Orb* - Orblivion

Orblivion = dizzying masterpiece from beginning to end!

The first four tracks alone are enough to justify buying this CD: Delta MKII, Ubiquity, Asylum, and Bedouin. Flowing together as a single, uninterrupted mega-track, those four tunes inundate the listener with a relentless outpouring of hypnotic rhythms, trippy ambiance, and beautiful melody. Together with the remaining eight tracks (particularly Passing of Time) Orblivion stands as a work of unsurpassed genius and the undisputed peak of this musical collective's fruitful career.

Let's see now. The first reviewer says that the first half is the bomb and the second stinks. The second reviewer disagrees and states the reverse. Is either right? Are they both wrong? Read on...

The first logical proof shows that Marijus is indeed wrong. Even if you don't think the first song is strong, I challenge you to take a big hit and not let your mind melt on the second track. Both of these tracks feature a colaboration with the members of System 7. Real Orb listeners will of course know that Hillage and Giraudy are originally from the group Gong. Gong was a big influence on the type of music Alex used to DJ in the back chill-out rooms. I have some good news and bad news for you now. The good news is that you are going to have to buy all the old Gong albums and will love them. Start with the Radio Gnome trilogy. The bad news is that's a lot of albums!...have fun. As evidence of the connection, see, for example, the Gong song "Castle in the Clouds" and the Orb song "Spanish Castles in Space". Very nice stuff. Bedouin is the shit too. S.A.L.T. is demented. Awesome dialog from Mike Leigh's movie Naked. Both reviewers diss Toxygene. The first basically says that, starting with Toxygene, everything else sucks. The second says that once you get past Toxygene, everything else is cool. Let me tell you, Toxygene is not a bad song. The Ganju Kru remix of this song is the bomb on the U.F.OFF album. By the way, I highly recommend all Ganja Kru, True Playaz, etc. drum and bass music. These guys rock it! Passing of Time is incapable of being described. It is like an auditory journey among the infinite. The hidden track is sweet too...it starts around 5:15 into the track 72. Bottom line: Another trippy album from Dr. LX. Both reviewers lose. I'm out.

Let me disagree. The first half of the album is indeed a bit different from the second. But if one names tracks from the second half "the lamest"...then I start doubting if that person does really understand The Orb, hear and feel the music.
What you can hear after the Toxygen till the end of the album is something magic for me. Those tracks are the reason why I put this album into my player again and again.
First half simply doesn't have that much artistic value. Really good things usually stay unnoticed by the majority ;)

This underrated effort finds the Orb expanding their sound to great effect on some tracks (especially the first five or six tracks), but devolving into some of their lamest moments on others ("toxygene" and most of the second half of the album). "Orblivion" features characteristically amusing samples and a tight, enegetic sound on the best tracks, possibly benefitting from a more pronounced Thomas Fehlmann presence.