Better Living Through Chemistry

I loved this album

Eh, not the one

Probably pretty fun at a club in the 90s. Pretty repetitive in my car driving to work.

3.5

Acceptable background beats to work to. Nothing better.

Love fat boy slim. 90s dance music is forever a good vibe. That said some of the songs are a tad samey

3,1 Highlights: Song for Lindy, Going Out of My Head

7/10

Ting kor det e helt ok å høre enkeltspor men kor æ e totalt uinteressert i albumet som helhet: det her.

Classsssssss album, never listened to it before. A bit trippy a bit psychedelic and some heavvvvvvy beats. Loved it, got very into it, first time I’ve listened! Best Song: The Weekend Starts Here 5/5

Proving to the world that big beat is valid.

My spouse and I listened to this as we built the newly released X-Files Lego set, and it worked for that setting. I had fun listening to it, and I think it's important to acknowledge the intended setting for this music is different than the setting most of us are apt to consume it in. Didn't feel groundbreaking, but fun and solid.

My oldest brother listened to this album a lot in the 90s, so I have some nostalgia for it. It's certainly well made, and I enjoy some of the tracks more than others (especially the last track, which is my favorite by far). But now that I've heard quite a bit more from the breakbeat tradition, I can see why this is rather milquetoast. Also, the edm-style risers were novel for the time but have aged badly.

I really don't have anything to say about this. I don't really dont find any of this memorable, and this really isn't my kind of music. I mean, it's fine, but it's just not really much to write home about. I think the baseline throughout is pretty decent, but that's probably as much as it really does for me. Fav Track: Better Living Through Chemistry

Its OK. Nothing outstanding. The songs are quite long and repetitive and I could not find anything exciting except finding that a 4 min song can feel like 7 ! 2.5

Each track has one good idea - sometimes a very good idea - and then repeats it ad nauseum. I eventually DNF. And I say this as a dance scene fan who is very much looking forward to dancing to FBS live in a few weeks. The energy and magic of the dance floor just eludes being captured by media. You had to be there.

I liked it! Not a big fan of EDM but I’ve got a special place for 90s EDM bc I was a young teenager listening to it at that time and so this felt nostalgic of my Moby & Prodigy dazzzze. Plus it just kinda cooks

Dos álbuns mais old school de rap, esse aqui foi o melhorzinho.

This was a bland album

Another 90s Electronic album, another 1 star review.

I'd never heard this album before, but I dig it! Danceable modern rock. Right blend of electronic and rock. Should be in my rotation. Winner!

Fire. Felt like I was in a 90s action movie.

No es mi estioo

Good edm record

An actually decent electronic album. Probably won’t listen to it again, but it didn’t annoy the crap out of me. 4/5

Good

This is such a fun listen. The payoffs and climaxes of the songs hit so perfectly and every song feels unique, digging this hard. Apparently this guy is well known and I exist under a rock

crap

No es algo que volvería a escuchar, es medio aburrido y monótono.

Despite not really caring for Fatboy Slim's You've Come A Long Way Baby, Better Living Through Chemistry is closer to the EDM that I enjoy, whereas the former album feels more a like a pop approximation of EDM. Fatboy Slim puts on a good set and has a nice variety of songs. Enjoyable!

It’s electronica. It’s fine. Walked to it.

He hadn’t yet come a long way, baby. It felt like I was a hacker in a 90s movie half the time (which may be the same thing I said about the Chemical Bros album - some of these are starting to run together)

2.5 meh

Pretty definitive Big Beat album. Maybe a bit longer than strictly necessary, but fairly varied.

Probably the best trap music I've ever heard, but I still don't like to trap music. LOL

Well, not the greatest house DJ, Fatboy Slim is a lot of fun and this album shows off a lot of what makes him great party music. Always down for a listen.

Dansmusik från 90-talet. Mycket rytmer och repeterande. Ok en fredag eller lördagskväll men inte en onsdag morgon. Going Out Of My Head bäst.

Rolled my eyes when I saw another Fatboy Slim album on this list, that said I didn't find this one quite as obnoxious as the last. There was nothing particularly notable to me about this, it was fairly inoffensive if not a little bit boring.

I'm basically just going to repeat my You've Come A Long Way Baby Review. While I wasn't as familiar with Better Living Through Chemistry or any of the songs on it, I still enjoyed this more than I expected, but the repetitiveness started to wear on me by the end. There were a few good songs and it's deserving to be on this list, but I just don't love electronica.

This started a flat 2, all filler no killer. Round the midway mark (Everybody Needs a 303), there's lift-off and the signature Fatboy Slim creativity. It stays on a high, taking a bit of a nosedive before ending solidly. An extra point because this is very much a "Seinfeld isn't funny" type 30-years-later assessment. It's great!

Great sound design, especially the bass, and full of ear candy; good taste in samples; organic but repetitive; most of the songs take a motif; melody loops, bass lines, chords, and explore it through repetition and a layered production. These characteristics define this genre but make it difficult to connect with this type of music on an emotional level.

Put on the big cans and get into this!!!! Fun as hell, aged incredibly bc I feel like this is the cultural touchstone of the genre

Rough around the edges but was fun

This was lame when it came out. It's not getting better with age. In fact it's worse now. I am angry this is on the list. How many more boring electronica albums on on this!

