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The Orb`s adventures beyond the ultraworld ( double album ) UK Edition

1991 - Island Records™ - © 1991 Inter Modo

1. Little Fluffy Clouds

This song has a lovely synth line in the background. Good use of sampled speech. The drum loop throughout the song is also nice, With a standard 909 kick and snappy snare drum. The speed is about 120 bpm.

Running time : 4.27

Starts of with a low synth sound held down. A lot of nice samples are used in this track. Bird Sounds, Aeroplanes, a choir like sound in the background. The sampled speech fits in really well also. A good solid no nonsense bassline is their also. The drums are brilliant with at least two drum kits layered on top of each other. Crisp snares and tight kicks. Nice arpeggiated Sounds.

Running time : 9.48

Starts with a well known Korg M1 choir patch. Next comes some sounds panned from left to right with some 808 hi hats. Samples continue with a choir in the background. The song is quite minimalist, mellow even. About 3.45 minutes into the song an excellent breakbeat is used. Which has a really crisp snare and phatt kick. The bassline is a simple three note one with a deep sound. The tempo is about 120 bpm.

Running time : 11.56

The Korg choir patch is back. A lovely patch i use myself. A funny droning sound is in the background. More use of sampled speech and not much on the drum front going on. Just some bongos.

Running time : 14.15

5. Spanish Castles in space

Starts of with an alien like sound with whistling wind and a Spanish speech sample. Next comes a synth pad sound and acoustic guitar i think. A cymbal is being played and panned to the right of the mix. An acoustic bass now comes in with a spacey piano and guitar. Strings come in later on. Not many drums in the track.

Running time : 15.06

6. Perpetual Dawn

A Robotic effect is used on a well known speech. Counting down from 10 - 1 is the first thing you hear. Next, a reggae style drum loop comes in with an offbeat stab. A weird brilliant sound sample is used throughout. It sounds like when you speak and tap your lips up and down . Nice reverb is used on the stab and a bit of delay on the drums.

Running time : 9.32

7. Into the fourth dimension

Starts of with some weird effects and sampled speech. Some lovely Gregorian choir next and more sampled speech. A droning synth is panning from left to right in the background. About 2.30 minutes into the song , drums appear with a 4/4 pattern with a 909 kick and snappy high pitched snare. Next comes a nice synth and violin part. Some more percussion sounds introduced now. A deep bassline with a nice lead sound is used later on.

Running time : 9.15

8. Outlands

A bit of rain and some space bell like textures at the beginning. A super fly over airplane next with phasing. Some lovely sound samples and noises are used including cars and robots. I love the rave synth organ , or should i say the Hammond Organ. Nice layers of sounds and the drums are great. The bass is well phat and holds nicely in the mix

Running time : 8.23

9. Star 6 @ 7 8 9

Some bird Samples and motorbike sounds start this track. A voice with a London accent comes next with some excellent textured bells. I love the bee sample also. A wicked Guitar piece is next. This is my second favourite track on the album. It reminds me of summer days gone by. A bit of a choir later on and some great percussion sounds.

Running time : 8.10

10. A huge ever growing pulsating brain that rules from the centre of the ultraworld

This is my favourite track of all time. The multiple synth lines and sounds are awesome. Waterfall sounds and choirs mixed together expertly.Sweeping filtered textures. So mellow. I love the church bells later on in the mix. The samples used are excellent also.

Running time : 18.49

A superb album worth listening to for many years to come.

U.F. ORB ( U.K version ) ..

1992 - Island Records™ - © 1992 Inter Modo

1. O.O.B.E

This song has a some lovely synth sounds. Good use of samples . There are hardly any drums going on throughout the song. The textured used are great with choir like sounds and a nice bassline. A pretty good track overall.

Running time : 12.51

Starts of with a some swirling microwave like pads and good use of sample speech. Next comes a standard 4/4 kick pattern with a good bassline. A awesome synth sound makes it way into the mix. The track builds up very well with some good percussion sounds and some nice hi hats. There are some great samples used throughout. Nice mellow track.

Running time : 6.08

This song is brilliant. Many sounds are used throughout the song, including, water samples, lush thin pads, air rade sirens, creaking doors, jets, bubbly synth sounds etc.... This is actually a cut down version, as there is a much longer version available. The bassline is absolutely wicked. Nice use of drum loops and sounds. Very good song.

Running time : 17.37

A classic track. The begining is very funny. Some good use of sounds are used throughout. Dog sounds with delay and reverb on them. I love the bell like textures overlapped onto each other. I have heard some really good mixes of this track. This mix is pretty good. The hi hats and drums used are great and the accordian is a nice touch. Another classic bassline. This song is my favourite on the album.

Running time : 15.00

Sweeping synth sounds are the order of the day here. Superb synth sounds and pads are used. The bass sound is solid and kept simple. This works really well throughout the song. Standard 4/4 909 kick drum sound and hi hats. Some weird bell like stuff hits you in the right place. This track is almost trance like, before trance music was invented.

Running time : 10.27

All the basslines from the orb are the best basslines i have heard. More bell like textures and good use of drum loops. Sampled speech is very good. Some acid like synths are used to great effect. Flutes are also used with a bit of piano later on.

