Dig Your Own Hole

“Dig Your Own Hole” by The Chemical Brothers (1997) Well, here’s an album that forces the serious listener to revisit his or her definition of “recorded music”. And since it is no doubt “recorded”, what is under examination here is one’s understanding of the term “music”. Is this “music”? Well, not in the conventional sense. It is excruciatingly repetitive, mechanical, unrelenting, static, and almost entirely at one tempo (about 120 beats per minute, but who’s counting?). It would be good background sound for a boring workout, or the first ten minutes of the evening’s endeavor to get lucky. And since The Chemical Brothers all but concede that lyrics are irrelevant, one can add meaninglessness to the list of this album’s characteristics. The lyrics to the track “It Doesn’t Matter” pretty well sum it up. But out of an artistic respect for the possibility that this is precisely the point, perhaps one can assess whether The Chemical Brothers are successful at conveying mindless alienation devoid of intelligible content or feeling of any sort. They are not. I know this album peaked at #1 on the UK charts, but maybe that says more about the UK than it does about this album. 1/5

never gets old. unlike me.

This took me back to my big drug taking days. What a trip. Every Tuesday afternoon we'd finish training, I'd get showered in the jizz of the entire Chelsea first team and backroom staff, take a load of pills and hit the clubs buzzin' off me tits. Eat my dick, life.

Who is dis doin' this synthetic type of alpha beta psychedelic funkin'? Who is dis doin' this synthetic type of alpha beta psychedelic funkin'? Who is dis doin' this synthetic type of alpha beta psychedelic funkin'? Who is dis doin' this synthetic type of alpha beta psychedelic funkin'?

Really liked it. Based on the album's age, I can see that this music set the precedent for other bands such as Beastie Boys.

I'm guessing at the right club, with the right lighting, at the right age, with the right drugs, this could be enjoyable. But without that mix, it's beyond annoying. Get off my lawn.

The music was interesting but it was too long, too loud, and too intense. Almost couldn't make it through. 3

I remain on the fence about the whole DJ thing. Which is so dumb, any question of whether remix and mash up are art is very long since settled. Even mentioning it, I sound like some backwards art historian trying to get a discussion going about whether photography belongs in the study of visual arts. Even given my backwards skepticism, this is clearly at the top of the genre and in fact an album I purchased when it came out.

A nailed-on 5 and without any competition the best dance/electronica album ever made.

Fucking love this album. Just great song after great song, with everything being something you can move your feet too. I rarely give an album 5/5 just for being fun, but here we are 5/5

This album was much better than I expected a psychedelic house album to be. Its opening track is well known, and the rest of the album is just as good. There are some low points in the middle of the album, but this is an overall fantastic album. 4.7/5 stars

Taking the swirling eclecticism of their post-techno debut, Exit Planet Dust, to the extreme, the Chemical Brothers blow all stylistic boundaries down with their second album, Dig Your Own Hole. Bigger, bolder, and more adventurous than Exit Planet Dust, Dig Your Own Hole opens with the slamming cacophony of "Block Rockin' Beats," where hip-hop meets hardcore techno, complete with a Schoolly D sample and an elastic bass riff. Everything is going on at once in "Block Rockin' Beats," and it sets the pace for the rest of the record, where songs and styles blur into a continuous kaleidoscope of sound. It rocks hard enough for the pop audience, but it doesn't compromise either the Chemicals' sound or the adventurous, futuristic spirit of electronica -- even "Setting Sun," with its sly homages to the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Noel Gallagher's twisting, catchy melody, doesn't sound like retro psychedelia; it sounds vibrant, unexpected, and utterly contemporary. There are no distinctions between different styles, and the Chemicals sound as if they're having fun, building Dig Your Own Hole from fragments of the past, distorting the rhythms and samples, and pushing it forward with an intoxicating rush of synthesizers, electronics, and layered drum machines. The Chemical Brothers might not push forward into self-consciously arty territories like some of their electronic peers, but they have more style and focus, constructing a blindingly innovative and relentlessly propulsive album that's an exhilarating listen -- one that sounds positively new but utterly inviting at the same time.

