Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
75
Alberta Cross
70
The Album Leaf
69
Alkaline Trio
66
Animal Collective
84
Animal Collective
50
Athlete
82
Beach House
81
The Besnard Lakes
75
Kasper Bjorke
65
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
64
Dan Black
75
Mary J. Blige
75
Blockhead
79
Blood Red Shoes
70
David Bowie
64
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
70
Broken Bells
65
V.V. Brown
72
The Brunettes
71
Basia Bulat
78
Carolina Chocolate Drops
79
Johnny Cash
79
Chew Lips
82
Chicago Underground Duo
79
The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder
76
Citay
66
Clem Snide
77
Clipd Beaks
78
Clogs
66
Cold War Kids
75
Easton Corbin
80
Crazy Heart
90
Crime In Stereo
70
Jamie Cullum
63
Fyfe Dangerfield
72
Delphic
89
The Dillinger Escape Plan
64
Dinowalrus
77
Drive-By Truckers
59
Editors
71
Eels
74
Efterklang
83
Eluvium
82
Erland And The Carnival
57
Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now
63
Excepter
78
Field Music
76
First Aid Kit
68
Josephine Foster
82
Four Tet
71
Nils Frahm
77
Freeway & Jake One
75
Frightened Rabbit
82
Fucked Up
64
Peter Gabriel
79
Charlotte Gainsbourg
80
Galactic
67
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
73
Ernest Gonzales
59
Good Shoes
79
Gorillaz
70
Adam Green
79
Patty Griffin
76
Groove Armada
67
H.I.M.
43
Hadouken!
73
Harvey Milk
68
Juliana Hatfield
67
Jimi Hendrix
88
High On Fire
80
Hot Chip
66
The Hot Rats
88
Ray Wylie Hubbard
54
Hurricane Chris
76
Jaga Jazzist
76
Jaheim
68
jj
79
Freedy Johnston
54
Nick Jonas And The Administration
57
Ke$ha
66
Alicia Keys
74
The Knife In Collaboration With Mt. Sims And Planningtorock
63
Lady Antebellum
65
Dawn Landes
82
Lawrence Arabia
74
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
82
Liars
72
Lightspeed Champion
37
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle
68
Little Boots
78
Local Natives
75
Los Campesinos!
67
Lostprophets
65
Ludacris
72
Magnetic Fields
74
Massive Attack
58
Katherine McPhee
60
Tom McRae
66
Daniel Merriweather
76
Pat Metheny
72
Midlake
64
Holly Miranda
79
Allison Moorer
83
Motion City Soundtrack
53
Mudvayne
65
Mumford & Sons
55
Never Shout Never
85
Joanna Newsom
81
Scout Niblett
76
Nneka
75
Oh No Ono
70
OK Go
71
Omarion
77
Owen Pallett
84
Pantha du Prince
77
Past Lives
84
Pavement
77
Phantogram
65
Pit Er Pat
86
Polar Bear
64
Priestess
69
Quasi
77
Corinne Bailey Rae
71
The Red Krayola With Art & Language
81
Fionn Regan
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
57
Martin Rev
64
Rjd2
63
Rogue Wave
82
Jack Rose
77
The Ruby Suns
78
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
80
She & Him
77
Shearwater
69
Blake Shelton
84
Shining
68
Shout Out Louds
80
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
75
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
63
Ringo Starr
68
Story Of The Year
71
The Strange Boys
74
Strong Arm Steady
78
Surfer Blood
60
Tape Deck Mountain
82
These New Puritans
71
Robin Thicke
76
Tindersticks
82
Titus Andronicus
72
Toro Y Moi
63
Josh Turner
81
Vampire Weekend
79
Laura Veirs
69
Via Audio
79
Butch Walker And The Black Widows
59
The Watson Twins
69
We Are Wolves
66
Kanye West
64
Wetdog
51
The Whigs
67
White Hills
79
The White Stripes
72
The Whitefield Brothers
68
Wu-Tang Clan
75
Xiu Xiu
78
Yeasayer
77
You Say Party! We Say Die!