Not bad! 3/5

Actually loved this Everybody Needs a 303 BANGERRR

Better than expected

Felt like I was listening to a PS1 menu screen for an hour and eleven minutes.

Going Out of My Head had me moving a bit. The upright bass lick on First Down was neat. Something to listen to while working or exercising but not much more than that to me.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would, especially seeing as there’s none of his hits on here. Musically I thought it was pretty good, wasn’t just repetitive generic dance. 3.75/5

I dont really think you need any fatboy slim beyond youve come a long way baby. Pretty much of its time and rather repetive. Need some E’s and it to be 1996 i reckon to truly appreciate it

Mehh was alright. These type of albums dont do a lot for me. Would be great live

Mix between Moby and Chwmical Brothers. Kraftwerky in parts. Enjoyed it. Did get a bit repetetive mind

Lots to like about this album, and trax downloaded

The thing is in the right place, yeah I'd be enjoying this, but sat in my kitchen eating yoghurt is not that place.

This is another one of those records that makes me question the format of this list. I feel like this music is best experienced on a dancefloor, in a mess with hundreds of bodies – it’s a bit less effective listening solo, and a bit lifeless as a static playlist played front-to-back. Even if I were hearing this music at a club, I doubt I’d ever hear the album played in full. It’s certainly meaningful to hear these musical moments in history before I die, but not all of these moments were crafted in the form of classic “album rock.” It’s not always the musicians’ fault; it’s just not what they were trying to do.

This took me days to get through. I’d start it and then think “no, I can’t do this today” and it happened 3 times. So today as I sat in the waiting room of the mechanic I gave it a fourth and (thankfully) final try. Repetitive and annoying. I enjoyed the wet sound of Everybody Needs A 303 but I enjoyed getting to the end of this album more.

I just couldn't, normally I like dance/electronic, but this was just impossible to cut through. One song fine, album of an hour not fine. 1/5

2/5. in retrospect, I was too harsh on Fatboy Slims “You’ve Come A Long Way Baby” because that album is far and away better and more fun than this predecessor (maybe when I go back and re-assess my scores in the future I’ll raise it to a 3.) As for this debut album, it has some novel sample-work, especially on songs like “First Down” but when it comes to crate-digging, sample heavy dance music I feel there’s plenty of records much better than this.

How the fuck are there so many bad techno electronica dance shit albums on this list? Just fucking shit, all of it, pure fucking shit.

konemusa ei oikein iske muutenkaan, mutta varsinkin tästä vanhemmasta kamasta puuttuu se miksi FBS erottui porukasta. Meininkiä silti eikä pelkkää samaa länkytystä, mutta ei se iske kuitenkaan.

Norman Cook used to really dislike Ken Chutney - such a jealous guy! 3.4 5/10 Everybody needs a 303

This record delivers that mid-to-late 90s big beat electronic/techno funky crate digging music with decisive breaks and danceable loops for your alternative rave aesthetic revival. While I like to listen to subtle ambient masterpieces from Brian Eno like other old-heads and egg-heads, if I want to actually nod along, or move my bod, I'm looking for sounds with more gusto. Give me that direct connect to the beat, let me plug into it easily, you know? This record does that. It's boisterous and basic in the best way. And maybe now it doesn't sound as remarkable as it did back then but Better Living Through Chemistry is still effective.

I really enjoyed this, not what I was expecting from the album at all

*Decent beats in some songs but I don't love dance/trance and not too many songs elevated themselves

A less interesting album compared to You've Come a Long Way, Baby, which I didn't particularly love to begin with.

chill album, zou ik niet snel nog een keer naar luisteren

I cant do this again with mr slim

I really didn't like Fatboy Slim as a kid, I've come around to his music by now, especially his early stuff, though this album definitely isn't flawless. Santa cruz rules, though

good album to hear

Easy 3 though I might throw this on at an afters

Pretty dang rad

It was just ok - I love techno and electronic but this was mid. Santa Cruz was a great track though.

Fatboy wankface

Bien pour courir J’aime bien ce qu’il fait de base; je ne connaissais pas cet album

Pas convaincu ... C'est pas trop ma came

oh well. Quite repetitive. Not my cup of tea. maybe at times.

Makes me miss old commercials. Fatboy Slim rips though as always.

The general problem with electronic “dance” music is its low information content. A five minute long song may have 15-30 seconds of original ideas looped ad nauseam. From that world in the late nineties came electronic music “artists” and DJ’s who desired to do a bit more with the medium than make strictly “dance” focused music. They aspired to make the genre listenable. There are some fine examples of success in this regard but we have here a near miss. It has many of the hallmarks of the better efforts in this vein and even some of Fatboy Slim’s more successful later recordings, but the songs often find their groove early and play the fuck out of it for four minutes with a filter sweep here and there. Give me DJ Shadow or Underworld or even fucking Chemical Bros any day of the week over this.

Why? Even as chamber music this is boring, predictable, and pointless.

Good album. Nice downtempo stuff

Gets old fast. Best without vocals.

Didn't enjoy it.

Funky to the extreme, though nothing quite stood out like it did on You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

Pretty sweet album. Great EDM. Lots of these tracks can be seen as inspiration for many genres to come. My boy Fatboy

Good fun early EDM. Such good, high energy production. I will relisten to this for sure.

