co/TxQL7d15)
https://i.ibb.co/Z6KctnT9/IMG-20250415-152859.jpg (https://ibb.co/BVjTdXsk)
https://i.ibb.co/5xMHgdhH/IMG-20250415-152932.jpg (https://ibb.co/4gmrncRr)
https://i.ibb.co/4nMchXNK/IMG-20250415-153035.jpg (https://ibb.co/ks0pNwc5)


OCD kicked in..

was going to compare with the originals... barking??? calling barking, don't have UK or US 2xlp..

discogs..... will have to wait on UK one... 1 US one... ordered..

ok, then strawberry hotel called out..... ordered that and CD, and DRIFT 2xlp also.... sigh.... haha..

will post comparisons later on.

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[TheBang]

Interesting that Barbara Barbara has a framed border when the original did not. Even the reissue CD does not have a framed border.

I think I will buy them all on Deep Discount (they're all up for pre-order there now) when they have one of their regular 15% off coupons.

[Stickman]

Here's what could be a rather stupid question, but I'm playing Oblivion with Bells on vinyl (first time I've owned on record) and the version of Beautiful Burnout is quite a bit different from the CD I have. Was the original vinyl like that?

[TheBang]

Apparently, they used the wrong (unmixed) tracks on this vinyl (and probably the CD too?) reissue

[Stickman]

Thank you, that explains it!

[Dino3D]

Are the CDs have booklets?

[iamneorev]

Really don't understand why they never released Riverrun on CD especially when it could easily fit on 2 CDs, so it won't be that expensive release. Of course a 4 CD set would be better, but if they don't want it to be a pricey thing to produce, a double CD set would be fair enough with the 4 episodes.

4 episodes? I know of Lovely Broken Thing, Pizza For Eggs, and I'm A Big Sister. What's the 4th?

P.S.
I would kill for a Riverrun boxset/reissue.

They could include all the remixes as well. Also, I wonder if we could get unmixed versions of tracks. There is that nearly 20 minute version of Ancient Phat Farm Coat.

Personally, I would love unmixed versions. If they did both mixed and unmixed, that'd be even sweeter. But I would love to have these tracks in full.

[lemonjelly]

misterons mix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtTDNcB2Heo

also, whilst searching for that found this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rexk4Ad4yM

[Yannick]

mine arrived yesterday :) thank god I got the 12$ shipping :)

531

[orangepants]

If anyone in the UK (or elsewhere, as I believe they ship internationally) didn't buy records directly from Underworld, they are available for pre-ordering for the 16th of May on Rarewaves, with a 10% off coupon for Easter ('RWEASTER10'). Not sure about international postage, but (second class) shipping in the UK is free.

Alternatively The Sound of Vinyl have them listed with a release date of 11th April, so I presume these are copies from the same batch from the Underworldlive store, given that The Sound of Vinyl is a Universal Music Group entity, which presumably also means they are available for immediate shipping.

[Dunwho]

I only ordered AHDO since this was the one album i didn't have on vinyl and it was depressingly expensive to get on secondary markets. The spine being "themed" or branded to the reissue is a bit of a turn off but I surmised that if all i need is one record it will not appear out of place against the rest, it will just be how AHDO looks. :shrug:

Anyway, I had no idea it was also remastered until I listened and I could clearly hear a difference in the levels of certain elements in songs. And while in some the remaster is very welcome (reducing the annoying offbeat drum track on Little Speaker) other elements are so reduced that it is distracting how different it is.

Overall it feels the mix is much more bass heavy and there is far less dynamic range. The spoken word on Little Speaker is almost drowned out to a muffle, and some of the melodic synths are deadened into the back of the mix to the point that my ears really have to strain to give them the dominance that I am used to.

It could just be that I am overly familiar with the original mix (the good and bad of it) but I was very struck by just how bass heavy it had become and almost wanted to jack up the treble on my system to make amends.

Anyone else feel the same?

[aphasein]

Apparently, they used the wrong (unmixed) tracks on this vinyl (and probably the CD too?) reissue

This was quite a surprise when listening to the OWB vinyl first time on Friday - when Beautiful Burnout didn't come in at end of Crocodile and the background loop just kept going and going, I wondered what was happening and if I somehow had a locked groove. The tail out on Crocodile is crazy long now and BB has a very different beginning.

Did wonder if I had missed out on the vinyl being different edits all these years, as it's not a record talked about a lot, but the wrong files being sent to press this time makes a lot more sense (it's an easy thing to get wrong later on). There are several interesting differences in some of the beginnings and endings (mainly on first two tracks), but most are just a lot more gap time between each track. Guess I'm glad to have it in addition to the original CD.

The vinyls all sound great and quiet pressing-wise - the remaster ones do bury some tracks more in the mix and highlight others that can feel off from what I know so well, but some of that is the nature of vinyl (which I haven't had for them before). Overall hearing more things and sounding more crisp than I have heard them in a long time.

