Whitenoise, welcome to Further.

Can I offer you a white flapping bird or two?

I am so happy I am jumping like a madman in the middle of the workday!
For the last 4 chems albums, I had made special effort to make friends at Virgin India to help me source the 3x DJ LPs + and bonus goodies which never make it to India - here you would find just the cds on shelves.
This time I've been really busy working 18 hrs everyday for the last 1 month so no special efforts made till today - just half an hr back I tried to check my luck and called my old contact at Virgin, now EMI - he had a bunch of good news for me:
- the album release is on time -14th June this time - it's usually delayed by a few days to a week!
- EMI's putting out the LP version on shelves here this time- so I don't have to pay through my nose to FedEx to get them delivered from the UK this time.
- he took my order for 2nos. LP, 2nos DVD + CD and promised to ship to me as soon as he gets stocks (expected anyday)

he also promised me to send bonus goodies (he remembered i may call even though it's been 2 yrs i last spoke to him) - he's already reserved the Escape Velocity LE vinyl for me - and some merchandise posters!

hell yeah! I Love my life - it's chemical new year!!

@Jacksrevenge: I'm glad everything is going well for you concerning the Further release! Goodness, 18 hours a day! You deserve something great after those type of days!

Finally got to watch the whole video--WOW!
The ending is surprisingly moving emotionally. Feel like I'm being reborn! Whoa!

finally got my hands on it! it is even better than i imagined!!

@whitenoise: great post!

P-h-e-nominal! I swear, this is right up there as one of the best, if not the best album they've made! It's just amazing from start to finish! And the visuals kept me right in it the whole time! You go, Chems!

I think right now I just really need to get some time with the album. To me the Chems are never catchy right away, and this one is especially so. To me it is a lot like Surrender in that its sound is so unique it is kind of hard to wrap your head around it. I remember when the Beastie Boy's album Paul's Boutique first came out it was totally ignored because it was such a departure from anything else at the time. One you wrapped you head around what they did that album becomes a classic. We are the night is like that too. When I first listened to it, I was totally disappointed. After awhile that cd didn't leave my changer for a year. Further very much seems to be like We are.. but so much more subtle. I kept waiting for the cacophony of sounds to burst out, but it never does. We are the night had such power and emotion delivered through its sound, now this album seems much more about finding elegant beauty.

I'm really loving this album right now...
I've been really busy going to summer class and visiting with shortly departing friends--I'll have to type up a review later.

I too am still trying to wrap my head around this, Cheuso. It's this way with all Chems albums for me - the process of absorbing the information, the sounds, the feelings the songs and sounds conjure up. There's a lot going on in here as a whole that is still unfolding after multiple listings.

It's a bit different this time, though. I was taken with Further immediately and there isn't any one song on here that I'm on the fence about, or need time to think about whether I feel it fits into the album, or that need to give another chance to. I loved them all at first listen, which is a rare thing with any album. The past couple of Chems albums, as much as I love them and played them to death - I admit at first there were songs that I needed to take a little time to soften my perspective. I didn't get that with Further at all. There are so many unique Chemicalisms (you know, those sounds that are undeniably Chemical) in this album, but it's so different than anything they've ever done. I feel this is definitely their most melodic, ethereal album to date. Can't wait to dig into this further and write up a more solid review.

played further to my dad(aged 55 but a chems fan through me)

his qucik review is

"Good stuff - bit more melodic but with all the chemical brothers tension modulation going on
Stephen Hawking on vocals on track 8!"


a good rview i thought

I think i'm only one of the few persons here that hasn't purchased Further yet. It's obvious that my future review will be nothing less than extraordinary!

This is not a review - I cannot review something so big by the chems, not even a full opinion this early- this is just one complete geek fanboy view of the chems sonic capabilities at one listening. I was hearing Further yesterday, and I was amazed how it's got nods to the chems back catalogue all over - sounds, effects, meeting completely new songs, grooves n soul. It's like Tom said in the interview with Zane Lowe: Further takes everything the chems have done in the past 15 yrs, and pushes it all to a maximum.

Am typing this on my phone, - basically decided to hear Further full volume on my Sennheiser HD555s the first time since I received the cd today morning - my ears will buzz for the next five hours, but it was worth this beautiful experiment in sonic "maelstrom".

Some random notes I took while having the 50 min orgasm:


Intro:The sub-bass on Snow, fuck, your ears will ache from the word go on this album, there's so much sub bass, n live chemical drums all over! It could be unnerving on headphones on max volume.
It is among the best chemical brothers album intros ever.

