U.F.Orb
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = U.F.Orb
| type = Album
| artist = the Orb
| cover = The Orb-U.F.Orb (album cover).jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|1992|7|6|df=yes}}{{cite news |title=Chart Newcomers: The Orb|location=London|editor-last=Redmond|editor-first=Steve|page=9|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Week-IDX/IDX/1992/MW-1992-06-20-IDX-9.pdf|work=Music Week |publisher=Spotlight Publications |date=20 June 1992}}
| recorded = Metalworks studio Toronto Canada 1991
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| length = 73:55
| label = Big Life
| producer = {{flatlist|
- The Orb
- Steve Hillage
- Youth
}}
| prev_title = The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
| prev_year = 1991
| next_title = Live 93
| next_year = 1993
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/uforb-mw0000090235 |title=U.F.Orb – The Orb |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=20 November 2015 |last=Bush |first=John}}
| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=0-85712-595-8}}
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = A{{cite magazine |url=https://www.ew.com/article/1992/12/04/uforb |title=u.f.orb |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=4 December 1992 |access-date=23 August 2009 |last=Svetkey |first=Benjamin}}
| rev4 = NME
| rev4Score = 9/10{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000306reviews.html |title=The Orb – UF Orb |magazine=NME |date=7 April 1992 |access-date=20 November 2015 |last=George |first=Iestyn |author-link=Iestyn George |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817190730/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000306reviews.html |archive-date=17 August 2000}}
| rev5 = Record Collector
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/uforb |title=The Orb – UFOrb |magazine=Record Collector |issue=343 |date=December 2007 |access-date=20 November 2015 |last=Grady |first=Spencer}}
| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev6Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=The Orb |last=Wolk |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Wolk |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |edition=4th |year=2004 |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/604 604–05] }}
| rev7 = Select
| rev7Score = 5/5{{cite magazine |title=The Orb: U F Orb |magazine=Select |issue=26 |date=August 1992 |last=Perry |first=Andrew |page=96}}
| rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
| rev8score = 9/10{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8}}
| rev9 = Uncut
| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=The Orb: U.F.Orb |magazine=Uncut |date=2007 |quote=Peppered with surreal humour, hypnotic sound paintings like 'Close Encounters' and Top 10 single 'Blue Room' have barely dated.}}
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10score = B−{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ts93-93.php |title=Turkey Shoot |newspaper=The Village Voice |location=New York |date=November 23, 1993 |access-date=July 5, 2013 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}
}}
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. 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."{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/uforb-mw0000090235 |title=U.F.Orb – The Orb |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=20 November 2015 |last=Bush |first=John}}
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".{{cite book |last=Prendergast |first=Mark |title=The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby – The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=1-58234-323-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ambientcenturyfr00pren/page/407 407–412] }} 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.{{cite news|work=The Guardian |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline |date=9 April 1993 |title=Breakdown}} Heavily influenced by the Orb and U.F.Orb in particular, many trip hop groups sprang up emulating the Orb's "chill-out blueprint".{{cite book|last=Shapiro |first=Peter |title =The Rough Guide to Drum 'n' Bass| author-link=Peter Shapiro (journalist) |year=1999 |isbn=1-85828-433-3 |publisher= Rough Guides |pages=327–329}} U.F.Orb expresses the Orb's fascination with alien life with its bizarre sound samples and in the album's title itself.{{cite news|last=Holthouse|first=David|url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/eye-of-the-orb-6423147|title=Eye of the Orb|date=24 April 1997|work=Phoenix New Times|access-date=2 March 2020}} 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.{{cite news|work=The Times |last=Sandall |first=Robert |date=12 July 1992 |title=Hippie dippie draw}}
