I came to the Chemical Brothers late, via Primal Scream, the Prodigy and the Propellerheads; liked 'Block Rockin' Beats' and even owned Exit Planet Dust, but found that a little went a long way. It wasn't until Surrender that I surrendered: a near-perfect album, looking to the future while summing up its late-1990s present.
So the luke-warm response to their new album from some critics doesn't worry me, because I wasn't necessarily looking for block rockin' repeats. If it seems something of a let-down, that's because they're coming off a career high; taken on its own terms, Come With Us is good 21st century electronic music.
There are weaker tracks, but I'll blaspheme at the Church of Bleep and say that that's true of any of their albums. It's more chilled out in places than their earlier offerings, but then they've been doing drifting neo-hippy stuff with Beth Orton for a long time now.
Come With Us is, in fact, a logical progression from Surrender in its willingness to sacrifice volume and beats to texture and the slow build. Actually, 'slow build' is the wrong way around: it doesn't build so much as fade, which might be why some are finding it unsatisfying. The transition from punchy openers 'Come With Us' and 'It Began in Afrika' (ka-ka-ka-ka) through to the hypnotic train-track rhythms of 'Star Guitar' and 'Pioneer Skies' is like one long coming-down from the relentless sirens and beats of the 1990s. At the end of it all, Richard Ashcroft sings 'Did I pass the test?', almost as if he's asking, 'Can I go home now? All this noise has given me a headache.'
Which is fair enough. Does everything have to lead to a climax? Fading can be satisfying too.
So what's next? The Chemical Brothers head into Air territory, I suppose. Not that that's a bad thing. If you want to keep living in the 1990s, where electronic music means beats per minute, then keep spinning Dig Your Own Hole; if you want to explore more of what electronic music can be, then Come With Us.
oooh then. better go buy it :)
i like 'come with us' better than 'dig your own hole'. i say it's a must-buy cd.
I love the album.. this is the first review that doesnt suck about the featured artist and does not try to compare 1:1 with past of their albums i have read so far. It presents new stuff and comparing it with their old albums is imho 1dimensional. It may also attract people who did not like older tracks of the chembros if not else.
How can you write a review of this album and not mention 'My Elastic Eye', in my opinion the strongest track on the album? That song is a full assault on the brain, it comes in and tears out any dead weight and leaves u feeling all minty phresh afterwards. The worlds only cereberal spring clean...
The album's damn fine. Don't compare it to the other chemical albums, just buy them all and look at them as a single opus of beautiful sound.
While "Come With Us" was not as out-and-out mind-blowingly spectacular as "Surrender" or as blow-your-ears-out-rocking as "Dig Your Own Hole," it is a solid, enjoyable album from two guys who aren't afraid to expand their horizons a bit and not do the same album over-and-over again. (What would the critics be saying if this was "Exit Planet Dust" #4?) "Star Guitar" is amazing, and if the opening title track doesn't hook you, no dance tune will.
The chemical brothers show with "come with us" who they are and how did they get to that place. Pure genius, this breaks completely their old style and expand to other places, something that is hard to find in other electronic groups (maybe fatboy slim, groove armada or basement jaxx can change so much from styles). Boys, I love your music, keep on workin like this cause in twenty years your songs will be considered like the rolling stones ones now.
PD: I looove THE TEST, what a great song!!
I think this is the best album since Dust. Not to sound like some Pink Floyd-psychadelic-loser or anything, but listen to "It Began in Afrika" on headphones and you'll be amazed!
Ben
where is the album of the chemical brothers recorded?