Review: Orbital — The Blue Album

Written by Michael Croft
Published October 20, 2004
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Three of the tracks in the second half have vocals, or more precisely three of the tracks use voices (only "One Perfect Sunrise" with Lisa Gerrard is a traditional "song") and for better or for worse they stand out.

"Acid Pants" used the phrase "when the laugh track starts then the fun starts!" in a loop, gradually manipulating it over the course of the tune to sound like laughter. While in some ways this was the most innovative and experimental tune on the disk, I found it uncompelling. Yes, it's possible to clip, stretch, and bend vocals to turn them into something else, but if the end result is just a technology demonstration, I don't need a five minute track of it to get the point.

"You Lot" includes a Christoper Eccleston screed from The Second Coming in an otherwise typical Orbital song. Around a half hour into the disc, I was certainly glad to hear something spoken. I didn't think the screed was a perfect fit for the music, but it wasn't out of place, either.

The tunes "Bath Time" and "Easy Serv" were the most enjoyable tunes on the album, and not just because they were more than minor variations on the first 4 tracks.

Three tracks I liked, one I didn't, and five that bored me. As long as your music player of choice doesn't force you to listen to the whole thing at once, there are enough worthwhile moments to make this album worth a listen, especially if you're a fan of dance music.

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Review: Orbital — The Blue Album
Published: October 20, 2004
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Section: Music
Filed Under: Music: Electronica
Writer: Michael Croft
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#1 — October 21, 2004 @ 23:31PM — Justene [URL]

This review was chosen for Advance.net. You will be able to find it on newspaper sites including Cleveland.com.

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