Undercover - Three Great Albums

Been listening to a lot of Undercover, lately... specifically the three great albums they released in the '90's: Balance of Power, Devotion and Forum.  "Balance" was in a vein similar to that of The Cult (band).  It rocked and was dark and mysterious.  "Devotion" flat out smoked with the title track, "Work It Out", "Purple Flower" and the groove of "Promenade".  "So Wonderful" became my favorite from the album, with its chorus hook and keyboard build.  "Forum" was different in that Sim parted ways and Rob Gallas took over lead vocals.  Rob did a great job.  Musically, the album was diverse and distinctly unique, whether with the violin on "Carmenita", the groove of "Hosanna" or the hard hitting "Pocket Full of Money".  Sim returned with 2000's I Rose Falling album, which featured a more mellow and simplistic vibe.

Undercover morphed from a happy pogo-punk band, to a goth-styled outfit to a stellar alt-rock force with their '90's output.  Their chronology is quite unique.  I miss those guys.  Anyone else out there appreciate Undercover?

Never gave them a listen until this thread. I can only find Devotion and Branded (25th Anniversary Edition) on Spotify but I can dig it.

Thanks

I love Devotion, such a great and deep album. I'd add Branded and take out Forum, Branded was way better.

Black Rider wrote:I love Devotion, such a great and deep album. I'd add Branded and take out Forum, Branded was way better.

I think my hang up with Branded (and the whole Undercover period post-pogo-punk and pre-Balance of Power), Black Rider, is that I couldn't get into the throaty-baritone style Sim used during that period.  He changed his vocal delivery beginning with "Balance", of which I was glad.  That said, perhaps I should go back and give Branded, et al... another spin.  Tastes change as one ages.

I know Forum got a lot of flack from people.  I like it as it's a bit diverse, and the songs have stuck with me over the years: "Whoa, Nelly, when I see you in a black dress..."  "I overlook the overlook to see what I have overlooked..." "Got a pocket full of money and it's burnin' a hole, and if I hang on to it would it save my..."  I also thought Rob Gallas sounded good on the album; I'm not sure why Sim wasn't around during that time.

Yep, Devotion is a great and deep album, Black Rider. Very cool to find a like-minded soul who appreciates Undercover.

Balance and Devotion are mint, absolute gems! Though I don't hear The Cult at all in Balance, perhaps a little Doors and Sabbath w/a goth twist! lol Forum is good, but not near as good as the previous two, the last one was rather dull and uninspired, mailed in.

I find Forum decent enough, The Moon and the Blue Around is a great song but it's not up to the heights of the other mentioned albums.

Anyone listen to, I Rose Falling? I haven't heard it enough to really have an opinion.

I really dig Branded and Devotion, but not a huge fan of Forum.  I've never been able to find a copy of Balance at a decent price, but have heard it is really good too.

Really hope these get reissued by Roxx, Retroactive, Girder or Soundmass.  Such classics but never picked them up back in the day and now copies are a bit too expensive!  

My Awesome Timothy wrote:Really hope these get reissued by Roxx, Retroactive, Girder or Soundmass.  Such classics but never picked them up back in the day and now copies are a bit too expensive!  

You beat me to it.  This goes for their whole discography.  Why was Branded the only one to get a reissue?

I have "Eyes of Love" off Balance of Power on a compilation.  I love the song and like Staybrite, I haven't seen it at a decent price.

Devotion was re-issued / remastered on vinyl and CD by Lo-Fidelity Records in 2017 via a successful Kickstarter campaign.  It took a little while, but arrived to backers in November 2018.  Balance Of Power is apparently in the works as well according to a post from Jeffrey at Lo-Fidelity back in October 2017:

"Back in 2013, I wanted to bring vinyl back to Lo-Fidelity Records.  We'd made vinyl some releases available (mostly in Europe) for some bands we were partnered with in the early 2000s, but found that viny just wasn't selling in the States.  Yet.  In 2007, Record Store Day brought mainstream vinyl interest back to our shores, and by 2013 we were ready to try again.  I made a short list of albums I wanted to reissue - and Devotion was on that list.  Whatever your reason for supporting this Kickstarter, I want to say thank you for making another one of my reissue dreams come true. (As a result of this success, we'll be able to move forward on a reissue for Balance Of Power early next year. Stay tuned for news on that.)"

The last I heard was that Balance Of Power is likely to be crowd-funded through Kickstarter before the end of 2019, again by Lo-Fidelity.

