Simply, the region below the surface of a planet or the diametric opposite surface of a planet - the antipodes. 'Underworld' is also commonly used to refer to the criminal element of a society - see the American Underworld Dictionary.
A common dimension in most of the world's religions and belief systems, the underworld generally refers to the land of the dead - the place where dead souls come to rest.
Inevitably, we have one or two gods assigned to this realm, presumably keeping an eye on the corpses and handling two major responsibilities:
Paranoid as humans are, they generally have the entrance to the assorted underworlds guarded by a fearsome beast of some sort (see Cerberus if you're into the classics or Garm if you like snow) the task of which is more about keeping you out than keeping the dead in.
The Greek underworld - probably the most popular, but, again, all the voters are dead - has five rivers:
AMJ graces us with a nice list of local underworlds below - also consider:
Finally, "Underworld" is a 1997 novel by Don Delillo. It's a story about "trash, nuclear holocaust, and mass consciousness" ... or so nexxus tells me.
A history of Underworld
Underworld began as a band called The Screen Gemz. Karl Hyde and Rick Smith met at a Cardiff restaurant where the two worked. They had one release, 1979's "Teenage Teenage" backed with "I Just Can't Stand Cars".
Next came Freur, which contained future Underworld members Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, along with Alfie Thomas. The name "Freur" was represented in text by a Prince-style unpronounceable symbol. Freur released two albums: Get Us Out Of Here and Doot Doot. Doot Doot became a bit of a success, but the band eventually broke up.
Later on, Hyde and Smith got together with a new lineup under the name Underworld. The first Underworld also released two albums: Change the Weather and Underneath the Radar. The pinnacle of their career was opening for the Eurythmics during the halftime show at Super Bowl XIX, breaking up shortly after.
Disappointed with the pop music industry, Hyde and Smith parted ways. Karl Hyde moved to New York and worked as a session guitarist for PIG (Raymond Watts, that is) among others, while Rick Smith worked in production. Hyde sank deeper into alcoholism, using it as a way to write poetry and lyrics.
Eventually, Smith and Hyde decided to make music again. Hyde moved back to England, and the two met up with the then long-haired, up-and-coming acid house DJ Darren Emerson. At the same time, they started the design collective tm8o, later called Tomato, mostly to pay the bills and to radically alter the face of advertising. The trio first began recording as either Lemon Interrupt or Steppin' Razor. These two terms showed up later in their career as Underworld Mark II: their studio is named Lemonworld, and the lyric "steppin' razor" shows up in the song spoonman.
In early 2000, Darren Emerson left the group due to internal tension and Emerson's increasingly successful DJ career. Darren Price has filled in some live dates, but the group is now officially a duo.
Underworld have remixed many people: Leftfield, William Orbit, Bjork, Shakespeare's Sister, Orbital, themselves, Front 242, and not so many recently. They've been remixed by, well, see below.
Their official record company site is at http://www.underworld-jbo.com. However, all the important stuff is at http://www.underworldlive.com (archived music and video) and http://www.dirty.org (dirtyradio, web forums)
Underworld released a video compilation in 1997 in the US called Footwear Repairs by Craftsmen at Competitive Prices. It was originally released in the UK (minus the born slippy.NUXX and Moaner videos) as kiteless.
Underworld are perhaps the finest performers of dance music in the world today. Their concerts are totally live; there are no tapes, no rehearsals, not even a setlist. Their material is usually presented in a whole new way. (called "live remixing" by some people)
Accompanying the incredible live music of Underworld is the graphic nuttiness of tomato, the graphic design firm of which Underworld is an integral part.
discography sources: sakke, darktrain.org, and my record collection.
There is an FTP server (ask politely on the mailing list for the IP address) containing many gigs of generally high (in some cases superb) quality MP3 files, remixes by fans, deleted Underworld releases, setlists, and so on.
If you've not had the pleasure of seeing Underworld live, or if you have and wish to relive the experience, this list and FTP is highly recommended.
Particularly good are the CD-quality bootlegs from Tilburg, and another unknown German gig - just awesome on headphones late at night..
Web site: http://welcome.to/rtsr/Details of the mailing list can be found there.. Enjoy.
They got really sick of this and in the early nineties disbanded. The core Underworld members Rick Smith and Karl Hyde started a design company called Tomato (www.tomato.co.uk), which to this day has been extremely successful, with such clients as Nike, Adidas, Intel and Volvo, to name a few. Tomato has done books, tv/radio commercials, web sites, music videos and even architecture -- all very well. Eventually, tomato made enough money that Smith and Hyde had enough money to start their own label and build a studio. This is how dubnobasswithmyheadman was born. They had complete artistic freedom now (on their own label), and basically told mtv to go fuck themselves when they asked them to edit their stuff for airplay. Later, DJ Darren Emerson joined, although he left the group amicably earlier this year to get back to djing. They're one of the most important groups in electronic music ever. They've really pushed what people thought was okay to do with electronic music and have made some incredibly original tracks in many different styles.
Names for the Underworld:
Title: Underworld Running Time: 121 minutes MPAA Rating: R for violence/gore and some language Release Date: September 19, 2003 Studio: Screen Gems
Perhaps the most important thing to realize about Underworld is that it is primarily an action film: not a groundbreaking exploration of the vampire mythos. That being said, Underworld actually had more of a plot than I expected. I saw it the day after it opened, having only a single viewing of the downloadable trailer and a few comments from friends on a BBS to go on. I'd heard that it was "pretentious", "like Romeo and Juliet, only with vampires and werewolves", and "pretty to look at." I have a feeling a lot of people went to see Underworld with the impression that it was going place much more of an emphasis on the vampire society and mystique than it actually did. The vampirism and lycanthropy were there mostly for aesthetic effect on what was basically your standard action flick.
We meet our viewpoint character, Selene (played by Kate Beckinsale), in the film's first few moments. Dressed in a form-fitting vinyl suit, a Matrix-esque overcoat, and the sexiest boots I've ever seen, her inner voice narrates to the audience that she is a warrior in a centuries-old battle between vampires and werewolves. First impression: this would make an excellent premise for a video game. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I liked the Resident Evil movie. I'm a sucker for the chicks with guns subgenre. There isn't much dialogue in the first few minutes of Underworld, unless you consider bullet exchange a form of conversation. A shootout ensues in a subway station, here we meet our first few werewolves, or "lycans", as they are referred to in t
