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Vladel
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,525 posts
Joined: Feb, 2008
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 Posted - 2013/11/23 : 23:45:54
I had this idea considering we have had 7 in the series and many of us have spoken of HU4 being our favorite so i thought i would look back and try and work out where they rank from my current perspective on hardcore.
Oddly enough i didn't really catch the first compilation till a year after release and it was only through someone on this forum mentioning it being his favorite compilation of 2006 which was my favorite year for hardcore. I guess it was easy to miss one during those days whereas, these days a major Cd release is a big event.
I decided in the spirit of this thread to have a good listen through the series and i found that to my surprise that when i went back through them, the first and second didn't have as many what i would consider stand out tunes as i would have expected. Both albums have some good stuff and were my first introduction to Fracus and Darwin in their respective pairings for the first two discs. It is funny how i usually struggle to remember who they partnered with for the first two albums to be honest. The first two also yielded no favorite discs but also no stand out performances either, yet some of the tracks still list among what i would consider some of the greatest. It wasn't until HU3 that i think the series gained momentum. The Brisk & Ham disk was a huge step in the right direction whilst the Fracus & Stormtrooper disk was probably the weakest of the album to be honest. Mark smith & Al storm did a much better but the best disk was the fourth by Darwin, CLSM & Nu foundation and really showed where the series could go and pressure rush was a fantastic opening.
I found the breaks on this disk where refreshing enough without causing extra track skipping and held my interest quite a bit but it was conventional hardcore that didit for me with Wizzy by nu foundation being a huge highlight of the compilation. Suddenly the series felt like a real contender just when the scene needed it.
Next up was what i would consider HU's pinnacle, HU 4. The massive difference here is that even the tracks i'm not crazy about are pretty good and well worth a listen to. The second disk from brisk & marc smith is much better than the last one from brisk & ham with some great highlights like look at the heaven, on and one 2009, drift away, the kurt remix of now is the time. Even the Fracus & Darwin disk that led the album wasn't half bad. The third disk by Al storm & Kutski goes down as possibly my favorite HU disk of the whole series with that many quality highlights it's not even worth mentioning except for Al storms remix of flowers need the rain (utter game changing track). The freeform disk starts well and goes down from there and already shows signs of inferiority against the stuff from earlier years although Jasmine is a nice tune, the rest idn't up to scratch.
HU 2010 was one i was perhaps overly harsh against when i look back now and that was basically because it followed the magnificence of HU4 which was always going to be hard to follow. the first disk of Brisk, Ham & Fracus was HU4 worth in quality and 80% of that came from the brisk related tunes. This was when i considered him to be on top of his game with fire & flames and Lets live forever being the huge highlights of the album. Also Code of the street is one hell of a track that really stands out for me. The problem was how the album went downhill from there with Kev and Sharkey not really having anything that matched the stuff that had gone before and to be honest the last disk was pretty forgettable. Disk 1 had done all it could but for me freeform was rapidly going off and i'm not sure what happened with the last disk.
HU5 got the biggest battering from me because of what i had hoped #5 would be and that was a worthy successor to #4 which we didn't get. To be honest it wasn't as bad as i had rated the album at the time and looking back there are alot of tracks i later bought as singles through trackitdown.
Disk one i remember quite a few people saying that Al Storm and Technikore had made a clubland cd and maybe they were a year late because we should all remember what clubland released in the dubcore shitefest #8 a few months later which probably made this disk seem much better. Aside from sheltered, the whole disk is throwaway and the number of tracks coupled with short track lengths was the biggest problem. Disk 2 by Fracus, Darwin & Brisk is the 100% worst ever effort by HU at anything ever. Still today i consider it horrid. Life's a journey is the only respite in what is a fest of bland shite unworthy of the label it's printed on and i'm so glad its gone. It still suprises me how much i hate it it really bothers me that much.
I found the slipmatt/entity disk fascinating and sadly not enough to rescue the album and there is not really enough standout stuff on there worth mentioning for me. The fourth disk with douglas and AB well....
Ok freeform rant coming here. Its been said on here that freeform is for those who are creative and not following the narrowminded view of upfront but in all fairness, freeform used to be varied and creative but after kev and sharkey left, the rest of the guys just took the dark and twisty stuff and that was all that was left. This was truely the first HU coffee cup coaster disk ever and well we know who added the next one a couple of years later.