EV. Sonic madness. The buildups and releases are some of the best chemical brothers' work ever. They are picked straight from the live experience n put on a studio album. BOOOM!
My fav buildup is around after 7 mins onwards - very dark and scary if you try taking a walk in a dark house when this part goes nuts- very pink floyd echoes, feedbacks n all. Love the whole outro! I love Escape Velocity. The vocal sample at the end says it all.

Another World. Probably my favourite intro on Further. This album has all epicy big songs - all with great intros and outros to boot. Another World has a superbeautiful opening. N then what is probably my fav chemical brothers keyboard riff ever. before the vocal kicks in. What a super groove - slow, killer, psychedeliccc!! I'm hoping it's Tom singing on Another World. Then the Chems could play this live with Ed on live keyboards? That'd be coool.
The breaks are so beautiful n epicy on Another World. It could be a worthy Reel successor live if Ed n Tom decide to pull it longer - amazing BIG chemical drums, n synths. Another World is so chemical, yet so fresh, so 10 yrs ahead again. The Chems' magic just grows with every album.

Dissolve: The intro is so Surrender vibe, the groove brilliant and brand new, n chemical BIG. Love the drums again. Dissolve could have very well been on Surrender. Except it's Tom (?) singing instead of Bernard now, and it's 2010.
Love the 60s keys, if this is Ed or Tom playing, it's mindblowing and humbling. If this was released in the 60's no one would hear the Beatles. The Chemical Brothers would be The Chemical Beatles. Bigger than Jesus.
Love love the vocal, we should know whose singing!
The outro is again very gorgeous, completely chems live experience material- the way it mixes into Horsepower very live!!

Horsepower is my raw tribal energy tune on this album, the battle weapon. The intro will make your ears bleed while your brain is being painted on your walls, but you would have your stupid chemical grin intact on your face.
Massive massive terror drum roll to kick the song in, scary bass, pounding live energy. This is going to be the new HBHG live. It's a destroyer. The keyboard riff also pays homage HBHG, but then the main keyboard n drums breakdown is spanking new and a massive- eargasmmm.
The keys and groove at around 4 mins reminds me of Come With Us era coolness. This is an evil cool tune. To be played loud and live.

Swoon: love the fantastic way Swoon is brought in - brilliant mixing out from Horsepower- Swoon is the"fantastic" song of this record!
I LOVE Swoon! Its the most epic awesomeness since Saturate. Wholesome mad psychedelic euphoric synth n drums based Chemical goodness. U cannot help smile when Tom tells u to justtt remember to fall in love, nothing else nothing else!
Love the drum. Awesome awesome very cool groove. Old skool, with new chemical production. Millions of big, mad sounds go into the mix and trip very cohesively, sonic brotherhood.
I think Swoon is the new Saturate. People will ejaculate all kinds of love juices dancing silly all over a live gig when Swoon drops. If the Chems pull this longer live and fuck around with the drum groove, it could be the greatest live song since I don't know when.
There's nothing else, there's nothing else.

Again I absolutely love the drums on K+D+B, what a cinemascopic intro. This song is so psychedelic. It's like the Chems wanted to go back to the drawing board n get das spiegel bang right. The way it was meant to be. SuperEpic!
K+D+B has a very Surrender live vibe also, massive drum rolls, breaks, druggy singing, a 60's flaming lips lead bagpipy keyboard riff, this song has all it takes to be the best 70s song released in 2000s ever.

Wonders of the Deep is again epic. One of the best album endings I have experienced. It leaves u feeling like a new beginning is coming up on the horizon - very very inspiring. An intro alright. To Chemical 8!

This album hardly has two or three credited samples which means it IS 100% chemical!
It is SOO psychedelic, (but then everything by the Chems is).
So 60s-70s, yet so modern, a complete leap from anything anyone else is doing in music today.
It's a long wait everytime to a new chemical record, but it's SO worth it when they finally give it to you.

Further is the new order. If you love the Chems work till now, you will be very happy with Further. You ears will ache with the sub bass on this cd if your decide to hear it like me on heavy headphones the first time, but it'll be the best mixed record u've ever heard.

Thank u T n E!! U should be very very proud, we are!!

inchemwetrust, on 12 June 2010 - 02:57 AM, said:

Actually, a lot of us haven't bought it yet cause it's basically still unreleased (except for aussies and Japaneses, who are not the majority of the forum members).

I’d like to start off by saying that as I sit here struggling with this first sentence, I really don’t know where I’m going with this, or what I’m going to write, or what I’m doing. I'm not sure if this is a review but rather a description of what I'm seeing and feeling in my mind when I hear this. Never mind the fact there’s this nagging little self doubting voice that’s telling me “you know, maybe you should wait for the album to sink in some more.” But my heart is saying to do it now while the feelings are still fresh and my awe over what I’ve heard is still abundant. So my apologies in advance for rambling like a raving fuckwit as I try to find my stride in describing this amazing album. It’s usually pretty easy for me to string together a sentence - but fusing some sentences together in an attempt to compose something that does this musical mad space wizardry adequate justice - is another thing entirely. I am so moved by the whole of Further, that I have to admit I’m somewhat intimidated here. So I guess I’m going to get my geek on.

