Customer Reviews

The Altogether

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

As much of a fan of Orbital as I am, I feel justified in waiting to buy The Altogether until its US release because I had not purchased any of their singles between the last album, Middle of Nowhere, and this one. So, you end up ahead, saving money by getting two discs for the price of one - much better than if you were to buy the import singles. However, when you get this (and you should), listen to the second disc first. It provides the necessary bridge from the last album. Orbital's sound may have grown and matured over the course of their six albums and many EPs, and but, previously, the progression between albums always seemed to be consistent in increment. This release seems to jump forward (or some other direction) farther than most fans expect and could alienate some. Listening to the second disc will ease the transition, mainly because most of the tracks are remixes from Middle of Nowhere. In that regard, the only album tracks that sound "familiar" are "Funny Break" and "Meltdown", the rest sounding Orbital-esque, but much more shorter and dancy than previous albums' epic, emotive cuts, lacking a sense of cohesion. Three-stars for the album proper and five-stars for the second disc. The song "Doctor Look Out" is particularly good.

It's been a two year wait for fans of this duo and unfortunately I found that this new c.d. while still very good is just not as good as their previous offering "Middle Of Nowhere".Much of the overall sound is the same but you just get the impression that on this new offering Orbital are tending to try appeal to fans of Moby and the forces of commercialism in the same way that Moby's songs seemed to be on every ad-break on t.v.The most notable way this manifests itself is the way that all the tunes bar the last one now seem to be 2/3 minutes shorter than the tracks on their previous albums.And yes while these tracks are good,they just seem to lack a slight cutting edge that made their previous offerings so good.

The first song is vintage Orbital-it's a really manic techno tune and it's a great start to the c.d.Track two sees one of the changes on this album in that it's the first of two full vocal songs.The song is sung and co-written by Naomi Bedford and I have to say it's a really great song.It isn't traditional Orbital at all-this isn't cutting edge techno at all,but more of song you'd imagine groups like Lucid doing-in fact the synths are pretty much drowned out by the vocals.The next track "Oi!" is sort of an homage to Ian Dury in that it contains samples from his most famous track and that infamous dual sax solo.Once again this is a really great track-the bass and rhtyhms rumble alomg furiously-you just can't help but nod your head,tap your toe or shake whatever!Three songs in and this is proving to be excellent,very different.The next threesome of instrumental tracks are nothing exceptional and as I said earlier seem to lack that raw cutting edge to them.

The next interesting track is 7 "Doctor"-which is a really fun re-working of the old Doctor Who theme tune.I also love the next track Shadows-with it's almost pseudo Japanese Y.M.O. feel to it,all backed up and driven by furiously paced drum machines.Track 9 sounds really like something Moby would do-complete with it's acoustic guitars and almost blues feel to it-yeah it's a very good track,just not what you'd expect from this group at all.I suppose they have to be complimented in being so experimental.Track 10 see's them collaborating with David Gray.As fans of both artists I absolutely adore this track-but I have to say it's far closer to what you may expect to hear from david Gray's next album then a track from an Orbital c.d. The last track is a stunning closing track and is much more like older Orbital of say the "Brown Album" era-pure unadulterated electronica,techno which raves on for ten minutes plus.So there we have it 63 minutes of always very interesting,sometimes riveting and then sometimes just a little too commercial music from one of dance musics most innovative and creative duo's.This c.d. probably will be seen as a slight let down for real die hard Orbital fans,but at the same time it may as a result gain them exposure to a whole new audience.

If nothing else, the second disc makes up for any problems that could be found in the album itself. Let's start with disc 2. Being largely comprised of remixes, it is the best stand alone EP/single set/half-album i've ever listened to. This is no exaggeration. I all their other albums first, before getting The Altogether more than a year ago. I would recommend owning at least Middle of Nowhere before trying to listen to disc 2, but even without, it still sounds great even to my non-Orbital-fan friends. Who requests a B-sides disc of an artist they don't listen to often? I can't believe the number of reviews that don't mention Beelzebeat, let alone the entire second disc.
Bigpipe Style - great morale boosting starter.
Monorail slows it down to start and picks it up continuously adding interesting samples making an extremely cool sound.
Much Ado... is a great matchup of voice verse good percussion.
Ah Fhomhair is some great short sampling melody creation with a great vibrant feel.
Doctor Look Out gives a much needed threatening feel (for balance)
Beelzebeat kind of extends that feel but really takes the astute listener on a voyage throughout its entirety. This song is great!
Nothing Left Out is a good, heavy, fast pace Nothing Left.
Old Style is shows the heavier darker side of the already established and great song Style.
The Funny Break is better than that on the original album, which has been one of the high points of others' reviews.
Mock Tudor, much like Beelzebeat is another great new track, that progresses much from start to finish.
New Style gives you the much needed feel of floating in relaxation after the intense workout of the rest of the disc.
Anyone who liked Middle Of Nowhere should love this disc, but I've come to appreciate MON more since listening to the disc.
Disc 1 has been reviewed to death, but it really shows some great experimentation. I think that it has enough good points to give it at least 4 stars without the second disc. Again Meltdown, Doctor, Waving Not Drowning, Funny Break, Tension, Illuminate, Tootled all stand out, but the other songs are much needed, and make the album better rather than adding rubbish to a masterpiece. A must-have for anyone that owns or enjoys any Orbital, and 2 discs for the price of 1 (roughly).

I've been a big fan of Orbital for 8 or so years now, and had to buy this album purely for the sake of completeness. I can't say it's one of my favourites (that would have to be the Brown Album). It seems to lack the depth of previous releases, instead relying on strange samples and gimmicks like the Dr Who remix. That's not to say that there aren't a couple of gems on the album, Funny break for one. I don't know why so many people hate Illuminate, I find it an incredibly uplifting tune. Here's hoping they tire of this new direction and go back to making decent tunes.

In my opinion, this album represents a step back, for the most part, from previous releases. I own all major Obital releases, and several singles. My least favorite was, by far, _Snivilization_. If you liked it or "I Don't Know You People" or "Otono" (tracks 4 and 5), from _Midle_of_Nowhere_, then you may really like _The_Altogether_.

In other words, it just has too many sound samples (i.e. from movies, voices, or other songs), for my taste. I prefer more pure synthesizer & effects music, whether it's slower tempo and more introspective, like much of _Insides_, or more like their earlier techno/rave/trance type releases.

It's also too repetitive. In fact, some of the tracks on _The_Altogether_ almost sound like they were by (or influenced by) Fatboy Slim.

It has a couple gems, so I don't feel I've wasted my money (though it's bittersweet to see the highlights of several of the singles I've tracked down, conveniently presented on the second disc). But beware that this isn't nearly the same level of advancement as we've seen, in the past.

The first time I listened to this album I hated it. It's not typical orbital. Too much DJ'ing rather than creation for me. Then I listened to it again. It got a little bit better but still no in sides. After the third listen to I was hooked. I still think there is too much DJ'ing on this album but Meltdown is phenominal. I recommend listening to it first and then move on to the other tracks.

Orbital put on the steel-toe, 12-hole Dr. Martens to make this album. While they retain some of their traditional ambient meanderings, the entire collection is much harder and dancable than anything they've done earlier. Its a nice change and a great direction for them. I'd buy this CD again, for the Dr. Who theme song cover alone.