Underworld

Play Radio
Listen to Underworld Radio, featuring artists like Orbital, Leftfield, The Orb, Fluke and more…

12,833,145 plays (809,256 listeners)

Shop now at Amazon | Send Underworld Ringtones to Cell
More options
Add to my Library

Romford, Essex, England (1986 – 1990, 1992 – present)

Underworld are a British group formed in 1986 in Romford, Essex, England, by Karl Hyde (vocals, guitar, production) and Rick Smith (keyboards, production), assisted by Darren Price (keyboards, production) when playing live. They are best known for their unique mix of , , , and sometimes , the vocal parts performed by Hyde as spoken-word streams of consciousness, and for their outstanding live shows. The band gained worldwide fame with Born Slippy .NUXX from Trainspotting soundtrack.

Before Underworld, Hyde and Smith started out in 1979 on The Screen Gemz band while working together in a diner in the city of Cardiff, where both had been studying. In 1983 they recorded two albums for CBS Records with a proto-electroclash new romantic band whose name was a graphic squiggle, later entitled Freur.

In 1986 Hyde and Smith formed Underworld, after disbanding of Freur. They tried a more guitar-oriented funky electropop sound on their two albums released on Sire Records: Underneath the Radar (1987) and Change the Weather (1989). This initial lineup (also called Underworld Mk1) consisted of Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, Alfie Thomas, Bryn Burrows, Baz Allen and Pascal Consoli before sinking back into obscurity and disbanding in 1990.

British DJ Darren Emerson hooked up with Hyde and Smith in 1992 and helped them refine their sound into something more sleek and beat-oriented, yet still shot through with tinges of blues, rock and spoken-word streams of consciousness. After several releases on Junior Boy’s Own as Lemon Interupt, the trio re-adopted the Underworld name in 1992. Two songs from this era are Rez and Spikee.
Read more… Edit

Popular tags: electronic, techno, electronica, dance, trance  See more

Shouts: 1,261 shouts

Share this artist:

Top Albums

See more

Top Tracks

1
1,319
2
636
3
635
4
630
5  
615
6
550
7
510
8
448
9
444
10
433
11
Rez
408
12
395
13
394
14
377
15
363
Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

  • williemarkie

    Darren Emerson surely knows how to do it, he's pure genious! http://www.bublaa.com/bubble/Indie%20Talk

    yesterday morning

  • davo421

    Aqui es el Rave

    Thursday morning

  • niqart

    Diamond Jigsaw

    20 days ago

  • JuliusNepos

    I'm surprised there isn't a shitty metal band called this as well

    21 days ago

  • optimistic_tour

    thanks, I never knew there was a specific lyric for.. well, anything they've done. I haven't had my Dubno cd for years and couldn't recall a sheet. also, what the fuck Deadmau5 is so utterly boring I can't believe anyone who knows anything about electronic dance music could enjoy his garbage. maybe when drunk??

    last month

  • Wejder1337

    Intro to "Born Slippy" is absolutely amazing, when i hear it i feel like boy entering to real life, learning what's going on in this world.

    last month

  • froggafiend

    UW were listed # 7 on migmag magazines greatest dance acts of all time. I'm disgusted that Deadmau5 made #5. He certaintly hasn't produced any memorable songs like UW have and probably never will. On another note, I wonder what type of music they will be producing for the Olympics and if they will be working with any other artists? Seems like a lot of work for just 2 guys, 3 if you include Darren Price. I have a feeling the music will be more similar to "Scribble" & "ALAF" than any of their older tracks like "Cowgirl, Moaner...".

    last month

  • froggafiend

    @ optimistic_tour The lyric is "An eraser of love". Always go by the studio version because Karl sometimes slighty alters the lyrics for live performances, for example: on most live versions of Born Slippy .NUXX he replaces "and god and everything" with "To god I love you",and on live versions of Juanita he adds the lyrics "You shouldn't have walked away when you walked away".

    last month

  • rivermint

    I like this theory of "I'm a razor of love" in Cowgirl:)

    last month

  • optimistic_tour

    no he says "any reason will do" (going by a live recording) but on Dubno it sounds like "bet and a razor of love" to me - listen to Everything Everything live and see what you think, he even says "I'm a razor of love" at one point!

    last month

  • robbyb0t

    "book and a razor of love" is that actually the lyrics? lol

    last month

  • rivermint

    Deep Blue Morroco!

    last month

  • optimistic_tour

    book and a razor of love

    last month

  • Kamui-kun01

    Boy, Boy, Boy

    last month

  • VK1990

    Jumbo

    last month

  • robbyb0t

    AN ERASER OF LOVE

    last month

  • MrMushroom123

    there is 1 bird in my house

    last month

  • Thurston_Lowe

    http://www.last.fm/music/Underworld/_/Come+Scientist+Destroy

    last month

  • robbyb0t

    Underworld's the only band anyone REALLY needs.

    last month

  • CCSandman

    Never forget - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5QRT1CbMN0

    last month
See all 1,261 shouts

Videos

See more

News

Beatportal announce the Underworld remix competition winners

6 Dec 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/underworld

Beatportal have announced the Underworld remix competition winners. Head over here to see the results http://www.beatportal.com/..feed/item/underworld-pick-..their-winning-remix/#comments

Add comment

See more

Listening Now

Top Listeners

See more

Recent Activity

Related Journals

See more

Groups (222)

See more

More Information

Links
Band Members
Labels

Email Newsletter

Universal Music Group Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Underworld from Universal Music.

“Last.fm Born and Bred.”

More Last.fm Sites: Blog | Music Manager | Build | Playground (Subscriber VIP zone) | Best of 2011

© 2012 Last.fm Ltd. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | Updated Feb 11, 2009
Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
Text may also be available under the GNU Free Documentation License.