Exit Planet Dust

The debut album from the Chemical Brothers starts with an absolute banger in Leave Home. This album is good and still rings true 30+ years later. These two were pioneers for their time and brought more attention to electronic music just like several other early artists did. This is not their best album but it is still really good and gets a solid 8/10, so 4 stars is what it will get from me.

I sense a formula at work here: 1. In the first 30 seconds or so of each track, lay down a semi-interesting melody and/or rhythm track (although to my ears, it sounds like they actually used the same drum track for almost every song). 2. Over the next several minutes, do absolutely nothing to develop this or introduce anything new into the song. 3. Lather/rinse/repeat for a total of 11 tracks. Were I effed up on speed at an all-night dance club, I might find the mind-numbing repetition hypnotic and entrancing. As it is, sitting here contemplating my morning joe, I just find it mind-numbing. I see that this was praised by the critics at the time and retrospectively, and I feel like I must be the only one who sees that the emperor has no clothes? It started as a three for me after the first track or two, then drifted downward to a two then a one as the relentless repetitiveness kicked in. The last few tracks were somewhat better and got it back up to a less than solid two.

Likes this more than their other album, but did they need at least two on this book?

Meh. It's fine. Not too bad for an electronic album.

thought this was kinda boring

This is basically a psychedelic rock album, but with different instruments. And a great one at that. I'll have to see where this one stands against "Dig Your Own Hole" ("Surrender" was really good too, from what I remember, but it's not on this list). Anyway, listen to it.

Not fantastic

Good electronica but nothing that really blew me away.

I've heard some Chemical Brothers, but not this one. Not bad, but a bit dated and repetitive. Their better, in my opinion, with vocalists, and there wasn't much vocals on this one. Still a good album, though.

Forgot all about the Chemical Bros. It's been a long time since I have heard any of their stuff. It ages a bit over the last 30 years, and can feel very repetitive at times. But I didn't hate it.

Very samey. The people on the album cover look insufferable.

Favorite tracks: Life Is Sweet, Alive Alone Not sure why I vibed with this so much, but I did! Really put the mediocre electronic music on this list to shame. Easy to bop to, but has good artistry too. This was a treat.

Repetitive to the point of testing my patience; I didn't mind their 1997 record but this is ridiculous. I feel insane criticizing something like that as a big drone fan but my God this is just too much sometimes, "Chemical Beats" in particular.

This is decent but not as good as their other albums. Lacks a banger.

Sure this album created his career, but this has to be his worst album, right? This list picks sush weird albums of really good musicians.

Pretty fun. First half is better

The Chemical Brothers make a particularly rubbery sounding type of techno. And honestly, it grooves in a pretty infectious way. I don't have a lot to say about this, but it is very enjoyable.

I would never have classed myself as an EDM fan, I'm more of an indie kid at heart, but this isn't the first album in this genre during this odyssey that I have absolutely been blown away by. It throbs and pulses and properly delivers. One of my favourite performances at Glastonbury was by these guys on reflection (I'm beginning to see a pattern).

maybe I am actually into techno

This album could be best described as: You’re in the middle of a heist in GTA V and ts plays in the background. Normally I’m not very fond of electronic music. But this was unexpectedly so entertaining. My only complaint is, it gets a bit repetitive and boring towards the end. Also, One Too Many Mornings, I did not like that song.

Big Beats Are The Best Get High All The Time

I've always been a fan of this kind of big-beat electro-pop stuff. Good album.

2/10 Escuche los dos primeros temas y no me gustaron nada. Probé un toque los otros pero no va, no me gusto

It's been ages since I've gotten the other Chemical Brothers album on this list, but I'd imagine that this one was a bigger deal considering that it was the group's debut and big beat was still pretty novel at the time. It's solid and not too abrasive, with the first half sounding like tracks that would feel very at home in a "futuristic" racing game from back in the day, and the latter half lending itself to more of a softer electronic tone. Not a bad listen, but this subset of albums on this list has yet to truly *impress* me I guess.

Cool cover

Ok, sure. I've said before I'm nowhere close to an EDM aficionado. It sounds like the mid-90s PS1. I don't know it well enough to compare against others. Beth Orton's vocals on the final track "Alive Alone" is good.