HU6 came along and while breaks are not my thing which counts out one disk and freeform is a shadow of its former self (At peace and Ranzor give me hope that it may yet be saved), it meant that only two disks were left for me and one of them being Fracus & Darwin (oh dear i thought). Yet maybe it is my tastes changing i don't know but i find the Fracus & Darwin disk being quite literally awesome with the scott brown / Al Storm disk a close second. HU6 remains a true return to form yet it is just a representation of the current scene. Imagine if we could have ditched the snoozecore fourth disk for powerstomp and CLSM/Entity had played more stuff like the last track on their disk? Maybe not HU4 but pretty close maybe. Anyhow it's all better than dubcore so i guess it's all good so where does this leave the series?
Starting from the best
1st HU4 by a mile
2nd HU6
3rd HU3
4th HU 2010
5th HU 2
6th HU1
7th HU5 worst by a mile
Best disk HU 4 CD 3 followed by Hu 2010 disk 1
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remain calm do not be alarmed do not attempt to leave the dancefloor
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Quicksilver
Advanced Member
Sweden
2,545 posts
Joined: Jul, 2007
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Posted - 2013/11/24 : 03:12:55
My top 3:
HU4 (best disc CD4)
HU6 (best disc CD2)
HU3 (best disc tie between CD4/1)
The rest are somewhere below top 3. :P
HU2010 CD1+2 are very nice as well.
Hardcore Underground is exactly what I want to hear in hardcore. CXH series last couple of releases just have some nice tracks and the other 75% ranges from mediocre to crap, and it all sounds the same. HU has diversity, quality and the heart in the right place. You can tell how the label do it out of love, whilst the CXH crew do it for money and pleasing the biggest crowd. Plus Breeze's attitude and behaviour stinks. He's, what, 45+, but acts like he's 16.
Keep it up, CDjay and the rest of the HU crew.
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a.k.a. Phaaze
My SOUNDCLOUD
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Edited by - Quicksilver on 2013/11/24 03:20:27 |
Cyrax
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
623 posts
Joined: May, 2012
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Posted - 2013/11/24 : 11:19:56
CD 4 of HU4 is sensational
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_Jay_
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
6,868 posts
Joined: Oct, 2011
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Posted - 2013/11/24 : 12:56:30
Fracus and Al Storm's mix on Hardcore Underground 2 is absolutely monstrous. Some insane tunes on there.
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CDJay
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,049 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
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Posted - 2013/11/24 : 13:31:06
It's probably not quite time for a full on retrospective on HU6, from me/us, but I will say that was markedly more confident on release this time around.
HU4 is a weird one, very much right-place-right-time. Despite the seeming proximity to HU3, that album was wrapped the previous year, we had a full year to work on HU4. A lot of our regular series features sat alongside new names and heavy hitters. Oli G and Lost Soul had a full year to work on their mix across the Atlantic (organised, organised people). We had made the conscious decision to pair Fracus & Darwin, and push them towards the main stage so we had a presence there. By the time we actually came to "do" it, we were pretty sure it was the last thing we'd do. We couldn't pay the pressing plant, the financial hangover from HU3 was significant, the whole thing seemingly unsustainable. We were more worried about legacy than results.
We were very worried about following HU4, and spent a long long time juggling things in the background. Presents 2010 was conceived as a label/artist showcase sister series to buy us time to work on HU5, and over performed IMO. 2010 was notable as despite surviving 2009, it was becoming increasingly clear that we couldn't continue to operate as a label/outfit without some sort of reliable presence on main stages. The lack of DJs featured there was becoming a stick that HU as a whole could be beaten with. With that in mind, we made a reasonable push for Breakthrough using activity (Ravin Eye CD etc.) That, amazingly, worked. Then 2011 happened.
I still don't really like talking about it, but suffice to say 2011 was a total catastrophe. Losing Nu Foundation totally and utterly ruined us all as a collective. We tried to pick ourselves up for HU5, as the scene really seemed to need a snapshot, but I've held my hands up before (and surely shall do again) and admit I failed to A&R the album as a whole properly. The difference with HU albums versus many others in the past, is that it's really approached a single project. *Not* a bunch of CDs that sit together to afford maximum sales. When it went out, I had already identified most of the complaints that followed. As an album in it's own right, particularly given the climate in which it was conceived, it's surprisingly solid. As a follow up to HU4, not so much.
Which leads us to HU6. Which *is* great, despite being born yet again in a less than hospitable time and place. As proud of it as I am, I don't have the same fear of following it when compared to HU4. why? We're getting ever closer to the ultimate goal; a genuine snapshot across the scene featuring the biggest tracks of the year alongside some slow burn fascinating stuff. Top tier alongside underground, proven meets promising. Wider industry support.