To me it sounds like the journey begins with what sounds like a high pitched carrier wave, that sonic Snow, and instantly you find yourself aboard that plane. The bleeping, intermittent pulsing of signals creates these rhythmic patterns which feel as though they are bouncing off radio towers. The gentle beckoning voice comes in and lifts you higher in a kaleidoscopic swirl of sound as the sub bass drops out from underneath you. The song builds yet it’s not quite dizzying – even though the whirring machinery of sound oscillates and feels like it’s vibrating between your ears and up and down your spine. There is something about the way this song is crafted that invokes such an emotional response when I hear it. Yet it also summons a sense of excitement. It’s almost as though this song has me taxiing down the runway, waiting for the all clear to take off, to go wherever the music decides.

And this makes perfect sense, considering the next leg of the journey is named Escape Velocity. I’ve been raving about this song for over a year now, and it’s just one of those tunes that was love at first listen for me. The song propels to the outer reaches of the galaxy as we know it. It’s Space Mountain on ecstasy. But who needs the drugs and Disneyland when the music is this good, peaks at just the right times, and unlocks the door to Tomorrowland in the mind’s eye? Just when you think Escape Velocity can’t possibly take you any higher, it does. The jet boosters blaze off and the song surpasses summits, each one harder and higher than before. This song makes every strand of hair stand on end as it immerses you in the Maxell effect – and the world as we know it hurtles into hyperspace. Earth becomes a distant memory. If a song can make me feel like I am moving among the satellites, then this is it.

Now that we’ve advanced to another observation point, we’re taken to Another World. This song gently drops you off where Escape Velocity landed you. The underlying melody is mounted on rails as it rushes across the auditory landscape in whooshing streams of sound. Dazzling threads of reverberating intonations blur on past alongside otherworldly harmonies. The song has a pulse which, oddly enough, has the same effect on my brain laughing gas. This song is so… it’s just delightful, and the message of forgiveness makes the heart swell. The echoing vocals are ethereal and gorgeous as they drift past this alien, unchartered and oceanic soundscape. Sometimes there aren’t adequate words, and this is one of those times. This song needs to be heard to be believed, as I’ve never heard anything quite like it before.

Now we’ve reached Dissolve. To me this song is a bit of a departure not just in context of the album, but in the Chemical catalog. A Chemical Brothers rock song that’s undeniably Chemical. A swirling, twinkling intro fades in as the swell in the sonic background rises. The song gains momentum and the swell becomes a tsunami of sound which comes crashing down in an array of what sounds like fuzzy effects-laden guitars. The song is punctuated by slightly distorted clips of sound that feel like they’ve been dipped in a lava lamp then thrown against a wall in a vibrant splash of color. The song is structured but at the same time there’s an air of chaos, of confusion, of dissolve. There’s a beautiful, wide open break that allows you to breathe in the psychedelic wonder you’ve just been confronted with. This song is fresh, it’s new – you’ve heard it before but where? This song is teeming with retrospective nods that are rooted in a musical past. Groovy is cool again.

The rhythm takes over your stream of consciousness, and the next thing you know you’re thrown headlong into Horsepower. Here is the part of the journey that is a familiar aspect in every Chems album - the part of the trip that teeters on the verge of potentially destructible pandemonium. But you go with it, and you hold onto the beat for dear life. You can almost see the mass of thunderclouds overhead, and you can feel the surge of thunder galloping underfoot. This song is a tempest driven by a chariot blazing through the sky. It’s a monster that dumps you in the eye of the great red spot on Jupiter. Thankfully the gods do know how to extend the hand of mercy, the storm passes and the song gallops off into the night.

In its wake, the sound of mercy comes in the form of Swoon which is a whimsical, forgiving foray into springtime. It’s young love and old love without bounds. It drifts on the wind like the mind does in states of higher consciousness and dreams. Earlier we were invited to another world where the heart forgives, and here we are told to remember there is nothing else, only love, and that love is all. This is the Chemical Brothers music at its most tender and jubilant… There is nothing else.

