Curious to see what others think (as I've noticed often
everybody seems to agree on what the best tracks are).
Let's have some comments: what are the best five UR 12"s?
My picks (Must Owns):
The Final Frontier 12" (UR003)
After "Sonic", which had one phenomenal track ("Eye of the Storm")
and three that don't quite match it, UR drops "The Final Frontier",
which goes two for three, with "Base Camp Alpha 808" and "The
Final Frontier" being two of their coolest very early tracks that still
show lots of Detroit influence before the UR individual sound kicked in.
The Punisher 12" (UR017)
Easy pick: my favorite UR track and another track ("Method of Force")
that's almost as good. The best electro/techno anthem I've ever heard.
Message to the Majors 12" (UR023)
Another really good 12" that has only two songs (I'd rather have two
awesome songs than two awesome songs and two filler tracks), two
versions of the fantastic UR anti-corporate hard techno album. Massive.
Galaxy 2 Galaxy 2x12" (UR025)
I think anyone who's heard this will probably agree with me.
Very much in the Red Planet style of super deep strings and
emotionally saturated Roland overload. My my.
Codebreaker 12" (UR038)
Sign of a new direction for a mature UR: very interesting stuff
that seems like UR's answer to "Minimal Nation".
The next question: with "Revolution For Change" out of print and
Rolando's disc being more of a mix CD than a proper retrospective,
don't we all agree a UR 2CD "best of the 12"s" sort of thing is well
warranted? This is maybe one of techno's best back catalogs, and
with Drexciya making "The Quest" the time has come for more
people to get exposure to the best UR tracks and for those of us who
want to have a great record to recommend to friends rather than
saying "Get this 12" for this track, this 12" for this track", etc.
I'd say this could be a good tracklisting:
Eye of the Storm (UR002)
Base Camp Alpha 808 (UR003)
The Final Frontier (UR003)
Beauty of Decay (UR004) (although maybe "Adrenalin" as well?)
Riot (UR010) (maybe one more track from this)
Sonic Destroyer (UR013.5)
The Punisher (UR017)
Method of Force (UR017)
The Fury (UR018) (haven't heard the B-side "Cyclone" - as good?)
Death Star (UR022)
Message to the Majors A (UR023)
Message to the Majors B (UR023)
Ain't No Sunshine (The Sign) (UR024)
Twista (The Dance) (UR024)
Journey of the Dragons (UR025)
Astral Apache [Star Stories] (UR025) (probably more as well, I love this
record)
The Final Frontier Part II (UR028)
The Illuminator (UR033)
Codebreaker A (UR038)
First Galactic Baptist Church (UR042)
Jaguar (UR049)
I'm sure there are a couple tracks from the 12"s I forgot
that are as good, and I haven't heard any of the SID 12"s
too much, but I'd imagine a 2CD that had the best 20-25
UR tracks would be close to if not the best techno CD
out there (next to "Innovator" and the Red Planet disc).
Matt
