The Chemical Brothers, true legends from the original underground Dance Scene in the UK. They arose around the same time Orbital and Underworld were at it. Along with the likes of The Prodigy, Oribtal and Fatboy Slim they helped shaped the genre of Big Beat.
Big Beat (Info from Wikipedia)
"Big beat (sometimes called chemical breaks) is a term deployed in the mid 1990s by the British music press to describe the music The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method and The Prodigy that relied on beat-driven, drum-heavy mixes, recalling the work of legendary British session drummer Dougie Wright."
The Chemical Brothers first emerged in 1992, which was when the UK was becoming more drum sensitive (Big Beat, Drum and Bass) and really upping the quality on drum loops. So they basically went out in the very beginning on a genre I can only describe as high quality drum loops mixed with severe Electronica. When they first started the music was very hard and had Techno influences, but has now evolved into professional style Big Beat that employs Electronica Elements from all over the genre.
Now my history with The Chemical Brothers has not always been the most steady, there have been high rises and severe lows. Many of their very very early stuff (stuff that you can hardly find anywhere anymore) I personally hated, it was too hard and not enough variation was going on. Their later albums all began to become nicer and more accomplished, all of those leading up to "Push The Button" had some dance floor killers and smash tracks, while mixed with some very mellow ones to show how far they had come with their producing skills. "Push The Button" was in my opinion, their biggest blunder, it suffered from pop-like repetitiveness problems and un-originality symptoms. Some of the songs did make it to dance floors but the rest of the cd was usually never heard. Me being a Chemical Brothers fan was disappointed and hoped they would do better with their next one.
And well here it is "We Are The Night", without a doubt my favorite Chemical Brothers album of all. Every single little thing you'd ever loved in their previous albums, chucked into one and bumped up on 200% quality. I call albums that I generally skip through to hear 3-5 songs, skippers. This album has to be the opposite of a skipper. There is almost not a single song I don't enjoy, and if I skip it's cause certain songs are better than others, but that doesn't make a single one bad (understand what I mean?). The Album still has the same Chemical trait that it jumps around all types of Electronica and never sticks to just one major element, which keeps it very fresh. The all in all sound and quality of this album is superb, not a single element feels out of place, on the contrary, everything feels perfect. All I can really say is that they cleaned up their "Push The Button" mess and replaced it with a shining trophy.
Complaints...well I have to say it's really hard to pull any out of this album. The "All Rights Reversed" song can quite anoying at times and I just personally don't like the amount of guitars used in it. "Harpoons" is very mellow and sometimes doesn't fit my mood and just seems to have less stuff going on in it, it's still a good song, just less than the rest.
Moving onto what I loved about it song wise! Just the opening song "No Path To Follow" gives you a good sense of what you're getting in this album, excellent quality and totally original ideas. "We Are The Night" is what it should be, one of the best songs on the album and easily the perfect name for the album, the buildup, the elements, everything is in perfect place and is easy to dance to if you feel up for it. What I've noticed about a lot of these songs is that they are neither happy nor sad, they are all sort of gloomy in an energetic way, something the Chemical Brothers know how to deliver, which is one reason I strongly recommend to just go out and buy this album straight off the bat. "Saturate" is my personal favorite on the album, the sheer quality of the drum loop used at the chorus and the other Darker Electronica elements make it an easy floor stomper that can be listened to over and over again. "The Salmon Dance" is something the Chemical Brothers have already done and tried (being rap) but managed to bump the good of it up to amazing heights, I hardly consider it a rap song as it's just that damn good. "The Pills Wont Help You Now" is the perfect ending and lets you in on their more mellow take on things in a superb manner.
I give this Album a 9/10
Song Line Up:
1. No Path to Follow 8/10
2. We Are The Night 9/10
3. All Rights Reversed 6/10
4. Saturate 10/10
5. Do It Again 9/10
6. Das Spiegel 7/10
7. The Salmon Dance 9/10
8. Burst Generator 8/10
9. A Modern Midnight Conversation 7/10
10. Battle Scars 7/10
11. Harpoons 7/10
12. The Pills Won't Help You Now 8/10
So if you've read my previous reviews and though I was giving good scoring, then think again. I realize the Daft Punk one was somewhat decent, Justice was good, but honestly, "We Are The Night" is brilliant. If you ever see this in a store and have a nice 20 in your pocket, buy it, don't even think about it. This is in my opinion one of the finest Electronica Albums of the 21th century. If you've ever thought of getting into Electronica and find Ed Banger Records or any of the older Electro House tracks a bit too heavy to get into, this album is the perfect push into that direction without getting your ear drums blasted to pieces.
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