The Super Survivor: Dirty Epic vs. Juanita : Kiteless : To Dream Of Love

[bavarianbeer]

"Dirty Epic" should be the big winner, I think. "Juanita" has a great opening, but it's not the same; it just doesn't have the same emotional content, for me. That early period, from 1992 to 1994, is really special in Underworld's career, I think. Not that I don't like some of the later stuff too, but early on, they had a totally unique style, which was both danceable, and emotional, and reliant on good songwriting, and yet wasn't really directed specifically at the dancefloor or at rock audiences or at any of the ten million subcultures of electronica. The songs didn't just have great hooks and rhythms, there was also real development in the song and a dramatic build-up. The lyrics weren't just random fragments or observations, they had some coherent themes with a lot of striking, brilliant imagery. "Dirty Epic" is like that, the build-up of the percussion and guitar and keyboards is just terrific, and the vocal performance is so moving and vulnerable. "Juanita" is, I think, the last gasp of that early style; the first section sounds like a natural progression of what they were doing before, but the second section just meanders for a long time. It has grown on me, of course, but "Dirty Epic" is still my all-time favourite.