Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

Well, I'd like to understand this comparison. Is it because they are approximately the same length, or is it because of the guitar?

As holden wrote, it's about 'associating tracks with specific, personal memories'. STITI was my first UW album and still is my favourite - and Blueski is one of the reasons. It has an edge and a warm sound - even more so with my headphones on because of the 'effects'. It's just a track that I'll never get tired of.

Ess Gee is pretty - too pretty - but sooo boring and I skip it immediately every time.

Each to their own ;)

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

Well, hey, I wish I'd rated the EPs and bonus tracks, too. But I think the outcome would be similar... I like all UW to a great degree, 70-90%, with a few tracks being "meh" and a few being "Yeah!".

I've been listening to their back catalog today, including OWB, all RiverRuns and the inter-Drift releases. Man, are we fortunate to hear all of this at a very high level of quality!

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

Exactly. We could have subpar output as is so common by people / bands that long in the business. On the other hand, Rick and Karl have reinvented themselves several times and I strongly believe herein lies the magic

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

The comparison was them being two short guitar interludes. One very repetitive one being given the highest score, and one more varied, melodic one being given the lowest. Just seemed like a bizarre contrast to me. Is it possible to get that bored in two minutes?! Haha.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

You know what's fun? Trying to recall your initial impressions of each record. Did they remain, or have you changed your views?

I started with Everything, Everything in 2002. Great intro to the hits, and I knew NUXX and PG from comp CDs. Mostly, this album helped salve a disastrous audition. So it'll always be a favorite. I still find it comforting.

Beacoup Fish was next, mostly because a college friend said it was best and played it to me pre-parties on a Friday night. I have strong memories attached to this, and it remains my favorite lp. I played this one so many times, reminded of a review (pitchfork? Rolling Stone?) Saying the 5th listen is as good as the 50th. It is, imho.

I think Dubno was next. Recall listening to it the first weekend of daylight savings time, still light out. I also took it with me my first trip abroad, to Argentina. A familiar remnant.it sounds dated to me now, but at the time seemed complex and fully realized.

STITI came next. I was frustrated by the low volume of my CD and accordingly found the record a but murky at first listen. I'd heard enough live recordings to expect better. Now, I love STITI, but at first blush, I wasn't sure.

AHDO was the first new release I anticipated as a fan. I was probably overexpectant and really played the record a lot. I remember the thrill of hearing Mo Move's stoptime and Leutin's cold menace. I played this album a lot on long drives and was enthralled. It still holds my interest.

OWB is a tough one. We'd experienced RiverRun and some great underworldlive releases. And I saw the hand in Central Park, NY before the official release. Sings like beautiful burnout and holding the moth and to heal had appeared on radio shows, but somehow the album versions felt kind of blah. I just wasn't excited by this release. I remember hearing the leak and being underwhelmed.

Barking is an enigma. I remember the single release of Scribble being very exciting. My wife moved to Canada for work that year, and I heard the album in full when it came out during a trip to visit her. So, I have strong memories of the record, even though I don't think it's very strong in retrospect. But it was a joyful experience to listen to along some wooded Ontario trails.

Barbara came out and I was sort of reserved because we got previews and they were challenging. But I walked around with this record on release day and made my peace. Again, pleasant surroundings yield positive response.

There are a lot more specific memories that come from these albums, but you'd be bored/confused. Suffice it to say that each record, whether purchased after the fact or anticipated has been a special, memorable event for me. Thanks UW!

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

And?
I happen to like repetitive music. Luckily, electronic music offers a lot of repetitive music ;)
Your opinion isn't necessarily the same as mine ...

Fair enough, I thought the comparison was bizarre to begin with :rolleyes:
As hilarious as you may find it; yes.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

Hey look, I didn't mean to come across like a dick, I'm just genuinely interested in an opinion that surprised me so much. A lot of the hate Ess Gee gets is because it's a short guitar interlude (I remember when AHDO came out and it was loathed by loads of people for that reason alone), so I suppose seeing Blueski rated so highly made me wonder what it was that gave you such polar opposite views on two tracks that play similar roles on their respective albums.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

Ess Gee is piercing to me. I don't care for the sounds, arrangement, pace, etc. Blueski I love. Its very pleasing to me.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

"Blueski" and "Ess Gee" are night and day to me, honestly.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

yuuup

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

I think it's true that we wouldnt be talking about them as the same thing if they weren't "the guitar interlude in an electronic album", but i dunno about "night and day," or that it's piercing (??). there's still similarities out of it being Karl, and it is a bit confusing to _loathe_ one and love the other.



I find Ess Gee uncynical and very pretty but a bit saccharine too. it's mood isn't exactly ambiguous and I wonder if it's here largely because the tone is impeccable. blueski is just more mysterious and evocative, like knowing a photo you found was meaningful to whoever took it but not knowing why.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

I don't think you did, purlieu, and I apologise if my reply was too harsh.
I still don't buy the premise that Ess Gee and Blueski should be comparable or that they 'serve the same role' on the respective albums. But if you think so, cool
Imo, you might as well compare Ballet Lane and Blueski. At least Ballet Lane is more sophisitcated, as in 'complex', it's short and the penultimate track as well. Yes, there are some drums / beats, but the guitar is there, too. :D
Oh, well ... :p

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

Well yeah of course there are similarities. Both have a composed-with-care style about them. But the notes/chords of Ess Gee pierce me and I personally feel its a downer of a track. It does work better before Mo Move on the demo album, but I still skip it every single time it comes on. If I wasn't such a purist, I'd just remove it from the album and save myself the time; its in my bottom 3 UW tracks for sure. (Boy, Boy, Boy is in there as well as Shudder.)

Blueski however, has a gentle rolling feel to it. It has an interesting using of guitar and repetition. And tonally, its pleasing. I feel this way about Santiago Cuatro as well if we're comparing like tracks.

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

dubno - 8/9 = 89% (M.E. - Lyrics feel far too 90s)
stiti - 7/8 = 88% (Can't stand Rowla, I'd swap it for Cherry Pie)
bfish - 9/11 = 82% (I'm being harsh to Winjer and Bruce Lee, kinda sorta like em)
100do - 8/10 = 80% (Ess Gee is meh, Dinosaur is just farting about with a vocoder, and we already have Moaner)
obwib - 7/11 = 64% (ring road, to heal, glam bucket, cuddle bunny)
brkng - 8/9 = 89% (Scribble)
barbr - 6/7 = 86% (Motorhome)

Apparently I like Barking best. But if you'd have asked me to pick one without science I'd have picked 100 Days Off (I'm listening to the Ansum edit right now). I think as an album it has the best flow from track to track, beginning, middle and end, making it feel more like a complete work. Oblivion is a good example of the opposite of that, feels like a bunch of random stuff thrown together and I'd probably like some of the individual tracks better if they didn't contrast so much with the ones around them.

edit: I redid my maths and had a rounding error, dubno and Barking are tied. I feel better about that

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

:eek:

Re: Determine Your Favorite Underworld Album - With SCIENCE!
 

I actually love this about M.E., haha.