Is it a hit, *hit or miss?

Chemical Brothers - Push the Button  by Brad Podray

Chemical Brothers - Push the Button.
Label: Astralwerks
Hit, *hit or Miss?:  Hit
Rating: 

If The Chemical Brothers were thinking �Our new album�s goal should be proof that we can take a whole cavalcade of varied musical sounds and mix them in an electronica-themed cauldron,� then they can rest at ease knowing that their goal was unwaveringly accomplished.  They probably didn�t use a cauldron though, as the medieval mixing apparatus is very rare and impractical in today�s modern age.  

Their latest album, Push the Button is best described as an unpredictable album of quirky dance electronica.  The first track, �Galvanize� is a hip-hop flavored track that serves only to further prevent the listener from predicting how the rest of the album�s sound will be.  The album goes on to show off more of what you�d expect from the Chemical Brothers with a steaming helping of what you wouldn�t.  It�s electronica tinged with an organic nature that allows anti-techno heads to say they like it without feeling like they�re somehow giving up a little bit of their soul.  Their big beat sound has given way ever so slightly to a more quirky edge.  If this album was a hearty stew, it would contain a good amount of great synth-line beef cuts, nourishing bassline veggies, and a select few large potato chunks that happen to be rap tracks. �Left Right,� in particular, sounds as if it came straight out of the factory that keeps producing rap that�s just a little bit too hard and intelligent to make it into the mainstream.  

The hip hop on this album doesn�t have anywhere near the focus on �bling,� �bitches,� and �skeet�-ing that it would need to make national pop charts.  All things considered, Push the Button is more intelligent than your average dance techno album, but not by much.  What the blood brothers have in production value, they sometimes lack in innovation.   While tracks such as �Close Your Eyes� and �Marvo Ging� stand out as proof that the Chemical Bros. haven�t lost their edge when it comes to original material, some of the other aspects of the album fall ever so slightly short of being outstanding.  Note: If you are a Chemical Bros. fan, you will find nothing wrong with this album and probably find it to be equally if not more enjoyable than their others.  Just skip to tracks like �Surface to Air� and you�ll find yourself in home territory once again.  However, if you are not a Chemical Bros. fan, you may find this album doesn�t really stick its head above the average techno that you listen to by accident in the car radio or on the television during that hot new car commercial.  Some aspects are very repetitive(as is the case with most techno) and some of the particular sounds used in the album can be more grating on the nerves than one would like to admit.  Yet, the album�s slight drawbacks aren�t enough to keep the Chemical Brothers out of the big beat techno wave that they�ve been oscillating from top to middle of for a very long time.

Sure to please: Chemical Brothers fans, Daft Punk fans, pretty much any fans of that general area of techno that�s not too hard, not too soft, but just right.

Sure to disappoint: Metal heads, commercial hip hop fans, camels