Ranking of uw albums
 

I know we've done this many times before but now that we've had Barking for a while, how would you rank the studio albums?

Here is mine:

1. STITI (by far the best album)
2. AHDO
3. Dubno
4. Barking
5. BF
6. OWB

I find it difficult to rank any album last but I just find I listen to OWB the least. Also I would rank 1 or 2 songs from BF in the top 5 uw songs but as an album I just don't listen to it.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

A couple years back, we had a thread like this and I tried to be semi-statisticval by ranking each song on a 1-10 scale and then tallying for the albums. I was surprised to find that STITI was mathematically highest...it's a great album, but not one that i necessarily listen to the most.

AS always with music, so much is tied to our memories and emotions. Each of the Underworld albums (at least mkII and on) has such strong ties to places, people, times of my life, that my listening enjoyment is tied to alll these intangible things. That said, i still get a kick out of making new memories with UW as the soundtrack and hearing new/overlooked sounds therein.

If i were to rank them (studio LPS only) today, it's be:

Beaucoup Fish
Dubno
STITI
Barking
AHDO
OWB

That's likely to change later on!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

AS always with music, so much is tied to our memories and emotions. Each of the Underworld albums (at least mkII and on) has such strong ties to places, people, times of my life, that my listening enjoyment is tied to alll these intangible things. That said, i still get a kick out of making new memories with UW as the soundtrack and hearing new/overlooked sounds therein.



Yes that's so true.....

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Ok I'm gonna give this a go... if only because I am unable to sleep and I turned on the computer to distract myself for a little bit... and a chance to emphasise the huge gap in quality between Barking and the rest..

STITI
OWB
BF
Dubno
AHDO





(I cant emphasise this gap enough)






Barking




That actually made me feel a whole lot better... I'd be hard pressed to find an occasion when I have felt the desire to hear Barking again... it's sad.. but when I do listen to it I admit that it is nice and all... makes you feel good, its very easy on the ears and cuddly and all that... but Underworld had never been like that, its an easy option really... that album was about money and prolonging a career.. hopefully it will pay their way through a couple more decent albums in the future.. back to more challenging listening.

I wonder if we should reopen the book on Barking and see if people have changed their minds about it? I know I have... i dont hate it as much!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. dubnobasswithmyheadman
2. beaucoup fish
3. second toughest in the infants
4. barking
5. a hundred days off
6. obilivion with bells

i haven't heard 'change the weather' or 'underneath the radar' in a long time— is this just mk2?

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. dubno
1. stiti
1. beaucoup fish
2. ahdo
3. owb
97. underneath the radar
98. change the weather
99. barking

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

ok, let's get real technical here:

1. dubnobass
2. second toughest
3. barking
4. doot-doot
5. get us out of here
6. beacoup fish
7. oblivion with bells
8. a hundred days off
9. underneath the radar
10. change the weather

maybe I'm a nut but those two freur albums are great. mk1 stuff not as good as anything since but i am SURE that UTR is better than CTW

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. STITI
2. AHDO
3. DUBNO
4. BF
5. OWB
98. Barking
99. All remixes made by other artists than underworld

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

This is going to be difficult but I guess it's going to be based on memory and play count, so here goes:
BF - the album whose release got me into u/w, plus Jumbo has to be my all time fave.
STITI - when I bought it, my mum was seriously ill in hospital (she recovered) and hearing Pearl's Girl for the first time was a huge emotional release!
AHDO - equal 2nd with STITI - released in the autumn and it has an autumnal feel about it - dark, downbeat tracks, with Mo Move and Lutein another 2 of my absolute favs. ("he smoked his smokey lungs")
Barking - perhaps the most instantly accessable cd, almost pop.
OWB - disappointing in the sense that they had abandoned their long, linear style. Faxed Invitation is fabulous but way too short - however, that's Rick and Karl's perogative - you can't expect them to produce tracks like Thing in a Book forever.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

jeez! why all the hate for barking? "grace" has got to be one of the best tracks they've ever done!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

BF
STITI
Dubno
Ahdo
OWB
Barking

Feel a bit bad putting Barking last but for me Barking sounds too much like a remix album, doesn't have that magic of an album you can get lost in but have to agree that most of the tracks on the album are amazing like Grace, Bird 1, Between Stars, ALAF.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Same here, though I'd switch Beaucoup Fish and Dubno and I don't know if I'd rank Barking quite that low. It wasn't a bad album, it just could've been way better if they hadn't gotten other artists to redo the songs.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
2a. Beaucoup Fish
2b. Second Toughest in the Infants
3. Oblivion With Bells
4. A Hundred Days Off / Ansum
5. Barking
98. Underneath the Radar
99. Change the Weather

River Run EPs would be number 3 or 4 if they were counted as full lengths, and Barking definitely would be a lot higher if their other prior work wasn't so epic and amazing. ;)

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Yes I was just thinking mk2 but coincidentally, I was just listening to Fever from Change the Weather - awesome track!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I find Barking HUGELY challenging ;)

(Actually, I don't even see it as an UW album; just a bunch of ropey remixes)

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. dubno
2. barking
3. STITI
4. B Fish
5. AHDO
6. OWB

SERIOUSLY - Brkng is no.2 in my list...

