- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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They turn in their best album since 1996 even though some schmuck from the Charlatans ruins track two.
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Los Angeles TimesAn evolution in big beat and sweet dance-pop loyalty as hard-hitting as their mid-'90s works "Exit Planet Dust" or "Dig Your Own Hole." [23 Jan 2005]
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FilterThe Chemical Brothers have always been kings of collaboration, and this album is no anomaly. [#14, p.96]
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SpinIt's the album on which the Chems relax into a comfortable maturity, secure in their status as elder statesmen. [Feb 2005, p.87]
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It shows the Chemical Brothers, unlike their peers, are capable of adapting and surviving.
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UncutCleaner and crisper... their first [album] for half a decade where great noises... outshine august guest vocalists. [Feb 2005, p.73]
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Under The RadarThe new material sounds more unified and danceable. [#8, p.106]
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Push the Button is rounded and accomplished where Come With Us was uneven and tentative.
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UrbComes as an especially welcome jolt after their last wishy-washy effort. [Mar 2005, p.110]
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The lion’s share of these tracks throb with a purpose that was mostly absent from their last effort.
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While the album is based around the repetitive choppy hook and big beat, some quiet building moments of the heavy songs lack a sense of creativity and movement towards a real climactic edge.
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Push the Button isn't wall-to-wall brilliant; it has its share of lulls and, for want of a better term, dubious inspirations. However, when it works, it's so on that you won't want to turn it off.
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An album that covers a lot of ground without ever tilling it.
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Overall the duo have given us a much braver and stronger album than their last, but as far as anything truly revolutionary goes it’s merely a step in the right direction.
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Rolling StoneAn album full of beat-wise psychedelia. [27 Jan 2005, p.61]
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The Chemical Brothers tend to find the best results when they focus on atmospheric, buzzing instrumentals.
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BlenderThe missing links between club night, rock show and 2001-style cosmic experience, these boys are still worth digging. [Mar 2005, p.138]
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While there aren't as many heart-stopping productions as on 2002's unjustly neglected Come With Us, Push the Button proves the Chemical Brothers have retained the innate curiosity necessary to keep them blazing trails for years to come.
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Entertainment WeeklyThe Chems' mix of big-beat thumps and psychedelic swirls sounds a bit dated. [28 Jan 2005, p.84]
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It certainly doesn’t stand up to Dig Your Own Hole or half of Exit Planet Dust, but Push the Button is much better than I’d hoped it would be a few months ago.
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Other than a few impressive moments... Push the Button proves less than inspiring.
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The problem with ‘Push The Button’ is that it’s all so predictable.
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The album suffers from serious momentum problems. You get something that hammers in a good and interesting way and then a few minutes later it's like the tap of a blue tit's beak on a milk bottle top.
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MojoThere are moments when Tom and Ed no longer sound like the baton is theirs to pass. [Feb 2005, p.101]
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When all's said and done, too much of the album sounds dated and uninspired.
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Finds the duo, well, pushing too many of the same buttons.
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Alternative PressThe Chemical Brothers seem adrift and directionless. [Mar 2005, p.138]
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Q MagazineIt's like they've just put all their old sounds together in a slightly different order. [Feb 2005, p.101]
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New Musical Express (NME)An album that not only fudges golden opportunities, but finds this band's whole modus operandi laid embarrassingly bare. [15 Jan 2005, p.42]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 44 out of 54
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Mixed: 8 out of 54
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Negative: 2 out of 54
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Decepticon_PomMar 2, 2005Their best yet - and Surface To Air is a blinder of a closer.
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Apr 6, 2012
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Apr 2, 2012