Can’t believe how bad this is knowing that he goes on to create Praise You and Rockafeller Skank.

Worth listening to but nothing memorable. Better served live than through Spotify. RYM: N Saved a song: N

Good

Eh, I didn't hate it, but it all just sort of blended together.

Repetitive as hell

I like some of Fatboy Slim's stuff, but I'm not sure we needed multiple albums by him on this list. You've Come a Long Way Baby is a better example of his work.

Hard Nope.

Aww, a floppy disk. I 'member. The music is fine background, but I was ready for it to be over by the end. Not something I'd seek out to really listen to. I did add a couple tracks to my upbeat instrumentals playlist.

Borderline boring

I imagine this music is fun to make, but God, is it boring!

This was a lot of fun. Fatboy smashed on to the public scene with this, just when you thought he was a fifth wheel in the Housemartins. Song for Lindy, Everybody Needs a 303, Going Out of My Head are of course the standouts, but the rest are dancy, groovy, and highly enjoyable too. You can also play a highly rewarding of Spot the Sample. Norman is having fun here, and you will too.

Hell yeah, ziemlich nice. Hat Energie und Charme

Jake Herbert: So you're telling me the world isn't getting worse? I've seen kids today all in black wearing makeup, shit on their faces, everything is sex, Clinton. Detective Marty Hart: You know, throughout history, I bet every old man probably said the same thing. And old men die, and the world keeps spinnin'. - True Detective, season one Isn’t it weird how - throughout all of history, in every generation - the world was super fun and cool and the best music ever made was made when men were 16-20 years old, and then once those men got around 50 years old, all the music sucked and the world went to hell? It’s so weird how that keeps actually, objectively, in reality happening; and it’s not just stupid fucking men unable to see their own idiotic biases. I mean, it really is true in my case with the bro country and nepo baby girl singers who have no music in their songs only tones and the AI and Trump and inflation and climate change and the oligarchs and the fascists. The world really was better in the 90’s and is awful now. Objectively. But everyone else has been stupid and wrong and put two Fatboy Slim albums on their 1001 albums you must hear before you die lists. Everyone but me is so dumb.

A fun romp of an album. And a Brighton legend!

A very easy to listen to album.

Up the Albion!

ein tollrs album! endlos hörbar.

Interessante Herkunft, die Housemartins hätte ich nicht in Verbindung gebracht mit Fatboy Slim.

Cool, but repetitive.

Perfectly acceptable electronic music. Next.

Just a fun album. Some tracks may overstay their welcome a little, but all in all I'll gladly get back to it.

Langweilig.

Gute Beats, aber nicht viel mehr.

This is unfortunately a less refined effort on Fatboy Slim's part than his follow-up, fittingly titled "You've Come a Long Way, Baby", which we got ages ago in this challenge.

Kinda interesting to see the beginnings of Fatboy Slim before he really started making pop hits. Not as good as his other album on here. Still fun though!

Started off liking this a lot more than You've Come A Long Way! The first four songs are disgustingly good, but unfortunately the rest of the album fails to live up to them. This is a genre that lends itself to individual track listening though, so you best believe I'll be bumping some Santa Cruz in the future. 👹 The Weekend, Starts Here. 👹 Standouts: Song For Lindy • Santa Cruz • Going Out of My Head • The Weekend Starts Here

Sucks to have gotten this after YCALWB because I'm judging this album based on that absolute masterpiece. In comparison, this sounds unfinished, with empty spaces and dead spots in the album that are sometimes uplifted by unusual instrumentation. It lacks the polish and fun of its successor.

Primo tunes for the glorpiest ears. Introducing words was a mistake for Fatboy Slim's musical direction.

Fun album

Solid album. I prefer my electronic music with as little vocals as possible. He should've given Sabbath a writing credit on The Weekend Starts Here. Ozzy's harmonica part was used throughout the song. Much better afternoon listening when I'm alert.

why did we need two of these?? at least the other one had some bops. this was nothing.

I’m sure many will slate it, but they probably cannot realise how hard it was to make electronic music like this back in the 90s, tiny memory storage, short loops, going through records and sampling eeeverything you like. And he learnt to dj further on down his career so, I recon fair play. I like it, big deep bass, well produced, catchy hooks. I’m on board

After those last two albums, Better Living Through Chemistry was certainly a very nice palette cleanser. I'm someone who always enjoys a good big beat album along the lines of The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers and this album delivered that in spades. The beats were fun, the rhythms were super catchy and the additional elements in these songs added quite a lot to them. I still think that You've Come a Long Way Baby is the better album of these two due to having some far more memorable songs as these ones kinda blended together unlike that one. That being said, I still thought that this album was a very enjoyable listen. Best Song: First Down Worst Song: Punk To Funk

I remember seeing this set in Brighton 97. Fun night.

Can I just get a good album please ? This album is tetrible on many level but mainly, it aged like milk and its annoying.

It’s no ‘You’ve come a long way baby’

Decent background music but could be much shorter.

He has way better albums and it got boring fast

Boring, too long, and British.

Once again-way is a debut album on the list??? Way too long & super repetitive. After about 10 minutes, I tuned it out

This is repetitive techno that doesn't quite have the same flavor and punch as later FBS stuff. Sounds like an album of samples for other things.

