Underworld - Classic or Dud?

I recommmend _dubnobass..._ because that's the best Underworld album and it's a genuinely good album. _Second Toughest..._ isn't nearly as strong and hearing "Push Upstairs" and "Jumbo" put me off of getting _Beaucoup Fish_, which I'll admit might have been a mistake because "King Of Snake" and "Cups" both rank up there among the best songs they've ever done. (But is it another case where the single is stormin' and the album is limpid? I don't know.)

But "Beaucoup Fish" is worth getting. Both "Push Upstairs" improve the more familiar you are with them - both seem insanely repetitive to begin with, but I found both grew on me enormously once I went walking around the city with them on my headphones. Plus, you're missing out on "Cups" (deep house par excellence), "Bruce Lee" (hip hop meets Detroit techno), "Kittens" (a storming epic), "Something Like A Mama" (jungle-inflected track like "Pearl's Girl" with its tongue in its cheek) and of course "King Of Snake". It's a strong album.

Admittedly, I am biased (met them live several times) and I am more of an ambient/idm fan (ala FSOL & AFX) & some trance (Juno Reactor), and have been for over a decade, so there's your caveat and explanation of my fangirl-ishness.

I could listen to that all day. Or at least for about 4 minutes, when I'd get really irritated and want to bust up something. Still.

For the most part I find Underworld a bit boring but I still have their CDs because I like some of the songs. They're really not a classic or a dud, to be honest. They're more an existance.

Strange - that's what initially attracted me to Underworld; and was the first step I took towards electronic/dance music - I hadn't heard any interesting throwaway cutup soundbytes-strung-together fractured- narrative stuff before, and the music seemed to be the perfect accompaniment to this - I couldn't imagine Karl Hyde-isms succeeding over a guitar backdrop etc. And as someone a very long way away indeed from Underworld's BritCity; it seemed oh so very exotic&mysterious&sexy. Inauthenticity of musical tourism, and all that guff; but Underworld were something I could be palpably excited by; and a doorway to a whole new world of music, apologies for RAGING CLICHES.

And I love Karl Hyde's lyrics.

i like all of their albums but [i]dubnobass..[/i] is defintely my favourite. i love the fact that the albums contain pure dance floor killers next to more downtempo tracks like [i]dirty epic[/i] and [i] m.e[/i]

they are also jaw-droppingly fantastic live - i've seen them seven times - and they were really the pioneers of taking dance music into the live arena and in so doing paved the way for bands like [b] orbital, chemical brothers[/b] and [/b]the prodigy[/b] to follow in their footsteps.

there's plenty of their live gigs available on audiogalaxy including the superb european club gig. fans should also check out [url] http://www.underworldlive.com[/url] which is an official site where you can download soundboard recordings of some of their gigs as well as some recent studio stuff such as the blue mountain sessions.

Those two tracks are great. I think I need to live with them a little more before they really sink in, but so far they're much better than, say, the ambient tracks on the "Pearl's Girl" single. (None of them can touch "Tongue", though.)

now, on to my ancedote, which is about how the promo vinyl we got for 'King of Snake' was a 12" and os I put it on at 33 and it was SUPER FUNKY like WOW until Karl's vox came in and it sounded like he was a dying robot from planet Opium. So I put it on 45 and it turned into house music, which while quite good was not nearly as enjoyable as the 33 version.

echo...

I also went to one of the concerts (Broadcast on Radio 1!!!!!) at around the time of "Dubnobass...", (The same night as they found the body of Kurt Cobain!!!!) and it was grebt/GRATE/etc!!!!! Unlike the recent "live" album, it was one big long DJ mix style jam, mixing in various bits of their songs. The track on the live album which mixes "Cowgirl" and "Rez" is nearest equivalent- imagine a whole concert like that with most of the tracks from "Dubnobass..." and an early version "Born Slippy"!!!! (I've actually got a tape of it somewhere, taped of the radio...)

Anyways, Underworld is still classic because did I mention that "Tin There" is basically my favorite techno barnburner ever?

The kickass house/blues romp "Big Mouth" (with some guy named Philadelphia Slim whom I've never heard of on harmonica!!) is another awesome underrated early Underworld song. Underworld kicks ass.

(I'm sorry I won't pimp out that article ever again, this is the millionth time, prob haven't written anything decent for free since, it was 18 months ago)

Which is where I remind myself how lucky I am to walk three blocks to a subway, go two stops, then walk two more blocks! Hope the trip goes smooth for ya.

