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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A graceful way to bow out., October 30, 2004
Sure, Orbital always had the occasional dissonant numbers, but at their best, they made better melodies than just about any other techno band. Even when they made slow, melancholy tracks, the keyboards were always so clean and melodic as to lift one's spirits anyway, and when they were applied to loud, fast dance anthems with tough beats, like "Lush 3-1," the result was sheer Ecstasy. So it's kind of a surprise that the Blue Album really doesn't have much in the way of those bright-eyed, bushy-tailed melodies at all. On the contrary, the feel of the album is very ambiguous; even a pleasant diversion like "Bath Time" sounds a bit subdued, a bit uncertain. This is largely due to Orbital's use of the claustrophobic bass sound of early techno. Some of the chirping effects in "Transient" could have come from a decade-old Black Dog Productions track, and "Lost" has a cold, chiming melody that looks back to Autechre's first two albums.
As if to accentuate Orbital's newly dark aesthetic, "You Lot" steals the main rhythm from Underworld's timeless track "Dirty." The skittish synthesizer patterns in the same track are also very similar to those in Underworld's "Dark Hard." But where Underworld's night-time city was alternately menacing and sad, Orbital's is luminous and sterile, deliberately artificial like the highways and tunnels leading away from a major international airport. ("Pants" is a great track to listen to while driving in just such a setting.) The heavily distorted vocal samples at the end of "You Lot" call to mind another techno landmark, Juan Atkins' "Night Drive Through Babylon." To this classicist style, which has been dormant for so long (thanks to "jungle") that it actually sounds quite fresh on this album, Orbital add their recent interest in film music. The melody in "Easy Serv" sounds like it was stolen from some melancholy seventies-era romantic film; it would be perfect for watching the handsome protagonist walk past some bystanders down a rainy autumn street with a thoughtful look on his face. "Transient" has a violin melody at the end that would fit the opening credits of a pretty good noir film.
Unfortunately, Orbital also have a sense of humour, and on top of that they want to take one last stab at dance music, so we get "Acid Pants," which revolves around the repetition of an unbelievably obnoxious sample as drum machines whack away in the background. I doubt many people will dance to it. To make up for that, however, they also reprise a good Orbital tradition: vague social commentary in the form of foreboding samples. As longtime Orbital fans will recall, they did this back when they were protesting against the anti-rave Criminal Justice Bill of 1994 by inserting ominous film samples about totalitarianism into "Forever," the gorgeous opening track of their album Snivilisation. This time around, "You Lot" features a bloke expressing the view that mankind is insufficiently aware of the possible negative consequences of altering DNA and cultivating destructive bacteria. Ah, Orbital, always looking out for us.
"One Perfect Sunrise," the last track, seems like a pretty obvious rewrite of Orbital's well-known "Halcyon + On + On." Unfortunately, it doesn't have any hooks half as good as the guitar echo and the main rhythm of the 1992 hit, so the instrumental build-up isn't nearly as effective. However, it does have guest vocalist Lisa Gerrard (known for her work in Dead Can Dance, and more recently, for composing the score to the film Whale Rider), which goes very far indeed. As a singer, Gerrard is miles above Kirsty Hawkshaw, who did the airy cooing in "Halcyon + On + On," and entirely thanks to her, "One Perfect Sunrise" goes straight from a pointless rehash of Orbital's former glory to a song that nearly equals it.
I find myself wondering: who's going to be listening to this album five or ten years down the line? Orbital announced the end of their career before releasing it; they presented it as a deliberate swan song, a sort of album-length thank-you note to their fans. That deliberately retrospective approach already implies that the album isn't an effort to blaze exciting new trails in electronica (even though, in reality, it significantly departs from Orbital's established style, in feel if not in technique). It's as if Orbital themselves acknowledged that their time was past, and gave up in advance on any possibility of breaking new ground, which means that it's unlikely that any of the tracks on the album are going to become smash hits at Da Club. That's a shame, because it really is a pretty good album, and deserves a wide audience. Sure, it hasn't got the same highs as Orbital 2, but it's much more consistently good, and it makes a far better end to Orbital's career than The Altogether. Sorry to see you go, fellows.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wish I had found them earlier..., October 11, 2004
Sadly, as Orbital releases its last album, I realize I completely missed the magic that Orbital has created over the years. I unfortunately found Orbital at the end, and man I'm bummed even so. The glory days of the 90's were not my era, but my love for techno and music in general is strong. This album, is beautiful. I hate to say it but besides this, I've only heard Orbital 1, Altogether, and Middle of Nowhere. What I have heard though, what I've listened to in complete musical bliss, is amazing. I'll leave the analysis of Orbital's career to the true fans. What I can say is that this album was made by a true musician. I bet some people are thinking, "Well duh, it's Orbital". You gotta realize, it's one of those things taken for granted. Who gives a sheet if there's no more albums on the way. This is true music.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Swan Song, August 10, 2004
Like many Orbital and music critics a like, save one or two songs, I was very dissapointed by The Altogether, Orbitals last album. It was a messy, uninspired, schizophrenic affair leaving me alienated. My favorite group had fallen from grace.
So I was pretty anxious as to what the Blue Album was going to sound like. I'm in the US so got it on import since I couldn't wait(however, I maybe missing out on some sort of deluxe edition like they did with the Altogether and InSides in the US)
Happy to say im pleasantly surprised! No its not as brilliant as their magnum opus Insides from 1997, but leaps and bounds better than the Altogether, and on par with or perhaps even better than Middle of Nowhere(which im still fond of)
You can hear every Orbital album reflected here, but in a new context. You'll hear elements of other Orbial songs contained within, or even the mash up of a few Orbital songs. It may seem lazy or too self referential, but it works here. It seems more subtle, more refined, more haunting than other Orbital releases. Definitely emotional and sometimes even achingly beautiful.
What it is missing from other Orbital albums is the complex interlocking melodies and counter melodies, multi movement songs, songs seguing from one to the next, and all the songs and the album in its entirety is much too short. (why they left two tracks off is beyond me).
But there is not a single song I hate or strongly dislike on here.
"Transient" is a beautiful and unexpected opener, very Philip Glass with its string and harpsichord arpeggios, with clanging electronics enveloping it. Unlike anything Orbital
"Pants" brings us back to trademark Orbital territory, evoking Dwr Budr from Insides
"Tunnel Vision" visits the dark paranoid side of Orbital.
"Lost" is slow burning and melodic
"You Lot" is definitely the album stunner. Its melodic and percussive then stops on a dime with lush beautiful pads, while a very Snivelization like sample about a man rambling on about man trying to outdo God
"Bath Time" may leave some heads scratching, like a demented children's show theme song, but there is a darkness behind it that grows on you. The mellotron on it is great.
"Acid Pants" turns the time machine to 1993 and is a banging acid stormer with a peculiar vocal from avant-pop group Sparks. You'll either love it or hate it.
"Easy Serv", like Bath Time may puzzle long time Orbital fans, but its a cute little melodic electro-Carribean number, complete with vibraphone. Don't take it too seriously.
"One Perfect Sunrise" is the albums closer, which seems to make perfect sense, sense it harks back to Brown Album like 4 to the floor kick drum Orbital glory with the lulling female vocal of Lisa Gerrard(sang on the Galdiator soundtrack). No its not as good as Halcyon+on+on, but evokes a similar old school rave vibe.
Its a great swan song to one of the best electronic music groups, and a marked improvement in quality and craft from their last album.
However I must say its hard pitting Orbital against Orbital. Because when you put Orbital up against modern day electronic dance music, few things can hold up. The attention to melody, detail and beauty that is so rare to find these days.
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