Michael B's formative dance album poll

Leftfield since the wrong Underworld posted for me :(

I heard Second Toughest first

I love the idea for this poll and might post my own version.

Even though I can't say, hand on heart, that Ima is superior to In Sides, I'm still going to give it my vote, because it deserves at least one. The guy went into a disastrous artistic decline directly afterwards, but Ima - specifically, in its two-CD edition - is a really lovely piece of work. It bubbles over with ideas and technical know-how, but it's also richly musical, which I like and which is not a given in this genre.

Only three of these I bought the week they came out: Prodigy, Goldie, Chems

could happily vote Sabres tho

Yeah, I don't have much nice to say about most BT, but Ima is the one case where he nailed it. I almost want to vote for it here but for the basically insurmountable Underworld/Chems/Goldie trifecta.

Dammit I forgot Daft Punk "Homework"

goldie 2cd > sabres > goldie 1cd

rest of this i never really need to hear again, love leftism and the chems but the singles turn out to be a lot better than the albums (same was true of the follow ups too)

allow prodigy but nowhere near as good as sabres or timeless

Xpost TLG, I had it on cassette! The cassette is going for 68 euros on Discogs!

https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/1024102466

I recognize some songs from these artists but I haven’t heard a single album on this list

Voting Polygon Window because I have “if it really is me” on a mix cd a friend burned for me and I like that one a lot.

never heard all of the MBM, One Dove or Polygon Window ones

"Quoth" is the jam on that Polygon Window lp

"If it really is me" is great too. Satie with a sequencer loveliness

Been revisiting Ima recently and going to throw it the vote, photo finish with Second Toughest. Divinity still does something to me, full on rushes at the climax

Surprised by the love for BT here. I thought he'd been largely forgotten about.

I don’t know Quoth but I promise I’ll listen to that one. I had completely forgot about its existence.

the first one of these that i have every album !
making this a very difficult choice.
bugger it, has to be : one dove.

I love that BT album too. Bought it when it came out

I never had a copy but my mates were often playing it

mark e: I actually like that One Dove album a lot more now than I did then. I didnt know what to make of it at the time. I was expecting a lot of tunes like "breakdown".

I like how you all are pretending that In Sides isn’t one of the greatest albums ever recorded

I also like a lot of the other albums on this list but come on

I saw them on that tour but its still not as great at the 2nd album

I dont think any album here is as staggering as Timeless imho

99% is a perfect album. There isn't a weak moment on it. I don't listen to it often, but when I do; I always set aside time and listen in its entirety. It's definitely one of the most important albums to me. So, as much as I love Second Toughest, it had to be that one.

mark e: I actually like that One Dove album a lot more now than I did then.

This is OTM. Often I find myself thinking why didn't more bands sound like this.

I still think Leftism is one of the greatest albums of the 90s. Saw them twice touring that album and its the 2 best gigs I've ever been to.

Never seen them. I saw Underworld at Creamfields in '97 alright.

I saw Underworld 4 times in the 90s. 1995 T In The Park was the 1st. early on 1996 the 2nd, before nuxx hit big but trainspotting was already out

"second toughest" is great but frankly i've been starting with "juanita / kiteless / to dream of love" and then turning it off after "banstyle / sappy's curry", aside from those, "rez" and "born slippy" i've never felt much gravitational pull from this electronica band i highly respect

Pearl's Girl!

T In The Park 95 they played the og (newly released) Born Slippy.

not the nuxx version

Just listening to the og version, sounds like a completely different track

It is. Nuxx was a remix on the b side.

yeah i meant the nuxx version plus forgot to mention that i've been turning it off after "sappy's curry" since 97

this double pack (not really a double pack) sits in my "big beat" crate and imo shits on "leftism" from miles above

https://www.discogs.com/release/121888-Leftfield-Afro-Left

https://www.discogs.com/release/53505-Leftfield-Release-The-Pressure

I did vote for Second Toughest

I saw a bit of Goldie live at t in the park 96.

I've never heard One Dove, need to get on that.

Not sure I've heard the whole album either

second toughest for me, i think the whole thing is great but i do like the idea of let's say a bumper sticker or shirt that reads, "turning it off after sappys curry since '97"

Love most of these. Only one I've not heard is Ima.

Shocked to see people thinking Infants goes awry at Confusion the Waitress

(imo it doesn't go awry anywhere but)

Anyway DYOH has to be my vote, with Experience an extremely close second, followed by (in this rough order) Infants, Screamadelica, In Sides, Haunted Dancehall, 99%, Morning Dove White, Leftism, Timeless and Surfing on Sine Waves.

xp hard agree

Second Toughest never hit the highs or consistency of dubnobass but it seems to be almost everyones entrance point. (I've yet to meet anybody who was a genuine fan of Underworld mark 1)

“Underneath the Radar” is a killer

It was a big hit in Australia too.

They toured with Eurythmics in the late 80s I think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ7pcq-qwLA

Underneath The Radar is a great track but the two Mk 1 albums are very much not up to that standard.

The Prodigy - Experience was completely over the top
and kind of trashy but was also utterly fantastic

I still prefer Jilted

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I'm not even going to predict who will win this so I can't be wrong this time.

(but I expect Underworld to win)

DJP otm

I got 9 of them. Voted Orbital.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Dan won