The musical equivalent of bland wallpaper

Good vibes enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Someone took all the 90s sounds and put them together in one place

Pre Listen: I've heard of Fat Boy Slim, but I don't know if I've listened to any of his stuff. I don't even really know how or why I know of him, I just do. No expectations. Notable Tracks: Give The Po' Man A Break - Least favorite track. Very grating. Just feels like disorganized noise strung together with a beat. 10th and Crenshaw - Starting to feel as though the albums really starting to fall apart. The unique sound is beginning to wear thin, and this is all starting to sound like the work of a schizophrenic DJ. The Sound Of Milwaukee - My favorite song if I had to choose. Sounds like something I'd hear in an old Flash game off Newgrounds or something. Post Listen: My god Fatboy must be so fat from all the fucking drum break samples he hordes in his fat slim belly. Share some with the rest of the class, goddamn. This is the 3rd "Beat and Sample" album I've encountered on here, and it's by far the weakest. At best, the music is serviceable as background Club tracks. At worst, it's headache inducing, and makes me feel like I'm listening to a Mad Scientist's playlist. Several songs are just the noises that printers make when they jam, or videogames when they crash. Some of the audio manipulations sound like something out of a YouTube Poop. I probably would've liked this album when I was 10 years old or younger, because it has this forced futuristic electro sound to it that I would've ate up. The first song had me ready for a unique experience. A unique experience is certainly what I got. This album being unique is really the only good thing I can say about it. 2/5.

I enjoyed this too much to just call it “fine” but I can’t really speak on why I liked it. Added two or three songs. I’ve enjoyed Fatboy Slim’s stuff before but I didn’t think an hour+ of him would work for me. It did!

Far too sober and at work to listen to this in the intended way.

Oui bon

decent club music

I’ve been a fan of Fatboy Slim’s You’ve Come a Long Way Baby album for years. So it was a surprise to me how much I did NOT enjoy this one. It’s very bland in comparison. The funk is missing. Very disappointing. And honestly, with all the bands in the world? There don’t need to be two FBS albums on this list.

2/10 Was not a fan

Sparky

I think seeing the stuff he sampled and having a breakdown would make me appreciate this more but I’m just not a huge fan

Hell yeah

Yes he’s important. Yes one of his albums like so many on this list tells us an important thing about popular music and the notion of the album.

Dooj. funky beats and imagination progressive and fun techno and slid drums that I so much better when you really paying attention. Simons right - each track is alight a mini dj set. its not just for skiing on powder. Now I gotta hear that other album.

The one he had to make before the biggie sorted it for him. It was an extremely unpleasant listen.

In no world does the 1001 Albums list require _two_ Fatboy Slim albums, and, of the two on the list, Better Living Through Chemistry is clearly the second choice. But that said, there are lots of things to like and admire about Fatboy Slim. He approaches making songs like a DJ, not a musician. He builds songs like miniature sets, with breaks and snippets cut in from his eclectic but well curated collection. They are full of hooks and snippets, transitions and surprising changes, and, above all, those big funky breaks. He is not afraid to let a beat play out for a while, augmented with DJ tricks like big sweeping filters, drops or stuttering delays. His taste is exquisite -- wide ranging and obscure -- but not cool. Norman Cook is less concerned with 'cool' than with 'fun'. Is the hook really catchy? Is it funky? Does this drum break insist that you absolutely must dance? And I like that. His songs are fun and inclusive and catchy and easy to dance to. He has a great ear for sounds, hooks, breaks and moments from other records. His sources are often obscure, but not for obscurity's sake. Rather he chooses them because they are a great fresh sound. Some accuse him of producing novelty songs, but I think that is because those critics don't think he is cool enough. That's their loss, let's dance! Fave tracks; Going Out of My Head, The Weekend Starts Here, Michael Jackson, but there aren't any duds here. 3.5 stars, rounding up for being an unpretentious good time.

I love You’ve Come A Long Way Baby, so was excited to hear this. Didn’t quite live up to my excitement, but still enjoyed it.

Liked a few tracks. A bit too long for me. Need to be in the mood for electronic music.

This went on for what felt like an eternity. Maybe it’s best experienced in a club with some of the chemistry referenced in the title; on headphones it’s just dull and repetitive. Didn’t like this when it was first around, the years haven’t softened me to it.

Not bad, but not their best 3/5

So, this was his debut as Fatboy Slim; I listened recently to the follow-up (You've Come A Long Way Baby) because it popped up on here first. I think he's really good at what he does, but imo it would have been enough just to have the follow-up on here; it's better, and many of its tracks have become part of life's soundtrack (judging by how often they still get played all over the place). As for this album, I suppose with so much guitar-based rock on this list, it's good to have a decent chunk of electronica, but I'm not sure this contributes anything that the follow-up doesn't.

Album #126, Fatboy Slim, Better Living Through Chemistry ⭐⭐⭐ This could be the most 90s sounding 90s album I’ve ever heard. Also, this might be the first electronic album I’ve gotten on the generator so far, so this was a real welcome change of pace. I liked it, but context matters when you’re listening to this kind of stuff. This isn’t half as interesting or innovative as some of his contemporaries at the time, like Aphex Twin or The Prodigy or DJ Shadow, for example. But it’s also not trying to be. This is rave music. It’s made for dancing, and I’ve seen Fatboy Slim live multiple times, so I do really enjoy it. It’s a three-star album when you’re sober. It would be a five-star album if you were on ecstasy.

