quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Come on, Matt. This is a silly question. There are countless examples. Underworld started as an '80s synth pop band. The Prodigy made toytown rave on their first album. Sven Vath originally made his name with the craptastic Euro-trash synth pop of Electrica Salsa as Off, then he became the doyen of Frankfurt trance in the early '90s before switching to lamping techno. Carl Cox was a hardcore rave DJ before he went techno in the mid '90s. Paul Oakenfold was producing Balearic remixes of British indie-dance bands a few years before he made the Goa Mix. BT made deep house with Deep Dish before signing to Perfecto and tripping the light fantastic with Ima. Need I go on?

Prodigy and BT are good examples, but I'm not sure about the others.

Was Underworld any good or known or successful in their '80s synth pop band venture?

Sven Vath, Carl Cox and Oakenfold are up for debate. I agree, that they have changed their sound over the years, many times being in the forefront of the change of sound in the music scene, but they have done it as DJ's. None of them are really known for their groundbreaking productions. Also I think that all of them have always relied on somebody other to produce the music for them.

Other than electronic music, a good example of this would be David Bowie. Innovating until the end.

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check out:
dtb.planet.ee <-- A couple of my mix cd-s (Deep House & Progressive with a trancy touch

Sven Vath's first two albums were seminal moments of the early trance scene. Some of it has aged badly but they were definitive records in the early days of the genre. And L'Esperanza was, is, and will always be a stone cold classic. Vath went on to release other club classics in the techno scene such as Mind Games.

As for Oakenfold, he produced the Happy Mondays, one of the most iconic British indie bands of the early '90s. Step On is one of the biggest indie anthems of all time. It reached #5 on the UK singles chart and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has a cool 65 million plays on Spotify at the time of writing. And his Perfecto Remix of U2's Even Better Than The Real Thing famously charted higher in the UK than the original version.

So,respectfully, the idea that these two weren't known for their early production work is complete tosh.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Last edited by SYSTEM-J on Feb-15-2026 at 17:11

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Sven Vath's first two albums were seminal moments of the early trance svene. Some of it has aged badly but they were definitive records in the early days of the genre. And L'Esperanza was, is, and will always be a stone cold classic. Vath went on to release other club classics in the techno scene such as Mind Games. As for Oakenfold, he produced the Happy Mondays, one of the most iconic British indie bands of the early '90s. Step On is one of the biggest indie anthems of all time. It reached #5 on the UK singles chart and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has a cool 65 million plays on Spotify at the time of writing. And his Perfecto Remix of U2's Even Better Than The Real Thing famously charted higher in the UK than the original version. So,respectfully, the idea that these two weren't known for their early production work is complete tosh.

Yeah, come to think about it, I think youre right, its just that for me, both of their qualities as DJs outshadow their productions and thats why I didnt really consider them in the theme of this thread. Ive now revised my opinion.

I still think that its rather rare to become famous for one sound and later find new (or continued) success with a new sound.

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check out:
dtb.planet.ee <-- A couple of my mix cd-s (Deep House & Progressive with a trancy touch