The breakbeat drums are sick, I love how they sound. The grooves are pretty gnarly and scuzzy. Sounds a little like some of the stuff you might hear on a rage album. Explosive, dancey, groovy. The tracks are never stagnant, hardly drag, honestly I really love this

Hooked me, lost me, hooked me, lost me. Overall charmed by it. Block Rockin Beats was one of my faves as a teen listening to Jock Jams in my room and tossing a football to myself as I made diving catches onto my bed. Never listened to this whole album before, but glad to have now.

Where to begin with this one? Another formative album for me, so hard to judge objectively. Probably one of the first electronic records I got into as a teenager. This album, Daft Punk and Justice opened up a whole new world of music for me, even though I missed out on it the first time around (I think I was 6 when this album was released). The way the songs flow into each other is beautiful, even when they get abrasive. I especially love the last two songs, in spite of the weird lawnmower like grinding towards the end of Where Do I Begin and the possibly-too-obvious Beatles influences on The Private Psychedelic Reel.

A little rave in my pocket. Engaging enough to be entertaining, passive enough to make work go a little smoother today. The year this was released makes me feel like this was a massive influence in the early 00s, I can point out a lot of movies that kept the same gritty hard bass sound. Favorite tracks: "Elektrobank", "It Doesn't Matter"

Why would they pick this album? It's like their worst one. Not to say there isn't some good tracks on here but there are much better overall albums that this one.

I expect this album is going to score relatively poorly on this site. Those people are wrong and this album is in fact 'mint'.

Awesome, not my usual genre.

Takes you on a journey - builds and builds, crashes out, then you come out of the end on a euphoric note. Brilliant.

One of my favourite records ever

OK

Good album for energetic, highly rhythmic break beat style EDM. Puts me in the mood to kick butt.

This was kick-ass.

Really like this one

Another one I wish I had discovered as a kid. Excellent.

Does every drum and bass album have to be an hour long? It’s not that I dislike it, it’s that it’s way too long. The last song is by far the most interesting.

Memories of smoking weed in grimey, blacklight lit central NJ basements at the tail end of the 90’s. We’d play Dreamcast, order Domino’s because they were the only pizzeria in the area that delivered and listen to records like this one. Can’t say I miss it much, but that’s how we killed time in the middle of nowhere without drivers licenses.

So I never listened to a Chemical Brothers album start-to-finish before, and I found the music to be energetic, fairly original, and I enjoyed the style and beats for the most part… There really aren’t any vocals here – perhaps some spoken word and/or recorded voices – but the music really stands on its own… “Don’t Stop The Rock” & “Where Do I Begin” were my favorite tracks, but there really isn’t a bad on the album – of course nothing spectacular either, but everything is quite solid – and I enjoyed what sounded like a rhythmic “crackle” on one of the tracks… On the downside, the only thought that kept running through my brain as I listened, was how lame the electronic drums sounded… As a drummer, it just kept bothering me more and more as the album played… I get that it was 1997 and that technology was probably quite limited as compared to today, but it REALLY sounded dated – and there really much variation in those sounds… The corollary to what I disliked about the audio quality of the electronic drums, was that I kept imaging how amazing these tracks would have sounded with a live drummer, playing a real set… Wish they would have remastered it with better drums, but that’s just me… Would probably rate this as a 2.50, but can’t get it to a 3 based on my drum issue (i.e. again – love the beats, just not the lame audio quality of them – and all of the cymbal and hi-hat sounds were perhaps the worst…), so a 2 it is…

The repetition in some of these songs makes my brain hurt. Setting Sun reminds me of Tomorrow Never Knows by the Beatles. Some of these songs have grooves that I can get into, but overall it's just not my thing. 2 stars.

Didn't finish. It didn't sound good but I could see it in some situations, so maybe a low 3

I bet this is what Elon Musk listens to while pretending to play Diablo while on Ketamine.

A 1 feels really harsh but I am absolutely not finishing this. It literally gave me a headache. Best song: There were songs?

A guy can make a case for Doing Drugs as a creative exercise. Sometimes people can access a way of expressing an idea, sometimes they can access the idea itself, while doing drugs. Regardless of someone’s moral stance, it can at least have artistic merit. This album is a Doing Drugs album that never gets past “huh huh this is trippy mate innit”. It sounds like the least interesting guy you’ve ever met, telling you about that one time they did DMT. Man this sucks.

Hated it. Very repetitive.

I understand this is not for everyone and certainly not for every situation, but I really love the '90s techno/house/x vibe of these albums. Give me more!

My first electronic band and this is arguably their best album. GOATed.

