thacidisaster, Jun 28, 2007
This LP for me epitomises what Orbital are (or were) all about. A lot of people say that the Brown album is the one. Both albums are old in terms of techno music and I wouldnt even say that they were groundbreaking. After all, the first Orbital LP came out what seemed an eternity after the singles contained on it (2 years later which is a vey long time after to release an LP). Its the simplicity that does it for me. The build ups on these tracks are so simple. You get one sound doing its thing for 32 beats then another sound is introduced for the same period of time and so on and so on. The whole LP is built his way. It is this style which sets itself apart from the brown album which is good, BUT, It fixes itself in a period of time that will always sound likes its from 94. When you listen to Kraftwerk, you are listening to innovation in techno music that has a real robotic feel to it. You listen to Kraftwerk because you are into where it all comes from historically. I cant listen to the Brown album in this way whereas its predecessor has that real early techno vibe and is the basis of Orbital's sound. Everything following that would never sound like that but would follow or fit in with what was going on musically at the time. It would still sound like Orbital but you have to go to the roots to get the real deal.
The Green album sounded dated when it first came out! If you dont remember, there was stuff like Mescalinium United which still sounds like the sound of the future today. It just didnt sound up-to-date like that and most of the people I played it to, had not really been on the scene as long as me and were listening to the Begium and German stuff.
The sound of the Green LP has more appeal now and will continue to have more appeal as time goes on whereas the tracks that were from Germany and may have sounded new and fresh then, you wouldn't dream of playing now. Its a funny thing. If I were asked to reccomend an Orbital album, It would be this. It is what made them. Its their sound. It has Chime, Midnight and Belfast all on one side. Just for that - this is it. The rest is fantastic too. Just dont expect new synth sounds. It about the composition, the build-up and the breakdowns. Its so simple but so effective. Nobody did it like Orbital did.
4.7/5 (