The Chemical Brothers - Further

[chems1919]

For those purchasing the album (or hell, even downloading the album), I recommend getting the Japanese version for the bonus track. The song is called "Don't Think" and they've played it live for a little while now. It's a really good song, like 7 minutes long, and definitely adds some length to the album.

[cured]

Originally Posted by holden

Fighting download urge - gotta wait till the US release date in a week or so.

is it sad that i have bought the last 4 Chems albums the day they came out? That's how into them i was after "Exit Planet Dust" and "Dig Your Own Hole".

"Surrender" took quite a while to grow on me, as it was both more pastoral and more glossy than the sample-heavy big beat that preceeded it.

"Come With Us" (imho, their last great album) owned my stereo for weeks.

"Push the Button" and "We Are the Night" - they have their moments, but nothing that i really dig.

But i'm reallllly liking what i hear about/of this - return to form/by the numbers 90's era/ psychodelic, hatever - these are all good things after the crappy hip hop and flavor of the month collabs of the last two.

This was exactly where I was with them, although I liked "Surrender" right away.

I don't want to hype it too much, as there is a song or two I don't like (and there are maybe a couple more I think only work well live), but there is goodness to be had in it.

But yeah, don't mess with tradition

[joethelion]

Originally Posted by stimpee

This album sounds very chems. Could have been released anytime in the last 10 years. Its more of the same. Good but doesnt grab you by the balls.

Yes it does sound 'very chems' - but I would disagree with you about it being more of the same, as it seems that since... ~2003 - they've been going after a more pop sound than anything. When I think of "Surrender" or "Come With Us" - I think of long-ish tracks

but the last two albums, I think of radio edits

[the mongoose]

No need to buy the Japanese version if you get the iTunes version, because the bonus track is included already. The "Visual Experience" video is cool as hell, even though a lot of the animations tend to repeat and get a tad monotonous (namely the hovering light face in 'Escape Velocity' doing the same cod mouth 3x in a row, and the polygons in 'Horse Power' get a bit bland after a minute or two). Really is a nice audio/video blast to the senses. Too bad that its not on Bluray though.

[chems1919]

Originally Posted by the mongoose

Too bad that its not on Bluray though.

Yeah, I was really hoping for a Bluray release. Oh well, I'll definitely pick up the dvd sometime.

[//\/\/]

well, so far it's certainly an improvement on the last 2 efforts, though not grabbing me by the throat in the way that 'surrender' did...

[Bargo]

I'm loving this album, this is really what I've wanted them to make instead of their last 2 efforts. Yeah, it definitely sounds like Chemical Brothers nestled in their comfort zone, but I've got no problems with that if the songs are good. I think this is first album since Dig Your Own Hole that hasn't possessed a single track I've wanted to skip on repeat listens.

[//\/\/]

a lot is growing on me - particularly those tunes after 'horse power'

i liked 'swoon' as a single - nice (if rather predictable chems) vocal sample, 'k+d+b' is pretty nice, and the album feels good by that track and 'wonders of the deep' - and definitely get the album with 'don't think' on, because it's the best track of the package and fits nicely after the last 2 tracks mentioned.

downsides: 'escape velocity' goes on for about 3 or 4 minutes too long, though. 'another world' and 'dissolve' are chems-by-numbers, stuck-in-the-middle fillers...

feels much better than the last 2 offerings, but still no 'surrender'...

[potatobroth]

Another World blows me away. I absolutely love this track and so far its my summer song.

This album is quite good. I heard it at a listening party in NYC and then once more at a friends studio and both times I had the same positive reaction to almost every track.

The track after Swoon is pretty special too. K+D+B?

[//\/\/]

('the golden path' fits really nicely into this collection of tunes...)