Barking (album)

Barking
Studio album by Underworld
Released 2 September 2010 (2010-09-02)
Genre Progressive house, alternative dance, progressive trance, techno, drum and bass
Length 53:39
Label Cooking Vinyl
Producer Rick Smith, Dubfire, Mark Knight, D. Ramirez, High Contrast, Appleblim, Al Tourettes, Darren Price, Paul van Dyk
Underworld chronology
Oblivion with Bells
(2007)		 Barking
(2010)		 1992–2012 The Anthology
(2012)
Singles from Barking
  1. "Scribble"
    Released: 28 June 2010
  2. "Always Loved a Film"
    Released: 20 September 2010
  3. "Bird 1"
    Released: 22 November 2010
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. ClubC[3]
Pitchfork Media5.9/10[4]
musicOMH[5]
Alternative Press[6]
NME5/10[7]
Drowned in Sound6/10[8]
Mojo[9]
Uncut[10]
Spin7/10[11]
PopMatters7/10[12]
Record Collector[13]
Resident Advisor[14]

Barking is the eighth studio album by British electronic group Underworld, released on 2 September 2010.[15][14] The lead single, "Scribble", produced with Welsh drum and bass producer High Contrast, was released on 28 June 2010.[16] The band released a radio edit of the track for free download on their website on 13 May 2010.[17]

Each track on the album was written by band members Karl Hyde and Rick Smith in Essex, before being sent to producers well known for their contributions to trance, drum and bass and dubstep. The album sees further collaboration with Mark Knight and D. Ramirez, whose 2009 single, "Downpipe", featured lyrics and vocals by Hyde.[14]

Barking received positive reviews from most music critics. The album debuted at number twenty-six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 5,146 copies in its first week.[18]

There are seven slightly modified variations of the cover artwork - depending on edition and format - all created by John Warwicker.

The album is named after Barking, an eastern borough of London.

Critical reception

Barking received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[1] Barry Walters of Spin wrote, "with production help from High Contrast, Dubfire, and Paul Van Dyk, Underworld is freed up to focus on crafting memorable tunes that hark back to their electronica heyday, as well as more personal, coherent lyrics. Earnest emotions surprisingly suit these dance-floor surrealists."[11] BBC Music's Sarah Bee gave the album a positive review, stating: "There's a lightness and a jollity about their music which combines with an unabashed poignancy, and there's a sense of deep contentment and peace about this album. They may not be sticking their necks out as pioneers now but it's not important – they are never less than themselves, and superficial quibbles aside this is the sound of musicians with nothing to prove and everything to give."[19] Record Collector reviewer Daryl Easlea said the album is "possibly Underworld’s poppiest ever [...] yet [it] retains their trademark dark heart". She concluded: "With its tremendous focus, Barking ably demonstrates that, after six albums, Underworld remain the UK’s leading old-school dance combo."[13] Michaelangelo Matos from The A.V. Club described the album as "in some ways, the most tuneful Underworld album yet, which isn’t saying a lot".[3] The NME gave the album a mixed review, stating that the album "tends to fail when it experiments", but praised the songs "Bird 1" and "Moon in Water" for being "in the vein of classic Underworld, simultaneously danceable and menacingly strange."[7]

Resident Advisor reviewer Ian Mathers said the duo "marries a renewed emphasis on the dance floor with unabashedly open-hearted lyrics", and felt that "the songs here are a harmonious marriage of the classic, propulsive Underworld sound and the kind of techniques and textures that postdate most of their career."[14] Ben Weisz of musicOMH gave the album a favourable review, and concluded: "Barking is a mostly-solid album let down by a couple of weak links. It's not earth-shattering, and there are no new Born Slippys, but it's well worth a listen."[5] Australian dance music website inthemix stated that "Barking will, as the frontman seems to suggest, take the group to a new audience – or realign them with the heady days of Born Slippy".[20] Stephen Lussier of The Spill Magazine comments, "The album’s core echoes of a time when careful attention was taken in connecting electronica and vocal expression, thus making this an unquestionably more lyrically-driven album." A reviewer from Music Week felt that the album "is less of a return to form then a continuation of what has come before, from the euphoric dance floor fillers of Between The Stars and Always Loved A Film to the gentle raw piano off closing track Louisiana with the end result reeking in nostalgia of the duo’s mid-90s heyday."[21] In his review for Drowned in Sound, Alex Barker wrote: "This record can be seen as a work of celebration [...] while residing in the comforting notion that they have already proven all that they have to prove. Or it could be considered a somewhat lazy effort, a work more poppy than anything they have previously produced and one in which they know will sell well."[8]