The main thing that's odd to me (and at least it's less pressing) is the sleeve graphics quality. Whoever updated these designs either didn't have access to the original images (most likely) or didn't pay attention in outputting them correctly for print - a lot of compression artifacts and the resolution is low, making everything a bit soft (and almost bootleg feeling). All the written text is crisp thankfully, but someone didn't double-check the background graphics quality.

Really glad to own these and have them re-released, just par for the course anymore, we seem to collectively pay attention now to the wrong details...

[purlieu]

The full length versions of Crocodile and Beautiful Burnout were on the singles in one format or another, and yeah, they don't actually offer too much of excitement sadly. Not sure if I'd be able to get used to such a change after nearly 20 years.

[negative1]

ok, barking, drift, and strawberry hotel all came in..
[along with the japanese SHM strawberry hote]. so i'm caught up for now, kind of.
still need to get the cds, the UK second toughest, and UK barking...

ANYWAYS...
=============
1 i have the German second toughest in the infants, it just turned out that way
2 the barking is the US release
3 barbara barbara is from the boxset

i also threw in the barbara barbara cd boxset, which is exactly the same as the album

i have not opened any of the new albums for comparisons of the gatefold,
maybe someday..

LEFT SIDE : Reissues RIGHT SIDE : Originals
======
https://i.ibb.co/nMW4Gvc7/00uw-Album-Comp-Mirror.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/KzQ76Tr9/01uw-Album-Comp-All1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/DPV8bjnK/02uw-Album-Comp2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/fYhYN0jn/03uw-Album-Comp3.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/93qGxWZ7/04uw-Album-Comp-Back.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/rfkfwfMY/05uw-Album-Comp-Back1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/qYYhpNCg/06uw-Album-Comp-Back2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/tPcZdNYz/07uw-Album-Comp-Gatef1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/qFWDcvvP/08uw-Album-Comp-Gatef2.jpg


had the drift colored vinyl 2xlp awhile ago, its exactly the same cover
as the regular version

====
https://i.ibb.co/mFNMg8dX/09uw-Album-Drft-Straw-Front.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Xx5yWJt7/10uw-Album-Drft-Straw-Front2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/kgXwPK6F/11uw-Album-Drft-Straw-Back.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/chHtC7fP/12uw-Album-Drft-Straw-Gatef.jpg


conclusions:
==========

1 EVERY SINGLE COVER IS DIFFERENT

2 the cropping is different, dubnobasswithmyheadman seems uncropped on the new one,
it had letters cut off on the right hand side of the cover

3 the colors are different, especially on second toughest in the infants

4 the fonts are different - but pretty close in most cases

5 the backs are different - different spacing

6 the layouts are different - look at beacoup fish, the objects are moved around


now the back of Barbara barbara is probably the closest to the original, but even then.

so you are getting completely different, and new artwork.

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[TheBang]

Catalogue Collection vinyl for $29.99 each. Free shipping over $50. Use code CCM10 for an additional 10% off:
https://www.ccmusic.com/search?mod=AP&cr=Underworld|850877

[darmok]

Vinyl is starting to come in from the various places I ordered from. I put Barking on first and right away there's a nasty pop on Bird 1. I'll break out the ultrasonic cleaner later, but I always hate it when new, seemingly clean vinyl does that.

[fivesixzero]

Vinyl is starting to come in from the various places I ordered from. I put Barking on first and right away there's a nasty pop on Bird 1. I'll break out the ultrasonic cleaner later, but I always hate it when new, seemingly clean vinyl does that.

I've got a pretty noticible pop on Bird1 on my Barking album too, as well as a few other places toward the outside of the disc. Haven't given it the ultrasonic treatment - just got my ultrasonic cleaner set up this week, testing solutions/methods on some bargain bin vinyl before cleaning the UW ones.

Looking closely at the grooves it does look like pretty deep dust bits, possibly frayed/disintegrated cardstock. The cardstock inner sleeves look great but almost all of my 2025 remasters (ordered all 7) have some visible damage from them. First thing I did was take them out carefully, trying to avoid sliding against the flats of the inner sleeves, then put them in some fresh archival inner sleeves. But what's done is done. Most of the albums sound decent enough, with a few pops here and there on Barking and Oblivion, but no show-stopping issues.

I guess that's what I get for ordering direct to the US in the first round of pre-orders. Guessing they got jostled quite a bit during their journey. They were packed well, at or above standard, but still got some substantial dents in the edges. Thankfully I don't really care about 'mint' condition - as long as they sound good. Which they do! Mostly. :)

I should get time to do the ultrasonic thing this week, will report back if it helps or not.

[negative1]

brief video fo the reissues.. :

front, back, and insides of original gatefolds comparisons:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdSJ3S6NXak


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