Jos tykkää tämän kaltaisesta konemusasta, tykkää taatusti tästä albumista. Itse kuuntelin tämän kuulokkeilla kiiretömänä sunnuntaiaamuna ja kyllähän tällä hyvin lähti päivä käyntiin. Muistan, että Chemical brothers oli jonkinlainen juttu ysärin lopulla / opiskeluaikoina mutta tällä albumilla ei ollut minulle entuudestaan tuttuja biisejä yhtäkään. 3/5

Listening to this album made me realize my main issue with dance music. And a note here before I launch into this; I actually do enjoy dance music. I even love some Chemical Brothers stuff. *Come With Us* is fantastic. But generally, the genre of dance music is so limited in what it can convey. So many other genres have a range of emotions. Sure, blues is sad, but it can also be hopeful, funny, even scary. Rock can be rowdy but it can also be tender, and yearning, and furious. Dance music is just - dance-y. It makes you want to dance, and that's fun, and I love dancing too, but - that's really all it has. DANCE! It's so limited. And hey if you're stretching maybe you can say that by DANCE!! I mean "the joy of life," but I don't know. Anyways. This was decent. Extremely repetitive in sections. My oldest son was listening with and asked me, "Why does your music today suck so badly?" Anyways. TWO STARS

Cohesion: 5/5 Theme & Narrative: 1/1 Sonic Identity: 1/1 Arrangement Synergy: 1/1 Genre Authenticity; 1/1 Transitions & Flow; 1/1 - Rating it high in cohesion as I couldn’t tell sometimes if we have moved on to a new song or not which means the album is high in cohesion - Could also mean that I found it monotone at times since I couldn’t tell if I was on a new song or not Production: 5/5 Clarity & Balance; 1/1 Instrumental Performance: 1/1 Sound Design; 1/1 Dynamic Depth; 1/1 Mastering; 1/1 Enjoyability: 2/5 Immediate Engagement; 0.5/1 - At times it did keep me enageged but only a couple tracks Replay Value; 0.5/1 Emotional Resonance; 0/1 Playlist Potential; 0.5/1 Sticking Power; 0/1 Composition: 3.5/5 Melodic Development: 0.5/1 Harmonic Progression: 1/1 Structure & Contrast: 1/1 Motif / Theme Usage: 1/1 Emotional Storytelling: 0/1 Favourite Songs: 2/11 - Three Little Birdies Down Bea - Fuck Up Beats Final Thoughts: - Kind of album I’d probably have in the background while gaming - Great production - Kind of boring as it feels like ive been listening to the same song most of the time so, not much variation

Not bad

Astronauts do this.

Niet-stoffige muziek van de stoffige planeet

Soms worden we er weer eens aan herinnerd dat we allemaal wel wat meer breakbeat in ons leven kunnen gebruiken.

Sounds like an old school hip hop track without the rapper

I think you have to be in the right mood for this kind of music if it's not your usual listen. I guess I just wasn't in the mood today. I don't think this is really all that original.

This album sounds like a lot of 90s movies.

Sounds exactly like a techno album from 1995 should sound.

Reasonable electronic sounds. I didn’t mind this album and would happily listen again despite it not being my go-to genre.

I like dance music. I like electronic music. I like club music. So I like what The Chemical Brothers do. But by the 50th repetition of the same bar, even I start to get a little tired of it. Unless I’m in a club and have had a lot of beer.

This is peak electronic music and this is the best it gets for me.

Solid electronic debut.

I'm usually extremely bored with electronic music but this one kept me interested. It felt like a rave came into my living room. It started out dance heavy, party time and slowly evolved into something deeper.

I enjoyed the Chemical Brothers back in the 90s and 00s and this had great energy for a Friday. It gets a little repetitive and samesy, even with the slowdown towards the end, but it was still a block rockin' good time.

This album is the example of how something that can be interesting is not necessarily something good. It has some nice layers, but it is too plain, at least for me. The songs do not evolve much and just constitute repetitive patterns that are not even that good to carry the weight of a whole song – sometimes pretty long, to be honest. Electronica is a complicated genre, mainly because sometimes (and more than I'd like to) it is just that, something that can be innovative but purely computerised without any soul, and simply reiterating in sounds that go nowhere but to fill up a long song. It does not transmit much, that's all.

Can't give them anything other than 5

Yeah this was a super good debut. Love this shit.

Vibey and energetic, i like it. Last leg of the album loses me enough that i’ve gotta drop it to a 3. Standouts are Leave Home, Song To The Siren and Three Little Birdies Down Beats.

Day1012 - proof that music is subjective. at least it was only forty nine minutes

I'd never heard this album before but I liked it. More industrial and heavy than I expected from The Chemical Brothers, but interesting and fun.

wow 95 here we go...banger! c

was pretty neat

Energy from start to finish. Good album that I was proud that my wife could figure out the artist

Excellent

3/5

Ees are good madchester mad for it. Liked this.

