Customer Reviews

Chill Out

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Its 6am, the sun won't be coming up for another half hour. You've been out clubbing hard all night in North England, you're feet are hurting and you've just started the journey back. After five minutes on the motorway, you're out of the city and into the countryside, a mist is forming low on the surrounding hillsides. No-one is saying anything in the car, everyone is tired, sitting back satisfied with an amazing night out. Above the subtle rumble of the tires on the tarmac comes the sound of a train rushing past behind you. Subtle melodies emerge from vaporous ambience. You close your eyes and smile, knowing that someone has put 'Chill Out' on.

Designed with one purpose in mind, this album, put simply, is for anyone who can relate to the passage above. No need to repeat earlier reviews and give track descriptions, but ask 10 different people what they think of the album, and you'll agree that not everybody can understand this kind of work. But, find people who can, and as Alexis Petridis says, "Go out clubbing. Crawl home at dawn, bang one up, put this album on, close your eyes and inhale. Ladies and gentlemen you are Floating in Space".

This album paved the way for later ambient-house records, and, through memories and sheer listening pleasure, is my favourite disc of all time. It is the kind of album that in my circle has become an 'event'. Strictly an on-occasion play only!

Wow, I still listen to this CD on a regular basis and still find cool things going this fairly shore ambient CD (with the average ambient CDs clocking in the 70 min++ range!). From start to finish this CD holds your attention. The 3 songs I've spotted in this masterpiece are "In the Ghetto" by Elvis, "Albatross" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk. It's rumoured that the Chill Out session recording went something like 5-6 hours long! Maybe, some day a special edition of this classic will be released with bonus material! Keep our fingers crossed! I think the train sounds with the dog barking has to be a salute to the Beach Boys Pet Sounds! All KLF fans are waiting for the return of Mu!

What further accolades can be bestowed on this truly definitive piece of work. I bought this album on vinyl on the day of its UK release in 1989 with eager anticipation. After a thorough overplaying over the next 2 years, I consigned it to my shelves for fear of damage as the then deleted work would be lost forever. This album has forged a deep significance for many, the mere mention of its name in a room full of strangers can facillitate the kind presumed kinship amongst its admirers equal to that of a shared spiritual experience.

I purchased the CD copy on import yesterday and have just finished listening to it. It still has the same effect on me, invoking the same feelings and emotions for which are all personal and unique to each listener. Like revisiting a childhood holiday location or hearing something strangely comical and distantly familiar from a joyful past, it got me good and proper. I cannot and will not deliberately not try to describe or compare the musical styles on this album for fear of disuading anyone from listening to it. A truly influential, watershed moment in recent musical history.

This is perhaps the most interesting CD I've ever listened to. The theme is a night drive from Texas to Louisiana along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and the sound is that of a car radio as it changes stations though a long insomnient night. When I listened to "Elvis on the Radio, Steel Guitar in My Soul" (complete with an extended "In the Ghetto" sound bite), I was brought back to long drives as a kid with my parents, with me sitting in the back seat drifting in and out of sleep and the echo-y sound of an old car radio (not even stereo) lulling me to further unconsciousness. If I haven't been clear on this, let me assure you that this was and is an immensely comforting sensation. The evangelist preacher is another (less comfortable, but still fascinating) reminiscence from drives long past that is featured within the collection of gathered sounds. Especially haunting is the mournful train whistle looming through the calm night. Beautiful in its stark loneliness. Basically, the CD is one long (45 minutes) mood piece, and it is an amazing bit of surrealness to add to your day. You will be entranced.

I really don't know how to review this... but this album invokes my mind to produce vivid images for 44 minutes straight. It really is a mesmerising and memorable experience. One of my all-time favourite albums.

I have had this album for 12 years and it is simply amazing. It is a true "journey" through sound, a term that is often used but in reality never reallt applicable.
An awesome soundscape that defined the word "chillout" and an albumn that will surely be hard to challenge. I read some of the reviews on here and can only laugh at the people that simply have no clue as to where this is coming from.
The KLF show their genius!!

How to listen to this album in 3 easy steps:

1.) Go out clubbing.

2.) Add "substances".

3.) Leave club late, go home, bust a cocktail, lay down, and put on 'Chill Out' by The KLF.