As you breathe, the song melts and you go down with it. A beat rescues you and lifts you higher, higher and higher into k+d+b. This song is another departure, like Dissolve, for the Chems but is undeniably Chemical. You hear a slightly distorted breeze and you hover along, drifting along, going higher with it. On closer observation you hear what sounds almost like a symphony of chirping birds off in the distance. You’re not on Earth, but you’re not quite in another world. It’s like peeking into the doorway of heaven in your mind’s eye. You want to continue venturing inside but you decide instead to just go where the flow of this song takes you. As the song draws to a close, this is where you begin to feel the journey winding down

The next thing you know, you’re back in space and you hear transmissions coming from home, calling you back. You’re needed back home, to look after your brothers and sisters. You drift toward those signals, and the gravitational pull that you escaped from earlier explodes in a majestic rush of sound – catapulting you back once again Earth’s atmosphere. In this song I am reminded of the old the astronauts’ return home in those tiny command modules – how they fall through the atmosphere in a ball of light before they plummet into the ocean, in the middle of the Pacific. Into the Wonders of the Deep. The journey may have ended but you can board that flight in your memory and mind’s eye at any time, if you want to…

This album is absolutely brilliant in every way, shape and form. It has me rocking out, geeking out the only way I can rock out and geek out to my favorite band. There are no growers here, it’s all instant love at first listen. There is no time needed for me to soften up to any of the songs. This album makes me cry. My head tells me I should be logical and refrain from saying anything about this being the Chemical Brother’s most triumphant and majestic body of work – but I can’t help myself! It has exceeded all expectations, surpassed all my hopes. It is inevitable that one day the novelty will wane, just like it has with other albums that are highly regarded as classics. So my hope for the future is when I listen to Further 10, 20 years down the road – my heart will be flooded with the same emotions that I got the first time I listened.

It is so amazing to read the profound affects this album has had on other people here. I am so proud of the Chemical Brothers right now and am so honored to be a fan with the rest of you guys and gals.

That said, I have no idea how I’m going to review the equally brilliant visuals from the Further Experience!!


(If you've bothered reading this far, thanks for putting up with my insane psychobabble!)

it's here! the big ass whirly review! n it exceeds all expectations like every predecessor! thank u whirly, love it!!

whirlygirl, on 12 June 2010 - 08:47 PM, said:

beautifully said, i think further has a very wonderful story to it, but personally i did not really think horse power went with the story, its a good song but had nothing to do with anything in my opinion. But anyway very well put!

you took most of the thoughts out of my head whirly! great words of wisdom as always.

ive fallen asleep the last 2 nights to further, and its been bliss, its just as at home in the middle of the night in the dark with the visuals lighting up the room, as it is screaming out of the car on a beautiful sunny saturday....

Whirlygirl u just said everything i felt the first time watching it. I found myself just unable to completely grasp how i could feel such intense and raw emotion off of music and video alone. Earlier this year i got into the chemical brothers and came here and asked what albums i should listen to and after completely immersing myself in there music i was beyond impressed that an electronic act could take the genre so far. once escape velocity was released i was excited to see what the rest of the album would bring and this is far beyond my wildest imaginations of what could have been done with these songs. I knew earlier this year after hearing star guitar i would like them but after constant listens of their albums and now this i understand the forum's undying commitment to such a revolutionaries in the music industry. I was on the fence about whether to go the hollywood bowl show or not and after watching this i have fully committed myself to going any way i can even if it includes oral sex for payment then so be it. I will not allow myself to miss their performance.

whirlygirl, on 12 June 2010 - 11:47 AM, said:

I was thoroughly satisfied with your review, Whirls! I cannot express how your vivid descriptions match the the diverse complexities of a fantastic album that transcends artistically more and more with every review I read. Good job!

sinnedl173, on 12 June 2010 - 04:38 PM, said:

Glad your a firm believer that got over the fence!

Undying commitment.....love those choice of words!

Welcome to the Brotherhood my friend!

Thank you!! Love to every one of you, and welcome, sinnedl173!

whirlygirl, on 14 June 2010 - 05:29 AM, said:

Whirly you've done it again!!! Thank you for your time and effort in putting together such a master piece of words. Why the hell are you not doing this professionally?

You've disregarded everything that has been produced in the past and started fresh, like a album review should be!! I can't stand it when writers go on about a artists past albums in a new albums review.

You also just let the music take you on the journey without any expectations of what you hoped it would be. The overwhelming release of just letting go and following along with your imagination. Well done!

I've been a little frustrated in some of the online and newspaper reviews Further has been given and its not that they are negative reviews but its the lack of understanding of where Further is trying to take you is the main problem. I also don't know why some journalists think writing about the brothers lives in a review is in any way relevant to the music. The album should simply speak for itself. I know one article compared one track from Further (I can't remember which one and can't find the review online anymore)to Bassment Jazz's "Wheres your head at". I can't start to comprehend how wrong that sounds.