Customer Reviews

Oblivion With Bells

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Now don't get me wrong. I love this band. In fact I flew to New York a few weeks ago see them live as they only played a few dates in the US. I spent hundreds on airfare and hotels and such to finally see one of their legendary live sets. They were my second to last "holy grail" of bands that I need to see live. Now I only need to see Kraftwerk in concert and I'll be happy.

And they did not disappoint at all. It was awesome. They played nearly all the songs I wanted to hear. I was able to get this album a bit early because I pre-ordered it from a link they showed on screen after the show. And I got a cool T-Shirt to boot. Needless to say, I am a fan and I was super super excited to get this one.

But Oblivion With Bells is a departure for Underworld. It is "slooww" to say the least. I actually fast forwarded through tracks, which I would have never guessed me ever doing. Virtually nothing happens on tracks 8,9, and 10. Seriously, nothing. Thankfully a "token" beat comes in for the last track. I have since gone back and listened a couple more times since. And it has grown on me. But there are few beats to be heard on this record.

This is the album I would have expected Smith and Hyde to make after Darren Emerson departed. But with A Hundred days Off they kept the energy going from Beaucoup Fish and Second Toughest. It still had some fast, mean tracks like Dinosaur Adventure 3D.

But Oblivion is slowed down. Way down. Don't be fooled by Crocodiles. It is the non representative single. And it flows right into Beautiful Burnout nicely. But the beats and hooks are quite minimal. Almost like loops for Hyde to speak over. Nothing terribly innovative really.

Oblivion has nice sounds, great production and the expected stream of conscious Karl Hyde lyrics. In fact his lyrics are brought to the forefront like never before. Very much the focus of the songs this time around. And you can make them all out this time around.

But there are no break beat-ish tracks like Pearls Girl or Something Like A Mama on this. No ten minute build up tracks like Born Slippy/NUXX or Cups. Certainly no Cowgirl on this one. But hey, that's cool. Some of those tracks are over a decade old. Cowgirl is nearly 15 years old now (wow). We can't expect the same thing over and over from these guys. But just so you know, think Push Downstairs, not Push Upstairs for this record.

If you kept up with the River Run series, this has more in common with the third release.....slow building, even a bit dull but still Underworld.

Pick it up because you love Underworld. But expect something different.

After reading the first four reviews for this album, I decided that I wanted to hear the album for myself before making the purchase. Underworld's MySpace page gives you the opportunity to hear the complete tracks. My take, as a happy owner of seven commercial CDs that the lads have put out, is that I want to continue to experience their growth. I'll start with four stars. But who knows, through repeated listenings I may even decide that Oblivion... is my new five star favorite. Yes, it's ambient and experimental; and yes, you can tell it's Underworld. Sometimes, going along for a ride to a new destination yields knowledge for those open enough to make the trip without prior judgments.
I just bought the album. Wouldn't an artist that cranked out the same 'ol stuff, year after year, be stuck in a rut anyway? The nature of the universe is change, and I'm looking forward to regularly listening to how Underworld evolves.

As most reviewers seem to agree, this is not something one might expect from Underworld; Darren's absence can definitely be felt. However, like SOME reviewers have allowed, I listened multiple times and it grew on me; I can honestly say I'm proud to chalk this one up as a fine release. Yes, the familiar Underworld energy may be all but missing; you won't find your "Pearls Girl" breakout here, but it doesn't translate as laziness or forced ideas; rather it comes across as a departure into more relaxed, soulful territory. Think of this album as the ringing in your ears after an amazing explosion, the echo of the thunder following a blinding bolt of lightning or the grey snow after nuclear fallout, the requiem for Darren Emerson. There's a ton to be appreciated here and I'm a lot happier to see the new Underworld duo trying new things rather than simply trying to repeat past successes with only two-thirds the ingredients; they seem to recognize that they're not the same anymore, so why should their music be the same? I think Underworld fans would have been more disappointed to have gotten this album and found tried ideas mimicked and mocked by the lack of the Emerson influence or an aging group clinging desperately to a failing career by essentially aping itself. Take this for what it is; leave it in perspective as the latest installment in a vast, amazing career of a group that has given its fans so much, and I honestly think you'll come to enjoy it and appreciate it for it's own merits. Personal highlights: "Beautiful Burnout" and "Glam Bucket." Enjoy.

