So why is The Chemical Brothers’ Surrender on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
During the mid- to late 1990s, I became much more aware of electronic music, which had much to do with the fact that it was a form of music that took on a much more significant place in popular culture. Which is a long way of saying that it’s not music that I grew up with or naturally gravitated toward at that stage in my life.
The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy represented more aggressive sounds while Fatboy Slim and Moby represented a happier or more emotive side of the spectrum, I suppose.
I mention all of this because there was a stage where I could have been listening to The Chemical Brothers or The Prodigy and wouldn’t have been able to the difference, and to be honest I was kind of meh on both.
Over the years, though, I started listening to a lot more electronic music and my admiration for The Chemical Brothers grew a great deal. For me, at least, it’s more accessible, as better hooks, and has more of a great dance vibe versus The Prodigy. I didn’t at all mean for this section to be a Let’s Bash The Prodigy! fest, but more to explain how I got around to digging The Chemical Brothers.
Surrender’s first track, “Music:Response,” kind of snuck up on me, and/but it’s one that I like more every time I hear it. It’s a great opening track because it’s a table setter, a song that you can imagine being played by a DJ early in a set; it gets heads bopping a little bit, warming you up to the more intense tracks coming. But it’s really good in its own right and as bonus stands up as a song that is perfect for getting your brain fired up early in a coding, writing, or any kind of creative work session.
I really enjoy how The Chemical Brothers mix their sound with a dark synth vibe on “Got Glint?” You can imagine it being on the soundtrack of some late 1980s movie, maybe a thriller, but most importantly everyone in it is super fashionable, has high cheek bones, and a vaguely European accent. David Bowie probably has a cameo in it.
“Hey Boy Hey Girl” is the rave at its peak*, everyone jumping, everyone moving. Everyone bouncing with glow sticks in perfect unison**.
* Full disclosure: I have never been to a rave in my life. It just never happened, and I’m really okay with it. I’m not a rave guy. I was a dive bar guy in my ill spent youth days, if that matters. If that alters your take on me or my opinions about The Chemical Brothers or electronic music, I get it. Kind of.
** Full disclosure II: That’s how I like to imagine it, okay?
I must mention the title track, “Surrender,” too, a chill, happy, and pleasing side of The Chemical Brothers’ spectrum.
Some stats & info about The Chemical Brothers – Surrender
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Electronic Music, House Music, Dance Music, Acid House, Progressive House
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 of 5 stars
- When was Surrender released? 1999
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #865 out of 1,000
The Chemical Brothers’ Surrender on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Chemical Brothers’ Surrender that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Music that triggers some kind of response.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.