Customer Reviews

Push the Button

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have always had a split relationship with the Chemical Brothers. I have all of their albums, but on most of those albums, there's always a couple songs I skip to get to the good stuff. Well, let me be the first to say that "Push the Button" is entirely unskippable. There's nothing on here I wouldn't want to miss. I really wish they'd waited until after this album came out to release their greatest hits compilation seeing as how a few of these babies should be included.

Opening track "Galvanize" sets the mood with a pounding rhythm backed by rapper Q-Tip and a bizarre Middle Eastern string sample. "The Boxer" features the Brothers' hooking up with Tim Burgess for the first time since "Life is Sweet" and the song is, indeed, very sweet. "Believe" is a throbbing seven-minute stunner that belongs on each and every dance floor. "Hold Tight London" brings the Middle Eastern sound back as "Come Inside" brings the heavy beats, making it my favorite track on the album.

I'd talk all about the rest of the album, but you really just need to hear it for yourself. Bottom line is if you're interested in hearing a new sound for 2005, "Push the Button" is a great way to start.

Also, for anyone concerned, "Surface to Air" sounds a lot like The Strokes' "The Modern Age," but I doubt it's sampled in it. It's probably just a coincidence.

One of the first things you will notice about this record, with the big beat boom subsiding, is that they've covered some of this ground before. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. The mixes held within are tightly constructed, and are backed with the extremely high standard of production and engineering that the Brothers are known for. They haven't forgot how to embrace the listener with their unique brand of stylistic tranquillity. Although, some of this ground has been covered before, much of the album is very original.

The first half is filled with collaborative efforts. Q-Tip is featured on the album opener "Galvanize". "The Boxer" features Tim Burgess of the Charlatans UK. "Believe" features Britpop Kele Okereke of Bloc Party. The first half is heavy on a solid mixture of break beats, acid house, fusion and trip hop. Guest rapper Anwar Superstar is featured on "Left Right", proving that you can still slam George W. Bush even if you're in the UK. There is a definite mood shift latter on in the album. Tracks like "Close Your Eyes," "Marvo Ging," and "Surface to Air," which are mostly instrumentals, rank among the best tracks on the album.

"Push The Button" has some definite lasting power, proving once again that the Chemical Brothers are musical pioneers. Although there isn't much that compares to the underrated heart-stopping production of "Come With Us", there is plenty here to keep listeners coming back for years to come.

THIS CD COMES WITH THAT NEW COPY CONTROLLED TECHNOLOGY WHICH DOES NOT ALLOW ME TO PLAY THE CD IN MY WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER. HENCH YOU CAN NOT LISTEN TO ANYTHING BUT THIS CD IN ONE SITTING USING SOME PLAYER THAT COMES WITH THE CD. IF YOU WANT TO MIX THESE SONGS IN WITH YOUR OTHER MUSIC FORGET IT. DO NOT BUY ANY CDS THAT SUPPORT THIS TECHNOLOGY.

I must mention somewhere that I am perhaps the biggest Canadian fan of the Chemical Brothers alive, owning a total of over 20 albums/singles/vynils, so I know what these guys are up to. I have been ever since the "Exit Planet Dust" times and probably always will be.

The Chemical Brothers propelled the Big Beat era like no other band has, and sadly these days are over. Throughout this album we can hear that they're rooting for their old sound all the while still keeping their chin up and playing the game. The overall sound of 'Push the Button' is very close to what made their early albums so great, with a few 'crowd pleasers' thrown here and there, but they're pretty good and the will to sell albums is totally understandable.

However I must say I am amazed by the reviews people are writing of this album. It seems to me that the Bros. have been trying very hard to go with the flow and not become outdated. Their last 3 albums (including this one) encompass a strange melting pot of roots and album sellers but I've found this one to be more enjoyable than 'Come With Us' and 'Surrender' were. They finally sound like the good old band you used to love so much again, with the occasional slippage that come with the vocals.

The vocals always seemed a bit forced on many of the latter Bros album and on 'Push the Button', it is no different. Some of the vocals on this album dangle on the side of hip-hop and it really is something I would rather have not had to cope with. Now I know that rap sells and that everyone and their mother seems to like it, but as a fan and as someone who does not enjoy it, I was really annoyed by the occasional intrusions.

As a whole though, the album is very enjoyable and I recommend at least a listen to both neophytes and fans alike. It is very different from the current crop of new pop releases and even from the current trends in electronica. If I had not known their previous material I might have said it's "totally original and refreshing!", which in a way, is true.

I picked up this album the day it came out (1-25-05) and I've listened to it all the way through two or three times by now (1-26-05). My overall impression has been very good.

The Chems incorporate varying musical styles on this album, from rap to (almost) piano rock. This prevents the album from having a very unified feel, and makes it seem more like a collection of tracks than an album. This is hardly a problem as the tracks are so well done that you can become completely absorbed in each song.

The album kicks off with the first single, Galvanize, which is a solid track for the most part. Q-Tip does the vocals and I always like his stuff, but the track gets a little repetitive after the midpoint with some needless repetition of the album title.

The Boxer is probably one of the best tracks on the album. I've listened to it on repeat like 6 or 7 times and it's just fun to listen to. Excellent piano-based song with great vocals and an awesome beat all combine extremely well.

The Chemical Brothers tend to put one really long track that seems to go on a journey on each album, and Surface To Air is this album's entry. At just over over 7 minutes long it never gets boring and is really uplifting. I can't say what's sampled on it, but it sounds amazing.