I have been a tremendous fan of Underworld since the Cowgirl/Dark Train EP hit shelves all the way back in 1992 or so. To compare this new output with Dubnobass or Second Toughest is simply not fair. When has a band put together a string of 2 successive albums like that? Beaucoup Fish was a strong record, and to me, 100 Days Off was simply good, far from great.

This new record is a retreat from the pounding club beats, and why not? These 2 guys are pushing 50 and scoring movie soundtracks now. Whom is left to please? I would imagine the average age of some club kid is too young to even know Underworld and their greatness. There is no reason to appeal to kids 30+ years their junior.

The waves of synths on this record is simply incredible. Think a long and protracted session of Cups and you have this record. The usual stream of nonsense from Karl is present, accept this time you can hear it. This is a marked improvement from 100 Days and, to a longtime fan like myself, a graceful way to age for this pair.

I have to admit right off that Beaucoup Fish is my favorite UW album. I also have to admit to being quite disappointed in 100 Days off when it came out. Now, some years later, I have found 100 days to be much better than initial expected, and having listened even more to the earlier catalog and getting into it more than BC Fish, I suddenly "GOT IT". The dance tracks of BC Fish were an aberration, and were quite different to the norm.

That said, I think that this new album is really quite good. Crocodile and Beautiful Burnout are a wonderful epic pairing to start the album that harkens back to Juanita/Kitelss of Second Toughest. To Heal is lovely, even if it sounds like it was lifted from the intro to Where The Streets Have No Name. Ring Road is a triumphant stomper (to stomp to, not dance). Glam Bucket is some of the best ambient music they've put on an album in some time. And Best Mamgu Ever is a nice way to wrap up the album.

While this album doesn't have over the top dance tracks like BC Fish, if you really look back to UW's albums, you'll find that this album fits right in with the others in its minimalistic ambience. Coupled with the RiverRun project, they've been putting out some great stuff of late.

Like others have said this album does remind one of Dubnobasswithmyheadman. But its a great reminder and takes the sound of that album and modernizes it. At 1st listen I immediately fell in love and it only gets better from there. There is a lot of electronic music out there and not all of it is good. This latest offering from Underworld shows us that they are still the masters of the art.

There's a misconception going around, in the critics' reviews of Oblivion With Bells, that Karl Hyde's lyrics have always been "nonsensical," "stream-of-consciousness," "freestyle slam poetry" and so forth. Let's set the record straight on that. If you go back to Underworld's first album in 1993, you'll find that Hyde's writing used to be full of descriptive and foreboding imagery. Nearly every song had sensual, suggestive lyrics, like the opening couplet "thunder thunder lightning ahead / kiss you kiss you dark and long." After that album, Hyde did take a turn for the nonsensical, but he could still occasionally come up with a vivid image, like "cats are gathering outside your window / homeless strays, bootleg babies / call to you lying among the mosquitoes / that summer's fever's coming" on the second album, or "Tina lives in Berlin / her voice so seldom on my machine / I feel the noise when I'm on the market" on the third.

Let's also note that the problem isn't that Underworld make too few "bangers" and too many "chill-out tracks," or the other way around -- the problem is that it's now possible to even classify their music in this manner. Again, this was not always the case. Nearly everything they recorded between 1992 and 1994 defies categorization. If you can find it, listen to "Jam Scraper," a rare reworking of their early single "MMM Skyscraper I Love You." It begins with slow, echoing guitars and gentle keyboard textures, then builds up to a terrific acid breakdown, which then gradually recedes into a calm ending. But it wasn't just that one track -- everything they made at that time had some kind of huge crescendo or unexpected shift. Even later on, it happened sometimes. "Banstyle / Sappys Curry" on their second album changes midway into an affecting, moody section built on a Spanish guitar, the most atypical musical work in all of techno. Electronic music still, to this day, hasn't fully absorbed Underworld's early work, perhaps because a lot of it is scattered around as B-sides and rarities (e.g. "Dirty Guitar," "Minneapolis," "Jam Scraper," "Why Why Why?").