For HU7 I hope to be able to do what we always wanted: put out a proper compilation album. It could happen. 
As for my rankings
HU4
HU6 (in close pursuit)
HU1 (CD1 is a real timepiece, CD3 is to be aspired to in intent if not always execution)
HU3 (the lack of freeform hurts it, which was adressed on HU4. Still pretty good)
HU5 (CD3 is tremendous )
HU2 (CD2 is great, CD3 lost a lot of material as it was being mixed which didn't help. There is a girl on the front cover. FFS. Still, it made HU3 happen on our terms)
Presents 2010 is a very different sort of album, as is presents 2013.
CDJay
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Http://www.hardcoreunderground.co.uk
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kazukism92
Senior Member
Chile
302 posts
Joined: Aug, 2013
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Posted - 2013/11/24 : 18:28:25
Not much to say about the Hardcore Underground stuff, It does have many surprises on every production, also I'm impressed the way that bring me life with that kind of music and the compilations and mixes that everyone made from this compilation.
Previously I had listen HU4 only the Fracus & Darwin and Al Storm & Kutski albums, were pretty sicky, sadly (PUNCH ME!) i heared on YouTube -and this is not the idea- :(. And currently I want that compilation so bad, some tracks were pretty awesome and wicked.
In other stance. about my HU library, I can say only that HU3,
-Brisk & Ham CD was a floorbreaker.
-Marc Smith & Al Storm CD so stomper and sicky.
-Fracus & Stormtrooper CD, is my favorite.
-Darwin, Nu Foundation & CLSM CD, is like a mixture of all spectrum of hardcore.
Not sure if mention artist album, their sister label album CD and limited releases (I have only Summer Session).
And in comparison between with other compilations, THIS... does have a great and perfect definition of hardcore.
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Check my mixes!
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Switchback1983
Starting Member
United Kingdom
9 posts
Joined: Nov, 2013
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Posted - 2013/11/30 : 17:11:20
Hardcore Underground 1. This is still arguably the best HU album to date. Particularly for the Darwin and Cube::Hard mix. That was virtually flawless. Note: I didn't like the Save You track. But other than that I genuinely couldn't fault it.
The Kurt & Stormtrooper mix was epic as well. Listened to that mix a few weeks ago and it still sounds good. The Fracus & Mozz mix was OK, but Fracus hadn't really found is groove, so to speak, and Mozz was always a bit hit or miss for me as a producer.
The second HU album, looking back wasn't that great. There's a few great tracks splattered across the 3 mixes but it's an album I never listen too really.
The 3rd HU album is actually my favourite in terms of the four mixes. Love CD1 and 4 in particular. I actually prefer this album on a whole to HU4. The general consensus is HU4 is the benchmark but not for me. I do think it's a solid enough album, but I don't know. I've always held volume 3 in higher regard.
HU5 is brilliant. Love the Entity & Slipmatt mix. This should be the standard in which all mixes try to follow. A.B and Douglas' mix was really good as well. I know 2011 was a difficult year for all involved with HU, but that album came at the right time and I don't have any complaints with it.
HU 6: To me this is an outstanding album and AGAIN! has came at the right time for the scene. CD3 (CLSM/Entity) mix is flawless. 10/10 mix and a really brave move to have an entire mix filled with BBHC. The Storm & Brown mix was really enjoyable, and it's the best mix that F&D have done to date as well.
HU Pres 2010 was OK. I wasn't that into the Sharkey & Kevin Energy mix. I had a feeling that things were winding down for them after hearing that. No Sharkey material featured was a huge disappointment. Although I seem to recall he wasn't in the best of health during this period and that obviously contributed to his creative involvement.
But yeah, in order of my favourite albums I'll go for....
HU1 (Best mix the Darwin & Cube:: Hard)
HU 6 (Entity & CLSM mix is just f**king sensational)
HU 3 (Brisk and Ham steal the show on this)
HU 4 (Al Storm & Kutski)
HU 5 (Slipmatt & Entity)
HU Pres 2010
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warped_candykid
Advanced Member
United States
3,982 posts
Joined: Jan, 2004
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Posted - 2013/12/01 : 04:50:41
Based on the albums I own...
#1: HU 3
#2: HU 1
#3: HU 5
#4: HU 4
#5: HU 2010
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