Quote:
Originally Posted by khouri
These reissues and the reactions to them have raised an interesting question. Is what listeners like about Underworld the same as what Underworld likes about Underworld?
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Well, this is always the question with any band and their fans.
With me, I discovered Underworld in late 1994 and quickly became obsessed with the specific pallet of sounds and moods that was
Dubnobass. The aesthetics & sensibilities of that album created this self-contained, cohesive, and immersive world that one could enter into and get lost in. It was uniquely Underworld's space.
Second Toughest very much existed in that space as well, and at that point, me and the band were seemingly still on the same page. But by the time we get to
Beaucoup Fish, they've already started to expand the notion of what Underworld is a bit, partly by bringing in a host of guest remixers for the singles (to varying degrees of success) and partly as a response to how their live shows were evolving. And maybe the success of Born Slippy.Nuxx pushed them off into a different direction as well. Whatever the reason, I felt like there was a subtle dumbing-down of the brand, a move towards a sensibility that I didn't relate to as much. I still loved that album but it was the first sign that the honeymoon was coming to an end.
I've still followed everything they've done since, and have enjoyed a lot of it, but I've never really quite connected with them as I did with the first two albums. If I had jumped on board with Underworld circa
Hundred Days Off, then that would be my ground zero and I would forever compare everything to that. I think a band's need to evolve and challenge themselves is always going to be at odds with the consumer's need to (re)connect to that moment in which they first established their conception of the band. It's just an occupational hazard I guess.
Having said that, I don't think its unreasonable for fans to prefer original UW content over the remixes done by other producers, or for fans to expect a certain level of meticulousness and quality from a box set they're expected to pay quite a bit of money for. I don't think these complaints are motivated purely by taste or nostalgia.