A tru classic.

The electronic genre can be quite tricky to write about, so all I really can say about this album is that it's simply a banger. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

Big beats, big drum fills, big noise - I think this will continue to grow on me too, 4.5, will grow to a 5

"Dig Your Own Hole" is the second studio album by English electronic duo the Chemical Brothers. Big Beat, electronica, breakbeat and pyschedelic rock are the Wiki-listed genres. I'll go with that. The album was self-produced by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. It received critical acclaim and hit #1 in the UK and #14 in the US. The album comes out jamming with "Block Rockin' Beats." Laser sounds, the drum sample of Bernard Purdie's "Changes" and most importantly the bass sample from the Crusaders' "The Well's Gone Dry" and the vocal sample of "Back with another of those block rockin' beats" by Schoolly D. Great sampling throughout and as with most of these songs, a chaotic finish. In "Elektrobank," they speed up the drum sample of "Hit or Miss" by Odetta. Distorted vocals and more vocal sampling. Interesting explosion sounds at the end. "Setting Sun" begins with a grinding and electronic drum beat. Wild synth sounds and then Noel Gallagher appears with echoing and pyschedelic vocals. This is a weird song and the first single. The band uses another guest appearance in "Where Do I Begin" with Beth Orton. The melody is a sped up and phased sample of Mazzy Star's "Give You My Love." Wow, they almost make it sound better than it actually is. Even Beth Orton is hypnotized repeating "Where do I start? Where do I begin?" Creative is a good word to describe this album. Creative beats: drums, electronic drums, dance, hypnotic and just electronic. Creative sampling: speed changes, song selections and vocal selections. Creative synth noises and sounds. The songs get progressively chaotic. Some songs even have a pyschedelic edge. I remember this album sounding ahead of its time on 1997 and it still sounds futuristic. One of the better electronic, dance and EDM I've heard. A high recommendation to go back and listen.

Strong album

a classic.

Great overall listen

Absolutely grimy, relentless beats that will get your head bopping, your ears ringing and the rest of your body violently sweating. And once all that is done, you get to nod away to the much more mellow psychedelic treat that is the second half.

Just fantastic early electronic album.

Grand album

wait . . . . . 🤔 let me listening again 😍

https://youtu.be/D2jVUyPq4mI

Under rated, tbh. This is still going hard more than 25 years later. The Chemical Brothers are pretty handily one of the best artists of the big beat scene, a lot of it sounds pretty dated now. This does too, but it's also still cool sounding.

I gave Exit Planet Dust a five star review with only the text "Bangers", and I could really just do the same here, TBH. But I want to add that Setting Sun is amazing, captures the vibe of Tomorrow Never Knows and amps it up.

I like the way it makes my brain feel

Stellar, showing everyone how it’s done. Sound is full but so well balanced, everything fits 4.7

This is intense. I'm amazed at how many songs I know on Dig Your Own Hole. Great beats and samples. Liked Songs Added: Block Rockin' Beats Setting Sun Lost In The K Hole The Private Psychedelic Reel

Genius

Loves me some block rockin’ beats

What an antidote to that fat boy arse nonsence. Thisis an example of quality 90s eleconic music. An awesome album fron an awesome band at an awesome time. I remeber glasto 98 stuck in mud up to me knees dancing to this. Ooh they were the days me lad, when you could leave your back door open, everyone knew and despised their local bobby and drum and bass was still called jungle.

There's a time and a place for this repetitive beats nonsense, and Christmas day is as good as any. Perfect foil to all that carols bollocks.

While not perfect, it is great, I was close to giving it a 4, but Setting Sun tipped me up to a 5.

Oh man, what a record. Always nostalgic to hear the Chemical Brothers, especially the tracks on this record, but the album itself - funky, banging, diverse, fun, interesting, psychadelic, dance-y and does not sound dated at all. It rises, falls, punches and kicks, entertains and surprises.

Superb. Really enjoyed this. Also listened to other albums I hadn’t heard yet.

