Orbital

Profile:
Techno outfit founded in the late 80s by the brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll.
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Artist

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Albums

8282482 Orbital — Orbital Orbital Orbital (Album) FFRR 8282482 Europe 1991 Sell This Version
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PRL P026-1, PRLP-026-1 Orbital — Orbital Orbital Orbital (Album) Internal, Internal PRL P026-1, PRLP-026-1 US 1993 Sell This Version
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none Snivilisation — Orbital Orbital Snivilisation (Album) Internal, Internal none UK 1994 Sell This Version
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TCD 0983 In Concert - 640  — Orbital Orbital In Concert - 640 (CD, Transcription) BBC Radio International, BBC World Service TCD 0983 UK 1995 Sell This Version
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828 763-4, TRUMC 10 In Sides — Orbital Orbital In Sides (Album, Comp, Single) Internal, Internal, Internal 828 763-4, TRUMC 10 Turkey 1996 Sell This Version
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828 939-4 Event Horizon (Selections From The Motion Picture Soundtrack) — Orbital Michael Kamen & Orbital Michael Kamen & Orbital - Event Horizon (Selections From The Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Album) London Records 828 939-4 Turkey 1997 Sell This Version
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IC 0717 In Concert 717 — Orbital Orbital In Concert 717(CD, Transcription) BBC Radio International, BBC World Service IC 0717 UK 1997 Sell This Version
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3984-27194-2 The Middle Of Nowhere — Orbital Orbital The Middle Of Nowhere (Album) FFRR 3984-27194-2 Europe 1999 Sell This Version
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IC 0793 In Concert 793  — Orbital Orbital In Concert 793 (CD, Transcription) BBC worldwide IC 0793 UK 1999 Sell This Version
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none The Altogether — Orbital Orbital The Altogether (Album) FFRR none US 2001 Sell This Version
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7243 5 93784 1 1, 593 784 1 Octane (Original Soundtrack Score) — Orbital Orbital Octane (Original Soundtrack Score) (Album) EMI, EMI 7243 5 93784 1 1, 593 784 1 UK 2003 Sell This Version
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ATO00019, 88088-21527-2 Blue Album — Orbital Orbital Blue Album (Album) Orbital Music ATO00019, 88088-21527-2 North America (inc Mexico) 2004 Sell This Version
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ATO0041, 88088-21592-2 Live At Glastonbury 1994 - 2004 — Orbital Orbital Live At Glastonbury 1994 - 2004 ACP Recordings ATO0041, 88088-21592-2 US 2007 Sell This Version
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none Live At O2 Academy Brixton 24.09.2009 — Orbital Orbital Live At O2 Academy Brixton 24.09.2009(M/Stick, MP3, 224) Not On Label (Orbital Self-Released) none UK 2009 Sell This Version
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none Live At O2 Academy Newcastle 21.09.2009 — Orbital Orbital Live At O2 Academy Newcastle 21.09.2009(M/Stick, MP3, 224) Not On Label (Orbital Self-Released) none UK 2009 Sell This Version
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none Live At O2 Academy Brixton 25.09.2009 — Orbital Orbital Live At O2 Academy Brixton 25.09.2009(M/Stick, MP3, 224) Not On Label (Orbital Self-Released) none UK 2009 Sell This Version
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none Live At Manchester Academy 18.09.2009 — Orbital Orbital Live At Manchester Academy 18.09.2009(M/Stick, MP3, 224) Not On Label (Orbital Self-Released) none UK 2009 Sell This Version
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none 19th September 2009, Manchester Academy, England — Orbital Orbital 19th September 2009, Manchester Academy, England(M/Stick, MP3, 224) Not On Label (Orbital Self-Released) none UK 2009 Sell This Version
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SILCD 1394 Pusher — Orbital Orbital Pusher (Album) Silva Screen SILCD 1394 UK 2012 Sell This Version
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LIB133CD Wonky — Orbital Orbital Wonky (Album) ACP Recordings, ACP Recordings LIB133CD Australia 2012 Sell This Version
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LHN038CD Live At Eventim Hammersmith Apollo 2.12.17 — Orbital Orbital Live At Eventim Hammersmith Apollo 2.12.17 (Album) Live Here Now LHN038CD UK 2017 Sell This Version
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LHN037CD Live At O2 Apollo Manchester 1.12.17 — Orbital Orbital Live At O2 Apollo Manchester 1.12.17 (Album) Live Here Now LHN037CD UK 2017 Sell This Version
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none Live At Eventim Hammersmith Apollo 15.12.18 — Orbital Orbital Live At Eventim Hammersmith Apollo 15.12.18 Live Here Now none UK 2018 Sell This Version
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none Monsters Exist — Orbital Orbital Monsters Exist (Album) ACP Recordings none UK 2018 Sell This Version
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none The Pentaverate (Original Soundtrack From The Netflix Series) — Orbital Orbital The Pentaverate (Original Soundtrack From The Netflix Series) (Album) Lakeshore Records none US 2022

Add Review

Escapist

Escapist

November 15, 2021
Best of the best. For three decades the Hartnoll brothers have been at the forefront of electronica. How these guys maintain the originality and quality music I'll never know.

My favorite track - not to mention quite possibly one of the best contemporary compositions I've ever heard - is "The Box" parts I and II. Incredible. Their last banger was PHUK and that was a booty shaker indeed.

