Dance production team Underworld - Karl Hyde and Rick Smith - remain the personification of electronica music since the mid nineties. Despite the departure of DJ Darren Emerson, they are very successful even today and have just released their first greatest hits collection, 'Underworld 1992-2002 Japan Only Special Edition'.

Hyde and Smith first met up in the early eighties. They had been in the Freur and had recorded a single, 'Doot Doot' and two studio albums. Following that, inspired by the booming of acid house in late eighties, they formed Underworld to pursue free electronic music.

Underworld had no big success with their first two albums. Their debut 'Underneath The Raider' ('88) and second album 'Change The Weather' ('89) were in the vein of Freur's funk rock, and didn't fulfill their potential. Dropped out from the major deal, Hyde and Smith hooked up with DJ Darren Emerson to reform Underworld as a dance music-oriented unit in 1992.

They first privately released singles 'Mother Earth' and 'The Hump' and issued 'Dirty' and 'Mmm...Skyscraper I Love You' under the moniker of Lemon Interrupt, the side project originally aimed at club audiences. It was not until 1993 that they had their first success as Underworld with 'Rez'. Encouraged by good reaction from fans and critics, the trio released their first album as re-born Underworld, 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' in 1993. Mixing elements of techno, ambient, house and dub, the set was the album that broke Underworld worldwide.

Following the success of 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman', they further explored their original dance music on the follow-up 'Second Toughest In The Infants' ('96), which included a wider range of styles, appealing to rock and dance fans in equal measure. The preceding single 'Born Slippy' was featured on the soundtrack to the movie 'Trainspotting' and catapulted the trio to international stardom.

They took their music to a different level with 'Beaucoup Fish' ('99). Winning Mercury Prize nominations, the album included all of what they tried since eighties through nineties. Their first live DVD 'Everything, Everything' ('02) was the first fruit of Underworld in full collaboration with the art and design collective Tomato, which included Hyde and Smith as members. Tomato is working on various multi-media projects including advertising and promo videos. Underworld also enjoys success remixing songs by various artists including Bjork, Simply Red and Orbital.

Although Darren Emerson quit the band shortly after 'Beaucoup Fish', Underworld returned as the duo to pop charts in 2002 with 'A Hundred Days Off'. The album featured Hyde and Smith "destroying the past" and sustaining their remarkable creativity at the same time. With major commercial success, the duo will undoubtedly remain true to its name and keep us surprised in the future.