63
Young Money
61
Rob Zombie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
A Hundred Days Off
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: V2 / Junior Boy's Own
Release Date: 24 September 2002
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic
Summary
The popular electronica band, now down to two members (founders Rick Smith and Karl Hyde) after the departure of DJ Darren Emerson, move forward with their first studio recording in three years, highlighted by 9-minute lead single "Two Months Off."
Also By This Artist: Beaucoup Fish Everything, Everything Oblivion With Bells
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Mixer
[Emerson's] absence has liberated rather than weakened Hyde and Smith. [Sep 2002, p.74]
Spin
Kicky enough for late-night drives, sultry enough for backseat prospecting, and versatile enough to sell anything, it may be the most user-friendly record of Underworld's career and a better follow-up to Play than Moby's own. [Oct 2002, p.120]
CDNow
What's so striking about A Hundred Days Off is that frontman/producer Hyde and producer Smith have reshaped Underworld as a duo without coming off as incomplete, overzealous, or jaded.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
Underworld's grooves pump with less impact now, but they make them work harder and with more diversity.
Read Full Review >Urb
Akin to classic Detroit techno in the way it delves deeper into the machines and technology to find the humanity at their core.... In 2002, Underworld has outpaced the competition and released the electronic album to beat. [Sep 2002, p.99]
Almost Cool
If you're a fan of the darker energy that the group brought to their earlier releases (like Dubnobasswithmyheadman), you may find this release a little soft in the middle.
Read Full Review >Uncut
This is a very fine album... even if it's surprisingly business as usual in many respects. [Oct 2002, p.108]
Dot Music
The thundering beats, subdued vocals of indecipherable lyrics, and power packed riffs are all still there, but they've mellowed and everything is a bit softer around the edges.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Their best album since their 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' debut, Karl and Rick have pulled off a comeback in fine style and laid some demons to rest.
Read Full Review >Mojo
They have settled gracefully into the task of making a consistently glorious racket. [Oct 2002, p. 100]
Alternative Press
Underworld are dancefloor outsiders humble enough to leave the 12-inch stuff to the kids, but good enough to be the Yes of dance rock without turning into Jethro Tull. [Oct 2002, p.82]
Pitchfork
A Hundred Days Off is enjoyably uninspired; it defines both "pleasant" and "unremarkable".
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The beauty of A Hundred Days Off is that it pumps and churns so suggestively; it somehow evokes the blues of the otherwise successful modern man, who goes out every night and dances alone in his head.
Read Full Review >Blender
The good news is that practically nothing has changed. That's also the bad news. [#10, p.133]
All Music Guide
The songs lack the energy, the feeling, and even the melody of Underworld's classic records.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
The impression is of a group who have got too good at sounding like themselves. [Oct 2002, p.110]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
David S gave it a10:
fucking great....highly recommended.
Marty G gave it an 8:
No myslim ze Underworld jasne ukazali svetu, ze rozhodne jeste nepatri do staryho zeleza. Ackoli "utrpeli mensi ztratu" po odchodu Darrena Emmersona, je videt ze jejich sverazny styl to nijak zvlast neovlivnilo. Zkratka, Underworld sou, podle me, i nadale premianti v teto oblasti elektronicke hudby. Jen tak dal hosi!! NOTE: Please forgive me that I didn't use English. I couldn't manage it very well :-)
Green V gave it a 9:
I've been an Underworld fan ever since I've been an electronica fan, which has been over eight years now. This album has a distinctly different style from the other Underworld albums, but they have distinctly different sounds from one another as well. The lyrics aren't quite as cryptic and it has a more mellow feel overall, but it's great music. I listened to "Two Months Off" for the first time this morning and it moved me to tears. That hasn't happened in a while.
Mike P gave it a 7:
Solid and mostly satisfying, but somewhat sparse compared to the previous three Underworld albums.
david s gave it a 5:
Nice, but not great, pretty forgettable.
Sir Spite gave it a 6:
This is your parents' progressive house. Great single, and a lot of noodly Back to Mine-style wankery. Something for tasteful hipsters to drink good coffee to, but not entirely discouraging for Underworld fans, nonetheless...
Craig C. gave it a 9:
great background music. this is pretty much the mellower version of underworld.
