Disco de Orbital: “The Altogether”

To be fair, Orbital may be doomed to be forever judged against In Sides and Snivilization - two unfairly high benchmarks. That caveat spoken, The Altogether is wholly disappointing. Yes it's imaginative; yes it proves again how far the brothers have come from the (great in its own right) Green Album. Nevertheless, this album lacks the energy or emotion of the Hartnoll's high water marks. Although parts of this disc are unquestionably beautiful, it lacks any sort of coherent flow and is thus unable to really captivate listeners the way those two great discs did.

Up through In Sides, Orbital seemed to be on a wonderful trajectory - moving from imaginative and energizing techno to a brilliant blend of IDM and trance. However, Middle of Nowhere seemed to be a step back away from that formula, instead moving towards more mindless, poppy sounds. It pains me to say that, given this, The Altogether seems to be more of the same, indicating that Orbital have since In Sides decided to embark on a new direction. I say unfortunately because, as with MoN, the tracks here just don't seem to spark the intellect or the emotions the way Are We Here? or Out there Somewhere? can. Consequently, this disc leaves me feeling flat and wanting more because, though the music seems capable of it, it never gets to the apogees I sense and hope it might. The sounds just kind of roll along somewhat repetitively, again (like MoN) relying too heavily on vocal samples and not enough on the mixture of tempos, keys, and layers that drive Orbital's best works.

Anyone who likes Orbital will surely like this as the Hartnolls seem incapable of producing inferior music, but only those for whom MoN was their favorite release will truly love this disc. For all those for whom this is not the case, I fear you will be similarly disappointed as I, and left with the feeling that, sadly, Orbital has forsaken their most effective and emotive formulas for something less satisfying.

As much of a fan of Orbital as I am, I feel justified in waiting to buy The Altogether until its US release because I had not purchased any of their singles between the last album, Middle of Nowhere, and this one. So, you end up ahead, saving money by getting two discs for the price of one - much better than if you were to buy the import singles. However, when you get this (and you should), listen to the second disc first. It provides the necessary bridge from the last album. Orbital's sound may have grown and matured over the course of their six albums and many EPs, and but, previously, the progression between albums always seemed to be consistent in increment. This release seems to jump forward (or some other direction) farther than most fans expect and could alienate some. Listening to the second disc will ease the transition, mainly because most of the tracks are remixes from Middle of Nowhere. In that regard, the only album tracks that sound "familiar" are "Funny Break" and "Meltdown", the rest sounding Orbital-esque, but much more shorter and dancy than previous albums' epic, emotive cuts, lacking a sense of cohesion. Three-stars for the album proper and five-stars for the second disc. The song "Doctor Look Out" is particularly good.

If nothing else, the second disc makes up for any problems that could be found in the album itself. Let's start with disc 2. Being largely comprised of remixes, it is the best stand alone EP/single set/half-album i've ever listened to. This is no exaggeration. I all their other albums first, before getting The Altogether more than a year ago. I would recommend owning at least Middle of Nowhere before trying to listen to disc 2, but even without, it still sounds great even to my non-Orbital-fan friends. Who requests a B-sides disc of an artist they don't listen to often? I can't believe the number of reviews that don't mention Beelzebeat, let alone the entire second disc.

Bigpipe Style - great morale boosting starter.

Monorail slows it down to start and picks it up continuously adding interesting samples making an extremely cool sound.

Much Ado... is a great matchup of voice verse good percussion.

Ah Fhomhair is some great short sampling melody creation with a great vibrant feel.

Doctor Look Out gives a much needed threatening feel (for balance)

Beelzebeat kind of extends that feel but really takes the astute listener on a voyage throughout its entirety. This song is great!

Nothing Left Out is a good, heavy, fast pace Nothing Left.

Old Style is shows the heavier darker side of the already established and great song Style.

The Funny Break is better than that on the original album, which has been one of the high points of others' reviews.

Mock Tudor, much like Beelzebeat is another great new track, that progresses much from start to finish.

New Style gives you the much needed feel of floating in relaxation after the intense workout of the rest of the disc.

Anyone who liked Middle Of Nowhere should love this disc, but I've come to appreciate MON more since listening to the disc.

Disc 1 has been reviewed to death, but it really shows some great experimentation. I think that it has enough good points to give it at least 4 stars without the second disc. Again Meltdown, Doctor, Waving Not Drowning, Funny Break, Tension, Illuminate, Tootled all stand out, but the other songs are much needed, and make the album better rather than adding rubbish to a masterpiece. A must-have for anyone that owns or enjoys any Orbital, and 2 discs for the price of 1 (roughly).

In my opinion, this album represents a step back, for the most part, from previous releases. I own all major Obital releases, and several singles. My least favorite was, by far, _Snivilization_. If you liked it or "I Don't Know You People" or "Otono" (tracks 4 and 5), from _Midle_of_Nowhere_, then you may really like _The_Altogether_.

In other words, it just has too many sound samples (i.e. from movies, voices, or other songs), for my taste. I prefer more pure synthesizer & effects music, whether it's slower tempo and more introspective, like much of _Insides_, or more like their earlier techno/rave/trance type releases.

It's also too repetitive. In fact, some of the tracks on _The_Altogether_ almost sound like they were by (or influenced by) Fatboy Slim.

It has a couple gems, so I don't feel I've wasted my money (though it's bittersweet to see the highlights of several of the singles I've tracked down, conveniently presented on the second disc). But beware that this isn't nearly the same level of advancement as we've seen, in the past.

Orbital put on the steel-toe, 12-hole Dr. Martens to make this album. While they retain some of their traditional ambient meanderings, the entire collection is much harder and dancable than anything they've done earlier. Its a nice change and a great direction for them. I'd buy this CD again, for the Dr. Who theme song cover alone.