Second Toughest In The Infants

"Juanita: Kiteless/To Dream of Love" is a near seventeen minute trip everything that you would ever want to experience from 'techno' music. A perfect opener.

"Banstyle/Sappy's Curry" is a superb piece of drum and bass. The changes in the upbeat, yet subliminal, melody are so subtle, that because of the trance that you're in, you won't notice. 15+ minutes of techno excellence.

Although "Confusion the Waitress" is my least favorite song on the album, it is still very good. There is a nice, steady bassline that follows Hyde's lyrics of "She said..." throughout for six or seven minutes. It isn't all that bad, but I lose interest after about four minutes and I change it. Worth a listen, though.

"Rowla" is one of my favorite songs on the album. It begins as a simple series of electronic noises that sound "eighties-ish." From this beat, it builds like crazy into a trance-like song that will get you moving... you can't hold back. Hands down, this is one of Underworld's all-time best songs.

"Pearls Girl" is my other favorite. Many people have already heard. It starts as a nice blend of atmospheric sounds and after about a minute, a heart-pounding beat emerges and soon after Hyde will sing beautiful nonsense about 'water' and 'Morocco'. It totals about ten minutes and through that amount of time - you never get bored. It's great, really great.

"Air Towel" is really cool as well. A nice catchy electronic melody resonates throughout for eight minutes. Hyde sings again about beautiful nothingness. Another excellent piece of music.

"Blueski" isn't even three minutes long and it basically consists of layering guitar loops and some people might get bored with it - but I really like it. It's short and sweet. I couldn't listen to it for six minutes or more in a row - but it's pretty good.

"Stagger" is excellent. It's slower and you can't really dance to it - but Hyde sings about mothingness and you can't turn it off. Eventually, the drums will kick in and these beautiful noises will come into the picture and you will be blown away. A nearly perfect closing to a nearly perfect album.

I hope that this review has helped you to decide whether this sounds like the album for you. Even if it isn't - it IS Underworld's best album and it will satisfy you.

Grade: A

They're far more than a straight techno band, of course, drawing in guitars for crucial accentuation while layering long, luxuriant piano melodies (first explored on Dubno but gelling properly here) as exemplified by sixteen minute opener montage "Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream of Love." Front man Karl Hyde's poetic ramblings are present but more focused - surprisingly poignant in moments - perhaps due to the generally melancholy mood that prevails throughout. "Banstyle/Sappys Curry," with acoustic guitar sitting beside long interrupted synth lines, is nothing shot of a revelation in fusing these elements into dance balladry.

Headrush moments are naturally expected from a gang responsible for "Cowgirl" "Born Slippy" and "Push Upstairs." Hence "Rowla" springs up in the middle, furiously twisting fried out synth stabs over and through the rabbit hole. And then there's that monstrous centerpiece "Pearl's Girl," powered by stuttered high speed drums building to Hyde's growling stream of consciousness listings, a chorus of "crazy crazy crazy" running through the peak. Call it example 1A of how to craft an electronic opus.

Beatless "Blueski," a deceptively simple guitar interlude, ultimately leads to the only disappointment of Second Toughest in the Infants. "Stagger," pushing obtuse lyrics upfront in the mix, babbles about Kentucky Fried Chicken and "random features," an uneasy fit to downtempo backing.

With A Hundred Days Off their newest release, and sans DJ Darren Emerson, the Underworld sound is sure to evolve once again. In the rush to glamorize the new, let's hope some deserved recognition shines upon this 1996 tour de force, still fresh and exhilarating today.