Further!

[nekoland]

Further is turning 10!! My favorite chems album!

[Bosco]

Jeez, time is flying by so quick.

I love this album. Many future fans are gonna look back and say this is their best album, and I can't argue with that.

[Stefan]

Further is perfect, from beginning to end.

[ThePumisher]

Further is perfect, from beginning to end.

Pourquoi?

[neorev]

I quite enjoyed Further. After Push The Button (which battles Born In The Echoes for last place in my top Chem Bros albums list) and We Are The Night (I actually quite like this album), Further gave me a bit of those classic Chem Bros vibes. But I do wish Escape Velocity was later in the album. I always felt its place as track 2 weird, especially with its length. It doesn't quite nail the build up from Snow, which I love Snow. It feels like one of those epic journey tracks that come much later in the album. I think it should've just from Snow into Another World. Or even better, Don't Think as track 2, which should have at least,been a regular album track, not just a bonus track. Wonders Of The Deep is a great closer, so Don't Think needs to be earlier in the album. As for Pourquoi, that feels more b-side/bonus track material and I'm cool leaving it off. I really wish they released an unmixed version of Further so I could've made my own tracklisting with Escape Velocity later. Oh, and I wish Horse Power didn't have those damn horse sounds. I feel weird driving in public and blasting Chemical Brothers, and people hearing the sounds of horses coming from my car. Would the non-animal noises instrumental of Horse Power just be called Power?

[Stefan]

But you need Escape Velocity in order to get to Another World.
For me, the album is always Snow through Wonders Of The Deep. Don't Think and Pourqoui? are standalone bonus tracks, they're separate from the flow of the album.

[Stefan]

If they're going to do something special for the 20 year anniversary, they need to release a recording of the live shows where Further was played in full.

[Bosco]

If they're going to do something special for the 20 year anniversary, they need to release a recording of the live shows where Further was played in full.

Are we talking about the initial Roundhouse gigs? I always got the impression that this was a little underwhelming from the people that attended.

I can even say when I saw them in September of 2010 where they were still playing the majority of the album, it was the least exciting show I've seen from them. All of the visuals from the 'Further' DVD and the WATN tour had been recycled into the 2010 live shows. Some of the tracks were played in exact order from the album and there really wasn't a whole lot of interesting segues that we've come accustomed to. There was also other factors which they couldn't control that lead me to feel this is the worst show from them, but it is what it is.

Furthermore (no-pun), 'Don't Think' is a perfectly great live album which featured majority of 'Further' and included all the fantastic tweaks that the 2010 set needed.

I'm not sure there is much to revisit from this era which hasn't already be shared. Well, except maybe a legit release of 'Superflash'. But perhaps the hype behind that is a little overblown. Sometimes we're just wrapped up by the mythos of unreleased material, rather than giving props to the quality already in hand.

Going forward, I'd love to have "Another World" and "Horse Power" (with the fucking breakdown this time) featured in the live set again.

[Stefan]

Yep, the Roundhouse gigs. I'd love to judge that for myself if they are or are not boring
Don't Think is of course wonderful, in my opinion the best live setlist they've done in the past decade (the decision to film it at a show without an encore was however just plain wrong).

Another World was fantastic live, a completely underrated intro song.

[Bosco]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was the essentially the first "screenings" of 'Further'. The DVD/Album wasn't released until about a month later after the Roundhouse gigs.

So while it would be cool to see the crowds reaction, there is no deviation from the live performance and the DVD.

Sorry Stefan, not trying to step on your dreams, just bringing some perspective on why it probably won't happen.

[sneakerbeater]

This was the album that they managed to keep from leaking early. If I remember correctly ed said he didn't have a copy of the album pre release. The only tracks we had heard beforehand was escape velocity the lead single and there was a YouTube video of swoon from a night at fabric. Also there were 20 second previews on iTunes we then knew we had heard wonders of the deep from the December 2005 tour

There were 4 nights at the roundhouse, I think I went to the first 2 shows. For me I found the experience great. your feeling the music on the quality system. The visuals alwere overwhelming in the roundhouse. It's such a small venue it just adds to the intense experience. It's just an awesome way to digest the new album.