How is Zoe Ball, she left you yet? ....She has left him, I forgot about that.

Makes me remember why I hated big beat. Just incredibly boring and cheese, coming from a time when you didn't have to fight for every sample a lot more was possible.

Why is 90s electronic so repetitive?

It's not horrible but I'm not a fan.

Was cool, hadn't heard before

Good little background jammer while working. Tempo and beats are all very similar, but this strangely makes the otherwise lengthy tracklist kinda fly by. 3.4/5.0

Dis was mmm’k

Overall: 6/10 Maybe I'm just in a good mood today but I got a lot more enjoyment out of this than I usually do with repetitive dance music. I found myself humming along to a good majority of the songs and they get stuck in your head pretty easily. Nice one, Fatboy. Fav Song: Give the Po' Man a Break

Liked it better than the other FBS album but still not my thing remotely

Solid but nothing to write home about. Better than the last fatboy slim album we had though. But also doesn’t have praise you, so…

Probably one of the pioneers of House music. I personally think it's better than other house records I've listened to. It sounds really good and is a really good album overall.

It’s a very fun listen. My teenager said it was really good.

I’ve heard this before. This was spinning at a lot of parties my first few years of college. There are a lot bangers here and it’s a fun party album, but there are only a few that stand out as recognizable while the rest of it runs together. This is a general problem with a lot of electronic music from the 90s and onward where artists and even whole genres are based on one type of beat. There is more than just one type of beat here but it still becomes indistinguishable after a while.

Is it just me, or are there far too many white producers in fields pioneered by Black artists on here? I mean, obviously all modern music is derived one way or another from that of Black people, but like… whatever. I’m not gonna turn anything into any moral conversation or whatever, I just think it’s worth discussing. Especially since this album is SO BORING. “Santa Cruz” is real tight, but everything else is so whatever. It’s numbing. They all feel like numbing little jingles that repeat until you’re bored as shit. Except “Santa Cruz.” That song is bomb as fuck. 5.6/10

I struggle to sleep, I have a sleeping headband that I listen to soothing beats prior to sleep. This was like a more propulsive version of that, and trust me that’s a good thing. In the days when I went out till the early hours this would have been a great comedown record despite all the acid lines. However, I favoured Revolver at the time. Yeah… anyway back to the point. Not what I expected at all. An immersive groove

I could make better noises and beats with my buttcheeks

its okay. it just felt too generic compared to their other albums. Also weirdly industrial in places like a Prodigy album.

Uninspired electronic music. Disappointing entry from Fatboy

I don’t generally like strictly instrumental albums but Fatboy Slim always keeps them entertaining.

Not very good.

5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background

So I had You've Come a Long Way, Baby before this album a few months back, and I have to say I've been listening to at least 1 song from that album on a daily basis. It's just so fun in a non-committal way and it's personally transformative for introducing me to Big Beat/Techno which is a genre I'd never considered listening to. So without transforming this review into a personal retrospective, when I saw this pop up I was immediately excited. I knew Fatboy Slim only had a handful of records in his discography, and I did not know that this list included a multiple of them. When listening to this with the perspective and love I have for the second album, this feels a bit colder and more unrefined honestly. It's not bad by any means, but it does feel a bit in the nature of a typical debut album that's overshadowed by the artist's sophomore record. I'll also say with the way that YCALWB is more impressive, more important, and Fatboy Slim doesn't have that many records to begin with, this can handily be trimmed from the list in a future edition if it wasn't already.

When dance music was better, but not that much better... Recently listened to Moby's 'Play', and they're from similar eras and similar genres. I prefer Moby because he's more varied and less repetitive. This album really is DANCE music, like for loud speakers in a clubbing environment. I saved some songs to a new Instrumental Dance playlist, so that's good, but like... It's ok. Not the kind of music I would listen to that often. When you're in the mood it's great.

There are as many songs on this list that repeat the name “Tina Turner” over and over again as there are actual Tina Turner albums.

definitely read the big beat manifesto

Listened on: Spotify Listening experience: Single sitting I was super hungover and did not feel like listening to this - the repetition was hurting my brain. Certain parts also sounded like a Teams call. By the end I didn’t hate and it almost had me off to sleep.

I’m a Brighton & Hove Albion fan so even if I hated this there is absolutely zero chance I was giving this a low score. Fortunately I do really like this one, it’s nowhere near my favourite from Fatboy but there’s some great tracks on it. Top Track - The Weekend Starts Here

after years of my dad calling fall out boy (one of my favourite bands) fatboy slim i finally listened to a fatboy slim album and it was just fine

2.99

It’s not bad, it’s just not good either

I don't think I recognize any of these tracks by title. This is the first time I'm listening to this album start-to-finish. I ended up recognizing a few of these tracks. I feel like this album starts a little slow and improves over its duration. It's not great, but good. I'm not sure it's something I feel compelled to listen to again though.

Insane to have 2 fat boy slim albums on this list?! Fun but I don't think anything super special.