The original King Of Snake (Straight (Mate) Mix) is still best served at 33 RPM. Funky as shit

i had a ticket to the original show and then i failed to manage getting a new one : /

there was a fair amount of material in the set i didn’t recognize. gonna say that and potentially embarrass myself before i check set list fm

Saw them in Brooklyn tonight, religious experience is right! I was up front and everyone couldn't have been nicer and the visceral impact couldn't have been better.

was looking back at the setlist totally certain they played something between "gene pool" and "techno shinkansen"... oh yeah, it was an utterly fucking massive version of "confusion the waitress," holy shit, lost my mind

Jealous

is there an opening act? do they typically start close to the official time? and how long is the show?

i've got a major sciatica flare up, so everything has to be planed around pain management right now. i was planning on travelling to the seattle gig from vancouver, but i don't know if i'll be able to handle it. it'd be pretty devastating to miss them, they don't seem to tour much this side of the atlantic other than festival appearances, and i've never seen them live. i still remember buying second toughest when it came out..

When I saw them last year there was no support but there was two sets with a short interval. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/underworld/2024/the-piece-hall-halifax-england-6bab9e2a.html

still buzzing from last night. there was a really special vibe to it since most people had never seen them or hadn't in a long long time. and the setlist was absolutely insane, almost like they were apologizing for not coming around in so long. as someone who fell in love with them via the Everything, Everything live CD as a teenager (over two decades ago! ye gods!!) its always been my dream to actually experience it - they have literally always been the #1 act I wanted to see live - and it was all that and more. they really brought it. some cool surprises in there too for longtime fans - a few classic tracks got overhauled and there were some bits I don't remember from any of the boots I've heard. (speaking of...does anyone know what the track was after "Border Country"??)

they came on at 8 PM sharp, played until a little after 9, came back at 9:30, and ended at 11. hope you can find a way to make it work!

According to setlist.fm it’s’ ‘Arpeggio12’. No, me neither.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/underworld/2025/radius-chicago-il-1b5af920.html

they don't seem to tour much this side of the atlantic other than festival appearances

Tuesday will be their first Seattle show in 26 years (and three weeks), and 8-9 plus 9:30-11 are the official stage times. Doors at 7, no other opener.

Sounds line up need to travel to ever see them rather than wait 20 years for an 80-something Smith and Hyde to come near Baltimore/ Washington

“Sounds like I need to travel…”

I mean it was the best show I've ever seen, maybe unfair to say since this is my favorite band and I have so many memories associated with basically everything they played but it was really special

thank you for the info everybody - gonna take enough painkillers and go, it was already a bucket list thing for me but reading comments here it sounds they are really at the top of their game.

Tuesday will be their first Seattle show in 26 years (and three weeks)

what a great year to see them. and the track list - Cherry Pie live! and a cover of Risingson:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/underworld/1999/showbox-comedy-and-supper-club-seattle-wa-13d1e50d.html

the chicago show was great! I was in town for a few days staying at my friend's place and if we hadn't had some coordination issues I would have tried to meet up, but at least I got to say hi to frogbs outside the venue

the venue did a weird thing where they changed it to "doors 7pm/show 7pm" but I think it was to get everyone in at once and make it clear there wasn't an opener. despite some uncertainty, I ended up driving there and got a free street parking spot one block from the venue

hah, I made it a point to say hi as soon as I recognized you, I kinda figured once we were inside I wasn't gonna see you

sorry if I freaked out your buddy, in my defense I didn't know which one was you :)

hope you can make it relatively pain free scanner, this is one of those experiences I wouldn't trade for anything. I feel weird gushing about them to the extent I have but I feel like a solid 85% of the crowd felt the same way. I know very few people who know anything about Underworld outside of Born Slippy, so it was surreal to be surrounded by people who knew all the lyrics to "Confusion the Waitress"

one funny thing I noticed is some of the reworkings made it unclear where the drop was gonna be, you kept seeing people jump up or pound their fist into the air and then go "oh wait, that's not it". I probably did it myself about a dozen times.

it's all good

they definitely had a lot of moments where the music would drop out and then kick back in even harder. between the more pounding material and the strobing lights they really hit peak maximalism a few times

ya the thing I realized is no matter how many live recordings you've heard nothing can replicate actually being there. my friend described it as a 3 hour out-of-body experience. granted he was on shrooms. but I get it. several times the cold bottle of water in my back pocket and the realization that I could drink out of it brought me back to earth

pinged yr ilxmail scanner

guy chatting to a girl ten feet in front of me “You saw them in ’96? in Melbourne?? Dude, siiiicckk!”

