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Originally Posted by Sean
He seems to be offering nothing more than his personal opinions and taste in music as some sort of proof of Underworld's success or lack thereof. Commercial success is, of course, easy to track, but his analysis of individual songs and albums seems to be a purely subjective attempt at outlining their artistic success as well. ...
It's just one reviewer's opinion, and it doesn't figure one iota into how I feel about Underworld and the music they make. As long as they keep making more, I'm happy.  |
You said it, sir!
I re-read this article and it's telling that the phrase "sounds like" and "seems to" are used a lot. Purely opinion, as most criticism is, although he probably has listened to more tracks from the LPs than most reviewers do.
"With the benefit of a whole lot of hindsight"...sure! I don't agree with his reassessment of Dubno as "accidental" or STITI as boring or thin on ideas. Maybe a decade or more on, they don't have the freshness of sound, but i think each LP and Beacoup Fish included, generated considerable excitement upon release. This reassessment is akin to saying Sgt Pepper or The Wall could've been better or had too many unfinished ideas. Whatever! But at least he has at least a better than average understanding of the band's history and electronic music in general as a dj or producer.
Good discussion generator nonetheless. But like Sean said above, it doesn't bother me what he thinks or anyone else about the band. At least the reviewer tries (maybe unsuccessfully) to support his case. The sales as indicator of relevance is a dirty trick, especiaqlly for the U.S., since electronic doesn't sell well here in general (except maybe Moby or Fatboy) and in all cases less than in the late 90's electronica craze.
i actually
prefer UW to be more underground and niche than the dance juggernaut they were poised to become in the mid 90's. If the people buying and listening are liking what they hear, the band is doing something right. When folks on the dirty forums are unsatisfied, then perhaps the gears need oiled. That's clearly not the case.