Customer Reviews

Change the Weather

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Man, this album has some bad reviews.

Ok, this album would have been much more highly acclaimed if it had come out in 1983, instead of 1989, but i still really like it. This album IS 80'S SYNTH POP! It is not the same techno stuff that Underworld released in the 1990's. These guys have been around for a long time. Back in 1984 (or maybe 83) they Karl Hyde and Rick Smith were in a band called Freur. They made cheesy 80's music. Maybe you might remember a song called "Doot Doot". That's them! Or "Hey Ho Away We Go" or "Devil in Darkness". This 80's music continues with Underworld's first 2 albums, Underneath the Radar and Change the Weather.

This album is good though. I like it better than Underneath the Radar (which often gets much better reviews), and would highly recommend it to anyone that's a fan of 80's pop music.

I know it seems like a good idea to buy this album because it's a rare, early Underworld, right??? Believe me, it's not a very good idea. This isn't techno, it's weird, silly, laughable synth pop directly from the closing credits of a back to the future movie. Believe me, i love Underworld, but this is not Underworld, at least not the Underworld that anyone likes. Karl Hyde dubbed the first version of Underworld "Mach One". Believe me, theres a reason that they weren't popular..

If you love that unique techno sound that Underworld is known for, be forwarned- THIS ALBUM DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY OF IT! I'd only recommend this album to those who are really into 80's synth pop, and even then, not so much. This album was produced before Darren Emerson was added to the group. I even read in a magazine article that Darren hasn't even listen to any songs in their entirety because he thought it was so lame.

In one word. . . . . Crap.

Like other reviewers already have said, it is not Underworld as we all like and know it.
Collectors item . .? I do NOT think so.

Bought this when it came out based on liking Underneath the Radar quite a bit. I thought it was pretty good and some of the songs really grew on me, but overall, not as good as Underneath the Radar. Two songs that I still enjoy from time to time are Fever and Sole Survivor. One review called it a combination of the Cure and Depeche mode. That's a pretty good description in my opinion. A little bit of the darkness of the Cure mixed with the atmospherics of Depeche Mode. If you like 80's music, this is a pretty good album. If not, well then you probably won't like it.

Its really hard to review this album, since if any person aquired it recently, im positive to think that its because its an Underwolrd Fan that want to "have them all" or just for the curiosity to know the evolution of the Underwolrd sound. Well in both cases its amazing the different that it can sound comparing to ANY album after this, its like differnts bands.

Lets check just the music and you found an rather good 80's pop album, with many synth sounds that may difference the sound from other bands. Still for 89 was even kind of old regarding what already was in the market at the time. Its a good mix of pop, syth sounds and guitars without abusing them. Depeche Mode influence can be found in some of the songs, as 808 and Primal Scream in others (Even Toto, check Mr. Universe song for the reference).

Now for an Underwolrd fan...you may want to try it before buying it, because its REALLY different from Dubnobasswithmyheadman that its following this album and everything after that, well they even are reconogized with as "Underworld MK1" in this period (Change the weather and Underneath the radar)

I first ran into this album back in 1989 after hearing "Change the Weather" on the radio. I was being a lovesick geek at the time and the comical absudity of this track seemed to mirror my circumstanses, so in other words I "connected" with the song. At this time I was mostly into the alternative rock (back when the word did mean something) along with some Goth and Industrial stuff.
A few years later I moved to Seattle and rock was struggling amidst the post grunge hangover and I began to get my first exposure to the whole DJ thing. I started to become interested in electronic dance music when "Dubnonobasswitmyheadman" came along and rocked my world. It never occured to me that this was the same group that did "Change the Weather" until I read an interveiw the Underworld after "Second Toughest of the Infants" was released. Karl Hyde and Rick Smith commented that the music from their 80s incarnation was mostly guided by the record companies with the aim beimg commercial. Disgruntled, Underworld broke up and the members went on to other things. Later,Karl Hyde and Rick Smith regrouped and along with DJ Darren Emerson began to create music on their own terms.
Personally, Underworld 2.0 had a tremendous affect on me, to the point of me getting a pair of decks and becoming a dj in my late 30s. I am also beggining to produce and to this day, Underworlds music contiues to be a source of inspiration.
Recently I found "Change the Weather" and gave it a fresh listen. It was better than I had remembered it. It starts off in that cheesy Top Gun electro-power-pop trip in which the 80s were synominous. But soon it transends all that and especially in later half of the track when they really turn it on. The repetitive groove with shifting variations prefigures Underworld 2.0 and I think this track is begging for a remix.
Like other luminaries in the Electronic Dance Music (I dont use "electronica" because it sounds to much like an MTV buzzword. Also refering to all EDM as Techno is like refering to ice cream as rocky road. Techno is just a flavor like Drum and Bass, House, Trance, Breaks and many other genres and sub genres) Underorld had a foundation in live music as does Fatboy Slim and others, showing how small the gap truly is between digital music and music played by bands. I hear a lot of crap from the "If I can't air guitar to it, it aint music" dorks out there who think the tools determine the authenticity of music more than the heart behind it.

Whoah, this is HORRIBLE, sounds like some odd cross between The Cure and Depeche Mode...I gotta say that if this was the first bit of music I'd ever heard from Underworld I would have NEVER liked them. Get Dubnobasswithmyheadman....trust me, this IS NOT what they sound like!

I bought this CD based on the first few reviews here on Amazon. The CD is a selection of horrible 80s music. I've never even let the songs play all the way through because they are so BAD. Think I paid something like $10 for it here on Amazon and now can't get rid of it for more than $3.25. Now that's a bad investment. Save your money unless you want to buy it from me dirt cheap.

I purchased this CD believing I was going to hear something akin to Underworld. Suprise! It's not even close. I'm a huge fan of Underworld, but this CD is a musical diasppointment.