As we continue onward in hibernation mode in anticipation of being roused from our slumber by new tunes... I was wondering if any of you have taken some time to revisit one or more albums from the Chems back catalog?

If so, which album? Have you grown to love a certain song that you might not have connected with previously? Do you have less love for a certain song than you did before? Any "ah ha! I totally get it now!" moments of revelation? Or "oh man I don't remember hearing that noise before?" Are any of you relatively new fans and recently started the musical journey of discovering the Chems?

I ask not just for the sake of on-topic conversation but because there's some new folks here on the board, and it would be cool if you stuck around. So I thought a new topic about older Chems albums/music might give a fresh new perspective and we can use that to get to know each other a little better.

As for me I've been revisiting a lot of music from my past lately. Having been put back in touch with old friends tends to do this. And reconnecting with old friends and putting them in my 'now' moment brings me back to the Chems and giving myself a refresher course on what drew me to them and kept me listening.

The album I've revisited most recently is Push The Button. I admit it was neglected over the past couple of years especially as We Are The Night (which is one of my most favorite albums, ever) made the regular rounds in my player. On a personal front, my life went to shit which was a year and a half long evolutionary process of... shit... which left me feeling a embarrassed, ashamed, and worst of all disconnected from the people in my life (both on and off the 'net) and there was a feeling of disconnect with myself in general. Anyway. A lot of intensely positive things have changed in the past 4 months so now I feel comfortable and can reflect with fondness rather than with head-shaking shame or whatever. That's where the music comes in.

So I listen to Push The Button now, and I hate to sound cheesy but I get these warm feelings of nostalgia and love for all things friendship and personal. It's almost like listenng through a pair of wiser, older ears. 2005 was such an exciting and fulfilling time in my life. And it was fun and at times so carefree and even irresponsible, heh. Push The Button reminds me of going to London to celebrate my 10th anniversary and my 33rd birthday. I can honestly say that every song on that album reminds me of a friendship that was constructed here through silly (and sometimes serious) banter on a messageboard. The songs also remind me of personal things, but I'll keep those to myself for now. I hear the album nearly half a decade later and I listen with fondness, love and am so pleased to have such wonderful memories associated with it...

Well that's quite enough of me rambling. Let's hear it from you and where you guys are at.

What an excellent post, whirly. You always have great perspective on both the present and the past.

Recently I've been listening to Surrender more often than normal. I've always enjoyed it as a whole, but I rarely listen to it as an album. There are a few tracks I normally skip over, specifically Orange Wedge, Got Glint and Dream On. Now, pick your jaw up of the ground and hear why. I typically enjoy all of Tom & Ed's downtempo tracks; I'm actually a big fan of their slower stuff. However, I associate these three songs in particular with some really bad vibes I experienced in '99. To make matters worse, nothing specificly bad happened to me while playing these songs. No, I would play these songs to slow down and reflect and now they are subconcious reminders of some bad times. I've been listening to the CD as a whole lately with the hopes of washing away that association.

Unfortunately, Orange Wedge is still difficult for me to listen too. The other two songs have finally started to blend in for me, but as it is, I can't completely appreciate this great CD and this well crafted track because of my own personal demons.

My outlook and experiences in life are much better these days, but sometimes my favorite tunes serve as reminders of the different eras in my life. Music is my growth chart.

I like these homework posts..gets eveybody on the forum to do some good thinking! Every album evokes some type of feeling in all of us, but when paired with memories and the past, it makes the music more significant, as in the Whirly/PTB revisit. To be honest, I've haven't done any revisiting to any of the albums lately. I do remember posting my PTB opinion not to long ago but if I had to revisit an album of my choosing, it would be Surrender.

The album came out in my mid-twenties and I remember listening to it for the first time right after I got off work. It reminded me of my wasted youth, my eccentricity, and the partying freedom during high school and early college, but the album was more of a tribute to the glorious 90's raves and the exalting of dance music to its most creative and energetic form, but more importantly, this album closed out the 90's decade with an exclamation point. 'Let Forever Be' seems to me my theme because I feel that there should be no end to the things that we enjoy in life. This album always raises my spirits and lowers my chronological age by 10 years every time I hear it. Here's my opinion of the album when it came out in mathematical form...