"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=
{{Track listing
|headline = Big Life {{nobold|– BLRLP 18, 513 749-1}}
Side one
|title1 = O.O.B.E
|writer1 = Alex Paterson, Kris Weston, Thomas Fehlmann
|length1 = 12:51
|title2 = U.F.Orb
|length2 = 6:08
|writer2 = Paterson, Weston
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = Side two
|title1 = Blue Room
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Miquette Giraudy, Steve Hillage, John Joseph Ward, Neil Fraser
|length1 = 17:34
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = Side three
|title1 = Towers of Dub
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length1 = 14:58
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = Side four
|total_length = 1:13:55
|title1 = Close Encounters
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Orde Meikle, Stuart McMillan
|length1 = 10:27
|title2 = Majestic
|writer2 = Paterson, Weston, Martin Glover
|length2 = 11:06
|title3 = Sticky End
|length3 = 0:49
|writer3 = Paterson, Weston
}}
=1992 US double CD edition=
{{Track listing
|headline = Mercury {{nobold|– 314 513 749-2,}} Big Life {{nobold|– 314 513 749-2}}
Disc 1
|title1 = O.O.B.E
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length1 = 12:51
|title2 = U.F.Orb
|writer2 = Paterson, Weston
|length2 = 6:08
|title3 = Blue Room
|writer3 = Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser
|length3 = 17:34
|title4 = Towers of Dub
|writer4 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length4 = 15:00
|title5 = Close Encounters
|writer5 = Paterson, Weston, Meikle, McMillan
|length5 = 10:27
|title6 = Majestic
|writer6 = Paterson, Weston, Glover
|length6 = 11:06
|title7 = Sticky End
|length7 = 0:49
|writer7 = Paterson, Weston
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = Disc 2
|total_length = 2:19:55
|title1 = Blue Room
|note1 = Edit
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser
|length1 = 3:09
|title2 = Blue Room
|note2 = Remix
|writer2 = Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser
|length2 = 7:37
|title3 = Assassin
|note3 = The Oasis of Rhythms Mix
|writer3 = Paterson, Weston, Lewis Keogh
|length3 = 15:14
|title4 = Blue Room
|note4 = Full Length
|writer4 = Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser
|length4 = 40:00
}}
=15th anniversary edition=
{{Track listing
|headline = Universal Music {{nobold|– 5300703}}
Disc 1 – Orbit One: U.F.Orb Remastered
|title1 = O.O.B.E
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length1 = 12:51
|title2 = U.F.Orb
|writer2 = Paterson, Weston
|length2 = 6:08
|title3 = Blue Room
|writer3 = Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser
|length3 = 17:34
|title4 = Towers of Dub
|writer4 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length4 = 15:00
|title5 = Close Encounters
|writer5 = Paterson, Weston, Meikle, McMillan
|length5 = 10:27
|title6 = Majestic
|writer6 = Paterson, Weston, Glover
|length6 = 11:06
|title7 = Sticky End
|length7 = 0:49
|writer7 = Paterson, Weston
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = Disc 2 – Orbit Two: Remixes
|total_length = 2:24:22
|title1 = O.O.B.E
|note1 = Andy Hughes Mix
|writer1 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length1 = 11:58
|title2 = Towers of Dub
|note2 = Ambient Mix
|writer2 = Paterson, Weston, Fehlmann
|length2 = 10:14
|title3 = Blue Room
|note3 = Ambient at Mark Angelo's Mix
|writer3 = Paterson, Weston, Giraudy, Hillage, Ward, Fraser
|length3 = 8:57
|title4 = Close Encounters
|note4=Ambient Mix 1
|writer4 = Paterson, Weston, Meikle, McMillan
|length4 = 12:49
|title5 = Majestic
|note5 = Mix 1
|writer5 = Paterson, Weston, Glover
|length5 = 11:52
|title6 = Assassin
|note6 = Chocolate Hills of Bohol Mix
|writer6 = Paterson, Weston, Keogh
|length6 = 11:06
}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Discogs release|id=13274}}
{{The Orb}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Steve Hillage
Category:Albums produced by Youth (musician)