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. second toughest in the infants
1.1 second toughest in the infants (2cd, japanese re-release)
2. dubnobasswithmyheadman
2.1 dubnobasswithmyheadman (2cd, japanese re-release)
3. beaucoup fish
3.1 dubnobasswithmyheadman (prototype)
4. a hundred days off
4.1 a hundred days off (promo)
5. oblivion with bells
6. barking
6.1 barking (alternative versions)

i'll leave off 'everything, everything' (would be 4.5 though).
the 'riverun EP's' would be tied for 3rd probably..


later
-1

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1- dubno
2- second toughest
3- barking
4- oblivion
5- ahdo
6- bf

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. Dubno
2. Barking
3. OWB
4. STITI
5. BF
6. AHDO

For me, I listen to the top 3 fairly regularly, 4 & 5 occasionally & AHDO hardly ever

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

1. Beaucoup Fish
2. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
3. Second Toughest...
4. Barking
5. A Hundred Days Off
6. Oblivion With Bells

Though I'd rank Everything, Everything above all of them.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

this says everything about -1 that you need to know :)

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I dont think we can count live albums. Besides, after Live Here Now there are so many. I think another thread for best live album would be appropriate. and that would include EE and BB. The rest are actual concerts.

For the albums people may want to count RRx3 but thats 90mins of music and really 3 EPs (do they count individually? possibly). Freur and mk1 stuff doesnt count either, neither do the pre-release versions of dubno or ahdo (unless you prefer those versions and state so) and you shouldnt count them twice. One version of each (I prefer Japanese Dubno btw - 12min version of Why Why Why is epic).

my $0.02.

oh, and Raj? you should know better. There are two Japanese re-issues of STITI :)

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Amen to that!!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

+1. Except I'd switch first first and second first.

Uss wantses a poll! (Even though it's not that time of year. Please, BSS?)

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I knew there had to be someone who REALLY likes Brkng.....for me I think I would have loved this album about 10 years ago when I was really looking for more uw pumping tracks.....when AHDO came out I was a bit dissapointed but how much it has grown on me (now at #2)!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I'll start off by saying that Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest in the Infants are in my top 3 for favorite albums of all genres. I love both albums. Dubnobass is tied in first place with another album for me, with STITI just slightly behind both.

My ranking:

1. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
2. Second Toughest in the Infants
3. Beaucoup Fish
4. Oblivion With Bells
5. A Hundred Days Off
6. Barking

That is my ranking of their studio albums only. Here is a ranking including more major releases:

1. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
2. Second Toughest in the Infants
3. Beaucoup Fish/I'm a Big Sister... (Tied)
4. Pearl's Girl EP
5. Everything Everything
6. Oblivion With Bells
7. Dark and Long EP
8. A Hundred Days Off
9. Barking
10. Pizza for Eggs and Lovely Broken Thing (Tied)

I edited things a bit. I have a tie at the number three spot. I'm a Big Sister is brilliant, but I love Beaucoup Fish, too. That list is fluid. Some days I could like an EP or album more than one I ranked above it. However, Dubnobass and STITI are my absolute favs.

For all those I listed, if I don't love it, I at least like it. Pearl's Girl just barely edges out EE, and that is because Oich Oich and Deep Arch are so great. Really, it is hard to rank this stuff, because at times, some things can be higher, my ranking order can change sometimes.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Imma just go with albums and the amount of songs I'd listen to repeatedly.

Oblivion With Bells
Second Toughest in the Infants
Dubnobasswithmyheadman
A Hundred Days Off
Beaucoup Fish
Barking

Though...I love them all. OwB holds a special place in my heart for helping me through pneumonia and my first hospital stay ever. Not to mention "Best Mamgu Ever" is the best song ever.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

If you count the Pearl's Girl EP then surely you have to count Dark & Long as well? It has their only two songs to ever break the 20-minute mark!

