U.F.Orb

U.F.Orb
Studio album by The Orb
Released	July 6, 1992 October 1, 2007 (15th Anniversary Edition)
Genre	Electronica, ambient house, dub
Length	73:55
Label	Big Life
Producer	Orb, Steve Hillage, Youth
The Orb chronology
The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (1991) U.F.Orb (1992) Live 93 (1993)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A[3]
NME	9/10[4]
Record Collector	[5]
Select	5/5[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[7]
Uncut	[8]
The Village Voice	B−[9]

U.F.Orb is the second studio album by ambient house/techno group The Orb. It was released in July 1992 and reached #1 on the UK Album Chart. It featured an edited version of The Orb's single "Blue Room". Noted graphic design group The Designers Republic designed the cover art.

Background

Orb member Kris Weston integrated his technical and creative expertise with Alex Paterson's Eno-influenced ambience on U.F.Orb, creating "drum and bass rhythms" with "velvet keyboards" and "rippling synth lines".^[10] U.F.Orb reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart to the shock of critics, who were surprised that fans had embraced what journalists considered to be progressive rock.^[11] Heavily influenced by The Orb and U.F.Orb in particular, many trip hop groups sprang up emulating The Orb's "chill-out blueprint".^[12] U.F.Orb expresses The Orb's fascination with alien life with its bizarre sound samples and in the album's title itself.^[13] The album's single, "Blue Room", is itself a reference to the supposed Blue Room of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which was heavily investigated as a possible UFO evidence holding room.^[14]

"Blue Room", a near 17-minute piece, features bass playing by Jah Wobble and guitar by coproducer Steve Hillage. The full version of the song is 40 minutes and was released as a single. The initial UK vinyl release featured a limited edition which came in a sealed blue heavy PVC cover and featured two art prints and a bonus 12" of the soundtrack to the film The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld: Patterns and Textures.

On October 1, 2007, the album was reissued on two CDs as part of Universal Music's "Collector's Series". Although all the tracks are remastered, its release is to coincide with 15th anniversary of the album's release. The second CD includes remixes from the singles released around the period of the original album.

	"Blue Room" (1992) Clip from the single "Blue Room".
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Track listing

Original album

Side one

1. "O.O.B.E." – 12:51
2. "U.F.Orb" – 6:08

Side two

1. "Blue Room" – 17:34

Side three

1. "Towers of Dub" – 15:00

Side four

1. "Close Encounters" – 10:27
2. "Majestic" – 11:06
3. "Sticky End" – 0:49

1992 US Double CD Edition

CD: Mercury 314 513 749-2 / CDP 804

Disc 1

1. "O.O.B.E." – 12:51
2. "U.F.Orb" – 6:08
3. "Blue Room" – 17:34
4. "Towers of Dub" – 15:00
5. "Close Encounters" – 10:27
6. "Majestic" – 11:06
7. "Sticky End" – 0:49

Disc 2

1. "Blue Room (Edit)" - 3:09
2. "Blue Room (Remix)" - 7:37
3. "Assassin (The Oasis Of Rhythms Mix)" - 15:14
4. "Blue Room (Full Length)" - 40:00

15th Anniversary Edition

CD: Universal / 5300703

Orbit One: U.F. Orb

1. "O.O.B.E." – 12:51
2. "U.F.Orb" – 6:08
3. "Blue Room" – 17:34
4. "Towers of Dub" – 15:00
5. "Close Encounters" – 10:27
6. "Majestic" – 11:06
7. "Sticky End" – 0:49

Orbit Two: Remixes

1. "O.O.B.E." (Andy Hughes Mix) - 11:58
2. "Towers Of Dub" (Ambient Mix) - 10:14
3. "Blue Room" (Ambient At Mark Angelos Mix) - 8:57
4. "Close Encounters" (Ambient Mix 1) - 12:49
5. "Majestic" (Mix 1) - 11:52
6. "Assassin" (Chocolate Hills Of Bohol Mix) - 14:37

References

1. Bush, John. "U.F.Orb – The Orb". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
2. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
3. Svetkey, Benjamin (4 December 1992). "u.f.orb". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
4. George, Iestyn (7 April 1992). "The KLF – UF Orb". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
5. Grady, Spencer (December 2007). "The Orb – UFOrb". Record Collector (343). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
6. Perry, Andrew (August 1992). "The Orb: U F Orb". Select (26): 96.
7. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
8. Uncut (p.115) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Peppered with surreal humour, hypnotic sound paintings like 'Close Encounters' and Top 10 single 'Blue Room' have barely dated."
9. Christgau, Robert (November 23, 1993). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved July 5, 2013.
10. Prendergast, Mark (2003). The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby-The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. pp. 407–412. ISBN 1-58234-323-3.
11. Sullivan, Caroline (1993-04-09). "Breakdown". The Guardian.
12. Shapiro, Peter (1999). The Rough Guide to Drum 'n' Bass. Rough Guides. pp. 327–329. ISBN 1-85828-433-3.
13. Holthouse, David (1997-04-30). "Eye of the Orb". Phoenix New Times.
14. Sandall, Robert (1992-07-12). "Hippie dippie draw". The Times.

External links

• U.F.Orb at Discogs