Second Toughest in the Infants: Deluxe Edition

一大ムーヴメントを巻き起こしたUnderworldの傑作アルバム『Second Toughest In The Infants』(邦題:弐番目のタフガキ)が新リマスターでレア音源を収録したデラックス盤で登場!
ダニー・ボイル監督の傑作映画「トレインスポッティング」に使用された「ボーン・スリッピー:ナックス」の大ブレイクで一躍スターダムに駆け上がった1996年にリリースされ、一大ムーヴメントを巻き起こしたアンダーワールドの代表作が2CDデラックス・エディションで登場。オリジナル・アルバム未収録のシングル曲、Bサイド曲、リミックス、未発表音源が多数収録。
これまでの輸入盤には収録されていなかった「Born Slippy (Nuxx)」も収録。
テクノの枠を超えロックファンをはじめとする多くの層に支持され、90年代を代表するテクノ/エレクトロニック・アルバムの1つとなった傑作が新リマスターでよみがえる。
新リマスター@アビイ・ロード・スタジオ、オリジナル・ブックレット付。

On their second album, Underworld continue to explore the fringes of dub, dance, and techno, creating a seamless, eclectic fusion of various dance genres. Second Toughest in the Infants carries the same knockout punch of their debut, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, but it's subtler and more varied, offering proof that the outfit is one of the leading dance collectives of the mid-'90s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine|

Second Toughest in the Infants (1996) wasn't actually Underworld's sophomore album, but it was their second full-length (fourth overall) since progressive house DJ Darren Emerson joined the core lineup of Rick Smith and Karl Hyde in 1991, transforming them from a mediocre dance-rock duo into one of the most original, acclaimed, and successful electronic groups of the '90s. As with its predecessor, 1994's Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Second Toughest was a critical success as well as a commercial hit, reaching the Top 10 of the U.K. album charts and converting a significant number of American listeners right around the time that "electronica" was being hyped as the next big thing in the United States. In comparison to Dubnobass..., Second Toughest was less club-centric and more diverse in its approach, flirting with drum'n'bass rhythms on a few cuts, experimenting with slide guitar loops on the elegant "Blueski," and slowing to a crawl for its final song, the dreamy "Stagger." The trio proved to be masters of pacing and dynamics, crafting lengthy epics (the album's first two tracks collectively exceed half-an-hour) which excitedly build and release, flowing through vivid melodic themes and interlocking rhythmic patterns, and segueing from intricate breakbeats to calmer, more downtempo passages. The album's multi-part suites also harkened back to another era of "progressive" music, the prog rock of the '70s, and like that period's most popular groups, Underworld made brainy, ambitious, mystical music that was also accessible and listener-friendly. The album also remains remarkable for Hyde's surrealist, cryptic, free-associative lyrics, particularly on stand-out tracks like the choppy, Al Green-referencing single "Pearl's Girl." The album's most ecstatic moment, however, is the buzzing, gleeful "Rowla," which piles on dazzling, distorted synth riffs, hushes down for a bit, and then does it all over again. Second Toughest in the Infants endures as a landmark album, spotlighting Underworld at their creative peak, and remaining an important document of an era when experimental, cerebral electronic dance music received significant mainstream attention. ~ Paul Simpson