Black Rider wrote:Anyone listen to, I Rose Falling? I haven't heard it enough to really have an opinion.

Yes, that is the last one I mentioned, not very good at all.

Pro-Zak, Dreamtime and Love, by The Cult, are the two albums I was referring to when I mentioned that "Balance of Power" reminded me of The Cult.  Stylistically, I find the music of the aforementioned albums to be in a similar alt-rock / goth-rock vein.

Black Rider, I personally find "I Rose Falling" to be a decent listen: By far from their best, yet retaining some memorable tunes.  It's more of an "adult alt-rock" album if there was such a category.  The production is stripped down compared to the three prior releases; the arrangements are more simplistic and the collective package is mellow.  

Highlights for me include: Svperterram, Heaven Forbid, True and Fall.

Yeah, I went and had another listen. Not bad, kind of like The Choir at points but I'd have to be in the right mood for it.

Black Rider wrote:Yeah, I went and had another listen. Not bad, kind of like The Choir at points but I'd have to be in the right mood for it.

Understandable, Black Rider.  It's a notch below "Forum", regarding rocking content.

Some on this thread have stated they wished to pick up some Undercover (Balance of Power & Devotion in particular) at a decent price.  Out of curiosity, I perused E-Bay and Amazon.  E-Bay currently has two listings for Undercover Anthology 2, ranging from the $30 to $38 price range... or Best Offer.  I personally have both Anthologies (1 & 2), and they are great.  Anthology 2 includes: Live 3/38/87, Balance of Power, Devotion and Forum.  At $10 per disc, this would be the route to go for anyone wishing to delve into some great Undercover albums.

Highlight?

The Kickstarter campaign to reissue Balance Of Power by Undercover is finally underway.  Easily one of my favorite albums ever and I'm really looking forward to hearing it remastered.  There are three vinyl options, CD and a shirt.  Oh, and digital for the androids among us.  Here's the link:



https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113730376/reissue-balance-of-power-by-undercover?fbclid=IwAR1Zvb0eNrx_2qgZNaRCfSWuiLWV4XjcOUWDY82PLWVQ1VVUk7uK-QcbPcA

They should get this no problem and I'm looking forward to a remaster also. Usually I'm fine with originals but this one needs it.

I have only liked "Balance Of Power" so far....good album.  However the only other one I gave a serious listen to was "Branded."  I will try to check out the others mentioned.

Nada wrote:The Kickstarter campaign to reissue Balance Of Power by Undercover is finally underway.  Easily one of my favorite albums ever and I'm really looking forward to hearing it remastered.  There are three vinyl options, CD and a shirt.  Oh, and digital for the androids among us.  Here's the link:



https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113730376/reissue-balance-of-power-by-undercover?fbclid=IwAR1Zvb0eNrx_2qgZNaRCfSWuiLWV4XjcOUWDY82PLWVQ1VVUk7uK-QcbPcA

Thanks for posting that, I just pledged for a cd.

Looks like they may come up a bit short, be a shame...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113730376/reissue-balance-of-power-by-undercover?fbclid=IwAR1Zvb0eNrx_2qgZNaRCfSWuiLWV4XjcOUWDY82PLWVQ1VVUk7uK-QcbPcA

That's a pretty steep price.

Black Rider wrote:That's a pretty steep price.

It is indeed, what was Tourniquet asking on their last campaign?

Black Rider wrote:That's a pretty steep price.

Here's a statement from Lo-Fidelity to Kickstarter backers addressing this:

"One last thing ~ I've been getting questions from fans asking why the Balance Of Power campaign goal is  so much more than the Devotion campaign from 2017, while offering virtually the same levels of rewards. A fair question, with a simple answer. Devotion was/is an album that means a great deal to me personally. Going into that campaign, it was my first time working with Undercover, and I had no idea what the interest would be for the reissue, so I purposely set the goal "low" with the idea that I'd just personally fund any shortfall and make the reissue happen if the $10K goal was as far as the campaign went. Which is exactly what happened. In reality, the Devotion campaign cost roughly $17K to produce, license, manufacture and ship. That said, while I also love Balance Of Power the label is involved with several projects right now, and funding a large shortfall isn't something that can happen this time around - thus the "higher" goal. Since the Devotion campaign ended, both myself and the band have received a ton of feedback that Balance Of Power was the reissue they were waiting for - and here we are. Hopefully we'll make it!"

I really hope this campaign pulls through as it's one of my personal favorite albums of all time and one that actually needs a good remaster!

I just don't see remastering an existing album costing that much but what do I know?