Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars [PA] - Fatboy Slim > Reviews > You've fallen a long way baby

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Lacking inspiration
Lyrics	Mediocre
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it rate alongside the competition	Average
Value for Money

Advantages:	Half decent tracks featuring Macy Gray, with Demons being the undoubted highlight
Disadvantages:	Overall its quite dull compared to his previous efforts

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

After the worldwide success of “You’ve come a long way baby” it can be said that Fatboy Slim (a.k.a. Norman Cook) was heralded as the shining example of dance music DJs crossing over into the mainstream. His subsequent marriage to media darling Zoe Ball didn’t help in calming down the hype surrounding him.

Putting the hype aside “You’ve come a long way baby” was a great album with many unforgettable tracks (Praise You, Right Here Right Now, and The Rockerfella Skank). So when I heard the next album was due for release I put my reservation in sharpish.

“Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars” does not unfortunately live up to the high expectations I had. The album opens up with “Talking Bout My Baby” which just doesn’t get going. The next track “Star” amplifies my fears that I have bought the wrong album. It is dire and littered with the ‘F’ word for no apparent reason (hence the Parental Guidance notice on the front of the box).

Now comes track three “Sunset (Bird of Prey)” and I almost screamed out loud with despair at this one. I could not believe it. A dance track with samples taken from The Doors?? What was he thinking???

At this point I was so tempted to eject and give up all hope.

If one thing can be said about me is my stubbornness, so I continued to listen to the rest of the album. It couldn’t get any worse could it?

Thankfully it does get better.

Track four “Lovelife” is a funky little number featuring the vocal talents of Macy Gray. Track five “Ya Mama” is probably the the one track that feels like it could have
Fitted in on the previous album. It is much more upbeat and reminds me in places of The Chemical Brothers.

The rest of the album doesn’t warrant any special attention either way. None of the tracks are great or poor. They just don’t stand out at all. With the exception of track ten “Demons” which again features Macy Gray on vocals. “Demons” is the highlight of the album without a shadow of a doubt. It has a slow, strong on the vocals song, with a pumping (but not overpowering) drumbeat in the background. It is made for Macy Gray, This is the star of the album.

Tracklist:

1. Talking Bout My Baby
2. Star
3. Sunset (Bird of Prey)
4. Lovelife
5. Ya Mama
6. Mad Flava
7. Retox
8. Weapon Of Choice
9. Drop The Hate
10. Demons
11. Song For Shelter

The above tracklist may differ slightly from the UK release as it is the Canadian version purchased from www.play247.com for a measly sum of £8.99 including packaging and delivery.

This is such a mixed up album that it is difficult to put down in words how I feel about it. The first three tracks are sub-standard pieces that he must have picked out of the gutter, so I now see where part of the album title came from. The rest of the album isn’t too bad but in comparison to his previous effort this album is fairly weak. You won’t see many hit singles being released off this album. Only “Demons” stands out as a possible hit single.

The presentation of the CD is poor. The inlay sheet is only six small pages and contains mainly artistic photographs of sunsets. One page is given up to repeat the tracklist on the back of the case and another page of credits. That’s it.

In the months to come, as valuable CD storage space comes at a premium, I can see this CD being consigned to the already large pile gathering dust.

All that I can say is Fatboy picked a perfect album title as it accurately portrays the quality of this album. Plain Average.