But now? Yeah, now Hyde's lyrics really are nonsensical. Typical lines from this album: "Faxed invitation to oblivion with bells / Technicolour delights, someone pushing" and "bouncing, bouncing, is it playtown? / roll the ball, the blue slush cup." There's no central mood or theme. When this happened on previous albums, Hyde's vocals were distorted or hushed in the mix so that the meaningless words were unintelligible and the focus was only on his tone. But here, his voice is front and centre, and he doesn't have a tone, he just flatly recites these lines. Even in the songs where there might be some noteworthy music, like the clanging rhythm in "Ring Road," Hyde hogs the spotlight and yammers away about whatever.

Musically, the album tries to recall the melancholy of Underworld's early work. There are no major-key "bangers" like "Two Months Off" or "King of Snake." But the greater introspection comes filtered through the exact same style as 2002's A Hundred Days Off -- a few up-tempo tracks like "Mo Move" and "Luetin" with a few ambient instrumentals interspersed throughout. "Crocodile" starts with a fanfare heavily reminiscent of "Rowla" from 1996, but then it basically reuses the same up-tempo percussion-keyboard rhythm section used in "Mo Move."

Track for track, Oblivion With Bells is better than A Hundred Days Off, in that it doesn't have anything as inane as "Twist" or "Little Speaker." In particular, the instrumentals "To Heal" and "Glam Bucket" are very pretty. But there's not much motion on the album -- the songs are clearly separated into "ambient" and "dance" templates, and each song strictly follows its template. There isn't a single crescendo to be found. Furthermore, there are no surprises. "Dark And Long" wasn't just carried by its production and main rhythm, it also had a lot of sudden, brilliant hooks, like the additional percussion rhythm that ended the song, or the abrupt break in the middle where Hyde intoned, "Screaming into the eye of the lens." Oblivion With Bells has nothing like this. The only time when there's some kind of shift is when "Boy Boy Boy" brings in sudden drums over the ambient opening, and it immediately becomes one of the album's highlights.

There are only two times on this whole album where Underworld approach the kinds of feelings they used to evoke in every track they laid down. In "Crocodile," after the second verse, there is a sudden vocal line, in a slightly higher key than the "normal" chorus, distorted to sound like some kind of choral chant in a cathedral. And then after that there's a break in which the bass and keyboard textures come to the forefront. This is the best idea they've had in a decade. The second time is in the last song, "Best Mamgu Ever," where Hyde's voice is chopped up into incomprehensible pieces and the song lopes on in a gentle groove with a low-key guitar line, until suddenly, a sighing voice rises from the background, singing something soulful yet still unintelligible.

You'll note that both of those times, Hyde's voice is not the focus. Then it becomes clear that this should have been an instrumental album. Imagine if all of "Crocodile" sounded like that bizarre cathedral choir, or if the ambient parts were mixed into the middle of the other tracks rather than separated. That's what they should do -- Hyde has run his writing style into the ground, it's time to reinvent Underworld again as electronic sound collage. But they're still beholden to the style of Beaucoup Fish and A Hundred Days Off, so Oblivion With Bells turns out inconsistent and disappointing.

Underworld have crafted a very unique, very edgey record, but fans of old need not apply.

If you find yourself saying "Hey! Underworld! They did that great Born Slippy song! Will I like this album?" The answer is a resounding NO! You won't. But, if you have an open mind and the ability to throw out what you think Underworld should sound like, you'll be in for a hell of a treat.

Oblivion with Bells oozes with feeling and is probably best suited for a late night listen in bed. It will truely transport you to other places.

