U.F.Orb

U.F.Orb is the second studio album by English electronic music group The Orb. It was released on 6 July 1992 as their last work with record label Big Life.[1] Upon its release, the album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The music database AllMusic described it as "the commercial and artistic peak of the ambient-house movement."[2]

U.F.Orb
Studio album by
The Orb
Released6 July 1992 (1992-07-06)[1]
RecordedMetalworks studio Toronto Canada 1991
Genre
Length73:55
LabelBig Life
Producer
The Orb chronology
The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
(1991)		 U.F.Orb
(1992)		 Live 93
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA[4]
NME9/10[5]
Record Collector[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Select5/5[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[9]
Uncut[10]
The Village VoiceB−[11]

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".[12] U.F.Orb reached number one on the UK Albums Chart to the shock of critics, who were surprised that fans had embraced what journalists considered to be progressive rock.[13] Heavily influenced by The Orb and U.F.Orb in particular, many trip hop groups sprang up emulating The Orb's "chill-out blueprint".[14] U.F.Orb expresses The Orb's fascination with alien life with its bizarre sound samples and in the album's title itself.[15] The album's single, "Blue Room", is itself a reference to the supposed Blue Room of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which was investigated as a possible UFO evidence-holding room.[16]

"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-inch of the soundtrack to the film The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld: Patterns and Textures.

On 1 October 2007, the album was reissued on two CDs as part of Universal Music's "Collector's Series". All the tracks were remastered, and the release coincided with the 15th anniversary of the album's release. The second CD includes remixes from the singles released around the period of the original album.

Track listing

Original release
Big Life – BLRLP 18, 513 749-1
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."O.O.B.E"Alex Paterson, Kris Weston, Thomas Fehlmann12:51
2."U.F.Orb"Paterson, Weston6:08
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Room"Paterson, Weston, Miquette Giraudy, Steve Hillage, John Joseph Ward, Neil Fraser17:34
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Towers of Dub"Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann14:58
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Close Encounters"Paterson, Weston, Orde Meikle, Stuart McMillan10:27
2."Majestic"Paterson, Weston, Martin Glover11:06
3."Sticky End"Paterson, Weston0:49
Total length:1:13:55

1992 US double CD edition
Mercury – 314 513 749-2, Big Life – 314 513 749-2
Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."O.O.B.E"Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann12:51
2."U.F.Orb"Paterson, Weston6:08
3."Blue Room"Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser17:34
4."Towers of Dub"Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann15:00
5."Close Encounters"Paterson, Weston, Meikle, McMillan10:27
6."Majestic"Paterson, Weston, Glover11:06
7."Sticky End"Paterson, Weston0:49
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Room" (Edit)Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser3:09
2."Blue Room" (Remix)Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser7:37
3."Assassin" (The Oasis of Rhythms Mix)Paterson, Weston, Lewis Keogh15:14
4."Blue Room" (Full Length)Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser40:00
Total length:2:19:55

15th anniversary edition
Universal Music – 5300703
Disc 1 – Orbit One: U.F.Orb Remastered
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."O.O.B.E"Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann12:51
2."U.F.Orb"Paterson, Weston6:08
3."Blue Room"Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser17:34
4."Towers of Dub"Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann15:00
5."Close Encounters"Paterson, Weston, Meikle, McMillan10:27
6."Majestic"Paterson, Weston, Glover11:06
7."Sticky End"Paterson, Weston0:49
Disc 2 – Orbit Two: Remixes
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."O.O.B.E" (Andy Hughes Mix)Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann11:58
2."Towers of Dub" (Ambient Mix)Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann10:14
3."Blue Room" (Ambient at Mark Angelo's Mix)Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser8:57
4."Close Encounters" (Ambient Mix 1)Paterson, Weston, Meikle, McMillan12:49
5."Majestic" (Mix 1)Paterson, Weston, Glover11:52
6."Assassin" (Chocolate Hills of Bohol Mix)Paterson, Weston, Keogh11:06
Total length:2:24:22

References
  1. Redmond, Steve, ed. (20 June 1992). "Chart Newcomers: The Orb" (PDF). Music Week. London: Spotlight Publications. p. 9.
  2. Bush, John. "U.F.Orb – The Orb". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  4. Svetkey, Benjamin (4 December 1992). "u.f.orb". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  5. George, Iestyn (7 April 1992). "The Orb – UF Orb". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  6. Grady, Spencer (December 2007). "The Orb – UFOrb". Record Collector (343). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "The Orb". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 604–05. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. Perry, Andrew (August 1992). "The Orb: U F Orb". Select (26): 96.
  9. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. "The Orb: U.F.Orb". Uncut. 2007. Peppered with surreal humour, hypnotic sound paintings like 'Close Encounters' and Top 10 single 'Blue Room' have barely dated.
  11. Christgau, Robert (23 November 1993). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  12. 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.
  13. Sullivan, Caroline (9 April 1993). "Breakdown". The Guardian.
  14. Shapiro, Peter (1999). The Rough Guide to Drum 'n' Bass. Rough Guides. pp. 327–329. ISBN 1-85828-433-3.
  15. Holthouse, David (24 April 1997). "Eye of the Orb". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  16. Sandall, Robert (12 July 1992). "Hippie dippie draw". The Times.
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