For That Beautiful Feeling (XDUST12)

[Ford]

I see the white vinyl is gone from the store. Did anyone get a copy of that?

I got a copy of the white vinyl. I also ordered the 3LP, CD and cassette bundle for £73, but now you can get the 3LP for £40 (down from £60), CD for £6 (down from £12) and the cassette for £7 (down from £11). Heck, I'd rather even have the regular 2LP for £25 (down from £40) and miss out on the white vinyl if I could have got the rest at these prices!

[Wolkenkrabber]

I wouldn't want my first listen to be a compressed Soundcloud stream, personally.

I haven't listened to it from there, but I'm assuming it doesn't play back to back with 0 gaps, right? It has to load the next track. That would be a big bummer for this particular album journey.

That's basically what we got for the Listening Party at Rough Trade East last Wednesday. They were clearly playing files, and all the transitions had big gaps in them.
Meanwhile we stood there looking at a sealed display copy of the vinyl*...

*this would also have some gaps of course, because the music is spread over 4 or 6 sides of plastic.

[𝒥𝑅𝒮𝒵]

Just got an update that my package is already checked up for customs in warsaw, so it can arrive here tommorow if I'm lucky enough! 

That's quite fast, ngl

[inchemwetrust]

Still no word on my 'supposed' preorder. Gonna cancel that but just need the CD. I ordered one on Walmart and then 2 days later it got delayed. Now it's out of stock. I tried Amazon but that got delayed too.

Edit: Amazon finally got a shipping date....Oct 1!!! Lol!

[nekoland]

[Stefan]

I'm not feeling this one (I Want To Know), for me it's the weakest Chemical release in a loooooong time. The melody just kind of simmers along without going anywhere interesting.

[Enjoyed]

Edit: Amazon finally got a shipping date....Oct 1!!! Lol!

That's fucking ridiculous. I'm sorry man.

At this point I wonder if it would be quicker (though obviously more expensive) to just have a UK copy shipped out to you. I understand unprecedented times and what not, but plenty of other releases made it to stores on the release date last Friday. What's the deal Virgin?

[instantreigen]

I have a copy of the version with the longer intro on vinyl! I should rip it some day

lo and behold...
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[Wolkenkrabber]

I'm not feeling this one (I Want To Know), for me it's the weakest Chemical release in a loooooong time.

Sounds like it was recorded on a reel to reel tape recorder where either the tape or the recorder went wonky. Or both.
I could imagine it soundtracking a bad acid trip in an indie/arthouse film. I don't imagine it soundtracking anyone's good times either on film or in life.

[Csar]

I'm not feeling this one (I Want To Know), for me it's the weakest Chemical release in a loooooong time. The melody just kind of simmers along without going anywhere interesting.

I have other contenders for weakest new Chemical tunes, but I agree that this is rather underdeveloped. It starts out with the sickest beat they probably ever put out but then starts dragging and even getting tedious after a while with that main "melody".

Spoiler

Repetitiveness and "Not adding much interesting layers/ stuff" is a grievance I also have with the new album at times.

I remember a time where I was desperately on the hunt for a copy of Believe to get Giant and Spring(!!!) !

[Stefan]

I'd love if there were still single CDs these days to hunt down.

[inchemwetrust]

That's basically what we got for the Listening Party at Rough Trade East last Wednesday. They were clearly playing files, and all the transitions had big gaps in them.
Meanwhile we stood there looking at a sealed display copy of the vinyl*...

*this would also have some gaps of course, because the music is spread over 4 or 6 sides of plastic.

I bet their 'listening party' CD got delayed as well. 

Why couldn't they crack open the vinyl? 

I'd be annoyed too about gaps on a album playthrough. 

[inchemwetrust]

That's fucking ridiculous. I'm sorry man.

At this point I wonder if it would be quicker (though obviously more expensive) to just have a UK copy shipped out to you. I understand unprecedented times and what not, but plenty of other releases made it to stores on the release date last Friday. What's the deal Virgin?

I'm considering that right now as I type. 

Edit: Wallyworld updated! They can ship it and arrive this Saturday!

Yeah right! 

[;]

I quite love I Want To Know! I love dark, gloomy, and mysterious Chems, and this is a prime example! I quite love the main melody and almost guitar-like sound with it's backing synth. It creates such a foreboding and dark atmosphere that the song only builds on. The drums are also super strange and all over the place, in a chaotic feeling way which I love. I could see why people would think it doesn't vary enough, but it never manages to feel dry to me. They mix it up in a way that feels super unpredictable, yet maintain and enhance the mood. And I love the vocal, it adds to the element of mystery: "I want to know, what's going on," me too! The "hey, hey, hey"s add a lot as well.

Maybe it will grow off me as time goes on, but as of now I quite like it.

[Bosco]

'I Want To Know' sounds like a brown acid trip with Donovan.

Seriously though, the "hey hey hey" part reminds me of the echoing(?) background vocals towards the end of Donovan's, 'Mellow Yellow'

Getting a spooky Dan the Automator production vibe, too.

