Frankly, disappointed.

This strikes me the same way Hundred Days did: There are a few tracks that have a nice groove, some tracks that really stink, but nothing really amazing; nothing that has the same level of passion and inventiveness we saw in the 90s. Some of the worst songs on this CD sound downright Trent Reznor in their creative execution---and I don't mean that in a good way. I few bad tracks I can handle---their 90s releases were not flawless either---it's the lack of anything truly amazing that depresses me; where even the best tracks are, at best, on level with some of the 90s mediocre tracks. I did feel that the CD as a whole felt monumentally more concise and of higher quality once I removed tracks 5, 7, and 10.

Underworld = Relevance

Underworld set off the "electronica" craze and they're still relevant today. Their music has progressed in new ways but they still love what they're doing and they're putting out great material like this. OwithB is a fantastic album and gets better the more that I listen to it. Here's to more years of experimentation, new sounds, and great sounds like this to soothe those noises in my head.

Like their heroes Kraftwerk, Underworld’s Karl Hyde and Rick Smith appear to work in a completely sterile environment, unbothered by charts or sales projections or label concerns about their marketing abilities. They simply reemerge periodically with another full-length of precise but swinging techno, with vocals that somehow create a rather plaintive sense of detachment (Radiohead’s similarity in this area should not be overlooked). More than 2002′s A Hundred Days Off or 1998′s Beaucoup Fish, Oblivion with Bells harks back to Underworld’s 1993 rebirth with the epic Dubnobasswithmyheadman. (Even the cover design and accordion-style liner notes are similar.) The acid techno is firmly in place, with little or no regard for developments in the form after the ’80s. Still, unlike other electronica mainstays who have occasionally revealed a little weariness — either from trying to change or trying to stay the same — Underworld never sound particularly tired on Oblivion with Bells. Granted, the music is less innovative than before, and also more quiet, which makes Hyde’s vocals more critical than they’ve ever been. Unfortunately, however, they don’t benefit from the scrutiny. “Ring Road” and “Holding the Moth” are particularly odd, utilizing Underworld’s usual cut-and-paste phraseology, but with productions and performances that never come together like their classics “Dark & Long” or “Pearls Girl.” – John Bush