Underworld

Why this album wasn't a huge success in the USA is well beyond me. Undoubtedly one of the best if not the best ablum by this band. If I had not found it on amazon I would have never known that it existed at all (thanks to the Big A for that). If you enjoy this band, you will delight in this album.

If you are a Divinyls fan you will really enjoy this album. Three of My favorite Divinyls songs, Human on the Inside, Heart of Steel, and Hard on Me, are on this album. Too bad they didn't get more exposure in the USA, they would have been a hit bigger hit.

Thank you muchly appreciated. Now I have all of the Divinyls albums, this particular one being the most difficult to acquire.

A MASTERPIECE ON PAR WITH REMBRANDT'S NIGHTWATCH-and I am NOT kidding

Although I didn't find this as compelling a recording as Desperate, I'm still glad to have the disc to give the rest of the Divinyls output additional context. Like the band, like the merchant. Great service. Would buy again from this merchant without hesitation.

What can I say about this, or any other DiVinyls album, that'll possibly do it justice? They're probably my favorite recording group of all time, and like all their albums, "Underworld" is an absolute must-have. Here in North America, DiVinyls seem to be known almost exclusively for their 1991 self-titled album and the "I Touch Myself" single, which is a shame, because as awesome as that song and that album are, they're only part of an outstanding repertoire of music. Knowing a band like this for one song only - no matter how good that song - is an appalling injustice, akin to recognizing a rainbow for one colour only. On the CD itself, there are again zero weak tracks, the DiVinyls being one of the few bands to have never delivered even a single let-down. To point out a few of the many high points - "Hard On Me", the opening track, is the musical quintessence of 'erotic'. Not the somber, never-smile 'erotic' that seems to be the only variety professional critics on this continent find resectable, but the delightful, blazing, cuddly, 'squeal-and-hoot' version of erotic that's high in giggle factor and affection and mock-seriosness and real-seriousness and whimsey all at the same time. And a prime example of how nobody in the world double-plays on words quite like Christina Amphlett. Required material for newlyweds to take along on the honeymoon. "I'm Jealous" originally appeared on the "Melrose Place" soundtrack a couple of years prior to "Underworld"'s release. I got it as soon as I could track it down despite having never seen the show, and it was easily worth the price of a full-length CD all by itself. Now available on a full DiVinyls album as it should be; the song is excellent, somewhat reminiscent of the haunting and moving "Dear Diary" from their "What A Life" album. Very sad, but DiVinyls has the ability to do songs that are sad but not depressing. And only Chrissie would put in a line like the one following "I'm liable to do anything..." on a serious song such as this. What a quirky girl... "Come Down To Earth" is one of the DiVinyls's best acoustic songs, lyrically haunting and beautiful; perfect musicianship. "Save Me" - ...oh my goodness, even without global warming, this one could melt the ice caps all by itself... "For A Good Time" has some of the best instrumental work on a DiVinyls album, including a higher profile for bass than usual, and husky vocal lines that could make you forget to breathe. "Heart Of Steel" is kind of different from all the others. Has an Almost mainstream feel, which for once isn't a bad thing because this song is wonderful. Could have been an absolutely HUGE radio hit if given a tenth of a chance (like so many other unheralded songs out there, while the radio plays the same five songs over and over and over again...) And that's just some of the songs. Then there's the overall flow of the album - starting off happy and hot, touches of melancholy and even cynicism creep in (the latter uncharacteristic for a DiVinyls ablbum), the cynicism quickly giving way to more touches of melancholy and songs of loneliness (i.e. the first-rate "Open Windows"), still charged with brightness frequently though. The melancholy and cynicism later crumble before a tide of optimism and determination (title track 'Underworld' and "Sorry' for example), still occasionally punctuated by recurring wary songs ("Heart Of Steel") before ending the disc on a double-dose of brilliantly positive songs in "Save Me" and "Black Magic", and a spirit of victory. Sort of a concept album not of events but of emotions, if one chooses to look at it that way. Of course, the songs still are perfect as Stand-Alone pieces. If all this isn't enough, Christina's liner note pics are worth way more than the price of the CD to me! Superb.

This cd is a hard to find import by the great Australian band The Divinyls, same band that brought us "Boys in town" and "Only lonely" in the early 80's. Christina sounds better than ever in songs like: Heart of Steel, I'm Jealous and Save me. I also recommend Essential Divinyls,which includes all of their best songs...2 great CDS to own!

Released initially in Australia only by BMG. Here we find the Divinyls playing a less polished brand of music that found them success on their last outing, their self titled International Hit album. The song "Im Jealous" had been around for a couple of years used in Melrose Place and is an emotionally charged ballad only Chrissy and Mark could pull off. A powerful song indeed. It hit #14 on the Australian singles chart. Several darker acoustic ballads signal the difference between this album and its predecessor, both being a departure from the new wave, energetic rocking earlier albums, The Monkey Grip EP, Desperate, What A Life and Tempermental. There are two instrumental links on this album which stretches it to 14 songs. Half of the songs are run off the mill Divinyls which does make the album a little uneven, but by no means dampens its strength and power. Mark's guitar gives alot of edge to the songs as usual, especially on "Im Jealous". Chrissy's voice is both sexy, vulnerable and husky, alot mellower than her wailing banshee vocalisations of the mid 80's. The stronger tracks include, "Human On The Inside" which is a catchy mid tempo rock song anchored by a great bassline and some great lyrics. "Come Down To Earth" is a moody and poignant acoustic piece and downright raunchy with "Sex Will Keep Us Together". Unpolished mid tempo rock with some good guitar licks, a few darker acoustic ballads make for a good collection. If you are a new fan, make this a later purchase

Managed to complete my Divinyls collection with this album, Never got the success they deserved & I'm sorry I discovered them so late, Guess I was part of the problem Better late than never though

I love the music of this Australian group and recommend it to all.