Underworld
Beaucoup Fish

THE REVIEW

The Underworld, aka Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, and Darren Emerson, are the group that more than any other, in the last decade of the past century, have revolutionized the concept of "club culture", profoundly marking the evolution of modern "dance" electronic sounds.
Already members of the synth-pop group Freur, Hyde and Smith adopted, in the first half of the '90s, the young London DJ Darren Emerson, giving life to the Underworld project.

In an England disrupted by the rave phenomenon, the three released, just two years apart, "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" and "Second Toughest In The Infants," two extraordinary albums that projected them into the techno and club electronic music Olympus. The epic "Born Slippy," featured in the cult movie "Trainspotting" soundtrack, further cemented their fame and remains their most known and danced track. But the best was yet to come: one simply had to wait for 1998 and the release of "Beaucoup Fish," universally recognized as their greatest masterpiece, a true Bible for the modern raver, a captivating album that continues to surprise with every listen.
In the eleven tracks of "Beaucoup Fish," the Underworld further define their sound, crafting a monolith of seventy-four minutes of great music, where Techno, Hardcore, and Trance merge into a precious and multi-faceted unicum.
The opening track "Cups" kicks things off, and it's like being catapulted into a smoky venue in the most underground part of London, among soft atmospheres and acidic keyboard deliriums. The following and famous "Push Upstairs" starts warming up the speakers; the stark piano loop and Karl Hyde's lysergic, distant voice go hand in hand, culminating in the most obsessive Acid-Techno. Applause-worthy. The soft and ambient sounds of the splendid "Jumbo" almost make the listener fly over the city's thousand night lights, but the Hardcore-Trance of "Shudder/King Of Snake" is just around the corner, ready to overwhelm and slowly plunge them into the abyss.
Every slight thrill of the album could be mentioned, every imperceptible rustle, from the melancholic ballad "Skym" to the slanted funk of "Bruce Lee," through the disarming calmness of "Push Downstairs" and the beauty of "Something Like A Mama," with its syncopated beats, to the frenetic rhythms of "Kittens" and the concluding "Moaner," a manifesto of a tribe that dances (jovanottianly speaking) and is not at all inclined to stop.

Ultimately, the Underworld hit the mark, bidding farewell to the twentieth century with an incredible album of unique intensity, an intensity that the subsequent "A Hundred Days Off" failed to replicate, instead marking the beginning of the decline of the English group, reduced to a duo after Darren Emerson's departure. However, "Beaucoup Fish" remains untouchable, a superb manifesto of a generation that maybe is already gone, and the perfect synthesis of a decade of electronic music that many will struggle to forget. Unparalleled.