Pocket Universe
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5.0
Average of 6 reviews
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I've grown to truly value this album. Dance music from the late 90s isn't for everyone, but Yello nails it (with a bit of assistance from Carl Cox), all while keeping their unique traits and songwriting approach intact. The album boasts a solid concept, and its tracks are seamlessly blended, transitioning smoothly from one techno subgenre to another. To The Sea (particularly the album version) is a highlight. As with all Yello's work, it's best experienced in high fidelity. I'm considering purchasing the two-disc vinyl reissue, but the CD means you don't have to keep getting up to keep the tunes playing!
An often overlooked gem in Yello's discography. The mid-90s were quite the era for them. Amidst the peak of Europe's Rave craze, numerous DJs and producers openly embraced Yello, leading to the birth of the HANDS ON YELLO Remix album, a performance at Mayday, Germany's largest indoor rave, and of course, this very album. Let's set the record straight: This is NOT Yello hopping on a trend, but you can't ignore a hint of influence from the club sounds of that time. MAGNETIC was even crafted with DJ legend Carl Cox. RESISTOR could very well be Yello's take on a rave track. And the sole single from this album was a Deep House Remix of TO THE SEA, which, in its original form, bears a resemblance to a lost Baby D track. Overall, this is a surprisingly experimental work from Blank and Meier. And let's face it, every album of theirs is experimental. Yet, it's also their most laid-back yet dancefloor-ready album. It's Yello reinventing their sound for a new audience, all while staying true to their roots!
Pocket Universe remains my all-time favorite Yello album, as it was the one that introduced me to them when I was a 16-year-old kid tripping on acid and watching MTV Amp. I vividly remember seeing the video for 'On Track' pop up every few weeks :P Becoming a dedicated fan, I felt PU was Yello's most imaginative and groundbreaking record since their early days in the early '80s, and that's no small feat. Boris truly embraced the sounds of the time (trance, breaks, techno), and every single track is top-notch, often surpassing 99% of the 'authentic' tech/trance producers from that era. The flow is absolutely fantastic throughout, as is typical of Yello. As for the vinyl itself, like any recent reissue of albums like this, it does sound better than the original (mainly because the vinyl is brand new and hasn't been worn out by needles, handling, and aging for 25+ years). That being said, I'm not overly impressed by the bass presence - it doesn't seem like any remastering was done here, so when those bass drums kick in (like in 'On Track' and 'Magnetic'), the impact is far from powerful. Of course, this is what the original master sounded like too (both on CD and vinyl), so it's accurate to the sound of that time period, for sure. I was just hoping for something with a bit more punch and energy than what we got. Other than that, I found the vinyl to be nice and clean, relatively noise-free, with decent dynamics (for an all-electronic album with very few live instruments, like most of their other releases), and pretty enjoyable to listen to. While the engineers did a great job transferring this to vinyl, I feel like more could have been done, like a digital or analog remaster to bring out some of those low-end frequencies more.
This is an amazing, often overlooked album from the innovators of electronic music. Yello took a noticeably tougher approach for this outing, yet it's far from monotonous; staying true to their style, they take you on a journey, from atmospheric sounds to primal beats to intricate techno grooves. Dieter's signature vocals shine here and fit flawlessly on songs like 'On Track' and 'Magnetic'. It's a challenge to choose a top Yello album, but this one is definitely among my top picks. And that Stevie B-Zet remix of 'To The Sea' is fantastic too, an odd way to close the album but one of the most infectious tracks Stevie's ever created.
If your familiarity with Yello begins and ends with quirky hits like "Oh Yeah", then this is the album you've been missing out on. This record is brimming with rich, atmospheric soundscapes and hypnotic beats that wouldn't become mainstream staples until much later. There's also this persistent, brooding undercurrent that weaves through the entire album, making it exceptionally unique to me. I couldn't single out a standout track because, to my ears, it's a cohesive masterpiece that should be appreciated as a whole, not dissected into individual songs. Without a doubt, this is one of my all-time favorite albums - the only downside is the album art, but fortunately, it's the music that truly counts.
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