The Official OWB Thread

[irons]

I might also have avoided downloading because the RIAA keeps a really close watch on students at my university (Boston U.) Not to mention I'd feel guilty for letting some unbeliever download 5% of the album from me if I used a torrent or similar.

I think a lot of members here (those who downloaded) would argue that it's still the way it's meant to be, even obtained illegally and in no physical form. I can no longer claim to be able to tell the difference between CD-quality and 192kbps MP3 (I've probably damaged my ears from other, less artful, electronic music!), so that's not quite it, either. I guess I'm just a person who likes to see physical evidence of the album; however, Underworld really opened my eyes to digital distribution; after I purchased the Riverrun series and read their thinking behind that medium, I appreciated the goal a lot more. Plus, the extra million photographs that came with it gave me a really nice feeling. Perhaps I just want to see the cover art in my own hands, in glorious 300+ dpi!

Speaking of which, are there any extra things to know about the gatefold release? The artwork shown on UWLive is stunning. While I make it a point to save money and refrain from buying more copies of an album that I need (and, let's face it, CD format is far more convenient), I would get the vinyl for those eerie images alone.

What excites me most about OWB is that reviewers here have a hard time agreeing on the best and worst tracks of the album. My taste in Underworld often goes against their "best-seller" material; Nuxx, Pearl's Girl, and most other big tracks grew stale soon after I heard them--possibly thanks to the 1992-2002 compilation--but I absolutely love the ignored songs; I hardly hear anyone mention dubnobasswithmyheadman's "Tongue," for example, which really hits a certain spot for me. In an album without Mega-Hits, I am likely to find a whole bunch of songs that I will love for a long time.

P.S.--To those who downloaded the leaked copy, is the watermark a sonic, audible one? If so, did you notice it? And did it affect the listening experience? I wondered about this when the leak was first announced here.