😎

<Reaches forward, taps guy on shoulder: 'actually, I think you'll find it was 1997'.>

oh my god

what a show

gotta say I've loved seeing the reaction come in after I've seen it myself, like nah it's not just you it really was that great

it was really everything i could've asked for. i'm still floating a week later

right, I mean don't get me wrong I really love the sets they do that are full of new tracks and unreleased stuff and improv but if you're only gonna get one chance to actually see them this is pretty much exactly the set you want. I didn't know they actually did "Dirty Epic" live!!

ivy float to Portland and dance again tonight

PUSHSTEP

Going tonight in PDX!

Brooklyn Mirage's new opening date is May 15. British electronic musicians Underworld will, supposedly, headline. fingers crossed

― adam, Friday, May 9, 2025 12:09 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh no i thought this was in September for some reason
bummed that i missed it :(

oh my god

what a show

I didn't know they actually did "Dirty Epic" live!!

realizing this sweet Sydney Opera House little documentary/live set hadn't been shared here (May 2024 show)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfhKHcej-7U

Two Months Off
Dirty Epic
Pearls Girl
Dark Train
NUXX

oh the things we say in our callow youths. so confident to make statements about the world, so foolish in the light of further growth and broader personal experiences

Sic, you couldn't be more right. I never thought I'd enjoy going to something like this tour but it was astounding. Life is better with an open mind and an open heart.

I meant that Portland last night was even better :)

Cowgirl with the kick drum instead of the hi hat was so fuckin sick

god I hope they release a recording of this. Everything Everything part 2. triple vinyl set. name your price dudes

there was a giant camera behind and mic at the mixing desk in Seattle, so combined with the unchanging setlist, I suspect this tour is being recorded to potentially be an EE pt2

yeah i don't think they've ever done the exact same set this much before

are they wearing the same clothes? 🧐

very similar on my two nights, yep — I was watching for it

sic - sorry we didn't get to connect! (did you get my reply? i never used ilx mail before :/)

so glad i went, thank you all for the encouragement. i expected that hearing the tracks i know by heart live will hit differently, but.. like, you can't really understand what a juggernaut Kittens is until you hear it bouncing off the walls (but also that breakdown in the middle is so radiant, it's like that moment you realize the painkillers kicked in and you're just swimming in that feeling for a moment).

not sure if the amount of smoke was planned, there were many times where you couldn't even see the stage, but that worked surprisingly well, and the wording in their email about changing the NY venue makes me think it _is_ intentional: "Any space is a rave when we’re together in the smoke and the lights." it felt very much like a rave. especially that new version of Pearl's Girl, my god!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JedE9ppG-TA

and yeah, to hear so many classic tracks live was such a special treat. transition from Confusion the Waitress to Low Burn was amazing (Low Burn is really up there with the classics, isn't it). i was hoping they would perform Moaner - i thought it would work especially well live, and sure, it did, but that just feels like a totally inadequate way to describe it, the best i can do is - this is what Willem Dafoe character in The Lighthouse must've felt when standing in front of the lantern!

I’m assuming the setup was the same, but was Karl mostly behind Rick for the first half, and in the front of the stage/above in the second in the other shows? I was there for Chicago

yeah it’s very much them playing as an opener for the first set, then beginning round 2 with lights and smiles and talking to the audience and dancing at the front, as if the headline act has arrived

Karl did dance back against the screen in silhouette mode in the first set sometimes, but was always behind Rick longitudinally

I tried to get a photo of a moment early in the show last night where he draped his left arm over Rick’s right shoulder, and Rick reached across and held his hand, letting the weight of his own left arm hang, while playing a one-handed part 🥹

I had that thought too, first set more focused on deep cuts and fan favorites, second set was stadium vibes with nonstop crowd pleasers. felt like there was an extra element to the lightshow too

i underestimated the amount of energy karl would generate on stage. the man is 68 years old ffs!

his birthday was actually on may 10th and rick's is in 3 days

there were lots of new lights in the second set — especially ones aimed at the audience and handheld spots following Karl in the pit, plus an expansion of tones like the gold that washes everything in Jumbo

they kicked in extra subs in Seattle too, starting from Denver Luna iirc, but I think not in Portland

yeah it’s very much them playing as an opener for the first set, then beginning round 2 with lights and smiles and talking to the audience and dancing at the front, as if the headline act has arrived

That's awesome.