Dig Your Own Hole

The Chemical Brothers

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 1997)
• Original Release Date: April 8, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B000003RY5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,006 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #13 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Big Beat
  #52 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Techno
  #69 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Trip-Hop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
To follow up their bombastic 1995 album Exit Planet Dust, the Chemical Brothers fine-tuned their bombastic beats and produced a rock-solid pop album (pun intended). Dig Your Own Hole finds the common ground between rock & roll and techno, both in spirit and substance. Singles like "Block Rockin' Beats," "Elektrobank," and "Setting Sun" (featuring vocals by Oasis's Noel Gallagher) may lack the big hair and pomposity of rock music, but they make up for it in spades, with sampled and real guitars battling for space with sirens and distorted hip-hop drums. The album reeks of pure enthusiasm and energy, evoking a crowd-pleasing exuberance that makes Dig Your Own Hole a Back in Black for the late 1990s. Pure stadium techno. --Matthew Corwine

Product Description
Second album (1997) featuring the singles 'Block Rockin' Beats', 'Elektrobank' and 'Setting Sun' (with Oasis' Noel Gallagher on vocals), plus a new mix of 'Get Up On It Like This'. The album debuted in the top 20 of Billboard's Top 200. 11 tracks total on this Astralwerks release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking album, August 28, 2005

By	Marcell Orosz (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Much has been written about this album in the past 8 years since its release and it has been appraised by many people - they were right. However, this is not your kind of music, if you're not into experimental music or you turn away from unusual patterns. Anyway, this album is Chemical Brothers and techno music at their best.

The album's first part manages to mix big beat techno music with rock and it blows down your head. Tracks 1 to 5 are as exhasuting a trip as they can be. Most people know "Block Rockin' Beats" which was a hit single in the UK and in the US as well. The song really rocks and is a perfect starter. However, as we move towards "Setting Sun" the threshold is pushed forward (especially with "Elektrobank") and the album reaches its first climax in "Setting Sun", in which Oasis' Noel Gallagher sings with a electric-guitar-vocoded voice and the track rocks like nothing I've ever heard before or eversince.

The second part of the album, namely "It Doesn't Matter", "Don't Stop The Rock" and the remix of "Get Up On It Like This" are pure techno (repetitive, loud but still interesting), while "Get Up On It Like This" heralds a different sound. I didn't like this part for the first few times I listened to the album but it grew on me.

The third part is a trip into the unknown. It is a completely unexpected turn which elevates this album into an array where only the best albums ever made belong. It begins with "Lost In The K-Hole", a chiller that has soothing beats and relaxes you. Then comes "Where Do I Begin", a superb song that features singer Beth Orton. After a slow start and a surprise twist it is mixed into the closing track, "The Private Psyhedelic Reel". And this is the point where you will be stunned. This is pure psychedelic music, nevertheless it is techno. It has a mesmerizing effect and it makes you want to go back to Track 1 and start the experience once again. The sooner you do this, the better it will be.

So here is my opinion: this is the quintessential techno album, far better than the Chems' debut album, Exit Planet Dust (which is still damn good), it is a concept album with a concept that works. It surpasses even Orbital's Orbital 2 which held the throne before Dig Your Own Hole. This is a must have.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the top five albums of the 90s, October 23, 1999

By A Customer

Ignore the semi-illiterate "music fans" that give this masterpiece one star. The Chemical Brothers have made an album that easily outpaces any other electronica, dance, techno, or whatever you want to call it album ever made. Whether or not you like the brothers Gallagher, "Setting Sun" is a masterpiece of techno-rock fusion. "Block Rockin' Beats" is the answer to the critcs that call "Dig Your Own Hole" a "rock" album -- try not dancing to it. In short, buy this album. Ignore the kindergarten music critics, and do yourself a favor.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Album that Defined Breakbeat Electronica for the 90's, June 23, 2000

By	Dr. TV - See all my reviews

The Chemical Brothers first gave us a taste of their genius on "Exit Planet Dust", and it was certainly a good album. But "Dig Your Own Hole" is even better. The pounding break beats would set the pattern for genre over the next few years. This album, along with Prodigy's "The Fat of the Land" was essential to the rise of electronica into mainstream popularity in the U.S. It opened the door to the top of the charts for artists like Moby and Fatboy Slim, who are now possibly more popular than the Brothers themselves.

It is easy to see why "Dig Your Own Hole" was so popular, with powerhouse singles like "Setting Sun" and "Block Rocking Beats" and a great album to back them up. The banging drums and driving synth form a distinctive and powerful sound that set the Brothers apart from the rest of the electronic world. This album should be a part of any electronica collection.