Track listing

Standard edition

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Bird 1"  Karl Hyde, Rick SmithRick Smith, Dubfire 6:51
2. "Always Loved a Film"  Hyde, SmithRick Smith, Mark Knight, D. Ramirez 6:52
3. "Scribble"  Hyde, Smith, Lincoln BarrettRick Smith, High Contrast 6:58
4. "Hamburg Hotel"  Hyde, SmithRick Smith, Appleblim, Al Tourettes 5:18
5. "Grace"  Hyde, SmithRick Smith, Dubfire 5:11
6. "Between Stars"  Hyde, Smith, Darren PriceRick Smith, Darren Price, Mark Knight & D. Ramirez 6:06
7. "Diamond Jigsaw"  Hyde, SmithRick Smith, Paul van Dyk 5:36
8. "Moon in Water"  Hyde, Smith, BarrettRick Smith, High Contrast 5:42
9. "Louisiana"  Hyde, SmithRick Smith 5:05

Deluxe Edition

Limited Edition

Formats

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[22] 46
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[23] 26
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[24] 29
Dutch Albums Chart[25] 27
European Albums Chart[26] 49
German Albums Chart[27] 73
Irish Albums Chart[28] 36
Swiss Albums Chart[29] 60
UK Albums Chart[30] 26
US Billboard 200[31] 151
US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums[31] 6
US Billboard Independent Albums[31] 33

Release history

Region Date Label Format
Japan 2 September 2010 Traffic Inc. CD, digital download
Europe 13 September 2010 Cooking Vinyl
United States 14 September 2010 Om Records

References

  1. 1 2 Barking (2010): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2011-04-02.
  2. ↑ Bush, John (14 September 2010). "Barking - Underworld". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  3. 1 2 Matos, Michaelangelo (14 September 2010). "Underworld: Barking". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  4. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14655-barking/
  5. 1 2 Weisz, Ben (14 September 2010). "Underworld - Barking". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  6. ↑ The album can't sustain the energy of early tracks like "Bird" and "Scribble," but while the blaze lasts, it's definitely worth warming yourself up on. [Oct 2010, p.120]
  7. 1 2 O’Keeffe, Niall (14 September 2010). "Underworld - Album review: Underworld - Barking (Cooking Vinyl) - Album Reviews". NME. Archived from the original on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  8. 1 2 Baker, Alex (7 September 2010). "Underworld - Barking / Releases / Releases". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Mojo (Publisher) (p.97) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Underworld have raided talent from across the electronica spectrum here. Trance deity Paul van Dyk joins them for rousing synth rock jam, 'Diamond Jigsaw'..."
  10. ↑ Uncut (magazine) [Oct 2010,p.108] - 4 stars out of 5 -- "With experiments in disco, dubstep and drum'n'bass all unmistakably Underworld, BARKING is the sound of veterans re-energised."
  11. 1 2 Walters, Barry (23 August 2010). "Underworld, 'Barking' (Cooking Vinyl/Om)". Spin. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  12. ↑ http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/130773-underworld-barking/
  13. 1 2 Easlea, Daryl. "Underworld - Barking | Album Review". Record Collector. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Underworld unveil Barking". Resident Advisor. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  15. ↑ "Underworld announce new album tracklisting and release date". NME. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  16. ↑ "New Album details!". UnderworldLive. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  17. ↑ "New music - Scribble - Hear it tonight!". UnderworldLive. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  18. ↑ Jones, Alan (20 September 2010). "Science & Faith get The Script to number one". Music Week. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  19. ↑ Bee, Sarah (6 September 2010). "Music - Review of Underworld - Barking". BBC Music. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  20. ↑ JackT (25 August 2010). "Underworld - Barking". inthemix.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  21. ↑ "Underworld - Barking (Underworldlive.com/Cooking Vinyl)". Music Week. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  22. ↑ "australian-charts.com - Underworld - Barking". ARIA Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  23. ↑ "ultratop.be - Underworld - Barking". Ultratop (in Dutch). ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  24. ↑ "ultratop.be - Underworld - Barking". Ultratop (in French). ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  25. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl - Underworld - Barking". MegaCharts (in Dutch). Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  26. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/european-albums
  27. ↑ "Musicline.de - Chartverfolgung - Underworld - Barking". Media Control Charts (in German). PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  28. ↑ "Chart Track". Irish Albums Chart. GfK. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  29. ↑ "Underworld - Barking - hitparade.ch". Swiss Music Charts (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  30. ↑ "Archive Chart". UK Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  31. 1 2 3 "Barking - Underworld". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
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