Orbital reform - Tour 2009

[holden]

Originally Posted by joethelion

I mean really guys... did Orbtial EVER make an INCREDIBLE album where you can listen to the whole album at once, and not want to skip a track or three?

Yes.
Orbital 2 (Brown Album) - 1993
Snivilization -1994
In Sides -1996

These are their masterpieces, imho, and from the looks of the old Loopz forum, many others as well (though that's like sampling the UW forum in terms of dedication and obsession!). i agree that the others have more filler vs. killer. Orbital 1 (green album) is mostly a collection of singles and has various tracklists, so it's a bit harder to consider a unified whole (plus sounding quite dated in spots). I'd say that "Middle Of Nowhere" in 1999 was still quite solid (i, for one, can listen to it throughout, no skips). The last two, "The Altogether" (2001) and Blue Album (2004) are acquired tastes, and the case could be made that quality did drop post-In Sides.

[IsiliRunite]

Snivilisation has the most variety, its a good album to listen through in a single sitting.

[gambit]

I could definitely listen to the Brown album and Snivilisation all the way through any day of the week. I could listen to In Sides all the way through if I'm in the mood.

But considering their last two albums, I'm not too excited about new material, quite honestly. Still, cool news.

[dubman]

i've done brown album all the way. almost did middle of nowhere all through too. not so much sniv

i actually returned in sides. it wasnt terrible it just... wasnt anything i wanted. i had petrol and the box already. the only other thingi liked was the lead-off. the second half was no mans land of cheese and boring. the counter dude looked at me like i was crazy.

the altogether had a better bonus disc than album. at best that album had guilty indulgences, goofy escapades. nothing on it was actually any good. blue album is beyond terrible aside from a couple tracks.

[holden]

Originally Posted by dubman

i actually returned in sides... the second half was no mans land of cheese and boring. the counter dude looked at me like i was crazy.

the altogether had a better bonus disc than album. at best that album had guilty indulgences, goofy escapades. nothing on it was actually any good. blue album is beyond terrible aside from a couple tracks.

I'd bet the counter dude's crazy look had something to do with "In Sides" cover art, which is just ridiculously cheesy. Then again, the phallic hermaphrodites with duck feet from the Snivilization cover/booklet are pretty embarrasing, too, come to think of it.

i think "The Altogether" was definitely a guilty indulgence, what with "Dr ?", "Tension", "Tootled" and "Waving Not Drowning" all being silly experiments with dubious samples. But i quite like the closing track, "Meltdown", it's a monster.

Seem to recall "Blue Album" being expanded from EP to almost LP length as an afterthought - it kind of shows. But it's worth it for "Tunnel Vision" and "You Lot".

[//\/\/]

'brown' is the only one that i listen to end-to-end, still now...

...but live they're a different kettle of fish, with many tracks evolving so you get something very different from recordings - usually with a hefty wall of sound thrown in - for a couple of years i reckon they were a better live act than uw, as uw went through a stop-start predictable set-list, bereft of improvs and flow...

...but certainly more hit-and-miss for physical media - 'in-sides' being the nadir!

[big screen satellite]

meh

they can not offer anything new to me...

in fact some other bands should call it a day now too... The Prodigy - we're looking at you...

at least UW are still offering up fresh and varied sets, although they could drop some 'classics' now and again from their sets...

[BeautifulBurnout]

Originally Posted by holden

i think "The Altogether" was definitely a guilty indulgence, what with "Dr ?", "Tension", "Tootled" and "Waving Not Drowning" all being silly experiments with dubious samples. But i quite like the closing track, "Meltdown", it's a monster.

Nothing dubious about the sampling on Dr ? if you are a Brit born in the 60s or 70s. Definite cultural icon thingy.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by big screen satellite

meh

at least UW are still offering up fresh and varied sets, although they could drop some 'classics' now and again from their sets...

Really? To a certain extent I would agree, but don't you miss the days when you truly had no idea what was going to be played, and what it would sound like?

I agree the setlists are varied.
I agree its nice to hear some of the old classics...
I agree some tracks should be dropped altogether cos they are boring.

I disagree that the sets are 'fresh'... im bored of the stop/start nature of the sets, and layering of ambient tracks / dp tracks used as bridges that often just dont fit in to the set vibe at all... I miss the free jamming and the anticipation!

However I would say that thanks to the way technology has progressed, and the 'easy to find' nature of most of the gigs, the production quality is top notch.

That is what i call a praise sandwich.

Mike

[holden]

Originally Posted by BeautifulBurnout

Nothing dubious about the sampling on Dr ? if you are a Brit born in the 60s or 70s. Definite cultural icon thingy.

My bad. It is a great track, and even in the US, i got plenty of Tom Baker-era goodness as a child, via PBS's replaying of BBC shows.
And yeah, i guess they made it from scratch rather than sampling.
I guess i meant, the inclusion of the track, that had been played forever live - in interviews, they were like "well, what the hell? Just for laughs".

Not sure how to take the interview snippets for this "reunion" - whether it's just a one-off festival gig (or gigs - even if plural, you'll still get the greatest hits) or if it means new collaborations soon.
i think they could make something fresh - Paul and Phil have had some interesting orchestral and collaborative outlets solo and w/ Long Range. Maybe 5 yrs was enough time to restart the crative juices of Orbital. We'll see/hear, i guess