Better than orbital

I'm sorry, guys, but I just don't think I like dance/techno stuff like this. Every song was too long. I felt no emotion to latch onto, either in the music or especially not in the lyrics. I can see the appeal of stuff like this if I was out in the club, but just being at home listening (especially listening while eating apple and oranges at the dining room table, prime techno circumstances for sure haha) fell just short of torture. It was just too much to be ignorable but not interesting enough for me to care. Sorry, Mr. Slim.

Nisu sve trice iste, ovo je lošiji album Fatboya ali ne bez nekih pozitivnih elemenata.

Hipster 90s cafe

Bom! Trilha sonora de filmes como Matrix

Tämähän oli ihan hyvää kuunneltavaa kotitöitä tehdessä. Biiseissä oli vähemmän jankkausta, kuin sillä toisella Fatboy Slimin levyllä, jonka kannessa oli "fatboy".

I don't really know what I can say for a techno album that I haven't already said in a review of other techno albums. This album in particular doesn't really stand out among the crowd. It's fairly basic electronic music that doesn't really have anything interesting behind it. Now, electronic music is a hard genre to make interesting, but this album doesn't manage it. I feel nothing when listening to this, not even the groove of the music. Therefore, this is not a good album and doesn't deserve to be on the list.

Strangely enjoyable although at times it feels more like a Prodigy album than like his later stuff. Can't believe that this was my first listen to this album.

First listen

Big Beat is definitely over represented on the list. Sure it was mega popular but you'd think from this book that there wasn't that much else going on in electronic music at the time.

I like "Santa Cruz" a lot; I don't recall ever hearing that before. I am finding this to be a good soundtrack to do focused work to. I'm sure that's not how he intended it!

Really have a hard time getting into this sort of thing

It changes enough that I don't hate it, but it is still repetitive and just okay. If I was at a 2000's rave, feeling the beats and the music maybe, but for me its just okay. Santa Cruz was my favorite, but other than that they were just fine.

I love the beats he's throwing down. Nothing but a good time here!

Really god album

How can he be both fat and slim?

I love this album. I like Chemical Bros, but this is what they really aspire to be.

A nice fun album to listen to. Can definitely see myself enjoying listening to this again.

This was a very fun album. Maybe because I listened to a lot of electronic synth based music, but this was a lot of fun. Great beats, good interjections, and made me want to move. I had only heard of Fatboy as a punchline, I really liked this and I’ll probably listen to it again in the future.

This really wears me down more than anything else. 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 keeps hammering the same repetitive big beat grooves into the ground until the whole album starts to feel more annoying than exciting. The constant loops and exaggerated energy quickly become exhausting, and after a while it all starts blurring into the same thing. I get why this kind of music had its moment in the 90s, but as a full listen it just doesn’t work for me at all.

I mean, was pretty decent background noise to clean my house with. 3/5

Pretty fun big beat album. It hit harder when I was 16 though.

This was so much better for me than the other Fatboy Slim album. Knowing this is his debut album, I don't know what it is about some bands/artists that seem to peak early in their careers. Like, when the music is raw it's magical rather than later albums trying to recreate that magic.

Its 90s techno music, fun for 1 song, not for 2 hours I'm afraid.

Second album proposé, j'avais détesté le premier (noté 1/5 - terriblement répétitif et inintéressant). Celui-ci n'est pas mieux ! =>1/5

Liked it! Somewhere between a 3 and a 4 but I think it would round down to a 3.

Got about halfway through and literally said out loud to my cat, "ugh I don't want to listen to any more Fatboy Slim!" And then proceeded to finish listening to the album.

I just don't think I love 90's DJ'ing lol. So many random sounds thrown in, it's not super pleasing to listen to. A couple enjoyable ones but overall not my fave. I can see how others would like this album though

enjoyed?

Great . Love a bit of FBS . Perfect warm up for a weekend of music in a tent . Especially liked first track .

A much better album and more representative of the big beat sound than you've come along way, but without the radio friendly hits.

maaaaan - if you didn't have fun listening to this, then I dunno what to tell you I think you might be depressed. Big Norm is all energy. 9 / 10 Best track/s: Everybody Needs A 303, Santa Cruz, Punk To Funk, Song For Lindy,

RATING: 6/10 HIGHLIGHT: First Down LOWLIGHT: Santa Cruz

Doesn't have any hits like its follow-up but is overall nice. Favorite track: Santa Cruz

Highlights: Santa Cruz, Everybody Needs a 303, First Down Not my cup of tea, but it wasn't totally atrocious. Given his later discography, I expected a bit more tastefully picked samples, but there weren't many. Songs were a bit too long and repetitive, but that is to be expected from this genre.

I love Fatboy Slim even if his formula is old. But it's such a fine formula!

Not into it

Listening to dance music while lying down does not add up. Neither does me dancing. I don’t say it’s without merit, it’s just not my cup of tea at all

al principio me gustó, pero después me resultó muy repetitivo

Very pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed this album.

Not my favorite Fatboy Slim album

me gustó mucho, no conocia casi nada, pero lo mejorcito de la electronica

Decent.

There's no reason I shouldn't like Fatboy slim. But for some reason, I just don't. It's incredibly clever nicking the good bits from other people's music and repeating it to a groovy beat, and he's obviously got a wide ranging taste in music to get the samples he does. But truth be known, I think I'd rather listen to his record collection than the music he creates. It's kinda like a Picasso/ Van Gogh/ Banksy/ Michelangelo collage.

