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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have recording, July 10, 2000
Quite simply, this is one of the all-time best "electronica" albums out there - bar none. An essential recording in the genre. It's all here, from stomping 4/4 dance-floor tracks (e.g. Cowgirl) to trippy, spaced-out ambient stuff (e.g. Tongue, Mother Earth).Some people may find some of the songs a little too long, or too repetitive (most of the songs are at least 7-8 minutes long, and most have trancey, repetitive beats), but if you like trance, the repetition aspect will be nothing new. Cowgirl is one of my favorite "techno" songs ever, and probably the only song that has inspired me to play air keyboards. If this song doesn't get your ass off the couch, then nothing will. Dark & Long is just that, dark, trancey, and a good, insistent groove. Skyscraper is a little harder, with a more driving beat. Surfboy and Spoonman both pick up as they go, and Spoonman especially evolves into a good, beat-driven track, which sounds much "dancier" when played at loud volume. With a lot of bands, I skip over the slower stuff, but with Underworld, their slow songs are always imaginative and compelling. Great songs to put on an ambient mix tape and chill out by. Always interesting and innovative, Underworld rarely disappoints, and this is where it all started (we'll forget the Undeneath the Radar era; Underworld has achieved a stunning transformation from 80's pop weenies to electronica stalwarts with alt-cred, a transformation unlike anything except for Ministry). A must. P.S. - if you get a chance to see them live, run, don't walk. I saw them last year when they opened for the Chemical Brothers, and by most accounts (certainly mine and my freinds'), they just blew the Chemicals off the stage.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quite good., November 9, 2002
I'm not an electronica fan by any means, but this is an album whose appeal extends far beyond its genre. Let's start with the fact that it isn't all techno, exactly, at least not in the sense most people think of when they hear "techno." The guitar in "River of Bass" can't be described as anything other than "blues," and there are quite a few rock elements in use here. But the album shines even when there are none. Underworld have learned well the arts of the perfect sample in just the right spot, of the stirring wisp of synthesizer echoing from far away and ending suddenly, of the building polyrhythms, and of the brilliant keyboard hook. Their biggest achievement, however, is the addition of songwriting to all of this - songwriting, of course, being something that most electronica (and much of rock) sorely lacks. Sure, there are a few lines which deserve to go into the thesaurus under "cringe-worthy," but for every "will you be my big plaything? my ninja power, my number cruncher" there is, fortunately, an "I get my kicks on channel six" or an "I need the comfort of a stranger.""Dark & Long" is the perfect start. It's ominous, atmospheric, and amazingly evocative. The hooks are numerous, and the way the song builds up tension with relatively low volume, just with the odd ringing clatter of the percussion in tandem with the lower, slower strings in the background, is stunning. Even the fadeout at the end adds to it. "MMM Skyscraper I Love You" works in a similar way, but adds some utterly insane imagery. Hyde's voice sounds appropriately removed from the world, and the skittish drums and jazz-on-crack synths call forth all the images in the lyrics. And then, when the song explodes into a complete frenzied mess of sight and sound, it suddenly fades out and is replaced by something much more reflective and melancholy. No album, however, is perfect, and "Surfboy," the next "song," is a headfirst descent into mediocrity. Basically, it's an intolerably long drum solo with a couple of idiotic effects here and there, and practically no lyrics. The next song after that, "Spoonman," is marginally better, but not by much (who's responsible for that asinine "world" bit, anyway?); I suppose it might be danceable, but there's so little variety that it's just boring - and it just drones _on_ and _on_ and _on_. After it ends (not a second too soon), "Tongue" inspires a sigh of relief, for it brings us back into "very good" territory. Unlike the previous four songs, it relies completely on guitars. Like "Dark & Long," it's beautifully evocative. Of what? Of desolate evenings, of dusk, of small rooms...well, consider the song title and let your imagination run wild. It's the shortest song on the album, I think, but it's one of the best. But even so, it doesn't prepare one for what comes next. "Dirty Epic" is, without a doubt, pure brilliance. It starts with an odd synth line that's at once gently inviting and unreachably distant. A steady driving beat is added, and over this Karl Hyde sings the best words he ever wrote, with a world-weary melancholy in his voice, occasionally flaring up with frustrated headsick anger then settling down again into resignation. By the end, with its layers of desperate guitar lines and moaning synths, and with Hyde's agitated calls for help that is nowhere to be found in his isolated neon-lit cities, the song builds up an incredible tension which it never resolves - it goes right into the blistering "Cowgirl," the album's one full-on take-no-prisoners anthem, complete with shredded vocoded vocals and abrasive solos. (Again, the title reveals the subject quite pointedly; the only way to alleviate craving for a drug is to take more of it, after all.) Then comes a respite, the gorgeously subdued "River of Bass," with its simple and unobtrusive words and its bluesy guitar. The last song, "M.E. (Mother Earth)," is pretty good but is a bit out of place. Though it has the sound of an album-ender to it, methinks the album would have been better if it ended with "River of Bass" (and if it didn't have "Surfboy" and "Spoonman," while I'm at it). That aside, it is a good song, and provides the necessary time for one to recover from the various emotions and images that one was battered with throughout this album - an album that, though flawed, is nonetheless highly recommended.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The holy writ of dance pop, September 12, 1999
It wasn't just that Dubnobasswithmyheadman reintroduced vocals, lyrics, and rock guitar back into the vocabulary of techno. Other collectives like Prodigy and Moby were doing the same thing around that time. But, what makes Dubnobasswithmyheadman such a landmark and why Underworld is arguably (think Orbital) the most relevant dance act today, was that on this record, Underworld defined the pop song for the rave generation.
This new music wasn't reconstructed rock or updated synth pop. These were compositions that replaced the dynamics of rock with that of the dance floor, riffs for groove and rhythm. The stream-of-conscious lyrics and simple, but elastic melodies captured the experience of emotions associated with not only the club/rave, but urban life. And most importantly, the songs, even up to 15 minutes, remained songs.
Dubnobasswithmyheadman, like Underworld's future releases, apply a minimalistic, deceptively simple approach to dance. They rarely clutter songs with samples or intricate rhythms. Rather, each element of the song is dynamic, somewhat improvisitory like jam-rock, and reveals itself as the composition flows.
Frankly, Dubnobasswithmyheadman has its flaws, particularly in the first half being a bit too long. After all, its the first record of its type, so they were still understanding how to compose techno this way. Neverthless, Dubnobasswithmyheadman is exceptional dance. "Mmmm Skyscraper" beautifully evokes the feeling of freedom in the big city. "Cowgirl" is a slamming 4/4 classic. Finally, there has never been a better pop song about the "darker side" of the rave experience than "Dirty Epic." Throughout the record, you'll think deeply cerebral thoughts, subtle, unsure emotions, and expand your conception about what techno can do. It is that good.
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