Life + No Limits - Authority = Surrender

hmmm...come with us...mdma....come with us...mdma.

but seriously, come with us was my chems breakthrough. chilling on couches with a bunch of dudes listening to "my elastic eye" made our wasted nights (and days). and we all checked the bros drug references on their tracks/videos (believe, golden path, hbhg, let forever be,...)

tonite, i just came back from a dj gig and the last track i was playing was let forever be (after tomorrow never knows). during the set i played the gorgeous the test, which is my all time favourite. it's so cool to see, when i play a chems track, that so many people enjoy their sound. chemical soundwaves during a set makes a party going well...

for the albums: during the days of chemsstuffemptyness i listen to EPD a lot and of course PTB...2 very strong and difficult but beautiful albums i think. surface to air, setting sun...pure energy. love it.

btw: nice thread!!!!

funny topic, think we're all doing a fare share of revisiting. For me it's been with Dyoh, which has typically been the least listened album of theirs by me. Probably because I associate it with the hysteria of 97 electronic music in america that alienated me and many others.

The album is great, I always wonder what it was like for "from the beginning" fans to listen to DYOH the first time when it was released after EPD. I listened the the albums in chronological order myself, but I knew kinda what to expect. Anyways, great album. Does anyone else thing Justice's Phantom drums are just Lost in the K-hole played faster?

I find it interesting how our minds have different opinions on particular songs due to the atmosphere around us, particular events associated with the music etc.

@Whirly - its good how a song can remind you of past memories (eg your anniversary and birthday) for me, whenever i hear a particular track that the chemies played live i instantly get transported back to moment. For example Block Rockin Beats live with all my friends and i jumping around with this random group of 20 year olds we had met. hahaha.

@Satur8 - it's unfortunate that you have bad memories associated with Surrender, especially since it is such a well crafted album. Similar to you though, i did not enjoy songs such as "Dream On"...but with all chemies songs that i dont instantly love, i just revist them later and discover the power of them :D.

@Brother_Ging - glad you are slipping chemies into your sets. More chemical love.

Speaking of which, recent songs that i have recently fallen in love with :P

Dream On

Surrender

Das Spiegel

We Are The Night

and pretty much all the B-sides that i recently discovered.

i'll shutup now =)

Very nice, Whirly. :) Actually, when I feel like I want to listen to some Chems, I often go to all the non-album tracks. All those B-Sides are absolute gems...

Though, I don't think I'll ever love a track as much as I love Orange Wedge. I'm not sure it's possible. It's such a well balanced and perfect song.

At work I have recently been listening to all released albums chronolocally with a few b-sides (loving 'Flashback' at the moment). Exit Planet Dust and Push the Button have been getting extra plays in my car too

This is cool feeback, y'all! It's neat that you've opened a little window to your memories and it's interesting to know where people are now as it relates to what music is being revisited.

It is a little sad when certain songs are associated with bad things or negative events... Hopefully time can close those old wounds.

Biff, I've wondered what it would have been like to be a fan from the very beginning, and to have heard Dig Your Own Hole for the first time hot off the heels of Exit Planet Dust. I was on the Chems mailing list but didn't join up til after Surrender was released, and through those fans' words I got a feel of what it was like to listen to Dig back when it was first released and I get the impression it blew everything else out of the water. Would be interesting to read some feedback from some old timers!

I need to revisit the Chems. I've been really busy listening to new music (everything by Hope Sandoval, Vitalic, Bassnectar, etc)

I shall make some time to revisit DYOH and Surrender, and maybe PTB. The former are my two favorite albums (along with WATN), while the latter is my least favorite.

I love Flashback, btw. Darn, now I'm going to have to make more time to listen to the B-sides again too. Have they release B-sides vol. 2 on iTunes yet? *checks iTunes* No, they haven't. Oh well.

Lately i've been revising the electronic battle weapons. I know their not strictly an album but they are on brotherhood so it kind of counts. Anyway I never had access to them before brotherhood and just went crazy when it came out. I started collecting them after brotherhood and all I need now is 1 , 2 and 5. I'd have to say EBW6 is my favourite possibly because it was the first I heard but there all just so damn good :)

I've also been revisiting Surrender after many years of neglect. I'm loving The sunshine underground and Asleep from day.

As for next I think i'll try and tackle Push The Button which I dont think i've even listened to fully yet :/ And then I want to get into some B sides because I recently discovered Silver Drizzle and a few others and was really amazed :)

I've been listening to The State We're In every now and then lately. Such a perfect mix of organic and electronic elements and Beth's vox are spot on for the ethereal vibe. I do wish I could get a hold of a version that wasn't mixed with Denmark though.

Actually alot of the 4th album has been getting spun at my place recently now that I think about it. The awesome psychedelic feel to it is just so mint right now for me.

