The Altogether

Orbital | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 4, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sire / London/Rhino
• ASIN: B00005O55P
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,779 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Tension

2. Funny Break (One Is Enough)

3. Oi!

4. Pay Per View

5. Tootled

6. Last Thing

7. Doctor?

8. Shadows

9. Waving Not Drowning

10. Illuminate

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Bigpipe Style

2. Monorail

3. Much Ado About Nothing Left

4. An Fhomhair

5. Doctor Look Out

6. Beelzebeat

7. Nothing Left Out

8. Old Style

9. Funny Break (Weekend Ravers Mix)

10. Mock Tudor

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Premier British trancemeisters Orbital have often threatened to make a consistently great album. Their Diversions remix EP remains a genuine classic in trance-techno music, but more often than not they miss the mark of greatness by a whisper. The Altogether starts strongly; "Tension" is a true Orbitalian head-twister, all loops and sounds mangled to create a regulated flow of energy before falling into the almost orchestral techno of "Funny Break (One Is Enough)." "Oi!" sniffs again at classic Orbital, with its spongy keyboard textures and slow ease into ambient territory. The band bravely dives head first into some interesting creative waters, as "Waving Not Drowning" brushes by folk and nods toward Pink Floyd, while "Meltdown" puts a hand firmly in breakbeat's back pocket. But once again, Orbital's greatness is isolated to certain tracks, and the pervading feeling is that half the album is a grand experiment that either went too far or not far enough. Unlike the Orb, the KLF, or even Underworld, Orbital are still searching for their first truly consistent studio masterpiece. --Steffan Chirazi

Product Description

Japanese edition of the UK dance act's long waited sixth album. The album mostly contains short electronic 'songs' which, on occasion, feature the vocal talents of David Gray & Naomi Bedford (the first single 'Funny Break (One's Enough)'), along with a ho --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars End of the road?, October 4, 2001

By 

Daniel Staton (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Altogether (Audio CD)

If history gives them their due, Phil and Paul Hartnoll, the brothers who make up Orbital, will be remembered as two of the seminal artists and composers of the late 20th. century. Hyperbole? Take a listen to In Sides or Snivilization, their two blisteringly original, thematically rich, emotionally overwhelming masterpieces (yes, masterpieces, Steffan Chirazi's clueless remarks to the contrary).

After the promising but uneven Green album, Orbital seemed to just get better and better with each release, deepening their themes, increasing the complexity of the layering of their melodies and beats. Yet their work remained suprisingly minimal; every element of a track was essential, and introduced for a reason. Despite the careful construction, Orbital's music wasn't sterile or academic like much electronic music. It's hard to make a machine bleed emotion, but Orbital could. And in a way that seemed effortless.

Sadly, effort, even desperation is evident on The Altogether. As with its predecessor, the aptly titled Middle of Nowhere, Orbital seem confused and directionless. The tunes are internally fractured and needlessly busy, and the album sustains no coherent theme. They attempt to turn the latter deficiency into a virtue--"hey, it's eclectic, man!"--but the fact remains that sampling random musical styles is no substitute for concept. Track times are shorter than ever, but unlike before, when Orbital could sustain a 12 minute track so successfully that you couldn't imagine it any other way, these bite-sized songs grow tiresome before they hit the three minute mark. Most depressing of all, it seems the Hartnoll bros realize their diminished ability, and are trying to compensate by being "deliriously silly" and self-referential. At least when Aphex Twin or Autechre start navel-gazing the results are often interesting. This is not.

I lay some of the blame on the shoulders of producer Mickey Mann. He produced this album, Middle of Nowhere, and the Brown Album (which, though brilliant, sounds overproduced to my ears). Many tracks on this album--Funny Break, Pay Per View, Shadows, Meltdown--would sound better given a different treatment. But I can't escape the feeling that no matter what the production, these tracks just don't contain a fraction of the emotion and care that went into earlier Orbital work.

Mock Tudor, Doctor Lookout! and Beelzebeat off of the bonus disk are OK. Still not reason enough to buy the double disk. Don't let this review dissuade you from picking up In Sides or Snivilization, though, as they represent the pinnacle of electronic music.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, May 16, 2001

By 

"sugarfly1" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Altogether (Audio CD)

To be fair, Orbital may be doomed to be forever judged against In Sides and Snivilization - two unfairly high benchmarks. That caveat spoken, The Altogether is wholly disappointing. Yes it's imaginative; yes it proves again how far the brothers have come from the (great in its own right) Green Album. Nevertheless, this album lacks the energy or emotion of the Hartnoll's high water marks. Although parts of this disc are unquestionably beautiful, it lacks any sort of coherent flow and is thus unable to really captivate listeners the way those two great discs did.

Up through In Sides, Orbital seemed to be on a wonderful trajectory - moving from imaginative and energizing techno to a brilliant blend of IDM and trance. However, Middle of Nowhere seemed to be a step back away from that formula, instead moving towards more mindless, poppy sounds. It pains me to say that, given this, The Altogether seems to be more of the same, indicating that Orbital have since In Sides decided to embark on a new direction. I say unfortunately because, as with MoN, the tracks here just don't seem to spark the intellect or the emotions the way Are We Here? or Out there Somewhere? can. Consequently, this disc leaves me feeling flat and wanting more because, though the music seems capable of it, it never gets to the apogees I sense and hope it might. The sounds just kind of roll along somewhat repetitively, again (like MoN) relying too heavily on vocal samples and not enough on the mixture of tempos, keys, and layers that drive Orbital's best works.

Anyone who likes Orbital will surely like this as the Hartnolls seem incapable of producing inferior music, but only those for whom MoN was their favorite release will truly love this disc. For all those for whom this is not the case, I fear you will be similarly disappointed as I, and left with the feeling that, sadly, Orbital has forsaken their most effective and emotive formulas for something less satisfying.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Orbital In The 21st Century, September 4, 2001

By 

Tracher (Skopje, Macedonia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Altogether (Audio CD)

Orbital has something new to tell us. Can you hear them - they are trying something different. But how many people are prepared to listen? Not many, to bad. Well, got some news for you. This isn't bad. It's actually good, very good. Sure, some people are dissapointed, i know i was when i first heard it. But, let's see why it's different.

This USA edition is a double-disc release of The Altogether with added 11 tracks of bonus material and remixes. The first CD is the same as the UK edition of the album.

"Illuminate", a vocal collaboration featuring David Gray is the track everyone thinks it's a big mistake, but i think it's quite good - it's strange but interesting.

"Meltdown" is probably the best track. With it's 10 minutes it's the longest on the album (the rest are five or six minutes long).It feels as if this one jumped of "In Sides" 'cause it has that famous Orbital feel from their best days.

"Doctor?" (the long waited, one of the highlights of their shows) and "Funny Break" are the best songs, also with "Meltdown" (not that the rest are bad, it's just that these three stick in your head after the first time). The rest may need a little time.

"Altogether" doesn't have the strenght like the "Brown", or the emotions that "In-Sides" had. What it does have is the experimental approach like no other Orbital album (well maybe "Snivilisation") and song structures first heard here, on the "Altogether". The songs are short, the brothers are using more samples than usual and a lot vocal inputs.

Like i said, the first time i heard it i was dissapointed. But as i continued to listen to it i started to like it more and more. I suggest you do the same thing. Give it a little time,have an open mind, be patient and soon you'll see that this is another good Orbital album.

All in all, not a bad move. A very brave one, and i'm sure it will pay off.
Not a classic, but very good electronic music.