Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	67/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	C
Pitchfork Media	5.9/10
musicOMH
Alternative Press
NME	5/10
Drowned in Sound	6/10
Mojo
Uncut
Spin	7/10
PopMatters	7/10
Record Collector
Resident Advisor

Barking is the eighth studio album by British electronic group Underworld, released on 2 September 2010. The lead single, "Scribble", produced with Welsh drum and bass producer High Contrast, was released on 28 June 2010. The band released a radio edit of the track for free download on their website on 13 May 2010.

Each track on the album was written by band members Karl Hyde and Rick Smith in Essex, before being sent to producers well known for their contributions to trance, drum and bass and dubstep. The album sees further collaboration with Mark Knight and D. Ramirez, whose 2009 single, "Downpipe", featured lyrics and vocals by Hyde.

Barking received positive reviews from most music critics. The album debuted at number twenty-six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 5,146 copies in its first week.

There are seven slightly modified variations of the cover artwork - depending on edition and format - all created by John Warwicker.

The album is named after Barking, an eastern borough of London.

Barking received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Barry Walters of Spin wrote, "with production help from High Contrast, Dubfire, and Paul Van Dyk, Underworld is freed up to focus on crafting memorable tunes that hark back to their electronica heyday, as well as more personal, coherent lyrics. Earnest emotions surprisingly suit these dance-floor surrealists."BBC Music's Sarah Bee gave the album a positive review, stating: "There's a lightness and a jollity about their music which combines with an unabashed poignancy, and there's a sense of deep contentment and peace about this album. They may not be sticking their necks out as pioneers now but it's not important – they are never less than themselves, and superficial quibbles aside this is the sound of musicians with nothing to prove and everything to give."Record Collector reviewer Daryl Easlea said the album is "possibly Underworld’s poppiest ever [...] yet [it] retains their trademark dark heart". She concluded: "With its tremendous focus, Barking ably demonstrates that, after six albums, Underworld remain the UK’s leading old-school dance combo." Michaelangelo Matos from The A.V. Club described the album as "in some ways, the most tuneful Underworld album yet, which isn’t saying a lot". The NME gave the album a mixed review, stating that the album "tends to fail when it experiments", but praised the songs "Bird 1" and "Moon in Water" for being "in the vein of classic Underworld, simultaneously danceable and menacingly strange."

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