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Okay, just wondering what people think of this now that it's been out for almost 2 months?

I've been relistening to the Chems a lot lately, I've found this to be their most 'album-based' release, as in that it's more than just the sum of its parts. I think the opener "Snow" couldn't really be listened to otherwise. Overall I'd say this fits in with their first three albums quality-wise and may even be their best (**re-listens to Dig Your Own Hole**) second best album

What I really dig is that it seems to be very mindful of early electronic music. At times it plays a lot like used vinyl, during the quiet parts there is a bit of distortion and some skipping, which was intentional and gives the album a sort of unsettling feel. In some places it feels very 'old school', not like early-90's but early-70's! I heard "Escape Velocity" described as "Tangerine Dream remixed by Justice" - I really liked that description, and in addition there are the "Baba O'Reilly" synths there. Also, in the middle of the track, when the beats drop out and it's just the synths, they sound almost identical to the oscillators used by the Silver Apples back in 1968!

There are really a lot of moments like that - for example in "Dissolve", the intro has sounds very similar to Klaus Schulze's Irrlicht period, very massive and cold, and there are a lot of things to look for as you relisten to this. I too wish it were longer but only because it's so good..."Don't Think" is certainly a great addition if you have iTunes

I do agree that "Swoon" gives you a headache...lots of high frequencies and noisy moments, but it's only one in a long line of headache-inducing bangers by the Chems. Even if it's a little painful, it's also very euphoric.

I know it seems like I'm gushing a lot, but a little background...in 1999, I was just 13 years old, I owned EPD, DYOH, the DJ Mix album (which is amazing!!) and a few singles...I thought the Chems were like, the best group ever (along with Underworld and yes, Fatboy Slim, I began liking UW a bunch more around 2002 when I picked up Everything Everything, and pretty much forgot about Fatboy). When Surrender dropped it became my new favorite album, even though all the magazines and websites were ragging on them for not making another "Block Rockin' Beats". In retrospect the Chems look pretty good, as the "Big Beat" movement didn't even survive the decade. Since then I've gotten excited for each new album - Come With Us was good, but kind of treaded water, and I really did like Push the Button, though it didn't really give me the feeling of the first three. We Are the Night...good instrumentals, but the collabs were killing them. This however takes me back quite a bit and reminds me of why I thought the Chems were the best group in the world when I was a teenager. People throw the term "return to form" around a lot these days but really it truly applies here. I'm not saying it's album of the year or anything (I'm still very impressed by the LCD Soundsystem album), but it's definitely in the running, and I say now the ball is squarely in Underworld's court, though I know they'll deliver too, which is awesome.

Gogo US tour!!