OWB Reviews
 

Links to reviews go here.

http://www.avclub.com/content/music/underworld

Another C+. That's still above average!


Line: over/under 6.5 on Pitchfork
I bet under.

I haven't even heard the album yet.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

i bet exactly.
so far matt's right.
not one review hasnt been utter nonsense, positive or otherwise.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

Pitchfork review is up:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...ion-with-bells

Re: OWB Reviews
 

drowned in sound

http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/11153

some comments are better than review.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

http://www.metacritic.com/music/arti...s?q=underworld

The Metacritic site has links to a number, including a couple 8s from NME and Billboard (which most non-die-hards will likely peruse)... FYI.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

i'm kind of surprised at how well done the pitchfork review is, from the perspective of someone who's disappointed by it anyway. at least gave them their due instead of blogishly declaring it old and lazy.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

I've a couple of links to reviews of OwB on my blog.
I'd say overall they are possitive but the reviewers would like more uptempo tracks.
Sofar I've seen 2 really negative reviews.
On a scale of 1 to 10 it gets a 7.5 in total I would say.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

Pleased to see Pitchfork plug Dirtyradio in that review too. :)

Re: OWB Reviews
 

when you read some reviews, its so unbelievable that they are still quite "nostalgic" about born slippy.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

I don't think it's unbelievable because, let's face it, most reviewers have probably only reviewed UW albums since BS Nuxx became such a phenomenon, and, unless they really are fans, have probably only listened to each release once. They need to have some kind of yardstick by which to measure, and Nuxx seems to be it, in those circumstances.

For a lot of people Nuxx is the only thing they know from Underworld, which is a real shame because, imo, it is far from their best piece ever and while it was something of a zeitgeist, things have moved on a great deal in music since.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

yeah, its a stomper and cheesy song for me.. uncut magazine is also saying that "they come perilously close to turning into faithless", "hyde sounds like missing link between jg ballard and mike skinner", "finely polished album but low on guts, grit or urgency".

its not a surprise for a magazine who obsessed with bob dylan. :-) (well, i've always been a neil young fan)

only thing i agree that i read nearly all books by ballard and yeah, rick sometimes reminds me a lot of ballard texts.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

OWB under a glass slide at AngryApe:

http://angryape.com/reviews/2007/10/...ion-with-bells

I agree with what was said about DiS - the comments seem more interesting than the review.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?...0:j9fwxzwhld6e

allmusic.com review.

http://musicmp3.ru/review_underworld...ith-bells.html

musicmp3.ru review.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

Is it just me or has no one else noticed that this is Underworld's 9th studio album, not their 5th or 7th?
1. Freur
2. Get Us Out Of Here!
3. Underneath The Radar
4. Change The Weather
5. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
6. Second Toughest In The Infants
7. Beaucoup Fish
8. A Hundred Days Off
9. Oblivion With Bells

Re: OWB Reviews
 

but 1 + 2 were not released under the Underworld name.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

it all depends on where you start counting. Personally I'd rather not count Underworld Mk1 and Freur in the same list as UW Mk2 and 3

Re: OWB Reviews
 

same
totally different stuff.
plus, it's useless on a critical standpoint
everything reset with mk2

Re: OWB Reviews
 

Underworld as we know them starts with mk2, the Steppin Razor/Lemon Interrupt/Dubno period, 1992-93. But from the sounds of the unreleased demos from ~1990 as well as the "freur" track "Alabaster White Thing", Rick and Karl were moving toward more electronic/less synth-funk territories prior to Emerson (but let's not get into the did Daz make UW/UW make Daz arguments again!).

I think we might have to make UW mkiV, since mk3 (AHDO, RiverRun) is presumably just Rick and Karl, but with the soundtracks, live shows and OWB, Darren Price has apparently played some part in programming. He's not just part of "Underworld Live"...he's helping shape the songs in the studio.

Alternatively, though the sonic experiements of RiverRun and OWB are definitely the new direction of UW, i feel that unlike previous records (especially AHDO), OWB is the most self-referential. The call-backs to their more rock-oriented past and the epic feel of Dubno/STITI have been noted. So maybe we are in UW mk1b?
:rolleyes: :p

Re: OWB Reviews
 

i think, considering how the directional changes have been more drastic between beaucoup fish and dubno, yet it still stayed mk2, and the fact that darren priced helped but still isnt part of them officially, we should maybe hold off on that.
if we start making markers for them based on sound we could make an argument to split any album, and that's just silly.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

also don't forget that 'Mother Earth' was played live by mk1.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

I just found that Pitchfork review yesterday (See? 6.0), and I wasn't really surprised by anything they said. It seemed like a typical critic's or reviewer's opinion of it, especially the background part. Not saying I was expecting anything, but it just seemed like a very predictable mediocre review.

Essentially, all of these reviews go like this:

"Remember the 90's and electronica? Born Slippy was the tits! Underworld is good. The new album is kinda good, but not as good as Born Slippy. C+."

Re: OWB Reviews
 

The Pitchfork review of the King of Snake single was pretty high.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

I was just speaking about Underworld reviews in general lately, not specifically Pitchfork.

But if you do want to read some terrible reviews, certainly look at the early Pitchfork reviews from the 90's, for any band. Some of them really are just hipsters spouting off irrelevant bullshit so they can sound cool. That's where their repuation started. But they've changed a lot since then.

Re: OWB Reviews
 

http://www.intro.de/pvg/platte/154/905

Every month intro puts 12 album 'on trial'.
Then some people rate those albums.
And from the 12 albums OWB came out on position 11.

My favourite quote:
"Can I rate it under zero? I just don’t find the music appealing at all."

My observation is that many people dislike (ambient) electronic music and not Underworld specifically.
Sometimes it's frustrating that I don't know anyone who at least likes Underworld a bit.