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Orbital vs Underworld

I stand by my original comments that Orbital have never made an album that is start to finish banger after banger, there’s always a few duff tracks while IMO Underworld had a succession of albums (Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Second Toughest, Beaucoup Fish) where every track was killer.
 
Yes I haven't bothered for a long time but it does seem the latest Orbital stuff is a poor man's take on the originals and sounds pretty naff.
Underworld have done a better job of moving with the times.
 
skyscraper101 said:
I stand by my original comments that Orbital have never made an album that is start to finish banger after banger, there’s always a few duff tracks while IMO Underworld had a succession of albums (Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Second Toughest, Beaucoup Fish) where every track was killer.
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What are the duff tracks on Orbital 2 and Snivilisation? :oops:
 
Riklet said:
What are the duff tracks on Orbital 2 and Snivilisation? :oops:
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TBF Orbital 2 is by far their best work. It’s only the first and last track which are just mucking around with spoken word samples (Time Becomes and Input Out) which I always skip. If they’d have left those out it’d be a flawless record.

The only tracks I rate on Snivilisation are Forever, Crash And Carry, Kein Trink Wasser and Attached. The rest is mainly plodding filler to me. Philosophy By Numbers is OK but would be better on an Orb record I think. Quality Seconds is one of the most irritating tracks ever, instant switch off.
 
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I think In Sides was their most coherent album with no weak tracks. Ruined by adding The Tardis theme on the end later imho. As much as that is a great version it does not belong there.
 
I think Orbital’s famous songs are better than Underworld’s famous ones. What I mean is I think Born Slippy is shit. Written for a film rather than a dance floor. Lager lager wtf?
 
Magnus McGinty said:
I think Orbital’s famous songs are better than Underworld’s famous ones. What I mean is I think Born Slippy is shit. Written for a film rather than a dance floor. Lager lager wtf?
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Born Slippy .NUXX is the one that everyone knows and has been played to death. I’m glad it’s not on any of the albums except the Best Of or extended rereleases because it’s too overplayed and would be an instant skip now. It’s still a good tune, and works perfectly on Trainspotting but there’s so many better tracks.

It’s not even the best version of the track. The original Born Slippy and the Deep Pan mix of .NUXX is way better. IMO.
 
pesh said:
I reckon you might not have been alone in that thinking…
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Lost count how many times i have seen them in 30 years, but what i love is everything is re worked and remixed and added new energy , they obvs haven't sold enough tickets hence adding Brown also.

Went to see the Orb 3-4 years ago and i was bored as fuck, would rather have been at home with the CD on lol
 
Yeah, their livestream at the start of lockdown was a thing of beauty at a very miserable point in time.

That said I saw Underworld headlining a festival last summer and they absolutely killed it. Was definitely glad it was them and not Orbital that night.
 
I haven't seen Orbital live for years. I think it might've been Glastonbury in the early 00's but it was good.

Underworld who I generally prefer I've seen many more times. The only problem I have with their live sets these days is they're so predictable, and sound note for note just like the records. Which is far away from what they used to be. All the tracks are just cued up and it feels like Rick just 'presses play' without actually doing much else. Back in the day it was literally all hands on deck when they needed Darren (Emerson/Price) to provide the additional desk duties. That created a much more intense and varied live sound. The 'Everything, Everything' DVD captures this best.
 
Orbital emerging phoenix-like from a tent at an Extinction Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square was one of the more memorable ones for me.
 
skyscraper101 said:
Underworld who I generally prefer I've seen many more times. The only problem I have with their live sets these days is they're so predictable, and sound note for note just like the records.
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Nope.
Nothing like this at all. Everything had been reworked and sounded heavy as fuck.
 
pesh said:
Nope.
Nothing like this at all. Everything had been reworked and sounded heavy as fuck.
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Not at the last two gigs I was at. Not that they weren't good gigs, but there was barely any deviation from how the tracks sound on the records, which for me was what the Underworld live experience was all about.
 
Ally Pally can and does sound great if the act pays for the sound treatment to be put in and they have a decent system tech. But yeah, if you’re missing one or more of those then it sounds awful.
 
I saw Orbital NYE 96/97 at Ally Pally... one of the best nights I've had...
I'm definitely tempted by this, don't think I'd be bothered to travel to go back there but might go to the Birmingham one.

Also I saw underworld at Secret Garden Party this summer and they were great like pesh says. Definitely worth seeing on their current tour if you can.
 
I’ve seen Underworld at Ally Pally along with New Order and The Chemical Brothers (I think, I was really somewhere else) NYE circa 1998 I think.
 
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