I, for one, know that there are a few chems songs that after I listened to it I hated. However, after a while of not listening to those certain songs, something allowed me to see it in a different way, probably the way it was meant to be seen. These different perspectives allowed me to love the song.



Ex.- It Doesn't Matter:

When I first heard this song, I was only thinking "skip button". It wasn't until after about 4 months of owning DYOH, I watched a live recording of the chemical bros playing It Doesn't Matter when I saw the raw power of the track and the hard beat it created. It only got me thinking that maybe that the hardness of it is what I needed from it. So then I went into my car and played the song in the car's speakers. After coming out, I noticed the bass made my head feel compressed. At that moment, It Doesn't Matter became one of my favorite tracks.



Pretty much I feel instead of saying "I hate ________ song because I didn't expect it" or "I love ____________ song because the chemical brothers made it" we need to show a more analytical side of how we view their songs.



Feel free to put songs that you loved off the bat too.

Left Right

Shake Break Bounce

where do i began





shake break bounce

As I said before, I intensely disliked galvanize when I first heard it, because it wasn't what I was expecting.



I lurv it now, lurv it right in it's ass.

Block Rockin Beats - When I was just startin out I dont think I liked this one too much. Im not entirely sure why though.

Im not too sure - I cant really remember cause I love most of them only song I dont really like but can be good sometimes in the whole chems studio discography is Left Right and Galvanize - I used to love Galvanize but then i got sick of it, left right didn't do it for me but everything else I can turn round and say ''oh yeah i love that one''. X-D

I think Music Response I didnt really like before, then it grew on me, most chems stuff was like that though.

I'll be honest and say that most of Dig Your Own Hole was too raw for me for quite a while.



Nude Night didn't seem interesting at all until I saw Tom & Ed drop it at Turnmills.



Believe hurt my ears for a long time. I mostly like this track when I'm high and all the crazy frequencies mess with my cerebellar functions. X-D



Star Guitar did nothing for me for a long time. I don't think it was until I got the American EP and heard the amazing live version with the Temptation synthy bits that it meant anything.



Morning Lemon still doesn't grab me the way it does for most people, but I do like it now.



I don't think there are any Chems tracks I outright dislike, but there's still a few that I've never really grown attached to, such as Rize Up (though I'm liking that one more lately), Swiper, Shake Break Bounce. On the flipside, Come Inside was my favourite track off Push the Button on first listen but I don't dig it nearly as much anymore.



Most of the tracks I took a while to warm to are instrumentals, especially among the older stuff, and especially loop-based, repetitive tunes. There isn't much exposure to electronic music over here, so it took a while for me back when I was a teenager to adapt to and get my brain around a completely different structure of music than I was used to. I love a mad instrumental these days, Chems or otherwise, but it took a revolution in thought and musical taste for that to happen.



Getting a bit off topic now (or, more accurately, a bit onto the topic in that, er, unnamed, mid-30's-page controversial thread), but the last year or so I've really gained an appreciation for a well-crafted pop song, as well as dancefloor shakers oozing with sexuality or sensuality. I think that's largely a product of the clubs I've begun to go to here.

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Ben_j Escribi�:

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Not "pop" enough?







;-)

mX. Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Not "pop" enough?

Haha no. Actually I don't like the "pop" tracks the chems did that much. I still dislike The Golden Path for example. It always sounds to me like a plagiarism of Where the streets have no name...

HBHG.

Ben_j Escribi�:

mX. Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Not "pop" enough?

Haha no. Actually I don't like the "pop" tracks the chems did that much. I still dislike The Golden Path for example. It always sounds to me like a plagiarism of Where the streets have no name...

That's interesting, I'll have to listen to the two side-by-side sometime soon. Never made that connection. It's funny what the mind will do and what connections it will make. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" sounds a straight rip of Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane" to me and a few others, but many of my friends think I'm nuts for saying so.

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

mX. Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Not "pop" enough?

Haha no. Actually I don't like the "pop" tracks the chems did that much. I still dislike The Golden Path for example. It always sounds to me like a plagiarism of Where the streets have no name...

That's interesting, I'll have to listen to the two side-by-side sometime soon. Never made that connection. It's funny what the mind will do and what connections it will make. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" sounds a straight rip of Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane" to me and a few others, but many of my friends think I'm nuts for saying so.

