Funny Break, Last Thing, Doctor and Meltdown are all pretty great. The rest I have no desire to ever hear again. Still maintain that Middle of Nowhere is massively underrated.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, MoN is great.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
Thirded.
― ledge, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
The first two tracks on the Altogether are great! If you dump stuff like "Oi!", "Pay-Per-View", and "Tootled" for the B-sides on Disc 2 - "Monorail", "Beezlebeat", "Doctor Look Out", and "Mock Tudor" - it's a much stronger album. Also, I kinda like "Illuminate". I know it's dumb as hell.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:24 (twelve years ago) link
I am semi-angry that I can't play The Altogether on Spotify
Was the David Grey song "Illuminate"? I always liked that one more than practically everyone else on the board. (xp: okay everyone but frogbs)
and yes MoN is absolutely underrated
― thuggish ruggish Brahms (DJP), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:25 (twelve years ago) link
Fourthed. Suffers only by comparison with In Sides. Way Out, Spare Parts Express and Nothing Left 2 are all classic.
― And I have been called "The Appetite" (DL), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:25 (twelve years ago) link
Fifthfted (??), it's their Beacoup Fish or Surrender, its not quite a knockout classic but holds up much better in retrospect
― frogbs, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:27 (twelve years ago) link
never would have occurred to me to consider Beaucoup Fish in that category, but then again I'm one of those ppl who doesn't like Second Toughest...
― thuggish ruggish Brahms (DJP), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:28 (twelve years ago) link
Their songs are so beautifully structured - busy and unpredictable without (most of the time) feeling cluttered. Very few electronic producers can do that.
― And I have been called "The Appetite" (DL), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:28 (twelve years ago) link
I've always felt that they were the best at writing good, solid hooks in their music (look at "Impact" for Christ's sake), and when they started leveraging that into weirder/more ambitious stuff they really took off. I think a lot of electronic guys had the experimental leanings that Orbital had but didn't have the talent to pull it off!
― frogbs, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 14:30 (twelve years ago) link
yay, this took me backit's all about bigpipe style
― nathey, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 16:48 (twelve years ago) link
hmm
Two other tracks were included on the [style] single. They were "An Fhomair", which is a heavily reworked version of album track "Otono" (featuring Pooka on vocals), and "Mock Tudor", a blend of heavy club beats and baroque-style melody in 7/4 time
i thought i had the single but don't recall an awesome sounding baroque club workout.
― ledge, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 16:50 (twelve years ago) link
Oh goddamn, Know Where to Run from 5:00 :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
― ledge, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 16:51 (twelve years ago) link
An absolutely stunning album which still holds up now, IMO. Would have voted for 'Dŵr Budr'.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 20:32 (nine years ago) link
Belatedly OTM-ing Ledge's post from 2 years ago. Feel like MoN is secretly the album where Orbital perfected their own take on dance music qua dance music dynamics: the frenzied peaktime pinnacles of "Know Where To Run" and "Nothing Left" in particular. When the former drops into those scary arpeggios it's just @_@
― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 20:39 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAsZQI0pvvw
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 4 August 2015 20:51 (eight years ago) link
I might put this on, actually, haven't listened to it for a while.. Orbital 2 tends to be the album of theirs I listen to the most, but whenever I put this on it always blows me away to the point where I think "why am I not listening to this more often?"
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 4 August 2015 21:25 (eight years ago) link
surprised TGWTSIHH won this. Dwr Budr is the best sleeper track.
― (no offence to people) (dog latin), Wednesday, 5 August 2015 15:59 (eight years ago) link
I'm not surprised, it's a perfect thesis statement for the album.
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Wednesday, 5 August 2015 16:01 (eight years ago) link
This should have been one of those polls where every track got a vote.
― ledge, Wednesday, 5 August 2015 17:29 (eight years ago) link
Adnans is so great. You're right.
― (no offence to people) (dog latin), Wednesday, 5 August 2015 17:38 (eight years ago) link
I love this record so much. The Box used to play on the local Radio Free station (along with the Chemical Bros.) when pretty much nothing else electronic was airing, and so Orbital got me super into techno and electronic music and changed my life 4ever.