I revisited all their stuff, during those latest weeks. My favorite albums are Dig Your Own hole and Come With Us, without any hesitation.

but I also made, for myself, what would be the perfect Chemical album, using the best track # 1, track # 2 etc... (so there is no B-side) :

01 Block Rockin' Beats

02 It Began In Afrika

03 Believe

04 Saturate

05 Hoops

06 The Sunshine Underground

07 Chico's Groove

08 Burst Generator

09 Hey Boy Hey Girl

10 The Test

11 The Private Psychedelic Reel

I also crated a fake live, using the few tracks they released, and putting them in that order :

CD1

01 Block Rockin' Beats (from Woodstock '99)

02 The Big Jump (from Live 05 EP)

03 Hey Boy hey Girl (from Red Rock '99)

04 Out Of Control (from Glastonbury 2000)

05 Temptation/Star Guitar (from Fuji Rock 2002)

06 Surface To Air (from Live 05 EP)

07 Hoops (from Fuji Rock 2002)

08 Elektrobank (from New York, The Roxy '96)

09 Setting Sun (from Lowlands '97)

10 Chemical Beats (from Glastonbury '97)

CD2

01 Close Your Eyes (from Live 05 EP)

02 Believe (from the Milano Forum 2005)

03 Got Glint ? (from Glastonbury 2000)

04 Piku Playground (live)

05 The Private Psychedelic Reel (from Glastonbury 2000)

That's the perfect order, to me, for a live show using the official live tracks.

My favorite B-Sides are Dust-Up Beats, Not Another Drugstore (Planet Nine mix) (the best rap song they produced), Flashback! (actually the best B-side ever), Otter Rock, Swiper and The Rock Drill.

I wish they had released "Problem/Question"... :( (and "Hot Acid Rhythm 2" he).

Finally, my fav EBW's are...that's really hard to say ! It depends on my feeling. I would say the best are 10, 6 then 8 but 5, 7 and 4 are awesome too...

I need to revisit their discography before the next album is out.

I will probably listen to the Chem albums I have heard the less, that is to say EPD and CWU.

Been listening to a lot of the live stuff, Sunderland, Santiago and my favourite Brixton Academy 1996. Really enjoy listening to Exit Planet Dust, never tire of that album ever.

i've hardly listened to much Chems at all the past year. My growing love and skill for guitar playing and rock n roll tends to get in the way of stuff like the Chems. but last night, i decided to listen to WATN. it was a strange and unexpected experience; the album sounded significantly different than i remember. not in a bad way, nor in a particularly good way necessarily. just different haha. I think maybe it had to do with the fact that i used to listen to it so much, that the original meaning each song had to me, kinda faded away. and after never really listening to it for a year, then going back to it, brought me back to the first time i had heard each of the songs. like Do It Again brought me back instantly to when i was first previewing it on the Chems homepage haha. Das Spiegal reminded me of when my best friend stole my girlfriend (teenage drama haha!) been listening to the chems all day today now :P. Was kinda outta love with the chems for a while, but now I'm back and i just absolutely can't wait for new material!

the chemical brothers - surrender = beatles 2.0 = trippin' track!!!! lennon is dancin in heaven!!! dream on, bro!

peace!

hahahah good story TJ.

lol brother_ging wtf? haha

@TJ: Aw, your best friend stole your girlfriend? :-(

Simian Mobile Disco has been getting a lot of love from me lately as I prepare to see them live again. But I will always and forever love Surrender--it's possibly my favorite album of all time. The Sunshine Underground is a track that I will always be able to put on in order to create an enjoyable, ethereal moment. It's a reminder of the amazing, seemingly untouchable energy which the Chems have managed to create with their music.

And yes, I'm absolutely looking forward to the new material. :D What I've heard so far has been tremendous.

Tom/Ed: Love for you guys.

/hippy

I really haven't done any revisiting. The Chemical Brothers are always in my playlist. Nor have I had any sudden realizations of any sort as of late. But after listening to some of the newer albums put out by other veterans of electronic music world, like Underworld,Prodigy, Groove Armada, etc. Its clear to me, that none of them have the staying power or talent level like The Chemical Brothers. For their genre, they have reached the realm of elite status that could only be shared by its founder (Kraftwerk). But to characterize for the sake of characterizing, The Chemical Brothers are the Michael Jordan of Electronic Music. I know saying this doesn't mean much, because I'm preaching to the choir. Tom and Ed got game.