Running time : 11.06

50 seconds of wood crackling and other sound effects. Bubbling synth sounds.

Running time : 0.50

A superb album worth listening to for many years to come.

The Orb ..ORBVS . TERRARVM ...( Cassette Version )..

1995 - Island Records™ - © 1995 Island Records

Produced by The Orb and Thomas Fehlman. Engineered by Andy Hughes. Artwork by MadArk , London

1. Valley

This track starts of with a couple of speech samples with some pad sounds in the background. A Nice bassline is used and some good drum sounds. The hi hats roll along nicely and blend into the background. There are some interesting synth sounds used, including some great glassy pad sounds and lead synth. Altogether a good mellow track.

Running time : 7.37

Beautiful sparkling pad sounds and gliding sounds are used in this tranquil number. Excellent use of blending sounds together. The pad string sounds are out of this World , with lush textures. The hi hats and drum sounds used also blend in superbly.The bassline is also good, with flashes of some great sound effects. An excellent song.

Running time : 13.18

3. Oxbow Lakes

Probably the best Piano chord structure i have heard in a long time. I have not worked out the chords yet. This song has some great samples and sounds throughout. From bubbling synths in the background to drain pipe like noises. The whole rhythm is superb. I especially like the synth sound used for the lead sound, with its psychedelic nature and delay. Talking of droning sounds, the bass does this to good effect. Later on some glass like pad sounds and more sound effects. The Superb Piano part slides back into play covered in sparkling textures. Good use of reverb and delay used throughout.

Running time : 7.29

The best song on this album, in my opinion. The whole song ouses with class. From space like textured pads to soft strings, through to bee like synth sounds. Absolutely awesome use of blending sounds together. Next we come to the drums and bassline used. The drums are good with nice hi hats along with a good bass sound. They both build up nicely and then hit you for six near the end breakdown.

Running time : 10.42

Listen to the radio. Another good track from the Orb. Nice use of bass combined with a hollow pad. Interesting sound effects and speech are used with deep synth sounds. The percussion is treated to possibly a light phaser effect. There are a lot of layers going on with some sounds panned to the left and others to the right. Altogether a good solid little number.

Running time : 9.36

Another great track here, with some interesting sounds used. A 4/4 drum kick is used with an acid like sound driving the whole experience. glass pads are also involved in this weird little track. If you listen carefully you can hear many layers used. The Orb have a way of blending sounds together expertly. Trademark use of people speaking combined with the famous filter unit used by the doc.

Running time : 13.35

6. SLVG DVB

This track is just so funny. The use of sampled speech combined with delay is priceless. You just have to listen to the speech. Lush pads and stab chords launch you into another world of Orb madness. Great use of effects like phaser, reverb, delay, Compression etc. What a phat bassline we have hear. Nice drums with a solid kick and snare. Processed hi hats and wobbly bass. Awesome strings and pads. Fancy a slug for dinner.

Running time : 16.04

My Overall Rating ....9/10 ....**********

9 Stars, Due to some ground breaking textures used and great samples
There are some great songs in this album which stand out.
Good Engineering and mixing overall.

The Orb ....POMME FRITZ ...( Cassette Version )......

1994 - Island Records™ - © 1994 Inter Modo

Written by The Orb, Sun Electric and Thomas Fehlman.

1. POMME FRITZ ...( MEAT `N VEG )

A good collection of sounds available in this track. Nice bass sound and good dub style to it. Some beautiful pad sounds, like frosted glass. Good use of percussion and sound effects. Filtering is nice and the little piano ditty is great. Very mellow track. Good looping on sounds and rhythm. Overall a great track.

Running time : 9.04

Trademark Orb samples used in this track. More glassy pads and some strange sounds and effects. Not really a structure to the track. Although the sounds do draw you in. More like an experiment in sound manipulation. Space bleeps and rumbling bass. I think their microwave synth has been well abused in this one. If you listen carefully their are some interesting rhythm`s going on.It does get painful to listen to at times though.

Running time : 8.05

Nice use of sample manipulation. An old 1930`s vocal has been taken and screwed to oblivion. Strange track with some appeal. Many different samples are used in this track. With panning of the said samples all over the place and some delay added. Not my cup of tea i`m afraid.

Running time : 7.15

This is better than the last track. Some good samples and a lovely deep sine bass sound. I love the pad sound in the background. The song does shift to a new level later on. Some nice snares used and a sharp kick sound. Good track

Running time : 7.47

Superb pad sounds are used throughout this song. The Use of samples are good.With some weather related samples of a woman with an American accent. Sweeping glass like pads and a pulsating deep bass sound takes you to a good place. Not much use of percussion and drums in this one. However, this track does not really need any. This Good solid Track, gets my vote.

Running time : 7.17

Funny little track with an old organ sound and very good use of samples. Nice bassline. Nice Train sound and laughter. I like it.

Running time : 2.03

My Overall Rating ....8/10 ....**********

I think this album deserves 8 Stars, Due to some good textures used and great samples.
There are some good tracks in this album which do stand out above some of the lesser ones.
Good Engineering and mixing overall.