He'd perfect the formula over the next few years with You've Come A Long Way, Baby (and the superb, underrated Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars), but the acid house beats, quirky samples and aura were all present at this point and just waiting for a little refinement.

Fun album, not one for one sitting however.

3/5

Fun, upbeat 90's big beat debut record. Standout is "Going Out of My Head".

I don't think this has dated well. I'm listening to this 30 years after its release, and it just sounds repetitive and dull.

2.5

Better living through beatistry. 7/10

Listened in the car. It was fine! I really liked how goofy it was at times. I always appreciate when a musician is able to not take themselves so seriously. That said this kind of electronic music just doesn't speak to me. Like did all the British EDM musicians at the time use the exact same CD of drum samples or something? At times I thought I was listening to The Prodigy with a sense of humour. Not bad, totally get why people like this guy.

Neat listen that I'm sure gets better with repeated sittings. You could kinda tell he's caught between making traditional electronic songs and radio-style cousins to EDM (which wasn't even a term when this came out). This signifies a shift in electronic away from early 90's longer dance songs to more pop friendly electronic bops. I've seen him multiple times and he's one of my absolute favorite party DJ's. The guy just gets good music!

Interesting "Math Rock" genre of music. I liked it but it's not a party album or dance track.

Nothing wrong with this album, but unsurprisingly it just feels like a soundtrack to a 90s montage.

As a teenager, I loved Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" and "Weapon of Choice" music videos (both directed by Spike Jonze), but it never occurred to me to check out their earlier work. Well, now I have. At first I tried listening to "Better Living Through Chemistry" with my morning coffee, but it didn't work at all. On a run after work, the album sounded better but it's still just decent and a little outdated big beat stuff.

Best Fatboy Slim album? Probably.

probably slapped when it came out, but "you've come along way" no pun intended, is much much better

Strangely enough the only proper studio Fatboy Slim album I haven't gotten around to, but no longer. Better Living Through Chemistry is his debut and while I think his next two albums are certainly more notable and credible, the origin point of his sound was first big in London and the UK before it exploded as a more global sound. I don't listen to Fatboy Slim as much as I did in high school, but BLTC is a bit more original(?) than his other works that feature much more of his trademark sampling sound. BLTC is a bit rough, notably by the end of the album, but nevertheless is a fun ride to go through at least once.

I was dreading this but it wasn't terrible. A few fun tracks. Most started ok but went on far too long. I didn't make it to the end

I like it

Individually, the tracks were fun (especially Going Out of My Head) but as an album it gets a bit wearying.

Pretty chilled out vine and an album i coild happily pit on & let it play through

30 years on still a fun album.

This is tough. Just so long and it doesn’t need to be. Loops are great; beats are good; everything overstays its welcome. Didn’t like it. Not something you NEED to hear.

I just realised that I thought I knew what Fatboy Slim's music was like, but I don't think I have ever actually listened to it. This album is very much meh and I didn't really enjoy actively listening to it. However, I went to the artist's profile and listened to the top songs and those are ones that I know, so my palette has been cleansed. Regardless though, I am not a huge fan of the songs from this particular album, but instead it seems that "You've Come a Long Way Baby" is the more popular album, which was released two years later.

I am a fatboy slim fan

the debut of fatboy slim! this one's a doozy. fatboy slim is the undisputed father of big beat music; even with his humble beginnings, his sound is trademark. big, looping beat samples from records people have forgotten about mixed with other similarly repeating acoustic and electronic instruments. it may not be full of those breakaway hits like praise you and the funk soul brother but this album is still extraordinary in the field of electronic records. it's absolutely mad.

I had no idea how instrumental this would be. For some reason I thought Fatboy Slim was a rapper? Is he actually a producer? Apparently yes, and he's a very good one. This is an electronic pre-trip-hop album. I dig the riff in Everybody needs a 303. It was a solid album and I can totally see how it influenced the genre.

Every song is like a minute longer than it needs to be which makes them all really irritating. Add that to the fact that there's very few memorable hooks that aren't awful and repetitive, and you have an exercise in frustration for an album

I can understand the legacy of Fatboy slim, and this album is not offensive in anyway. I just found it slightly boring

ersti paar songs uuuuhuere fun. aso so coole 90er electro, im einte hets es sample woni glaub erkennt han aber weiss nöd was. the weekend starts here isch chli sehr chill laid back lounge type aber immerno cool. going out if my head wieder meh füre. i like. er het sample uuuhuere druf. uuuh led zeppelin sample und en who song sample. huuuere fun.

coole ahfang. bin nöd so ufmerksam merki gad aber jo weekend starts here findi najaaa soo nüt ufgschriebe aber s macht easy spass! de ufepitched synthi(?) brucht er zwar fnueg hüfig aber finds au sehr cool 1, 2 lieder weniger chönnteds scho sii, villes isch au chli ah mier verbii aber jo drai

some nice electronic tunes on here brother

I still have fat boy slim is fucking in heaven stuck in my head which says something Will I listen to again: 25%

This is far from my comfort zone, but I thoroughly enjoyed this album. This is the kind of electronic music I actually can listen to!