― davey, Thursday, 6 August 2015 01:09 (eight years ago) link
Having a late night listen to this on the headphones. Man, what an exceptional record. The hammered dulcimer on 'The Box' is pure gorgeousness.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 22:28 (eight years ago) link
This album was 20 years old last Friday. I bought it on Monday 29 April 1996. In Teignmouth Woolworths.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 13:08 (eight years ago) link
Incredible to think it's that old. It still holds up extremely well, production-wise.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 17:44 (eight years ago) link
One thing that always bothered me about this album was this faint high-pitched noise on "The Box 1", right after the drums come in till the end of the track. I always thought it was some sort of mastering glitch. Anyway I've been listening to my Orbital albums again and I noticed that suddenly I can't hear it anymore. I remember hearing that as you get older you lose the ability to hear some high frequencies and I'm wondering if this is an example of that. Might explain why it was there in the first place! Anyone else hear it?
this album is still incredible, of course. "Out There Somewhere?" is such a singular accomplishment in the genre, I'd forgotten how cool it was when the mutated "Lush 3.1" synths show up. And the second half is just gorgeous. Feel like they'd taken on a prog fetish around this time, between this and the full-length version of "The Box" that some versions come with.
― frogbs, Monday, 10 September 2018 20:11 (five years ago) link
I might have to have a listen to hear what you're on about - any excuse to listen to this still marvellous piece of work!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Monday, 10 September 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link
Phil Hartnoll just outed Paul Hartnoll as being Gammon.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 13 September 2018 11:36 (five years ago) link
Man, this record still makes me so ecstatic. Adnan's is gorgeous, I'd forgotten what a pleasure it is to hear it.
― davey, Monday, 22 October 2018 10:18 (five years ago) link
Still one of the greatest albums ever recorded
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Tuesday, 13 October 2020 20:16 (three years ago) link
there were some interesting tidbits in the twitter listening party: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_143.html
also on this track we were approached by green peace to record a track powered by their solo lorry , so the whole thing was recorded using only the power of the sun. A fitting tribute to Sally indeed . Cricky I’m welling up just writing this down now after all that time.— Orbital (@orbitalband) May 15, 2020
has there been an artist poll for orbital?
― scanner darkly, Tuesday, 13 October 2020 21:38 (three years ago) link
talking about The Box:
I did get to meet John Barry when we were interviewed together at his house once. he was asked if he'd heard this and he said ' yesss, its hardly the persuaders is it " OUCH! love him the straight talking yorkshire man!— Orbital (@orbitalband) May 15, 2020
― scanner darkly, Tuesday, 13 October 2020 21:42 (three years ago) link
yeah the green peace tidbit is in the liner notes and added to the album's "wow"-ness at the time for me
― brimstead, Tuesday, 13 October 2020 22:33 (three years ago) link
When are they gonna repress this? Could make a fortune
― frogbs, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 00:02 (three years ago) link
I was replaying this a few weeks ago. DJP otm, it's peerless.
― neith moon (ledge), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 07:40 (three years ago) link
I've been listening to it a lot in the car. It's such a great driving record. I've been extending journeys to let it wash over me.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 09:42 (three years ago) link
still don't think there's another piece of electronic music like "Out There Somewhere"
― frogbs, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 13:31 (three years ago) link
this must've been the first album they used live drumming on? i don't see anything in the credits on green/brown/snivilisation. i do vaguely recall halcyon drum programming credited to somebody else but can't find it now.
― scanner darkly, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 17:45 (three years ago) link
Out There Somewhere? (Part 1) – 10.42 0
This is egregious
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 1 April 2023 15:13 (one year ago) link
egregious/ɪˈɡriːdʒəs/adjective1. outstandingly bad; shocking."egregious abuses of copyright"2. ARCHAICremarkably good.
which one did you mean? :-)
― StanM, Saturday, 1 April 2023 15:17 (one year ago) link
the shocking and bad one
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 1 April 2023 15:23 (one year ago) link
Part 2 is so good tho, just hoovered up the votes I guess
― nxd, Saturday, 1 April 2023 16:33 (one year ago) link