Tags: Breakbeat House

Review: A quarter of a century on, Chemical Brothers' second studio album returns to stores in expanded form. The original album remains the high watermark of the (now often derided) big beat movement - a bolshy, thrill-a-minute ride that races between funk-fuelled, break-heavy hits ('Block-Rockin' Beats'), rock-tinged heaviness (the title track), fuzz-fuelled post-techno hedonism ('Electrobank'), La Funk Mob-influenced trip-hop ('Piku'), heady ambience ('Loft in the K-Hole') and riffs on the Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows' ('Setting Sun' with Noel Gallagher and the incredible 'My Private Psychedelic Reel'). The second disc on this bonus edition boasts a quintet of previously unreleased tracks and alternate versions, with our highlights including the opioid pulse of 'Cylinders' and the slamming techno breathlessness of 'It Doesn't Matter (alternate mix)'.

Review: The Chems, as they are affectionately known by fans, are breakbeat maestros that have been out in a field of one for many decades. Now they continue to serve up the most blistering big room beats, techno and electro fusions each time they play one of their famously spellbinding sets, as well as on this latest record which is presented here across six sides of vinyl. They are revealing all about their accomplished and decorated career in a new biography that arrives the same time as this new album, For The Beautiful Feeling. It's a high-octane sound full of maximal grooves and a mad guest spot from none other than Beck.