The rest of the album ranges from decent to amazing, with noticible high points at Hold Tight London and Close Your Eyes.

In all this album is a rock-solid entry by the Chems and a must have for any electronic music fan.

Just to be clear, the music on this album rates 4 stars for me, but issues with the CD (described later in this review) significantly degrade its value. I am not a huge Chemical Brothers fan (I only have 2 of their other albums), but loved their web promotion for "Galvanize" and "The Boxer" (both are excellent songs). So I bought the CD and was not disappointed with any of the tracks. "Awesome," I thought, and I decided to put the album on my Creative MP3 player. Unfortunately, this CD refuses to be ripped! It's encoded with "Copy Control" protection and will launch its own software player when the disk goes in a PC. What's more the CD does not play in my car or Xbox! I have one CD player in the house that can play this disk if I want to hear the album through decent speakers. Fortunately there are ways around the copy protection, but it really is a shame that EMI doesn't want anyone who buys this CD to be able to play the music in a format other than what's on the disk. It's no wonder CD sales are going down the tubes when record companies release defective merchandise like this CD. Buyer beware!

The Chemical Bros certainly ranks among the best Dance groups around, but they've been a bit inconsistent lately, going a long way from their original dance music roots mixing alot of diffrent genres together and not making it sound like their thing. On this album they're doing the're thing all the way, many guest artists apparear and many songs have flavours from other genres but the're STILL dance music and it's Chemical Brother's in focus.

Dance music has not been the same for ages with FatBoy Slim, Prodigy and others declining and we very rarely get's a album that offers something new that still got it's dance roots left. This time around the Chemical Bros offers you a spectacular effort that both is fresh, well made with good guest artists and sound. The first song of this album "Galvanize" got Q-tip rapping, and it's probably the best song of the album, It's a cathy uptempo floorfiller with wonderful beats and sound. "The Boxer" has got a rock singer Tom Burgess (Charlatans) appearing but it still keeps it's great meliodic beats/sound to make it a exellent dance song. "Believe" follows the same formula, it got another singer, but what is est with this song is the awesome beats. "Hold Tight London" is another killer-song, it's very beautiful slow song with drums and sounds echoing in the backround, the singer here (Anne Lynne Williams) also appeared on ATB's last album and sang the song "Marrkesh" there, a very sensual voice you won't forget. "Come Inside" got some cool beats like always and a female voice whispering the title, But its more or less instrumental.

"The Big Jump" is a very beat oriented song with a voice saying the Big Big Jump, other then that also instrumental. "Left, Right" is also with Q-Tip but not as good as the other one, pretty repetitive from the start with soldier voices saying left, right constantly but when it starts it get's quite allright and it does have a clear political message and on this song he raps alot more then on "Galvanize", it's pretty much Q-Tip's song with the soundtrack of the Bro's. "Close Your Eyes" is also a ballad almost, both a man and a women sings it. "Shake Break Bounce" got some latin influence I think, it's a bit repetitive too. "Marvo Ging" sounds like the record just stopped, but don't worry thart's how it should be. Original song I must say even it get's very repetitive after a while. It ends with "Surface to Air" that is a good ending and one of the best here. It could have been shot in Space, cause that is the feeling it gets with it's odd sounds, reminds me abit of Pink Floyd but computer made.

Push the Button for The Chemical Brothers!, they really did one great album here with all songs being diffrent from each other with cool sounds and guest artists that are really good. They did what others fail with, to use sounds from diffrent genre's merge them into one global genre of dance music. If you only are going to buy one dance album this year, make sure it's this one. Fantastic album, and if you have seen my reviews it's not very often I can say that with a dance album these days.

This is probably the best, or one of the best of the Chemical Brothers albums. If you like their sound, and haven't gotten this, it's a no brainer. If you are looking at Chemical Brothers for the first time, this is the CD you want to get.

****The copyprotection thing is only a problem if you don't know how to bypass it. It is not illegal to break the copy protection on a CD if you are planning on ripping it into windows media player for your own use. Google the type of copy protect it comes with, you'll find some solutions. Don't not buy this album because of that problem.

Going back 1 year ago, I remember enjoying "Galvanize" from the very first time I listened to it; the song was played everywhere in town for quite a while but the initial appeal stood intact... At that point, I heard and saw the exceptional video of "Believe" and decided to get such promising album; once playing it, "The Boxer", "Hold Tight London" & "Marvo Ging" were easily raised to the same level of creativity of "Galvanize" and "Believe". By the end of the year, "The Big Jump" totally captured me, up to the point where I am now - placing "Push The Button" as my favourite album from 2005. As far as my taste for electronic music goes, The Chemical Brothers are still on the frontline at this stage of their career and this album can tell you why...

Push the Button was exactly what I wasn't expecting from the Chemical Brothers, and that made it sound all the better. Infusing hip hop, banhgra and other mystical beats to their already mastered electronic arsenal, the Brothers' latest album is a breath of fresh air. Some people are nostalgic types, listening to only what they're used to or grew up with, without opening their minds and souls to new sounds. If you're one of those types, then listen to the old albums. However, it doesn't take the avant garde type to enjoy Push the Button. The songs are accessible and sound better with each listen. They're just more contemporary. I'm glad some bands mature and aren't stuck in the past. Hope the Brother keep it up!