Having said that cos the music is unfamiliar it's just that bit harder for the crowd  to get lost in music. But for me I will never forget experiening further for the fist time. More than any other Chem's album.

[Csar]

Yes, it was in the early days of their 2010 tour of Further. And as far as I remember they also played an extended encore to make up for the length of these album "screenings". I also believe to remember that they had received some critcism (at least on the older forum) over this approach (less live elements and freestyling) which made them change the concept back to their "typical" style or at least catalized it. I can't remember though how many of these shows they played but it can't be that many - maybe 5?

And wasn't there also that fire alarm incident connected with one of the Roundhouse gigs?

[sneakerbeater]

Fire alarm at the roundhouse was 2007. If I remember rightly there was a fire alarm mid set at Koko for their electric proms set

The extended encour from memory was not as long as I would have liked! Maybe the duration of the whole show was much shorter than the normal 2 hour show you'd expect to see.

[Stefan]

According to setlist.fm, it was four shows, here's the setlist (It was probably the same for all four gigs): https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-chemical-brothers/2010/roundhouse-london-england-53d4d31d.html
@Csar: seems to me not like an encore, more like a two-part show with the first being Further and the second being "classic" tracks.

Sorry Stefan, not trying to step on your dreams, just bringing some perspective on why it probably won't happen.

Haha I have exactly 0 hope that this acutally happens
I just wanted to say it out loud because I would've loved to be at these shows. I'm not sure if I was aware of them back then, and even if I were, I would've most likely been too scared to fly to London for a concert.

@sneakerbeater: There was also this video from Coachella, with a bit of Don't Think (known as "After Sunglasses" back then, I think)
This video also was what got me hooked on their music for good.

[Csar]

Yep, you're correct, a two part show it was!

Found a channel with almost the entire first part (haven't watch all of it yet, so I don't know if it's continuous):

[Stefan]

@Csar: Thanks! This reinfoces my demand for an official high quality recording of both video and sound   

[Conn6orsuper117]

Bizarre question, do you guys think with the amount of times it was advertised in DJ Sets, is it possible that Don't Think was gonna be Further's EBW Track before being upgraded to a Bonus track?

[actionjackson780]

Oooh that would have been nice!

[WhiteNoise]

Bizarre question, do you guys think with the amount of times it was advertised in DJ Sets, is it possible that Don't Think was gonna be Further's EBW Track before being upgraded to a Bonus track?

I think not, only because their attitude at the time was that the Electronic Battle Weapon series was "done" at a nice round 10 and they wouldn't do more. It was kind of a surprise when SIFSD was released as EBW11.

There was lots of talk around the forum how the Chems should release Don't Think / Pourquoi as 11 and 12!

[Bosco]

I know I've made a theory before that maybe "Don't Think" was actually supposed to be featured on 'Further' and "Horse Power" the B-side.

Maybe somewhere on the lead-up to the release of 'Further', the idea of a live recording in the near future had been realized. "Don't Think" was not only an appropriate title for such an album/film, but the best stand alone track to hype up its eventual release. So they essentially "held it back" (though you could still get it as a b-side with 'Further), but with bigger intentions.

Additionally, I could see Darren Aronofsky (or somebody from the 'Black Swan' crew) calling up The Chemical Brothers in post production to shore up licensing for "Galvanize" to play in the club scene or something. And then someone from Chems crew saying "hey, we got future plans for this lesser known track "Don't Think", it's sexy, cool and clubby. Why don't you use this and we'll let you use it for a discount."

Edit: I take that last bit back.

Just came across this article, and they seemed to have been actively working with Clint Mansell to provide music for the film: https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/black-swan-the-chemical-brothers-ed-simons-on-the-soundtrack-779759

Super fan Jason Reitman, where you at? I suppose he's on watch now (or has been) in regards to working with the Chemical Brothers in the future.