Customer Reviews

Utd State 90

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

808State has been one of the first band to make real electronic music in late 80's in Manchester.

Their sound is unique, you won't find another group making similar music and every track is different. They are good enough to make hardcore, trance, techno-jazz, house and on a live stage they are brilliant. So this album is one of the best. Just listen to Magical Dream and you'll understand why !

OK, at 16 I wasn't responsible enough to treasure my Cassette Tape for the Jewel it was. Wish I had this CD now. This was a classic album...a MUST for House Heads circa 1990. If you are a true House Fan and Carl Craig...Inner City...Kevin Saunderson are GURUS to you...this is a CD you MUST have!

START HERE! It's timeless, oftentimes quite gorgeous and, as mentioned above, it's fun! These guys (along with Gerald) pretty much started Acid House in the 80's (listen to Newbuild). After listening to UTD State 90 - move right along to "ex:el" - another big, bold, beautiful step in the right direction, just a little slicker sounding. Really, you won't go wrong buying all of these in their release order if you first start with UTD. State 90. Listen to the music samples off "Prebuild" and "Newbuild" before you purchase them - they might not be to your liking. And you can go waaaaay back and listen to Biting Tongues - Graham's first band (Pre-Prebuild). Get Utd. State 90 - you will LOVE IT! Then go get all the others.....

808 State are techno gurus. For starters, the band was one of the first on the scene, and their seminal work in the 80s helped lay the groundwork for the 90s techo explosion.

Further, 808 shows that techno can be FUN. Most artists on the scene keep a stiff upper lip, and frost their sounds with a cold chill. 808, in contrast, mixes serious beats with wacky samples and tounge firmly in cheek.

Utd. State 90 is 808's best non-compilation album, and is highly recommend, to newcomers and hardcore alike.

Brilliant... a must have... buy this, Goldie's Timeless, Bukem's Logical Progression 1, and maybe the first 2 FSOL lps and you're set. Absolutely one of the best electronic lps ever. And one of the first I bought after New Order, Baby Ford and S'Express. The combination of diverse musical influences along with its sonic beauty and grooviness has rarely been matched. Acid house, breakbeat, jazz and techno (as in real techno, not what stupid kiddies think is techno) ... very pretty but danceable too.

EX:EL is really good too; includes one of their best, "Lift", Bernard Summer and a couple Bjork tracks, but not as good. After that it was all downhill for 808 State. Back up and let the man go through. Yes, Orbital progressed while these guys didn't. Absolutely buy the first 2 Orbital lps too (the green one and the brown one, 2 is better) and the EPs and the 3rd one's pretty good too.

"Utd State 90" is basically the U.S. (Tommy Boy Records) release of 808's "90" album. The song lineup here has been expanded to include several tracks not found on "90", including a couple of remixes of "Pacific" (possibly 808's best known track). The versions of "Ancodia" and "Cobra Bora" are different mixes from the versions found on "90" and were originally released on the "Extended Pleasure Of Dance" E.P. 808 State did not invent acid house, but they did a lot to refine it in the late 80s. In an era plagued by simplistic electronic dance music, 808 managed to create tracks with a degree of musical depth and sophistication rarely found in club music. Nothing too obvious here - there's always a twist just around each corner to remind you that what you are listening to goes far beyond the usual dance-floor fodder that feeds the masses. Refreshing.

This CD is squishy fresh!

For anyone who followed 808 State from the flow:coma stuff, the release of pacific state was well ... different, more commercial(ish). But if you ever saw it live onstage at the end of a show it all made sense.

This album is great nostalgia fodder but IMHO Orbital have grown and I'd recommend that you check them out instead. There are plenty of compilations out there with Cubik & Pacific on them if you want an 808 taster.

It is my only 808 state Cd and I thought i would buy it because I had seen 808 state linked with orbital here on amazon.com. Well, it's ok, but it is REALLY dated sounding. there is no question that this was made in the early 90's. It's dated in a bad way, not in a cute, charming way.