I'm so glad they "came out of retirement"!

Long live Orbital!
GoodNF

GoodNF

August 23, 2021
Orbital is known for many contributions to electronic music in general and techno specifically.
Their debut single "Chime", meanwhile more than 30 years old, is still played today by deejays all over the world.
They were among the first to make one-artist full-length techno albums.
They were among the first to incorporate breakbeats in their tracks.
They took their samples from most unusual sources: street noise, household appliances, leaking water taps, reverse speech, even audience sounds from their own concerts.
Their sound spectrum stretches from bouncy high-octane floorfillers to ambient music for yoga sessions, from drum 'n bass to scores for imaginary films or computer games.
Their 12-minute album track "The Box" was not edited down to 3-4 minutes for the single release, but extended towards the 30 minute mark.

But Orbital should most of all be remembered for the acceptance of techno as LIVE MUSIC.
While other acts use a predefined tracklist, Orbital's music is improvised on stage for the most, using their sound catalogue as a primary source.
Elements from one track are combined with elements from another track to create new tracks.
It's a sort of electronic jazz: never played the same way twice.
They paved the way for The Prodigy, Underworld, Faithless; thanks to them, EDM got accepted on rock-dominated festivals like Glastonbury.

And regarding "The Box": they could play the song live for an hour, eventually base an entire live show around that one track (imagine 120 BPM "Chime" slowed down to about 80 BPM to match "The Box").
And in next concert, they play only a 5-second sample, hear the crowd go wild and crazy, play something else, replay that sample, crowd going wild again... while never hearing the full track...
happylittletrees

happylittletrees

July 24, 2021
Popped in my Mortal Kombat Soundtrack tonight doing the dishes and man, Halcyon + On + On has to be one of the greatest electronic tracks of all time. Cheers Orbital!
normanharvey

normanharvey

July 19, 2019
two brothers strangely with two different eye colors :-) One of them has brown eyes and the other blue eyes
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normanharvey

normanharvey

July 19, 2019
Great band. In 1997 they released a video which had a lot of airplay on MTV THE SAINT where they had their heads in their bags and ate hamburgers and Fries and drank coke
Makavelinine6

Makavelinine6

January 8, 2019
edited over 4 years ago
By far my favorite group. No other artists come remotely close in this genre or in music period. I think of them more as the Mozart and Beethoven of modern music (ie non-classical). Their tracks are usually upwards of 7 minutes, have a high degree of musical complexity combined with euphoric melodies that unless present, would create musical entropy instead of unsurpassed musical intelligence. Quite simply put, they make Rave/Techno music for nerds. The term "Intelligent Dance Music" is frequently associated with them. I really think it's more that it's not that you can't dance to it, but the music is better appreciated sitting down or on a long car ride where you can just, think, as their songs usually contain long but subtle harmonious vocals or next to no vocals at all. Similar artists would be The Prodigy, Underworld, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, Aphex Twin, Chemical Brothers, Hybrid and many more. If you want to get into Orbital you should start off with Orbital 2/Brown Album which contains their most known song "Halcyon." This is the song that got me hooked. It's a soothing and transcending voyage into musical bliss (the song is named after the sleep medicine that their mother would often take). Other notable standout songs include Chime, Belfast, Lush, The Box, Know Where To Run and Funny Break (One is Enough). I stopped buying albums after "The Blue Album" because what they've done prior to that just can not be replicated. My favorite album is Snivilisation for it's dark, sci-fi dystopian feel. Each album has a different theme or feel. It's up to you to interpret it.
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dominickillworth

dominickillworth

October 13, 2018
edited over 5 years ago
New Album Title Trivia - "If Monsters Exist It Was Buried Deep Within" is a line said by Jim Broadbent in Harry Potter 6 : Half Blood Prince. I only know this as just watched the movie lol. "The Raid" also samples Michael Gambon although not sure where from and the closing sentence "There's A Growing Need..." is Sir Michael Fallon MP of Sevenoaks, the Hartnoll's home town :-)
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freakaz0id

freakaz0id

September 14, 2018
Is anyone familiar with a version of Lush which has a record scratch at the beginning of 3-1 and end of 3-2? I have it on an old mix tape someone else made but am not sure if it's an official mix or the person who made it added it. It matches the scratch from the album version but it's longer; about 2 seconds in length.
Jarren

Jarren

July 25, 2018
edited over 5 years ago
For me, the defining track of Orbital's career is "Out There Somewhere?".

24 minutes long, and you savour every single second. You're thrown in all directions emotionally, and are more than happy to be flung.

Simply incredible.
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AskeladdenBlack

AskeladdenBlack

November 11, 2017
For me Orbital would be one of the most overrated artists in the electronic scene. I am not saying this to get a rise out of fans etc etc their live shows are great not doubt but 95% of their musically output has always left me underwhelmed. I am listening to the first album now and when I compare it to fellow 1991 albums like Ex:el, The Orb's Adventures....its fairly low on the ideas front. Brown album was ok but again for 93 it was nowhere near as strong as many albums from a year earlier, they caught up slightly with Snivilisation but still their were so many albums by unknowns that killed it on the ideas front. I don't dislike them I just rate so many others way ahead of them thats all.
On a really petty note I also never dug their snares much either.
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