Not what we expected, a bit sparse. Not our favorite

Música para escuchar si quieres relajarte y estás drogado o algo asi

I disagree, that class was Hell back on my junior year.

Nice i enjoyed it, chill sinthy music

A good album, I liked pPunk to Funk the most.

Fine in parts. Full album was a bit much

Sometimes wonder if I missed out by not being a raver and then I’m forced to listen to trash like this and I realize I missed nothing.

Un genere che è invecchiato male

Vanilla EDM. I love electronic music, but find this a little too repetitive (I know that's the point of EDM!). But if it has to be repetitive, i prefer something with a bit of mood, not just sounds).

It goes on and on and on. Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of electronic music, but I agree with Ian - this lacks personality.

Lowkey repetetive.

Delightful and exactly what I use this list for. I know *of* Fatboy Slim but it’s not like he’s on my mind when I’m wondering what I should listen to. Chunky fat beats, I’m here for it.

Looooved the second Fatboy Slim record back in the day, so it was fun to listen to this first one which I'd never spent time with. Very enjoyable with some classic singles, but still don't think it measures up to the follow-up.

Fín fløga

Virkelig fire album, synes det er sindssygt godt. Det er åbenbart hans debut og man kan høre det er meget legende og sådan klippeklistre agtig. Det er mega grineren at lytte til. Det er her man valgte at bruge den som hedder en 303, det skal jeg lige læse op på hvad er når jeg har tid, men det er nok sådan en drum ting som er blevet brugt meget. Det blev ikke så populært som hans andet album, men det gjorde virkelig at genren fandt vej ind blandt dnb, garage, jungle, trip hop osv. Så fik big beat virkelig sin egen lyd. Det har en masse funky og wobbly lyde. Det er åbenbart virkelig lyden fra rock som er integreret i det og der er også et nummer som hedder from punk to funk. Det er meget mere samplebaseret end cornershops album som var meget mere tekstpræget og så også red snapper som havde sådan en lidt mere dyster og mørk lyd hvor det her er glad og opløftende stemning

++*: First Down ++: Everybody Needs a 303, Give the Po' Man a Break, 10th & Crenshaw, The Sound of Milwaukee, Michael Jackson +: Song for Lindy, Going Out of My Head, The Weekend Starts Here, Punk to Funk +-: Santa Cruz, Next to Nothing 7,3/10

01) Song for Lindy - 8,0 02) Santa Cruz - 7,5 03) The Weekend Starts Here - 7,5 04) Going Out of My Head - 8,0 05) Everybody Needs a 303 - 7,5 06) Give the Po' Man a Break - 7,5 07) 10th & Crenshaw - 7,0 08) First Down - 7,0 09) Punk to Funk - 7,0 10) The Sound of Milwaukee - 7,5 TOTAL: 7,45 (75/100) Current ranking: 376/887

Not any of his more fun stuff but a lot of energetic instrumentals.

I tried but I can't listen to this all the way through I just can't do it

solid 2 as there were some that were really interesting but the others were more like being at a rave/house party which doesn't really suit day-to-day playlists imo.

Mind numbingly (perhaps that's the point) monotonous crap.

Interesting

Not really into DJ music, was too repetitious and did the same drum fills in so many songs. Also, if you’re going to sample “Can’t Explain”, use The Who, not some cover!

noise, and not the good kind.

At the end of the day I just don’t believe in dj music

Funky but too weird for me. 3/5

Why did anyone think this was the future of music?

Honestly I have better things to do with my time than listening to this.

With a name like Fatboy Slim, you'd hope for something a bit more entertaining. Not here. Enthusiastically boring.

I enjoy Fatboy Slim and wanted to give this a good score. As a debut it's good but lets face it none of these tracks are his best work or the reason he's famous.

I think this is another one of those albums that must have been influential but isn’t really a “must hear.” If I had to guess it was probably pioneering in terms of sampling. A lot of the tracks were pretty flat and repetitive (even by electronic standards).

The next is better

first listen cool stuff

This genre is super repetitive in its nature, so it's hard to listen to a whole album without getting tired of what's going on. Still, this one sounds good and doesn't do annoying stuff.

Not his best work but a damn good album

Highly enjoyable even without any recognisable (to me) tracks.

= the Beatles

Review - much better than I expected for an album of his before any of the big hits. It's true what they say - big beats are the best; get high all the time. Rating - 7/10 Need to hear? YES

So the song "Santa Cruz" starts, and its nice, and placid, and then the super-annoying one-note guitar riff starts, and stops, and comes back and I start to get annoyed. But I push through. The song ebbs and flows, parts come in and drop out, and then at the end the annoying guitar part is playing along with every other layer of the song - and I love it. How I feel about electronic dance music is pretty similar to my feeling about that stupid guitar riff. It's so repetitive and annoying - and then - suddenly the annoying is the fun part. Dance music for me in microcosm. This is a big beat classic. Put this on for a miniature dance party, or while you're cleaning the house. Do they even have raves anymore? Seems like we need them now more than ever. But Good God it's 71 minutes long.... THREE STARS

Literally half the songs were top tier I cannot choose just 3 I love house music so much man

Favorites: The Weeknd starts here Everybody needs a 303

Not as good as his next album!

Not bad