4.7

The Amazing Chemical Brothers! watch as they strap on their rocket skates and do battle with the wicked California Surf Nazis invading the ravefields of New Manchester in 11 thrilling episodes! witness as they do battle with evil normcore monsters created to destroy the K-Citizens wandering the fields, vanquishing each foe with their samurai swords and titanium-reinforced Stratocasters! be astounded by the death defying sonic stunts in each episode -- flying bass kicks in "It Doesn't Matter", flaming song structures in "Elektrobank", and their world renowned... "Block Rockin' Beats"! you might even get to see their elusive and astounding "Private Psychedelic Reel"! don't wait! don't miss out! tune in each Thursday for another, jaw-dropping episode! only on Big Beat Network: "We've Got The Beat."

This has been in my collection for many years. I'm sure this is one of those genres that you either love or hate. I am definitely a Chemical Brothers fan. This album or the first one are probably tied for my favorite. The first record has more variety with some slower, ambienty songs thrown in. This one is pretty relentless with hard beats and multiple layers of chaos until the end, but it's pretty great. The songs with vocals (guests Noel Gallagher and Beth Orton) break up the record a little bit. And the Spike Jonze music video for Electrobank is a f*ckin masterpiece.

Classic

Excellent breakbear album, could not top nodding my head to it.

An absolute balls to the wall classic. Not only a good album of its time, but a building block for the electronic music that followed it. Pace, power, energy, form, skill and production combine something that everyone should be aware of. Its criminal that its so badly rated here.

When i listened this album i felt like im inside a mortal combat game or matrix movie.

The perfect textbook "big beat" / late-nineties british electro album that made the whole 'rock vs. techno' debate moot. You could also select Prodigy's *The Fat Of The Land*, out the same year. Out of the 11 tracks of *Dig Your Own Hole*, six explain why the latter is worthy of such a list. It doesn't look like much, but those six tracks alone are the equivalent of a 40-ish-minute album. There us the iconic "Block Rockin' Beats", with its no less iconic slapped bassline either ripping off Pink Floyd's "Let There Be More Light" or 23 Skidoo's "Coup". There are also the title-track, aptly named given that it digs the same groove than the opener ; "Elektrobank" and its climactic conclusion, like a jet exploding mid-air in slow motion, the hectic yet also melodic "Setting Sun", featuring Noel Gallagher, the moody and more relaxed "Where Do I Begin", and"The Private Psychedelic Reel", a flasy epic 10-minute closer. The rest, mostly drawn from the "electronic battle weapons" series of singles asking DJs to test them on dancefloors, might be a little samey and secondary. And follow-up LP *Surrender* might be more varied, and overall a better album, than *Dig Your Own Hole* (or at least one more accessible). Yet there is still something that screams "essential" in that record. You had to be there at the time to fully understand the thing now. But you *had to* be there, whether in a club or at a friend's party. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) Number of albums left to review: less than 70, I've temporarily lost count here. Number of albums I'll keep in my own list: half, approximately (including this one) Number of albums I *might* keep: a small quarter, approximately. Number of albums I won't keep: a large quarter.

Love these guys.

Iba para 4, pero de pronto aparece Where Do I Begin y ...

This is a exceptional album, it was one of the first of it's kind and paved the way for this style of music. I don't think there is one weak track on it. I've listened to it before, and will listen to it again.

Yes!! Kom maar op met die Block Rockin' Beats! Een album dat ik vaak heb afgespeeld. Met Block Rockin' Beats als start kan het eigenlijk niet meer mis. De andere hit (toch?) Setting Sun heb ik al eens eerder genoemd. Het is knap als je met zo'n zeurende zanger en zo'n bak geluid een top-plaat kan maken. Met deze twee nummers op het album heb je de 5 sterren eigenlijk al te pakken. Toegegeven; de andere nummers hebben niet hetzelfde niveau. Maar dat maakt niet uit. Ik kan nog steeds met veel plezier luisteren naar het pompende It Doesn't Matter, ga goed op het schijnbare rommeltje op Get Up On It Like This en kan zelfs een brakke zondagochtend prima beginnen met Where Do I Begin. Zeker als ik dan ook nog even het laatste nummer laat staan. Bij elkaar haalt dit niet het niveau van Exit Planet Dust. Dus de 10 sterren die ik daar aan uitreikte, zal ik nu niet nog eens uitreiken. Maar ik kom nog steeds met gemak over de 5 sterren heen.

Excelente!!!