As a U2 fan, it shocked my ears the second I heard it... I found a very good vs of those two tracks a while ago. I can't find it on any of my computers though >_<

Ben_j Escribi�:

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

mX. Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Not "pop" enough?

Haha no. Actually I don't like the "pop" tracks the chems did that much. I still dislike The Golden Path for example. It always sounds to me like a plagiarism of Where the streets have no name...

That's interesting, I'll have to listen to the two side-by-side sometime soon. Never made that connection. It's funny what the mind will do and what connections it will make. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" sounds a straight rip of Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane" to me and a few others, but many of my friends think I'm nuts for saying so.

As a U2 fan, it shocked my ears the second I heard it... I found a very good vs of those two tracks a while ago. I can't find it on any of my computers though >_<

I remember it was you Ben_j (or maybe it was someone else) who made the connection right off the bat. For a while there was only a 30 second or so clip on a jukebox stream through the Chems website. I could't hear it at first and didn't want to make any connection til I could hear The Golden Path in its entirety. Once I was able to listen, I could see the similarities between the bassline in U2's With Or Without You and The Golden Path. It's not a straight rip off U2's bassline, but the tempo (that sort of staccato type movement) is very similar. I don't think that is too far off really - if you read the scribblings in the liner notes (on the page with the Golden Path lyrics) to the Singles DVD and CD, there is a mention of "think of it kind of like... Echo and the Bunnymen or U2 sorta... or even David Bowies Hereoes" But those scribblings could have been referring to the lyrical content somehow and not necessarily the musical style.



I believe the Golden Path versus thing you are talking about is a combo of The Golden and Where the Streets Have No Name... but I could be wrong. It's been a long while since I listened (thanks to iggy who sent it my way to begin with).

TPPR was a song I never really got into until I had gotten the other 3 albums (at the time). I guess I never really got it and didn't think that it was worth 7 or so minutes to get to its amazing climax. Then, I listened to all of DYOH one day and just 8O Whoah! Its not just a "Ding-ding, byou" over and over, its something else entirely awesome!



There are few Chemical songs that I haven't gotten around to relistening and finding joy in. I'm still half way on Got Glint? as well as Nude Night and Scale. I especially love the b-sides that have been able to rekindle my interest in the Chems between albums. PTB's b-sides were definitely the best overall, IMO.

I was talking mainly of the way the lyrics are sung. It's really similar to U2's song

Stupid crap ass computer froze on me and got rid of my monster post.



Anyway - this is a good topic and a brave one too.



stash and I noticed that generally, perceptions of songs played out live (either seeing them live or even hearing on the live DVD or bootlegs) can really open up new possibilities including liking something you might not have had much interest before.



Before I start my little critiques on songs I don't like or have had a hard time warming up to, let me just reiterate what I've said before and that is I grew to love Come With Us. So don't re-charge that flamethrower just yet Bosco, hehehe. It is the one album in the history of whirly that taught me that it is possible to love an album if you put all expectations aside give it another chance and just listen to what it is rather than what you want it to be. And besides, "love" means never having to say you're sorry. :P I was one of those that downloaded the album way before it's time and I didn't like it at all. The only songs I took to right away were It Began In Afrika, Galaxy Bounce and The Test (which remains one of my all time favorite tracks, ever). The turning point was hearing things live - like Star Guitar and Hoops, that really opened up a door for me and changed the way I heard these songs forever.



So here they are - tracks off Come With Us and others here and there that I have issues with (or in other words, wouldn't put on a Chems mix cd):



Denmark - I still have a hard time warming up to this. To date it is my least favorite Chems track of all time. There is something about the bassline that seems a bit forced that always kind of bugged me out. I do like the clever vocal sample and of course the production is pure top notch Chems quality, but overall, I wouldn't skip this when listening to the album. Not much else to say other than I'm not rushing out to put it on a mix cd.



Hoops - didn't like the guitar and felt it could have been a bit grittier, a more dirty sound. The EBW take on this song is far superior in my mind and I am so glad they took that route when playing this out live. Hoops live is delicious, sinister and I get the chills thinking about it when I think of the song in live terms. On the album it didn't do much for me. It grew on me, which is a good thing but in other words - Hoops won't go on the mix cd, but EBW version of this song is a keeper.



