release date: Mar. 4, 1996
format: cd (1998 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Underworld
lable. JBO - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Juanita / Kiteless / To Dream of Love" - 2. "Banstyle / Sappys Curry" - 3. "Confusion the Waitress" - 4. "Rowla" - 5. "Pearls Girl" (4 / 5) - 8. "Stagger"
4th studio album by Underworld and the second as a electronic trio.
The band continue its explorations into trance but also with hints of breakbeat.
It's a rather experimental release where the band adds conventional instrumentation to its predominantly electronic style by the use of loops, and they seem to explore more on this compared to the predecessor Dubnobasswithmyheadman from 1994, which appears as a more coherent electronic album, but Second Toughest in the Infants reveals a distinct trait of balancing the pace of slow meditative parts with bolder energetic outburst, which is a dynamic recipe they would keep to on later releases.
The album was not an immediate favourite, but I have come to reevaluate my initial thoughts more than once when speaking of this particular album. With this, they're on the right move away from early electronic techno and trance in their sound of progressive house, and this particular album has always been there in the outskirts of great albums and is a true grower once you let it unfold.
The album is the trio's second electronic release on which they show that they have found their style, and this is their first truly successful originally sounding studio album, imho.
It was released to critical acclaim, it peaked at number #9 on the UK albums chart list, and it has been included in Mojo's "100 Greatest Albums of Our lifetime" and in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" - the so far only by Underworld.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, NME 4 / 5 stars ]