Truly, I’m just a girl who loves to dance. I’m especially a sucker for this era of electronic music, with those 303 buzzes and chaotic breakbeats. This style of music just scratches a spot in my brain. It’s the type of shit that would make me lose my shit in the club, but it’s also cerebral, and I have no problem listening to it sober during my 9-to-5. To me, Dig Your Own Hole is a perfectly balanced electronic album – it’s equal parts club and home-producer; equal parts rolling and trip-sitting. Sometimes I think it blends together so much that it feels less like an album and more like a DJ mix, which is fair, but feels less tight as a result. And I will say, The Chemical Brothers build songs in a much slower, less efficient way than their contemporaries, so you can sometimes get lost where you ✨are ✨ in the song. But I think these are minor critiques. When they want to get a room moving, they get that room moving; when they want to make that same room think, they really make everyone sit down and meditate on their lives. I’m not saying it’s better than Homework or even Remedy, but Dig Your Own Hole comes close, and is only a half-step down on the tier list of great 90s electronic albums. Huge fan, will be playing it loud forever now.

FIRE

Still sounds amazing

Block rockin beats - ooo I like this. One of my favorite opening riffs. Dig your own hole - this belongs on the Kim possible soundtrack (my beloved) Setting sun - this one was interesting. The repetitiveness of some of these beats wasn’t my favorite, but I respect the album a lot for doing something interesting and different.

Долго думал, что же поставить за этот альбом: 4 или 5. Все-таки решил, что 5. Альбом -- бомба, нафиг слова, звучание важнее. Block Rockin' Beats, Dig Your Own Hole, Setting Sun и The Private Psychedelic Reel очень хороши. Надеюсь, что эта группа еще встретится в 1001 альбоме.

A nailed-on 5 and without any competition the best dance/electronica album ever made.

the only mild problem is that is this album is a tad long. but i guess in the context of jumping out of one's head in a club sort of negates that. this album is fucking vibey. i really like it, it's like being locked into a groove for an hour. turning off almost gives the sensation of stepping off a treadmill, the world lurching around you as you find your balance. love it. 5/5

Very different, yet fresh.

I realized I've been a "real instruments only" snob for a long time. I wanted to hate this. I loved it.

When it comes to electronic music, it doesn't get much better than this.

Love this album!

Block party starter Driving beats that move your feet Dance until you’re dead

Found a hidden (from me) gem! Cool music!

Dig Your Own Hole My fave chemical bros album, containing my fave chemicals tune (lost in the k hole - complete with backwards bass and vocals that is as close to being lost in a k hole without the titular chemical!) I’d argue that this album would be better without Noel Gallagher’s ‘setting sun’ which feels like a bit of a play for mainstream airplay and sales (how many oasis completists bought this album just for that song?) but the gamble paid off and paved the way for continued growth. For me, the tunes without ‘guest’ vocals shine brightest (electrobank) and the second half of the album is sublime from ‘it doesn’t matter’ through ‘don’t stop the rock’ and ‘get up in it like this’ which combine techno sounding synths with breakbeat samples and drum loops to create some fierce sounding electro - recommended 🤘🏽

One of the best if not the best big beat album.

Chemical Brothers...

I've listened to this a lot of the years. Good beats and interesting samples.

This is my favorite electronica album, and I listened to this a lot in HS and college. I don't listen to much of this type of music, but when I do, this is the one album I tend to put on.

10/10

Used to love this fucker back in the day. Now he’s a big time racist, elitist piece of shit. Had stopped listening by the time this one came out. There’s nothing necessary about this one. There’s no reason this should be on a list like this.

Love it, multiple replays. 5/5

Classic and a favorite!

Amazing

Lekker album is een vibe

Iba para 4, pero de pronto aparece Where Do I Begin y ...

I was only familiar with the first track on this album, but I've been a long time fan of The Chemical Brothers in general. This was a cool look into their older material. I really liked the use of the "slap bass" element throughout as a melodic instrument in tandem with the more traditional bass. Seems to be a bit of a signature on this album and it was a solid choice. I'm not a big fan of electronic music that becomes too repetitive and doesn't seem to go anywhere. This was the furthest from that. There were a lot of section breaks and return back to earlier sections that helped keep the music fresh and seem more exciting. These guys are pros. The songs moved seamlessly into one another, so much so that I sometimes lost track of where one started and one ended. The entire album felt akin to an orchestral suite, where there are separate movements but they all feel attached to a bigger whole. A solid album. Stand out tracks: Block Rockin' Beats, Setting Sun, Lost in the K-Hole, Where Do I Begin