I like it

[𝒥𝑅𝒮𝒵]

Said it couple of times in different places: It sounds like something around both Surrender and WATN eras

[whirlygirl]

Dying over the brown acid trip comment Daaaaaang that is a weird freakin song! I listened to this twice now. I'm not sure how to feel about it. The beat stumbles through cascades of uneasy sounds. Something feels off and maybe that's deliberate. Weird weird head trip..

[whirlygirl]

Said it couple of times in different places: It sounds like something around both Surrender and WATN eras

Hmmm maybe you are on to something! The song seems very much like a liminal space.

[ThePumisher]

So here's my 2 cents on FTBF (regular, japan & usb exclusive edition) after giving this a couple of spins finaly

Spoiler

01 Intro
Track itself starts like a perfect opener for the album, but i don't get why this is a seperatet track from =>

02 Live Again
This tune still is heavy and deserves it's place as album opener. Plus the transition into No Reason is perfect.

03 No Reason
When reading the tracklist first, i wasn't so shure about it coming directly after Live Again because both have not so much in common - but as written for LA the transition from LA to NR is flawless and when i have to pick a certain part of that album to be my favorite part it is this transition (even though it could have been a bit longer) because it doesn't give you time breathe - it is just 'party on garth, party on wayne'. Second favorite part is the transition into =>

04 Goodbye
I was heavily attracted to this track from all the dj set recordings so i had high expectations on this one - and you know what? Tom and Ed delivered. This is the most fantastic track on the album, you cannot skip this without regret it instantly. Haven't thought about it until writing this, but i think it moved straight into my top 10 or 15 of all tracks from the Brothers. They could have had it on the album twice and i would still celebrate it. And unlike some others here i don't miss the Jesse Jackson samples.

05 Fountains
Maybe it has just the wrong place on album but coming after Live Again / No Reason / Goodbye with all it's power and segues into each other it comes quiet boring. Also it has no real identifying feature - the beat is nice but has no highlight, and the vocal sample too doesn't make it more interesting. On a six star rating it only gets 2 stars at best (pawn shop guy voice: "best i can do is two stars")

06 Magic Wand
Love it, comes at third on my favourite tracks from FTBF. That beat is fun to hear, i like the vocal sample. Would have been perfect after Goodbye in track order but...

07 The Weight
See "Fountains". Sorry.

08 Skipping Like A Stone
As mentioned by some of the peeps here, the regular album and single version of this track is not bad but also not good (in germany we would say "nicht fleisch, nicht fisch"). If the extended version would have taken place instead, i wouldn't have any complaints. The extended version doesn't make it a complete different track, even though Ben_J is saying so, but it is the superior listening experience.

09 The Darkness That You Fear (Harvest Mix)
I liked the 2021 version, so for me there was no real reason to rework this and put it on the album. Also, i don't get the name "Harvest Mix". Call it "Mix 2" like with Under The Influence or Chico's Groove and release it on a single as b-side or on Disc 2 of "The Singles 03-23".
But whats realy nice is the added Bongo sound - i instantly thought "well, live this could nicely transist into It Began In Afrika or like on Come With Us into Galaxy Bounce". Maybe someone has had the same thoughts and already written this down . Speaking of it transition into another song - if T&E can do anything it's making fantastic segues (well, most of the time), an the the segue into

10 Feels Like I Am Dreaming
is also dope af. FLIAD is a brilliant track, my second favourite track on the album. It's rough, it kicks butt, Ellies vocals fit in perfectly, it's not to short and at the same time not to long. You can rave your ass off to this all night long. Tom, Ed - please keep this as long as possible in your live sets.

11 For That Beautiful Feeling
Fantastic album closer, perfectly seated behind FLIAD. Last time a "last track" was that good - maybe Wonders Of The Deep or Hannas Theme (Vocal Version) [yep, i love Wide Open, but it's not an album closener for me].

12 All Of A Sudden
This one's a nice party track for doing some crazy dance moves. It's weird that it is 'only' a b-side (to No Reason) or a bonus track (to the Japan and USB versions of the album) - this could have been a perfect Electronic Battle Weapon. I understand why this hasn't landed on the album, it doesn't fit the vibe of it, but it imo would have a been a better choice rather than Fountains & Weight.

13 I Want To Know
OK, this one is weird. It has an interesting flow somehow, but at the same time feels very depressing. Take any Gaspar Noé movie and put this on the soundtrack, always fits.

14 No Reason [Extended]
Only couple of seconds longer than the original version. I like the ending more than the aprubt one on the original but other than that, there's no real reason to prefer this.

15 Live Again [Extended]
I really like the begining on the extended version, much much better than the single version. But if i had to choose between the extended version and the album version (intro+live again) - i'll prefer the latter.

16 Skipping Like A Stone [Extended]
See Skipping Like A Stone above

[𝒥𝑅𝒮𝒵]

14 No Reason [Extended] Only couple of seconds longer than the original version. I like the ending more than the aprubt one on the original but other than that, there's no real reason to prefer this.

It's my fav version and I don't know why it's called as extended, IMO the single version should been called as edit.
Those 30 seconds are basically the longer intro and outro section (luckily the album version is based on this extended mix which gives some more space for the acid intro)