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Rowlands and Simons have a tighter grip on the material-an odd thing to say about an album with eight tracks built to sprawl, maybe, but Further really does flow from beginning to end, just the way its makers intended it to.
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At a meager eight tracks, the enigmatic duo makes an audacious statement to its peers: quality usurps quantity every time.
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On Further, The Chemical Brothers show no signs of fatigue, and the absence of any star names matters not a jot. It's better to continuously explode than fade away, or something.
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The whole album works something like an expansion on the last three fuzzed-out tracks from Dig Your Own Hole. The Chems aren't in the same do-no-wrong zone they were when they recorded that stuff, but Further brings them closer than anyone could've reasonably expected.
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MojoThis is The Chemical Brothers at their crowd-pleasing, raucous best. [July 2010]
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This is dance music for dance music's sake.
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This stripped-down effort forgoes the high-profile collaborations we've come to expect to create an unstrained, repetitive thumpathon that fits right into their catalogue.
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There was definitely a clear division as to what kind of album they were intending to make beforehand and it's brilliantly showcased all over. Further's opening two songs attest to this with a melting of new ideas that immediately signal a new coming.
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Q MagazineAs the title promises, it's not so much a departure as a significant advancement of a career-long mission. [July 2010, p. 130]
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Alternative PressSo despite some standouts--thw more energetic and melodic "Dissolve" and "Swoon"--the Brothers' latest, trippiest trip is best taken as a whole. [Jul 2010, p.123]
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While Further ironically does little to further The Chemical Brothers' sound, they have once again produced a strong and sturdy album of high quality electronic music that still leaves many of their peers sounding one dimensional and unexciting.
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Seven albums in and Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons might no longer be raving on the most future-facing side of dancefloor, but their way with an effortless arms-in-the-air banger is undisputable.
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Eclecticism has always been the strength of the Chemical Brothers and with their seventh studio album Further they continue to develop musically.
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Further is at times a thrilling listen and barely puts a foot wrong, yet at a time when electronic music is expanding so quickly, it doesn't shine as brightly as it might have a decade ago.
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There's nothing here that even the Chems themselves haven't done before, but that doesn't make the sensory thrills any less giddy.
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There's no risk here, but there's plenty that's right.
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Under The RadarThey may have another breakthrough and forward leap again, but even if they don't, the comfort zone they've found still sounds pretty damn good. [Summer 2010, p.89]
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Further may lack a stonecold standout, but fans of their classic work could do worse than reconnect with them here.
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Steadfastly chirping crescendos, whinnying breakbeat stampedes, and the odd evocative vocal.
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UncutFurther requires an injection of personality that low-key collaborators Stephanie Dosen and Francis Ten just can't provide. [Jul 2010, p103]
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Further manages to be both pretty and hard-grooving.
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A few gems, sure, but Further doesn't fly far enough.
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Chemical Brothers have remained in the stadium house category for a decade-plus due to their immersive music and vivid light shows, but from the stale beats and lack of new ideas on display here, they'd do better going beatless or hiring a drummer.
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Unfortunately, with its endlessly recycled ideas, total lack of thematic unity, and surprisingly distracted sense of melody, Further only lives up to its title in the sense that the duo--despite their best efforts--continue to slowly moving away from what made them so great to begin with.
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Further is by definition not the most embarrassing music of their career--merely the most boring.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 25 out of 30
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Mixed: 3 out of 30
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Negative: 2 out of 30
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May 10, 2015
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Aug 21, 2015