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

10. Pizza for Eggs and Lovely Broken Thing (Tied)



Wow Pizza for Eggs last??!!:confused::confused::confused:

That was the best river run. Pizza for eggs has an amazing feel to it especially the first 2 'tracks'........ah well everyone's different

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Holy crap, when I wrote that, I forgot about Dark and Long...:eek: I will edit that post.

Don't get me wrong, I like Pizza for eggs (and LBT). The first two tracks are great, too. Food A Ready I have in some of my favorite UW playlists. It is one of my favorite songs from them, in the last ten years and the history of their career. Back in the Fears is great. I love back in the fears. I have a long version of that song, too. Over 8 minutes. And Play Pig is good. The material in between I don't like as much, though. That darker segment I dig, but the segment with the piano I think goes on longer than it should. Good opening and ending. What makes me rank it low is that the stuff in between; I don't care for it much.

Really, it is hard to accurately rate things, but I suppose LBT and PFE would be last for me. I suppose the only major releases from them that I'm not too into is their rock albums. I like some songs on those albums and they are not bad, but it seems I segregate electronic genre UW from everything Rick and Karl did before. Some may disagree with that take on things, but that is just how things developed for me.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

hhhmmm - this is actually quite hard, b/c it's all really up to my mood
plus, there's factors like ->
I REALLY like STITI (and I'd probably go the most 'crazy' hearing those songs live, as opposed to other tracks) buutttttttt..... I find that album annoyingly quiet, plus well - the live version of almost every track on that album sounds umpteen times better than the studio album. But - those live versions wouldn't exist if it wasn't for their studio counterparts... so hmmm...


1) Beaucoup Fish
2) Dubnobasswithmyheadman (Japanese re-release) just so you get that bonus track... and if I'm not mistaken, it's a bit louder than the original pressing
3) STITI
4) Pearls Girl EP (the 60 minute US one)
5) A Hundred Days Off
6) RiverRun EP's (I'm counting the three as one "thing" as it seemed to be one 'whole project')
7) Barking (I'm counting the bonus disc as a part of the whole package)
8) Oblivion with Bells
9) Dark & Long EP (the one with Mos 'Ospitable)
10) Dark & Long EP (the one with Thing in a Book)
11) Born Slippy EP


if we count live albums... then "Everything Everything" would definitely be last on my list, and the x3cd Tokyo one would probably be either just before or just after STITI

what's funny is that a couple of years ago - I would've put AHDO last, but it actually has aged well... while OWB has kind of lost its appeal, I just find that I prefer pretty much ANY live show from that tour over the album. "Glam Bucket" is a great song and all - but it sounds lifeless compared to how it is live, when you can actually hear Karl's guitar

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I disagree, i think it is AHDO that has lost it's appeal. It sounds tired and dated compared to other albums. Even the more "upbeat" tracks like DA3D sound flat and uninspiring.

For me, OWB has been a slow grower - each time I hear new stuff and it sounds MORE INTERESTING. The songs have aged well, and (with the exception of Holding The Moth) they don't sound like they were made in the late 90s.

I agree with this, there is nothing on OWB that transforms well into a live song. 10 mins of Crocodile live is just about the dullest thing i've ever heard. Yeah it has a beat and some singing, but its so depressingly sloooooooow for a live audience.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

well - I was actually saying that "Glam Bucket" did transform well into a live song...

hmmm - come to think of it - I haven't listened to OWB in a while, maybe I should put it on my iPod (once I get my external hd back) ...

(edit)
Although - I agree with you about "Crocodile" ... when it was extended super long, or when there would be an 'improv' going into to (slowing the beat down from the previous track)... it did seem a bit dull. However I think there were a few times here and there when it really worked...

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Lol, i should really read things properly. :p

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

what's funny is that a couple of years ago - I would've put AHDO last, but it actually has aged well... while OWB has kind of lost its appeal, I just find that I prefer pretty much ANY live show from that tour over the album. "Glam Bucket" is a great song and all - but it sounds lifeless compared to how it is live, when you can actually hear Karl's guitar[/QUOTE]


Yeah I think I've mentioned this too....I would have put AHDO last when it first came out but no other album has grown on me more....

And I just never got into OWB....to me the whole album is a little lifeless except for Beautiful Burnout

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

Funny thing, AHDO was an album that disappointed me at first, and then years later, it really grew on me. Interesting.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I listen to ADHO quite a bit these days (specifically the alternate version that's been floating around.)

Consequently, I can't listen to Crocodile anymore. I don't know why, but its an instant-skip for me when it comes on now - live or otherwise.

Re: Ranking of uw albums
 

I edited my list a bit and wrote in this text: