Fatboy Slim - You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Everywhere Everywhere...is Fatboy Slim

The breakthrough album and zeneth of Fatboy Slim's Career. Tracks that integrated within all that was pop culture during the late 90's. From Adidas advertisements to the opening credits of clubber's cult classic, Human Traffic. Fatboy Slim was it...for a short but sweet time that rounded off the 20th century. He blew the sand off of Brighton Beach, and turned down Madonna when she asked him to collaborate on an album with her. Nice.

Some tracks are annoying, but I still have three or four tracks that I listen to fairly regularly. If for some bizarre reason, you don't have this album already, it is a worthy addition if you can find it cheap. I have the import as the US had to co-release an edited version (Clean...as Amazon likes to put it) before we were permitted to be exposed to Fatboy's dirty mouth. You would not be missing anything special by picking up the 11 track US release. Whether you want your version to be "clean" or not is up to you.

3/5 stars. July 31, 2007

Loop The Loops

Most humans thrive on routine. It's not just the steady comfort of familiarity, it's also the drive of habituation, the power behind the incessant. From heartbeats to sunsets, coffee to cigarettes, and morning rituals to bedtime habits, many of us find something altogether soothing about certainty. Even those who like to mix it up can't deny that there are specific drives that require a sort of pounding regularity. Hell, just take a look at the basic mechanism of sex.

Fatboy Slim co-opts this need with glaring glee. In fact, if taken in those terms, each of his songs on this album could be seen, on some level, as the melodic approximation of sex. He changes things around occasionally, and usually with a finesse that amps the friction, but for the most part the songs operate with a happy repetition of a thrumming big beat. This isn't love-making as a slow dance; this is head-banging, foot-stomping pounding.

The more popular ones ("The Rockafeller Skank" and "Praise You") you've probably heard and can see how they use funky loops, found sound, and percussive frequency to goad the nerves. Most of the others, I'd argue, are just as addictive as a regular morning latte. "Gangster Tripping" spins together surf board washouts with ballroom waltzes spun at 60 rpms. "Kalifornia" crackles with robo-tronic slips and slides. "Love Island," one of the raunchiest tracks, combines deep bass plodding with techno pipe blasts.

There are times when Fatboy forgets to add a little diversity. In fact, any spots where the songs fail occur precisely because Fatboy decides to drag things out just a little bit longer than he should. The endings of "Soul Surfing" and "Acid 8000" and the vocal loop in "In Heaven" are all fine examples of Mr. Cook overusing his passionately played hooks.

Still, even if Fatboy Slim succumbs to a little jack-rabbiting with his rhythms and rhymes, those slightly grating moments are the thin and dismissable crust on something that is juicy and pulsing. No one would call this record great art, but it is great music that is bound to inspire great fun. February 27, 2007

New to electronic? Start here!

Fatboy Slim is easily one the most known artist in electronic, and for all the best reasons possible. Fatboy Slim creates great music for the mainstream, at the same time attracting critical acclaim and respect from people who actually have decent taste in music (as long as you aren't a MTV poser who likes The Rockafeller Skank for no reason, you know, the type that like just one song and don't even know who it is).

You've probally heard the Rockafeller Skank (Right about now, the funk soul brother), but everything else is just as good. Fatboy Slim's music is cool and all, but I don't think it's for everybody. A couple of harsh noises also pop out in places (careful of your eardrums on The Rockafeller Skank, there's a harsh buzzing noise after the tempo slows down, Kalifornia can also blow out your ears if your not careful). So it's not as mainstream as some people say, even though at least three songs became successful singles.

Mainstream or not, who gives a _____? Fatboy Slim is cool! It's also not too intense, so it's the ideal begginer's electronic album. The sound samples are also use here, the songs follow a pattern, so you can trust them, as long as they are high quality (amazon's aren't exactly top __________ notch high quality). Fatboy Slim's music has many layers to it, which is excellent when you need electronic music that's more than just cheesy techno.

Fatboy Slim's music isn't rap either, although these beats could definitly be great beats for rap. But considering how much time Norman Cook (that's Slim's real name) spent on making this album, it's understandable. Hey, you could always rap to it, just don't get carried away (whatever).

10/10 February 14, 2007

The songs are better than just the the pure dance grooves

I am a rock fan and do not care for dance music.

The songs on here that more resemble conventional song structure, with lyrics, are what "float my boat" as opposed to the more synthasized, groove oriented tracks.

"Rockefeller Skank" and "Praise you" are the clear highlights November 17, 2006

aa

i dont hav this album, i only heard the rockafeller skank song and its pretty cool. i like that lord finesse sample July 9, 2006

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