But, like I said, if you're looking for dance music, you'll just become another reviewer that says "Underworld is dead" or "This is boring!" so beware.

I listen to all types of music (jazz, classical, rock, electronica, etc.) and own 6 Underworld CDs. What I love so much about Underworld is the underlying warmth and emotion that pervades every song, and the fact that after hundreds of listens, the music never gets old. Chillout, ambient or dance anthem, there is always a great vibe that I just can't put my finger on...that keeps me coming back for more!

In this respect, "Oblivion with Bells" does not disappoint. Admittedly, I was a little taken aback by the instant appeal of the first two "club worthy" songs, and last song, vs. the mellow, minimalism of the remainder of the album. However, after a few listens, I've become equally hooked on the subtle ryhming over beautiful synthesizer tracks. I now listen to each song with equal zeal.

As other reviewers have pointed out, if you are looking for a collection of club tracks, this isn't the album, but the slower tracks are excellent for chillout/ambient moods, with lots of variety and that luscious Underworld feel. Perhaps the strangest aspect of this album is the track sequence - we're used to several up-beat songs with some chillout in-between to break it up, not the reverse!

So how and when do you listen to such an album? Well, listen as is or mix 'em up in your IPOD - all the tracks are decent and worth a listen, especially if you're an existing Underworld fan.

I cannot stand techno/dance/diva in the background music. It's boring, repetitive and lifeless. Thank [insert your god/muse/inspiration/idol here] for Underworld!

A lot of folks would classify this band as techno/dance but I see a band with much more depth. They are unlike so many bands of their ilk that employ the use of modern instrumentation. You can tell these guys have other interests like design (Tomato of course), art, jazz, architecture and poetry. They understand and can translate wonderfully words and music and the movement and motion that lie beneath. There is art and life here.

I recently purchased Oblivion With Bells and hadn't had a chance to listen to it until I spent a weekend in NYC. On a nice, crisp, fall Saturday morning, I decided to take a walk so I grabbed my iPod and off I went. I started out on the East side at 35th and 1st and was going to put on some low key rambling pop music when I remembered I had the new Underworld album. Starting with Crocodile and flowing through Best Mamgu Ever, I listened to the entire album in one walk all the way down to the East Village and through the East Village.

What an experience it was. Want to do something that is at the same time calming, exhilarating, moving and surreal? Put this album on and go for a walk in a big city where there's tons of people around. It's all here on Oblivion: emotion, wit, artistry, humor and drama.

I think one of the reasons I like Underworld so much is their ability to put you on an exquisite, sonic journey. Crocodile and then Beautiful Burnout wonderfully unfold. Oblivion continues on with the thumping of Holding the Moth to the beautiful and serene To Heal. And then we come to the surprising Ring Road where I think Underworld have written one of their most arresting choruses. The urgency of Glam Bucket changes the pace a little when Boy, Boy, Boy moves along with a slightly sinister strut. The most ethereal Cuddle Bunny vs. the Celtic Villages is the most experimental song on Oblivion. The seemingly stream of conscious Faxed Invitation juxtaposes lust with serenity. There appears to be some sadness in Good Morning Cockerel. You can't make it out but it's there. The album finishes off with the wonderfully enveloping and pulsing Best Mamgu Ever.

When I listen to Oblivion, I hear an album that is surprisingly different and more dynamic from any other album they have written. It's one of Underworld's stronger more cohesive efforts and I like the landscape/soundscape feel to it and I hope to hear more of this kind of music from Underworld in the future. I'm glad to hear an album from Underworld that is in a lot of respects, low key. A lot of critics are no doubt going to cite this album as a misguided attempt on Underworld's part to maintain or recapture a renowned status that maybe has waned a little. I don't think Underworld are at a point in their lives where they feel it's necessary to write another Born Slippy or recapture anything. As they are willing to explore, I'm willing to listen.

Oblivion with Bells is a fine addition to Underworld's incredible body of work and I highly recommend it!