Chill Out

The KLF | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 1993)
• Original Release Date: March 4, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tvt
• ASIN: B000003RFD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,400 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Brownsville Turnaround On The Tex-Mex Border

2. Pulling Out Of Ricardo And The Dusk Is Falling Fast

3. Six Hours To Louisiana, Black Coffee Going Cold

4. Dream Time In Lake Jackson

5. Madrugada Eterna

6. Justfied And Ancient Seems A Long Time Ago

7. Elvis On The Radio, Steel Guitar In My Soul

8. 3AM Somewhere Out Of Beaumont

9. Wichita Lineman Was A Song I Once Heard

10. Transcentral Lost In My Mind

11. The Lights Of Baton Rouge Pass By

12. A Melody From A Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back

13. Rock Radio Into The Nineties And Beyond

14. Alone Again With The Dawn Coming Up

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophetic! Captures the essence of its time., February 18, 2004

By 

John J. Tabellione "johntab" (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chill Out (Audio CD)

The general premise (I assumed) of the album was the concept of a night traveler in Texas and Louisiana who picks up various country, Mexican, blues and Bible-belt radio stations, over which the KLF added the typical nocturnal sounds you hear in the countryside (albeit with a few effects, some thunder and atmospheric synths).

I originally bought this album in the fall of 1990 -- I'm not sure why Amazon says the release date is 1993 (maybe I had a UK import?). I was very disappointed in the album at first by its "lack of beats". I was looking for the big KLF hit at the time "What Time is Love?" and nothing on this CD sounded like that track. Yet despite the absence of danceable rhythms, this album over the years is one of very few that I think captures the ideology and essence of the early 1990s electronic music/rave years, not necessarily as an archive of club hits but more as musical analogy.

The concept of sampling random sounds to make beautiful music is familiar to most "techno" fans. But the radio and other samples the KLF use to depict the culturally chaotic American landscape are just a background to the "big picture". Samples include the broadcast of the "Nassau County (Long Island, NY.) police investigating a fatal accident following a drag race on Merrick Rd. in Wantagh" and God-fearing, but money-scheming Southern preachers armed with phone numbers and scripture. In another sample, a creepily distorted generic radio announcer boasts over FM static, "Rock radio, rock radio, into the '90s and beyond". But above this hodgepodge of everyday Americana, lies a message of hope for life beyond the radio.

This message is mostly revealed in the vocal sample of a self-promoting, self-help salesman from a few decades before our time telling people to "get ready" for his big tour "all the way down the East Coast from Boston to Atlanta, Georgia" He promises to come back "fat as a rat" with so much money "you're gonna be scared, because I (he) got it."

His exhortations from years back paralleled the wide-eyed, hippie-like positivity that existed during those brief early years of the rave scene. Although his self-boasting and desire for wealth didn't mesh with our ideals, the conviction for his trade did. In one vocal sample, the salesman tells his listeners with urgency to pick up their phones and "call 50 of your friends, and for them to call their friends" and spread word about his tour down the East Coast.

This same word-of-mouth, hype/promotion fueled the spread of the rave scene, and the sample of his emotionally charged voice from decades past tingles today's listener with goosebumps, as he captures the same urgent energy of ravers years later. Like news of his tour, the rave scene spread via the word of mouth of excited friends who insisted that their friends attend the next event.

Phew! This is one long, non-objective review, but this CD is one of my ESSENTIAL discs that I will cherish for a lifetime. For those of you who made it through my "thesis" thanks for reading.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting story..., April 17, 2006

By 

B. Johnson "acaciatree" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chill Out (Audio CD)

This album is the reason why I've held on to my cassette deck all these years. Why, you ask? Because, a long time ago, I recorded the several tracks from this album onto cassette from the FM radio. This music was of atmospheric slide guitars, eternal campfire sounds, train sidings, and Elvis on the radio. The DJ never said who it was and I subsequently never discovered who made this music. I figured I would never find out. Nonetheless, I loved the way this music made me feel. So, I held onto the cassette and my cassette deck so I could listen to this once a year or so. Last night, on a long drive, I got thinking about this music and figured I could Google "Elvis+electronic". Low and behold, the KLF popped up, and my long-time mystery came to an end. I have always loved where this album took my soul. It's ethereal and calming and brings me to a different time. I guess you can say my tape deck has no use anymore as a CD is now ordered and on the way, but that's fine. Them cassettes sucked anyway.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcends Ambience, June 26, 2004

By 

M. Starr "Amneziak" (Kansas City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chill Out (Audio CD)

I could go on for days about how fantastic this album is, but for the sake of your time and patience I'll get right to the point. Chill Out is not only the best ambient album ever made, it's also one of the best albums ever made. If you find yourself being stuck on the likes of Brian Eno or Aphex Twin (who are both great respectively), and feel that there are no other ambient artists who compare, let this album be your challenge. Chill Out is absolutely nothing like Cauty and Drummond's club-type works. You may be familiar with their hit "3 A.M. Eternal." However, this 45 minutes of bliss leaves nothing but the open road and your imagination to wonder wherever it pleases. Regardless of where life takes me, I always manage to come back to this album for a much needed escape.