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Beaucoup Fish - Underworld
  • Band Name: Underworld
  • Record Label: V2
  • Release Date: Mar 1, 1999
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    100
    Wipe away its dusting of frost and you'll encounter mystery, beauty, and alluring rhapsodies, with the warm, pulsating beats serving as the music's heart.
  2. E! Online
    91
    Imagine a dance floor where Steve Reich raves, Talking Heads reunite and disco divas shake their booty with pierced punks.
  3. MTV.com
    90
    Beaucoup Fish is 74 non-stop minutes-worth of next level disco inferno.
  4. Magnet
    90
    The first great album of '99. [March 1999]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Ink Blot Magazine
    90
    Beaucoup Fish is a steady step above second LP Second Toughest in the Infants, and while it never scales the more spectacular heights of Underworld's debut, this album sounds like a grower.
  6. Almost Cool
    80
    If you like the group's other work, you'll definitely want to pick this up, even though it may take awhile to grow on you. Just don't expect a revolution.
  7. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    The absence of quirky samples and lame big beats make it all sound, right now, strangely radical.
  8. All Music Guide
    80
    And though it is a disappointing record compared to the group's high-flying previous albums, it displays Underworld's talents well.
  9. Dot Music
    80
    Furious techno stomps and mellow streamlined electronica clash head on with Karl Hyde's often nonsensical vocal style, pushing the group forward yet sticking close to their original blueprint.
  10. CDNow
    80
    Artistically, Beaucoup Fish lives up to its advance billing, crisscrossing the genres of rock, techno, ambient, disco and jazz to create a rich, multi-leveled listening experience.
  11. Armchair DJ
    80
    Beaucoup Fish isn't a huge step forward for Underworld, but it is a refinement of their sound.
  12. Splendid
    80
    Underworld's music rarely makes dull listening, even at its most linear.
  13. Village Voice
    80
    A shiny little appliance that fragments its 11 tracks into nearly as many subgenres, doing away with the seamless sprawl of their earlier records.
  14. Rolling Stone
    70
    Their specialty is an undulating trance throb that shimmers with shades of rock, contemporary symphonics, dub, disco, house, spoken word, whatever. The result still sounds like Underworld, and the fiftieth play sounds better than the fifth.
  15. The A.V. Club
    70
    Like its predecessor, though, Beaucoup Fish is too unfocused to prove consistently potent.
  16. Pitchfork
    68
    It shouldn't surprise anyone in today's age of shattered expectations that Beaucoup Fish is not as great as we'd hoped.
  17. Austin Chronicle
    67
    It all sounds like something you've heard before, but done better, faster, slicker.
  18. Q Magazine
    60
    Midway through, however, Karl Hyde stretches himself too far with the minimal This Mortal Coil-styled ballad SKYM, exposing the weaknesses in his singing voice.
  19. Launch.com
    60
    Few other contemporary electronic acts are quite so savvy in their subtle manipulation of traditional song elements within a cybernetic context.
  20. Sonicnet
    50
    Unfortunately, the obtrusive vocals mess up the vibe like an unwelcome party crasher. Underworld's experiments with electronica, vocals and rock are dismal failures.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. DanMetacritic94
    9
    Underworld had really made a name for themselves after two critically acclaimed albums Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest in the Infants and they had continued the trend with their third album Beaucoup Fish. This was the last studio album to feature Darren Emerson before he left the group to pursue a solo career, but he made sure that he was going out with a bang on this album. I described Dubnobasswithmyheadman as a fun pop record and Second Toughest in the Infants as an emotionally driving record. I like to describe Beaucoup Fish as a head-banging record. You just can’t stop banging your head and dancing because the music, the beats, Karl Hyde’s vocals and lyrics and the production values from Rick Smith and Darren Emerson are so good, which is what we come to expect from them. Cups is a great start to the album. It starts off as an ambient track and then it keeps progressing and the tension builds and builds and ending with one of the best endings ever to a track ever. Push Upstairs is a great track with heavy beats and a great piano queue mixed into it. Jumbo is a really good track. It almost feels like you’re in a dream because it makes you feel like you’re escaping the real world which is what I love about electronic music. Shudder/King of Snake is by far the best track on the album. This song…My god is it so **** addicting to listen to. The beats are incredible, the piano sounds are awesome, scratching sounds are fantastic and the energy on the track is just amazing!!! I swear after listening to Shudder/King of Snake I felt like my head was about to explode from awesomeness!!! Winjer and Skym are both really nice tracks and a nice break from the huge beat-banging tracks. Then we got Bruce Lee which is a nice change of pace. Really great beats and the scratching sounds are cool as hell. Kittens is such a crazy track, but it is awesome. The beats once again is great, I love the music that has been put into it and I just love the build-up in the beginning and I also love when it slows down in the middle of the track, then it starts to build-up again and hits you with huge beats and they made another great ending to this track. Just Awesome!!! Push Downstairs is what you can tell from the title of the track is a different version of Push Upstairs. This track is pretty good and again a nice break after the last track. Something Like a Mama is another great track and along with Jumbo, this track also made me feel like I was in a nice dream and I love the ending to the track. Along with Shudder/King of Snake and Kittens, Moaner is a monster of a track. Fantastic beats and again the build-up are fantastic. I mentioned in my Second Toughest in the Infants review where I said that the track Pearls Girl made me feel like I was raining chaos while I was listening to it, Moaner is definetly that kind of track. Awesome track and a great end to the album. While Beaucoup Fish is not a complete masterpiece like Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest in the Infants was, Underworld has succeeded on making this album a huge club-banger on so many levels. If you’re one of those people who likes that kind of electronic music, then you should definetly pick this album up and listen to great electronic music from the electronic masters that is Underworld. 4.5 stars out of 5… Full Review »
  2. Joris
    10
    Underworld's best by far, yes I own Dubnobasswithmyheadman... this was a big step forward with incredible melodies and shapeshifting creations. Favourites are Cups (amazing transgression), King of Snakes, Something Like a Mama and Jumbo. Except for Bruce Lee this is a winner.… Full Review »
  3. JenB
    10
    Like a good wine, gets better and better. It's a masterpiece of electronic music and house beats.
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