Possible Riverrun Boxset?

[aphasein]

Hello there!

Sorry for such a massive post. Long-time member - mainly just been dropping by here to keep up on news, but felt compelled to ask:

What do we all think about the possibility of a Riverrun boxset (or making some noise in hopes of furthering the idea for one)?

...

With Drift being the focus now, it feels like the potential remaining album sets wouldn't be released for several years until things settle down again, if at all. They seem to have found their groove together and are in purely forward-looking/creating mode.

It will be the 20th anniversary for Everything, Everything in 2020 (which definitely deserves its own thread), and as much as I had hoped for a multi-disc set for it and for AHDO (especially with the rumored 4-hour archive of ambient material to pull from), I don't think that will happen with the constant focus on new Drift tracks.

(And to be clear, I'm definitely more excited and appreciative of getting so much surprising new music, rather than mainly remasters of stuff we already have, but...)

...

Riverrun is the main item missing from their catalog, though. We have all the albums, and the first three boxsets made available a large majority of the non-album tracks. World of Underworld has resurfaced a lot of the classic remixes done for others along with odd gems, but I have not seen Riverrun tracks around.

With the 4-disc boxset format, it seems like a great opportunity to finally get those songs remastered in high quality and released in a worthwhile format (and also easily available for streaming services). There's a lot to talk about for that busy time period and the Book of Jams to pull from as well.

We know there were more tracks and a rumored fourth release that was considered. Seeing how they are willing to add unreleased tracks onto the Drift EPs for their boxset discs, it seems like adding the extra tracks onto the three Riverrun EPs would be a good alternative, along with a fourth disc of all the remixes.

...

Riverrun is an obvious parallel and first iteration of Drift, and it's some of their most diverse and interesting tracks. Now seems like a great time with all the Drift momentum to shine a light on them as well. Thoughts?

[iamneorev]

I've been dying for and asking for a Riverrun Series reissue for a while now. Even commented it and messaging UW about it on their social media.

I also really do wish we got an Everything Everything Everything reissue. Yes, 3x Everythings. The original live album/DVD was an highly edited mix of multiple shows together. Be cool to have each individual show used and possibly an updated video quality release on Blu-ray. But mostly, I'd love some full, uncut, live recordings from this period.

I wish some of these unreleased bits and recordings they been putting up on crappy Soundcloud and Mixcloud were available for download in higher quality. I'd easily pay for them.

[purlieu]

I'll be sad if we don't get AHDO and OWB boxes in the long run like they promised. I'd love a Riverrun box too, although I doubt we'll get one. Maybe it'll be part of the OWB box (they have said in the past that OWB was part of the Riverrun experiment). CD1: remastered album. CD2: LovelyBrokenThing / Pizza for Eggs. CD3: I'm a Big Sister, Misterons Mix. CD4: Outtakes and remixes.

[aphasein]

Originally Posted by purlieu

I'll be sad if we don't get AHDO and OWB boxes in the long run like they promised. I'd love a Riverrun box too, although I doubt we'll get one. Maybe it'll be part of the OWB box (they have said in the past that OWB was part of the Riverrun experiment). CD1: remastered album. CD2: LovelyBrokenThing / Pizza for Eggs. CD3: I'm a Big Sister, Misterons Mix. CD4: Outtakes and remixes.

You're right - that's probably a lot more realistic as part of OWB (and actually how I had originally thought that boxset would probably go for it). Just seemed like the BF boxset barely made it out and momentum was lost for any more with Drift taking over.

I had not heard that AHDO and OWB were actually promised by them anywhere, just anticipated by us. Barking doesn't really need one given the boxset already released for it and don't see it happening (though there are still tracks and versions from that time period we would definitely like).

Also didn't know they had mentioned OWB as part of the Riverrun experiment - it felt that way at the time as part of the build up all together, but interesting that they have said that. Here's hoping they all continue before too long...

[aphasein]

Originally Posted by iamneorev

I've been dying for and asking for a Riverrun Series reissue for a while now. Even commented it and messaging UW about it on their social media.

I also really do wish we got an Everything Everything Everything reissue. Yes, 3x Everythings. The original live album/DVD was an highly edited mix of multiple shows together. Be cool to have each individual show used and possibly an updated video quality release on Blu-ray. But mostly, I'd love some full, uncut, live recordings from this period.

I wish some of these unreleased bits and recordings they been putting up on crappy Soundcloud and Mixcloud were available for download in higher quality. I'd easily pay for them.

Definitely - I'm with you on all of this! Seems a shame if they miss the 20th anniversary for EE without putting out an expanded version. I know we'd all love quality versions of the web site tracks from it as well.

Thanks for making some noise about Riverrun, glad I'm not the only one.

[purlieu]

Originally Posted by aphasein

I had not heard that AHDO and OWB were actually promised by them anywhere

Also didn't know they had mentioned OWB as part of the Riverrun experiment

No interviews to hand, although I imagine someone here could probably provide more details. Certainly the full catalogue was said to be on the re-release cards originally.

[TheBang]

Originally Posted by purlieu

No interviews to hand, although I imagine someone here could probably provide more details. Certainly the full catalogue was said to be on the re-release cards originally.

Don't have time to look it all up at the moment, but yes, these are both correct. At the time OwB came out, there were interviews where they said they considered it to be part of the RiverRun Project.

And when Dubno box was released, there was a statement that they intended to reissue the whole catalog, though there were no details to indicate whether they considered EE and RRP to be part of that effort. Presumably Barking probably wouldn't happen since it already has a box set.

[khouri]

RRP, OWB, Breaking & Entering, Sunshine, the Lemonworld tracks, probably other stuff I’m forgetting...in my memory this was all one very long, sustained period of creativity from UW. It’s by far the material I listen to most even today. I would love to see some kind of formal presentation of this material.

What would make a AHDO reissue really worth it for me would be to offer an almost entirely different version of the album using the earlier, more leisurely and expansive versions of the songs that we ended up hearing on broadcasts or in concert. It’s something of a transition album in its present form, and when I listen to it now I feel like I’m hearing UW trying to shape these esoteric, ambient and organic sounds into something resembling their earlier albums. I’d love to hear something less restrained.

[purlieu]

Mm, I was really disappointed with AHDO at the time (although it's grown on me massively since then), but 2005-2008 was maybe the period I was most excited about being an Underworld fan. It's probably their least appreciated era, certainly on a broader level, so it'd be great to have it re-evaluated and shown for what an amazing batch of material it all was.

[lemonjelly]

only going from memory, but seem to recall interviews stated the re-issue process was focussed on the studio albums, therefore we're unlikely to see everything or RRP part of this.

Seem to recall someone posting screenshots of social media posts from people working on the AHDO deluxe edition?