Brotherhood

The Chemical Brothers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 2, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B001BDZHUI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,668 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #57 in Music > Dance & DJ > Big Beat

Track Listings

1. GALVANIZE (FEAT. Q-TIP)

2. HEY BOY HEY GIRL

3. BLOCK ROCKIN' BEATS

4. DO IT AGAIN (FEAT. ALI LOVE)

5. BELIEVE (FEAT. KELE OKEREKE OF BLOC PARTY)

6. STAR GUITAR

7. LET FOREVER BE (FEAT. NOEL GALLAGHER OF OASIS)

8. LEAVE HOME

9. KEEP MY COMPOSURE (FEAT. SPANK ROCK)

10. SATURATE

11. OUT OF CONTROL (FEAT. BERNARD SUMNER OF NEW ORDER)

12. THE GOLDEN PATH (FEAT. THE FLAMING LIPS)

13. SETTING SUN (FEAT. NOEL GALLAGHER OF OASIS)

14. CHEMICAL BEATS

Editorial Reviews

Following their fifth consecutive UK number 1 album last year, the GRAMMY® award winning We Are The Night, The Chemical Brothers return with Brotherhood, a Best Of collection with a kick and a twist. In a career that's spanned 13 years and accrued 9 million record sales, The Chemical Brothers have established themselves as true pioneers of electronic music as well as one of the most popular dance acts of all time. Now is the perfect time to take stock of their seminal output.

Brotherhood is a collection of 13 undeniable singles plus new track "Keep My Composure" featuring Spank Rock. (Limited edition 2XCD box version will also be available featuring a 2nd disc of Electronic Battle Weapons 1-10.)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic compilation of signature "big beat" sounds and beyond... !, September 4, 2008

By 

Torley "I amplify your awesome!" (torley.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brotherhood (Audio CD)

It's hard to believe it's been over a decade since TIME Magazine heralded the Chemical Brothers (alongside Prodigy, Fluke, Orbital, and others) as stateside ambassadors of "electronica". False hopes cluttered up expectations, but even as many groups (often 2- and 3-member duos, if not lone bedroom musicians) faded along the way, the Chems kept pounding on new doors, bursting beyond their original badge of "big beat" to encapsulate a sound that could, in the end, only be their own (and often-imitated it was!).

It's convenient to have many of their big singles on here, altho I would've sequenced them differently -- "Block Rockin' Beats" is such a wake-up standout that I wonder why it was placed 3rd. Also, it isn't entirely clear whether this is the 1-CD version, since the track listing doesn't say -- yet the header claims "[LIMITED EDITION]". To the latter's point, the "Electronic Battle Weapons" are a wonderful showcase of party mayhem, the Chems continuing the 80s spirit of rough, raw beats (then it was breakdance, which has evolved into krumping and other styles...) rocking the neighborhood.

Also unique and notable about the Chemical Bros. is how they've been able to create albums that work as such, sometimes with tracks seguing flawlessly into each other, but how they've done strongly with singles too. To this day, that's extremely rare in electronic music -- many hit singles, few "artist albums" that gel as a whole.

While I feel their later explorations weren't as effective as earlier outings, admittedly, this is in part because I've become desensitzed to their once-novel way of taking disparate influences which you might not think work together, and whuppin' them into mighty, bold stews.

And then, there are the more delicate (but no less strong) excursions, like the harmonic rush of "Star Guitar" -- if you haven't seen the Michel Gondry-directed music video, its tempo-locked, tightly-synchronized visuals are a MUST. A MUST, I say!

"Out of Control" is another lesser-known (compared to the standout Beatles-infused dementia of "Setting Sun") beauty, used to great effect in Wipeout 3 and having an awesome guitar breakdown with syncopated breakbeats that get the mix moving again.

Overall, a wonderful retrospective, both healthy for your party and knowledge of technology-based music history. If you didn't discover the magic of the Chemical Brothers' time-travelling psychedelia "the first time around", there's no better time to start than now.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Electronic Battle Weapons or nothing..., September 20, 2008

By 

SevenBizzos (Nowhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brotherhood (Audio CD)

"Brotherhood", or better titled "Singles 93-03 Part 1 1/2" is more of the same things any fan of The Chemical Brothers already owns. There are 7 songs from the "Singles" album that are repeated on the first disc of "Brotherhood", so you could conceivable own them 3 times. With so many good songs to choose from (and knowing what you've already recycled once), you'd think the track selection would have been better. A bit disappointing. I will also agree with torley.com that the order of them doesn't necessarily fit well.

The only reason to buy the box is for the "Electronic Battle Weapons 1-10", which is a long time coming for some of the tracks. A lot of these tracks you already own too as they've showed up on a few of the past LPs. But no matter, it's nice to have them in their original format.

Bottom line, buy the box for the "Electronic Battle Weapons 1-10" or go buy the "Singles 93-03" and get a better collection...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Electronic Battle Weapons is the dealmaker, October 23, 2008

By 

Eleanor "Slamdancing Rude Girl" (Bangor, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brotherhood (Audio CD)

The first disc is great, it's got all the classics in one place. But it's the second disc with the Electronic Battle Weapons 1-10 that really make this boxset sweet. I think if I had bought the standard one disc edition I would have been really dissapointed overall, because most of those tracks are on there other singles collection already. But I've been listening to the second disc constantly, it makes an awesome backdrop to my poi routine and for glowsticking.