A few years back, The Chemical Brothers ruled the land of alternative dance and could name-drop celebrity guests more impressively than Tom Jones. Anyone who remembers their heyday will vividly recall the dynamite blast of ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’, the trippy ‘Let Forever Be’ and the bonafide dancefloor classic ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ – all of which managed to gatecrash the Top 10 and all of which are included on ‘Singles 93-03’.
They’ve proved to be more consistent than Prodigy and more reliable than Fatboy, and let’s face it, Basement Jaxx owe them a trick or two. God knows why, then, this collection just doesn’t manage to catch the thrills and spills of their extraordinary career.
Before the ‘90’s dance acts consistently failed to make a listenable album out of their one or two hits. Perhaps The Chems are cursed with the inability to string their hits together for one release. Whatever the case, this album lacks flow, not aided by the fact that a couple of the tracks from either end of their career are a touch below par. Still, while it’s a little anticlimatic as an overview, as a straight ahead singles package it meets requirements.
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6Tom Edwards's Score