Barking: The Alternate Versions (Disc 2)

[khouri]

The demo version of Diamond Jigsaw on the Barking bonus disc is, as Karl said, NOTHING like Underworld. No synths, just guitar, rock drum sounds and Karl's singing. It's a fun, upbeat little ditty but definitely not Underworld.

I like PVD's remix a lot but I'm afraid the awesome synthpop version from the Las Vegas show will remain the best version of this divisive Underworld track.

Similarly, the version of "Moon in Water" that we first heard during a radio broadcast was incalculably better than the version found on the bonus disc, and arguably better than High Contrast's version.

The same can be said for the early versions of Always Loved a Film.

I think Rick should accept that he can nail a track sooner than he thinks! Diamond Jigsaw, ALAF, Moon in Water, You Do Scribble....

[Sappys Curry]

Originally Posted by khouri

I like PVD's remix a lot but I'm afraid the awesome synthpop version from the Las Vegas show will remain the best version of this divisive Underworld track.

Seems to be the case for 2008 live Strumpet, too. Bird 1 is good, a stand out track on Barking, but those darn synth plops have me liking the live version of Strumpet a bit more.

[potatobroth]

Electraglide wrote:
better, better, better, gets much better...

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

Just picked it up. I guess I can't say it's really something I'm going to listen to much. I'm not sure what they were going for (or if they even put too much thought into it). I was really hoping that we'd get the same tracks we've heard live or during the Lemonworld broadcasts but cleaned up...it looks like most of these are new takes (to us) but not as good as the stuff I was hoping for. Track by track:
1. Strumpet Groove: Not as good as the live Strumpet we've heard, sounds just like an unfinished take
2. ALAF: Not as good as the live ALAF we've heard from the same show (one of the Brixton discs), where are the vocals?
3: YDS: Cool, but again where are the vocals? I have been waiting 5 years for a studio version of this but the vocals were, to me, what truly put this song above and beyond.
4. Hamburg Hotel Essex: Interesting, but like the album version kind of unfinished
5. Grace: Good, but I preferred the disc 1 version, didn't sound at all like the "Telematic Peal" that we got in the broadcast before.
6. Between Stars: Decent demo version of the album track (which I loved). Not much to say here.
7. Diamond Jigsaw: On one hand, I think it's great how much this sounds like an early (mk1-era!) demo track, still a great song, and it is charming. On the other hand, I really was hoping for something with the synths that we heard live, that was my favorite part of the song, so this is a real disappointment.
8. Moon in Water: Loved the broadcast version we had, this is kind of the same but with harder beats, but the computer vocal (which I really liked) doesn't appear until the very end...wish we could get a high quality recording of the broadcast
9. Louisiana: Basically just the first two minutes of the disc 1 version, not much to say.
　
I don't think it's an "insult to the fans" or anything, but I did find it kind of curious. It's cool to have another version of all these tracks (so for most of them, I have at least 3 now) but these are generally the mixes that I won't listen to much. The earlier demos we heard are better, even if they are in 96kbps or on a bootleg, and unlike most of you guys, I think the actual Barking album was great. I just wonder if they really cared too much about the quality of disc 2. Just saying, if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have gone for the box set just for the second disc (the package as a whole is still amazing).