Pioneer Skies - I felt offended when I first heard this. I know it sounds dramatic, and I like the song for what it is now, but I felt cheated when I first heard it. The length (or lack thereof) really bothers me even to this day and it would have been such a massive track of epic proportions if only it could have been a bit longer. I feel its beautiful twinkly, trippy kaleidescopic swirls of sound deserved more time. And the gradual build where it brings the song to its peak like it's going to explode like a ray of sunlight bursting from the heavens... it doesn't happen! The song just withers - it is the ultimate tease. I know there's got to be an extended take of this song lying somewhere in Tom and Ed's vault and one day, I'd like to hear it, dammit. Surely if this song were just a minute or 2 longer, it would make it to my mix cd.



OK, now on to the others that won't make it onto the mix cd:



Swiper - the first time I heard this was when the gang were out visiting. We each had a listen on mc marsh's mp3 player, then we had a lengthy round table geek out discussion and it was interesting getting everyone's take on how they heard the tune. For me it was a tad too long (which sounds impossible for a Chems song, I know) and there wre parts to the song that felt dragged out... for far too long. The word tedious comes to mind, like it was running out of steam but some force behind it made the song keep on going and going and going. Not a terrible effort, but not a stellar b-side and it's not gonna be on the mix cd.



Shake Break Bounce - in context of an album which I found utterly brilliant and cohesive, this song works but it was also the most difficult song off Push The Button for me to warm up to. Gear-like sounds turning like clock work and production get top marks as does the imagery of the song being crafted in a wind up toy factory, but overall it is not a stand alone track for me. I don't like the breathy Ahhh vocal, and the tempo is a bit strange. Not a bad thing to deviate from the norm but it's not going on the mix cd.



Prescription Beats - this one is really spastic to me, too spazzy for my tastes. It sounds broken, and the song doesn't take me on a journey but instead picks me up and drops me off hard on my butt here, there and everywhere. It feels disjointed, uncomfortable like it's about to pull apart at the seams as though it was crafted from pieces picked up off the cutting room floor. There are some cool sounds in there, but they're all thrown together haphazardly which creates a cluttered, claustrophobic feeling. Maybe that's what the song is supposed to do, but either way, it's not going on my mix cd anytime soon.



And that's all I can think of for now.

X-D hahahaha... my son just saw this post - he didn't read it, but he asked about what it said and I told him "it's about songs I don't really like or had a hard time warming up to". His reply was "you're gonna make Tom and Ed cry!"



Then stash said he might have to flame me.



Ah, the joys of family!

hahaha, nice post Whirly and the boy makes me laugh as always!



I agree about the live experience opening things up. Galvanize and The Big Jump came alive for me at Coachella and although I already liked The Golden Path beforehand, hearing it live was a really special moment. I can't begin to say how much hearing the Chems drop Surface to Air at midnight NYE 2005-06 affected me and how I will always associate that song with possibly the best week of my life.

mX. Escribi�:

Ben_j Escribi�:

Star Guitar

The Private Psychedelic Reel

Not "pop" enough?







;-)

BWAH! ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! X-D X-D X-D



that picture response made my day Mx X-D

Where Do I Begin? (I never hated the track, I thought it didn't fit well on DYOH for some reason)



The Private Psychedelic Reel ( Off the bat, this track use to be my favorite, then I some how got bored of it :? .)



But now I love them both, and the transition of the two (which i argued before that i didnt like :P ) is one of my favorite highlights of DYOH. :D



And To tell you the truth, I dont feel like too many chemical brothers tracks grow on me. Either I like them, dont like them, or like them from the start and eventually lose interest in them.



Tracks I love:

-Star Guitar

-Elektrobank

-Come With Us

-Loops Of Fury

-Chemical Beats



Tracks I never really liked from the start (excluding "Do It Again"):

-Asleep From Day

-Dream On

-Believe

-Shake Break Bounce

-Alive Alone



Tracks I liked at the start, but have lost the light:

-Come Inside

-Hold Tight London (which is weird because I really loved this song, but it just doesnt do it for me anymore, I think I overplayed it :'( )

-Got Glint?

-Out of Control (Enjoyed FTW!)

-Under the Influence (I use to love the 'pause, GO!, pause GO!', part, not so much anymore.... :( )