Review Summary: Every listener should find their own slice of pie in this one, whether it be a rockhead or club-goer.
The Chemical Brothers are one of a kind. They are truly the leading pioneers of electronic music since the late 90's, and have sold more than 9 million albums since then. But dig deeper into the hole, you'll find a troublesome past of copyright and lawsuits, sampling music from the Beatles without permission. The case was obviously dismissed later on, but opened up a new gateway for the Brothers to re-invent their style. They knew their big beat music would soon crumble under the pressure, so a new innovative sounding approach was considered, welcome to Surrender.
Despite it being the Chemical Brothers official first step into the mainstream, Surrender never ceased to dissapoint. It is jam-packed with wild-hearted techno and stunning sample work. Many would compliment, others would complain. Me? I'm in the middle. Gone was the days of Planet Dust and Dig Your Own Hole. Interestingly enough, so was the sampling infrigments until recently.
Speaking of depth in musical fusion, there is nothing more thrilling than listening to Surrender at the highest volume on your iPod before sleeping. Tracks like "The Sunshine Underground" & "Asleep From Day" have its effects, both presenting a drowzy progressive mix of techno, psychedelic rock and electronica. Understand the consequences, you'll never grow tired of it. Its an affect the Chemical Brothers have included on all of their songs, a trademark sound that makes us come back for more.
Very little DJ's have had this sought of impact of reanimating the business with distinguishable sounds. You'll constantly hear a vibrating synth zoom from one side of your ear to the other. Its rather satisfying, albeit slightly far-fetched. "Let Forever Be" sees the return of Oasis front man Noel Gallagher, who nowadays is almost unheard. This has its finest relation to "Setting Sun" from their previous album, including the fact that it was a Beatles song and both tracks feature the same singer. Its a bonus, but sadly grew tired of hearing Gallagher's screechy pop vocals overrun the songs.
Not all is fine and dandy at this point. "Dream On", being the final track, is dissapointing. What could've been done with a creative vocal sample forges itself into a loop of drugged out pop synth's and a slow BPM. Not exactly everyone's morning lemon. "Got Glint?" is the reason I went out to buy this album. Once hearing a piece of the chorus on the radio, I was convinced that the Brothers had created another block rocker. What I found out was completely different. In fact, wasn't even the same track I had imagined it to be. While the beat is overall appealing, the track could've had little more variation.
If there was any way to lighten up Surrender, I'd give you two titles: "Out of Control" & "Hey Boy Hey Girl". I'm not gonna mention any more songs in detail, but "Out of Control" features the vocal work of New Order's front man Bernard Sumner. To many it might sound like a re-hash of the New Order hit "Blue Monday", but seeing as this is Rowlands original lyrics its safe enough to mention.
Concluding, Surrender is not a very good album, but isn't a very bad one either. Its like Tom and Ed had come out of the closet a bit too late to change up their style. Some tracks, though, are worth the listen. Every listener should find their own slice of pie in this one, whether it be a rockhead or club-goer. Its The Chemical Brothers formula to try and unite a handful of genres into one album, at points working well and at other points sounding let-down and shallow.
Recommended tracks:
1. "Under The Influence"
2. "Out of Control"
3. "Hey Boy Hey Girl"
