“Push The Button” was the fifth album from the Manchest0based Electronica duo The Chemical Brothers. It was one which stood out as a, although they had consistently remained as a successful mainstream act since their 1995 debut, at this point they were able to come up with a burst of new potential future classic dance cuts with this 2005 record as they showed how the North West delivers when it comes to Trip-Hop and Big Beat material.
1. “Galvanize”
The album starts with the Q-Tip assisted club banger which really brought major attention back to the group as with this they were able to break the top five (in the UK) with a timeless killer cut which is seen to get them using the raps vocals of one of the biggest in the game to have survived the Jazz Rap years up to current times. It is a fly tune and one which you will always struggle to find a reason for a liking of.
**Four Stars**
2. “The Boxer”
They move things on with a choppy Trip-Hop track which has them show their alternative style by going from working alongside a major name in the Hip Hop world to Tim Burgess, a main player in the Britpop movement of the lat eighties and early nineties. It is one which has them clearly pulling together the main Hip
Hop backing with Electronica and then the added twist in what comes of Burgess’ vocals.
**Four Stars**
3. “Believe”
Wit this they drop into their second single a track which lasts in excess of seven minutes and gets them doing big things. It is one which you are unlikely to recognise from the name alone, but are likely to recognise soon after the song kicks into effect and gets into its groove. It is one which is likely to grow on you as they do a grungy dance tune with a rather progressive feel as they try out lots of things through its duration.
In another lengthy track on the release, this one gets the duo (Chemical Tom and Chemical Ed) coming out with the first non0singel from the album here as you see that here they get down to one where they are seen to clam things down somewhat and alter their approach in order to settle the atmosphere so that they can come even harder later It doesn’t do enough for me, and so I was put off by it, but it is a good chill-out tune.
**One Star**
5. “Come Inside”
The mood seems to lift as they get into this one and show how well they can incorporate Breakbeats into this work. I have to say that it wasn’t really to may tastes, but |I can see that as they were attempting to attach these weak breaks onto some experimental material, it was bound to take some time to adapt to, but I can’t say that I ever really got to a stage where I was ever really feeling it all that much.
**Two Stars**
6. “The Big Jump”
They get back to much more expected material when they jump into this one and are seen to guide things through a simplistic, yet effective riff to set up and establish the direction for the music as they get down to things and try out all of their available resourceses to come up with a rather cluttered tune. It is one which initially appears to have potential, but this is quickly lost through the off-beat sound effect usage.
**Two Stars**
7. “Left Right”
Anwar Superstar, a Hip Hop MC, is who is seen to help out on this one as you get a track which is seen to take on much more of a Trip-Hop feel than others on the album here. It is a lot more straight-forward than a lot of the other tunes on the album and I expect that this appealed to some who couldn’t get quite a few on here, but I can’t say that the rhymes really appealed to me that much and so it wasn’t saying much for me as you hear some unappealing Political Hip Hop running through it.
**Two Stars**
8. “Close Your Eyes”
You get a little Indie influence here as The Magic Numbers come to collaborate with them for this one and they seem to take things over to their sort of style and approach here in a major shift from what was found just before it. it is another opportunity for them to calm things right down, but I can’t say that I really understood where they were taking the music and so I couldn’t connect with it at all.
**One Star**
9. “Shake Break Bounce”
This funky and imaginative track is one which takes from Old School Hip Hop material in a way to bring together the main two forces in that field at the time with the sounds of both the Electro and regular Hip Hop are brought together here in an exciting manner on the sort of breaks which are seen to be used in the Funky House scene (long before it was established as a major off-shoot to Garage.
**Four Stars**
10. “Marvo Ging”
After seemingly having the album rescued, they seem to get back to the sort of music which I simply saw no appeal in at all. They get back to the experimental Big Beat style here and perform one which uses a range of Electronica sound effects to create a tune which, to me, doesn’t seem complete, and appears to get them taking the music beyond what it is capable of sustaining and so it seems over-complicated.
**One Star**
11. “Surface To Air”
The album ends in expected fashion with a long, and drawn-out track from the duo as it has them going for nearly seven and a half minutes. It really does nothing in all this time as they stick to the chill-out material and they don’t appear to really actually d much with it as it stays on the same sort of level and just leaves you expecting much more than what they were apparently prepared to give this time around.
**One Star**
I have to admit that I saw this as a rather disappointing album form the pair and it is one which i can’t really say I was too pleased at all with as they don’t really do a lot within it, aside from the singles and so there isn’t really much worth getting it for. I couldn’t recommend this album as it is so inconsistent and the diversity within it seems to wide-ranging for anyone to really be pleased with.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I didn't love this as much as "Dig Your Own Hole" or "Come With Us" but I still liked it a lot. There's quite a few classics on here in my opinion, but I might be saying that for sentimental reasons! Great review! :) x
Having marked their 10th anniversary at the top of British dance music with a greatest ... more
hits collection, it would be easy to write the Chemical Brothers off in a genre that requires a certain freshness. However, Push the Button is a spectacular jump bac...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Galvanize-Feat. Q-Tip The Boxer-Feat. Tim Burgess Believe-Feat. Kele Okereke Hold Tight ... more
London-Feat. Anna Lynne Come Inside The Big Jump Left Right-Feat. Anwar Superstar Close Your Eyes-Feat. The Magic Numbers Shake Break Bounce Marvo Ging Su...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Sep 13th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
![You've Come A Long Way Baby [PA] - Fatboy Slim](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/051/prod_small-39051.jpg)
![Gatecrasher's Club Anthems 1993-2009 [Digipak] - Various Artists](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/861/prod_small-7337861.jpg)
![Human After All [ECD] - Daft Punk](http://imagesa.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/538/prod_small-5833538.jpg)
![Ministry Of Sound Anthems (1991-2008) [Digipak] - Various Artists](http://imagesa.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/406/prod_small-6791406.jpg)