- Electronic does not typically do a lot for me, but I see the appeal here. Repetitive (of course), but the Chemical Brothers do a good job of throwing in curveballs just when the audience starts to lose interest. - The vibe of the first six tracks, which all meld together, is pretty good. Found "Song To The Siren to surprise me the most...some interesting use of silence to keep you guessing. - Second half of the album was less propulsive in comparison. I did find "One Too Many Mornings" to be the highlight.

Kind of just amelodic trance & break-beats; doesn’t really do anything for me.

Not my kinda thing

The Chemical Brothers scratch an itch in my brain that I didn't know needed scratching.

Kinda fine but still just some techno. Not the worst I've heard on this list though!!! I really like the album art and it was fine for background music while I'm working.

Not my cu⁸I p of tea

Big beats: all about the beats! Big fun

This is just The Prodigy but not as good

Dancing on the chair, maybe

Like them, but this was just too atmospheric for me. Nothing really to catch my interest.

Навіть неочікував)

Masterpiece! I like it. Super electronic sound.

Good for working, but even there not that engaging.

I agree it would make good action movies or game music, but it's not something I necessarely enjoy listening to outside of that. Maybe as workout music?

Pleasant with a vibey industrial sound. Pretty sure I've heard some of this stuff in movies and I get why.

Obviously going to give this one a 5 aren't i.

Not normally my thing but i quite enjoyed it, only criticism is its a bit repetitive. Not something I would buy but not something I would turn off either.

4/5

2/5

This kind of music really leaves me without much to think about. I liked this, great sort of thing to listen to in the shower, really got me pumped up for that. But I don't ever really have the desire to listen to this otherwise, I liked being exposed to it as a part of this challenge, and really appreciate that this is a really good album. But it's simply just not my thing, so I can't really rate it any higher. All I can do is appreciate that for people who like this kind of thing on a much deeper level than I do, this is definitely one of the best albums out there for that.

Interesting and likable- 3.5 if there were half stars

álbum incrível pra programar (se ainda fosse 2023 e as pessoas ainda programassem que nem os astecas) dito isso, álbum ok pra passar instruções pro claude

vibe indescritível de filme de hacker dos anos 90 nao eh um album pra ouvir preso no avião aguardando a liberação pra decolar a uma hora. enfim. nao eh ruim nao, apenas meia boca

6/10

This is pretty annoyingly repetitive for a majority of the album. Might be good "I need to lock in and focus" music, but otherwise, I would definitely not intentionally listen to this again. (2)

nice enough

Suddenly I'm transported back to the 90s: I'm playing a beloved video game, but I've paused it. I'm looking through the menu, trying to find the setting to turn the background music off. Phew, that's over. Wonder how many more flashbacks on this list...

Did not expect electronic music in the 80s

way too repetitive

Yea it kept me entertained while I ate shitty pizza and avoided additional slot machines at the Vegas airport

61

My second album from The Chemical Brothers and it was pretty good but I definitely preferred Dig Your Own Hole out of the two. I didn’t get bored of it at any point which is more than I can say for a lot of Electronic albums on here, it just didn’t have anything that massively stood out to push it beyond three stars.

This album was the big bang of big beats! Fabulously outrageously hard banging!

Were these all the same beat for 49 minutes? Yes. Was I kinda into it? Also weirdly yes.

Once again, I find myself wishing I had a big family tree diagram of EDM.

Solid. I'm not a huge house/EDM person, but this is definitely fun to listen to on occasion and shows a lot of variety and creativity. I honestly think the link to jazz and some other free-form tribal music is understated.

"The Brothers Gonna Work It Out" Yes, they are. Probably one of the most accessible of the CB albums. Nirvana is over and the world is moving in interesting places. Music tastes are becoming more eclectic and radio is no longer the sole arbiter of what's good as rave culture and DJs and electronica have emerged into the mainstream. Also, there's this new thing called The Internet where you can listen to music without going to the record store. Check it out. This album is definitely "of its time" but it's still fun to listen to and it feels pretty cool to have this play while you're driving somewhere - anywhere - preferably over the speed limit. Any music that makes you feel an ounce or two cooler while driving to the grocery store can't be all that bad.

I listened to this while walking home in the dark and felt like a vampire hunter

9/10

Ive made something similar in FL studio. Weak

Their early days, very little vocals, but good sound.

Good EDM album. I'm sure it was influential. I don't listen to this kind of music, but it is interesting, creative, and makes you move. There's worse.

banging tunes, what can I say?

Sounds like the soundtrack to parts of the Matrix or from an early Command and Conquer game. Absolutely love it!

Disco que traz dinâmica rítmica, mas se perde na repetição dos temas, tornando a audição um tanto quanto cansativa.