[leutin]

No scores from me and this is just quick comments from repeatedly listening to the MySpace tracks while I wait for the deluxe version to arrive. I think I'll be really happy when it lands in my hands

Bird 1 - Feels like driving through a dark tunnel from the uncertainty of Underworld's Underneath The Radar era to a more assured but menacing Underworld Dubnobass era. I hear subtle Skyscraper type drum fills from the 909 and there's a musical darkness I like. That's surely a Rick vocal sample I hear too at 1.40

ALAF - A matured version of the track we've heard evolve over the years. I wish for things like the gnarly bass from an earlier version and I don't like the vocoder & guitar breakdown but I understand this is a summer anthem and as an uplifting track it works.

Scribble - I love a bit of D&B so for me it's good to hear the lads tackle this and come out with something credible. Small Conker and A Twix and You Do Scribble was always a live highlight for me so I'm biased on all fronts with this track.

Hamburg Hotel - For me this has vibe remienscent of Little Speaker. I love that deep synth sound that kicks in at around the 3min mark.

Grace - Tightly compressed synths and bandpass filters that allow each layer to breathe in time with Karl's vocals and fluid guitar.

Between Stars - My current favourite track and one that could have continued for at least another 2 mins. It builds perfectly and that arpeggio section and sound just slays me every time it kicks in - dirty and beautiful and divine. Karl's lyrics resonate here with lines like "when the head's too far out of whack, step back, step back" and "you and me cling to the outside of the earth under a full moon"

Diamond Jigsaw - I have a feeling the Underworld version of this on the second CD will be the version that people will gravitate to more than this version.

Moon In Water - This may grow but the original version had an air and grace that this doesn't have for me at the moment. I really miss the beautiful and dreamy repeating line "And this is the time when you realise" that I remember so vividly from the webcast version.

Louisiana - I didn't want to like this and normally those drums would have made me reach for the 'off' switch. Also, that vocal effect used on a slow and musically minimal track would have had the same effect. But for some reason this track transcends all those fears and I don't know why.

Maybe it's because the balance between vocal effect and emotion is sublimely attuned? Maybe it's because I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of the piano? I honestly don't know why I love this track so much...but I do.

Thank you Rick, Karl, Darren and team Underworld. The fact that we've been able to hear many of these tracks from work-in-progress to their present previewed incarnations means a lot.