A surprised looking monochrome lightbulb headed man. While that may be typical of the symbolism they layer into their music, unfortunately it mostly works against them here. My guess is that Hyde and uh... Smith took 100 days off of their dayjobs to make this album. I was quite psyched about it, remembering fun dancy days circa Beaucoup Fish, a great live show... etc. For better or worse, Underworld introduced me to `the Rave,' which I have many fond memories of. But, by 2002, the party was pretty much over.

What's better about this album: well, the instrumentation seems very complicated in places, although not necessarily melodious. Although, in other places, it is melodious. Karl Hyde's vocals are as surreal as ever, although that effect isn't put to much use in very many places. Unfortunately, their ahem, pop sensibilites seem to have gone out the door with emerson, although you wouldn't know it from his Mix CD. Also... I dunno, several of the songs seem rather mean-spirited. Maybe they're bitter about their waning fame. Overall, it's about half the album the previous three are, although it's occasionally better. But not often.

Underworld have an uncanny ability of bringing unparalleled creativity and inventiveness to their listeners. There's no one I can think of that keeps it this fresh, this real, this imaginative. They pour their souls into it, and it's so obvious. It's palpable.

If you've ever seen them live, you know this. They have a true care for their craft, and this is the latest installment. You owe it to yourself and your friends to support a band that laid the foundation and continues to bring the love.

A strange one this.....I've had this album when it first came out in 2002, then I sold my copy a couple of years later, after thinking that it lacked the momentum and progression, or even ideas of previous albums, only to pick it up very recently having stumbled across the rare Australian 2-Cd tour edition. This is the album that will be forever associated with the departure of one of it's members, DJ Darren Emerson. And although his presence is missed, with this release, routinely sounding more relaxed and less tightly focused then previous albums, with far more of the softly spoken stream-of-consciousness vocalised house blues of Karl Hyde vocals, and less of the pulsating tracks that broke up other albums.

Initially this was one of the reasons, why I've never quite fully engaged with "A Hundred Days off"....seemingly comparing it with the long dense hypnotic eclectic fusion songs of "Second Toughest in the Infants", the distant, detached melancholic minimal ambience of "Dubnobasswithmyheadman", and progressive, energetic, tough breakbeats of "Beaucoup Fish". The problem I had with "A Hundred Days off" was that it seemed to be a slightly untidy mish-mash of areas explored in previous albums, but with diminishing returns. There was nothing that grabbed in on this album, in quite the same way as "Push Downstairs/Blueski/Dirty Epic/Moaner/Juanita/Dark & Long", and although this album had it's moments "Two Months off/Bullet Lane/Trim/Luetin", I found myself mostly neglecting what is essentially a good/great album, but compared to past glories, it didn't seem to engage in quite the same way. Don't get me wrong, I did/do like the album, but it was arguably the album that I listened to by far the least, and begin to gather dust in my Cd collection.

So I ended up selling my (1-cd) edition of this album.....only to find a really cheap copy of the limited 2-Cd edition, which featured Live tracks from previous albums, and remixes of tracks of this album, as well as a couple of videos. And having gone back and listened to this album after having not heard it, for a least 2 years, and without the comparison issue not looming large over my impression of the album. And having said that...and listening to this without any preconceived notions of their previous work (and the realisation of Darren Emerson, not contributing, here), its actually a great record, and considering that this was the best album that could have made, given the circumstances...which referenced their past, without being completely tied by it. Yet, not diversifying from what they'd become widely known for. Its an album the mixes a brilliant succession of harmonies and basslines, tone's down the arrangements, and made them more accessible, a little self-indulgent, a little more nuanced and subtle, with the majority of the tracks moving less intensely, with any rough edges smoothed off, as it flows along with nice BPM's and smooth beats, and although the album glides along without much in the way of any particularly innovative or unexpected twists, this is Underworld, creating an album with one less member, and thus playing to their strengths. Which is melodic, relatively subdued, mood music, with the occasional concessions to the dancefloor, a heavily augmented sound framed around the ubiquitous vocals of Hyde, punctuating atmospherically detached tracks, which highlight Underworld's trait for songs which have an elegance and a recognizable stamp.

Ultimately, though this is probably Underworlds weakest album, compared to "Second Toughest in the Infants", Dubnobasswithmyheadman", "Beaucoup Fish". It doesn't quite have the legs to feature as prominently as those albums, which (for me) tip on the right side of classic albums. But not to take nothing away from Underworld...as they could have called it quits, with the departure of Darren Emerson, and his absence is felt on this album. But to not recognise the achievement of Karl Hyde & Rick Smith on this album would be foolish, as they've created a great and very solid album, and providing you can be prepared to listen to this without prejudice for their previous albums, this is definitely recommended.

I just got this CD yesterday and have been basically listening to it non-stop. With Darren Emerson leaving, I figured that the poetry and strange lyrics would be more present, and the dance grooves lessened.

Strangely I found the opposite to be true. The vocals, when they're present at all, are in the background, and mostly repeated lines. Some tracks are missing vocals entirely. It almost sounds like they are trying to prove that they can get on without Emerson.

So why did I give this CD four stars after all these gripes? Because it's still a fantastic album. I have yet to hear an Underworld track that I haven't liked, and this album is no different. It's a wonderful piece of art. I can just hope the next album has a bit more vocal work in it.

Underworld continues to impress with their release of this CD. It continues to contain that ineffable quality providing a level of comfort that comes from continuity over time yet is truely different from previous releases. There are fewer high energy tracks and more comtemplative ones. For this reason, this release is quite different and takes some time to process and get used too. You definitely need to listen to it several times before you get the themes and arcs that are present across tracks. This release has greater cohesion across tracks that is greater than the sum of it's individual tracks (too use a gestaltic analogy). Very cool, just take the time to get to know it and you will come to appreciate the creativity of 100 days and underworld.