Reviews by electro

Ahh. I cannot fully express how i felt when this appeared as my album of the day. I wasn't 100% sure it would be on the list, as it seems to go a bit under the radar for some reason.

One of the most influential electronic albums ever.

Here we have classics like "Release the Pressure", "Song of life", "Open Up", "Melt" and "Original".
Done in a range of styles from dub to trance but mainly techno.
Great vocals delivered from the guest vocalists, including - hold your breath - Johnny Rotten from Sex Pistols (on Open Up).

This is a must listen for EVERYONE.

It's Drum & Bass.
Its a 5!
Legendary album.

Although Orbital's music is classified as "techno" there can be no doubt the brothers' skills transcend that poppy genre and this album is their finest work.

It is a concept album so you must listen to it from beginning to end and every track (with one exception) is excellent. The album comes to a climax on "Are We Here?".

Perhaps what is most commendable about Orbital is their ability to build a beat in the abscence of a central boom-boom beat that is so common in electronic music. If you listen closely, the beat is actually built by layering the loops carefully so as to build a rhythm that dances around where the beat would be.

Second Toughest In The Infants continues the successful string of three masterpieces in a row that started with Dubnobasswithmyheadman and continued with 1999s Beaucoup Fish.

This is brighter than Dubnobass but also edgier and harder in sound.
The album cover art sets the general mood of the album. The shades of blue display its moody feel and its ambience. The splattering of different shades of blue on the cover and in the booklet displays the albums chaotic sounds. Extremely challenging & intelligent music.
This is not for the narrow-minded.

This album has some of the most complex and beautiful drum programming you are likely to ever hear. Makes you wonder what happened to not just these guys but to the scene as a whole.
After a masterpiece like this which is truly blueprint for that big sound that everybody attempted to immitate. Check out 'Cobra Bora'. Just when you think it has done it's thing, it takes off to another level. Pure techno jazz of the very highest order.
An absolute masterpiece from start to finish.

This is more apparent now than ever before and although to the untrained ear (or novice) this may sound dated, its only because of those big stadium sounds (as used on ie. Cubik) that will make people think this. Unaware to them, It was these guys and more to the point, this LP that came above all, first in line with that sound. Think again. This is a classic of monumental proportion and defines that year not just by title alone but to hear it, is to go back to the finest techno music of that that year, 90