Album #9: No Geography

[actionjackson780]

No, wait, what are doing to me? The title track is over?  Are kidding me? THis could be an anthem! Fuck.

Exactly! Argh!!

[GLAKO-FAHN]

feels like this album has so much love put into it..feels like a real expression of the imagination, nothing feels like it was thrown together or unfinished

[Shotglass75]

THIS GODDAMN TITLE TRAKC IS THE NEXT SWOON IF YOU ASK ME!!!  My heart is dancing.

Learned today they definitaly aren't coming through Chicago this year.  Crushed. Thought North Coast was going to become my savior. My wife and I are looking for flights to SFO with our baby and Grandma. Highly doubt we'll be able to make it work though.

[Born In Planet Dust]

Can we be certain they won't be coming to Chicago? 

[inchemwetrust]

Here...we...go!

[androidgeoff]

Got my vinyl in the mail today

wooooooo

[chemfan_89]

Really digging this album love it

[neorev]

feels like this album has so much love put into it..feels like a real expression of the imagination, nothing feels like it was thrown together or unfinished

Yes! This album is so fine tuned. Born In The Echoes felt the opposite for me, stagnant and meandering. This album is much more alive and feels like the proper Chems we heard back with Further.

[Ford]

Ps Is it really 40 quid? I'm seeing £17.20 + postage on CD Japan.

Just under £22 posted for the cheapest postage option.

[Stefan]

Geoff, that review should earn you a Pulizer Prize 


I have to admit, after the first round of listening to the record, it was not what I expected and I was a bit dissapointed. However, I still remember when I first listened to Further, where I also wasn't impressed at first but it soon grew to be my favourite album, ever. That taught me to be skeptical of my first impressions 
After a few spins, I'm liking and even loving it more and more. The first three tracks flow so excellent together, they could be their own EP. EOD is an excellent opener, the vocals in Japanese are something really fresh. Bango is fun and fast, without going over the top. NG might as well have been an amazing closing song, but that would destroy this trinity.
GTKO remains just fantastic and is easily one of the best work the Brothers have ever done.
Gravity Drops is by far the records weakest point. The first few seconds sound so promising, and then everything falls flat. Maybe this would work better as a short intermission of 1-2 minutes.
Fortunately, the album picks it up again with TUSM. That calm start, and then the song progresses so much over it's six minutes, there's a vast soundscape to discover!
WGTT and FY just get better with each listening.
MAH releases all the pace and power at once that the previous tracks have kept back a bit (that's ok though, not everything has to be a dancefloor smasher).
CMIF then calms the whole thing down and brings it to a conclusion. Certainly not a revelation given their excellent collection of closing songs like TPPR, The Test, STA and TPWHYN, but I like it.

Conclusion: With their ninth studio Album, the Chems keep the fine balance between creating music with their signature style I love so much, while also making it sound fresh, developing it and packing a few surprises in there. As many said, this is an "Album" album, for the most part beautifully structured (something which I missed in BITE, which feels more like a collection of mostly great to excellent individual songs). Without the disruption of GD right in the middle, it would come very close to Further.
There are parts of their catalogue which I've listened to more than 50 times and still discover new things in them, I expect that this will keep up with No Geography. 

[Wolkenkrabber]

Stefan, the main body of your review leaves me with no reason to write my own review. It's as though you scanned my thoughts while I was sleeping. Even the stuff about cutting Gravity Drops down to 2 minutes. At exactly 2.46 when I realise it's coming around for another spin is where I think: ok enough. BTW folks, what does the sampled vocal say?

But more importantly I agree with all your positive comments too.

[UltimatePelmeni]

If you ever change your mind about leaving it all behind.
Remember, remember.
No geography.
For a long time I was just an observer.
In the end I decided to register.
I would help.
I cant see logo.
You need to repair it problably.
I think the site needs updating.
Can you please contact the admin?
Me.
You and me.
Him and her.
And them too.
And you and me too.
I'll take you along with me.
I'll take you along with me.

[Csar]

If you ever change your mind about leaving it all behind.
Remember, remember.
No geography.
For a long time I was just an observer.
In the end I decided to register.
I would help.
I cant see logo.
You need to repair it problably.
I think the site needs updating.
Can you please contact the admin?
Me.
You and me.
Him and her.
And them too.
And you and me too.
I'll take you along with me.
I'll take you along with me.

Brilliant

[whirlygirl]

If you ever change your mind about leaving it all behind.
Remember, remember.
No geography.
For a long time I was just an observer.
In the end I decided to register.
I would help.
I cant see logo.
You need to repair it problably.
I think the site needs updating.
Can you please contact the admin?
Me.
You and me.
Him and her.
And them too.
And you and me too.
I'll take you along with me.
I'll take you along with me.

Hahahaha! 

[Biff]

If you ever change your mind about leaving it all behind.
Remember, remember.
No geography.
For a long time I was just an observer.
In the end I decided to register.
I would help.
I cant see logo.
You need to repair it problably.
I think the site needs updating.
Can you please contact the admin?
Me.
Kevin.
You and me.
Him and her.
And them too.
And you and me and Kevin too.
I'll take you along with me.
I'll take you along with me.

^minor tweak added.

Really digging the new album! If anyone gets a Japanese edition and it has Nene's lyrics in the booklet, let me know/send me a pic. I have been studying Japanese to kill time between Chem albums over the past few years. I've been trying to transcribe the lyrics, but they're hard to hear in some spots and isolation tricks don't help much. It'd probably come out to be the Japanese equivalent of "Hi Kevin." Maybe a remix will come along with better audability.

[Bosco]

that's some seamlessly edited lyrics on both counts. 

well played y'all

[UltimatePelmeni]

^minor tweak added.

[Hutch108]

Just got done with my first vinyl spin. Probably my 5th listen overall. This is the Chemical Brothers album for me. I absolutely love it. I didn't start following the Chems until 2006 (I was 13 at the time.) No Geography hits me harder than any other release since then. I have been so giddy since late Thursday night, almost in shock at how perfect this album is for me and where I'm at in my life. There is so much that I want to say about it but the right words won't come.

[sandelic]

I'm still dazed by this new marvel Brothers made and can't write anything coherent about it beyond how immensely I'm enjoying it.
I love how fresh and at the same time strangely familiar it sounds. I can't put my finger on it. It sort of gives a 90's vibe at times, if that makes any sense.
I love how at 3rd listen I've fallen fiercely in love with Catch Me I'm Falling. On each next listen it got more beautiful. It's ridiculous.

[Bosco]

Alright, so I know both Csar and you did your best not to listen to any of the material before album drop. Were you able to do that successfully (you too Csar)? And if so, good on you guys, I wish I had that discipline.