60 ALBUMS @ 60 : #38

Surrender  – The Chemical Brothers (1999)

“A dance album of immense appeal to many people who wouldn’t normally buy anything associated with the genre.  JC aka The Vinyl Villain, January 2019

It’s getting desperate having to quote myself as justification for something!!

But, as I admitted in the same piece, 1999 was a year when I bought a few similar sort of albums, one of which – Beaucoup Fish by Underworld  – has already featured in this rundown.

Surrender on CD proved to be the sort of album that I could play in its entirety and then not return to it for a few years, but when eventually doing so would find myself falling crazily in love with it all over again.

I actually came up with a cunning plan to prevent it being neglected, and that was to ensure it was listened to at least once during a suntan session on a Caribbean beach; like all cunning plans, there was a flaw, although in my defence, I never anticipated COVID putting a temporary stop to such holidays.

Hey Boys, Hey Girls, I was 36 years of age when this album was released.    The later onset of indie nights for old buggers would ensure my dancing days weren’t yet over, but quite clearly I was long past the days of wanting to go clubbing  – not that I ever did much in the first place.  This record therefore wasn’t aimed primarily at the likes of me, but I’m willing to bet that numerous JC clones fell for its many and diverse charms.

Some may have been attracted by the presence of so many top-notch guest contributors, and indeed the fact that a track like Out Of Control featuring Bernard Sumner and Bobby Gillespie would not have felt too far out of place on a New Order or Primal Scream record is another factor to take into consideration.

But when you break it all down, it simply is the fact that Surrender works all the way from start to end, never dropping in quality across its near one-hour duration.  And the slowed down, chilled out numbers just come at the right time for us old fogies who would be breathless and sweaty if actually in a club while it was being aired.

mp3 : The Chemical Brothers – Music: Response

I belatedly bought the 20th Anniversary box set of Surrender last year.  First time I’ve ever had a vinyl copy.  It gets played a lot more than the CD ever did, thanks in part to the great music on the bonus discs.  Highly recommended to everyone…..but remember to play it at such a volume that you can’t hear the doorbell ringing.

JC