The Chemical Brothers – Brothers Gonna Work It Out

As Mama Klump would say : fabulous ! It's a real cool journey indeed. Big Beat combined with house, funk, electro, techno, hip-hop, rock and soul, there's something for eyeryone.

The first soulful notes followed by the boomin' "Not Another Drugstore" are legendary, but the entire 18-minute long last track offers some of the most classic sounds of the Chems.
The two last tracks especially are the realness. Who can't "Everything Must Go" in that magic & timeless intro of Gran Turismo 1 ?

After some replays, the aforementioned journey is not fully enjoyable for me, particularly at the beginning of the third section. "The Jazz" by The Micronauts is a rough acid house and noise production with intense 303's and various raw bleeps which I'm not very fond of, especially with the previous funky vibes of "Gimme Some Love".

I still prefer this mix over their "Live At The Social" work. In the latter's series, the second volume by Jon Carter aka Monkey Mafia is a goldmine if you don't mind a bit of ragga hip-hop and dancehall.
"Brothers Gonna Work It Out" positions itself as an important contributor of big beat mixes, along with "On The Floor At The Boutique" and "The Dirtchamber Sessions"
Some additional similar recommendations include :
- The whole "FSUK" series (especially "FSUK3" by Bentley Rhythm Ace)
- "Community Service" by The Crystal Method
- "On The Floor At The Boutique Vol 2" by Lo Fidelity Allstars)
- "Breakthru Vol 1 : Revelation" by Soul of Man
- "Brit Hop And Amyl House" by the uncredited Tom Rowlands

I've returned to this record many times over the years. It's one of the best in my collection. Truly a mix that takes you on a journey

It should be noted that a track appears in this mix that was not listed on the official tracklist. "Peace" by 2-B-3 & Tony Johnson is mixed underneath DBX's "Losing Control".

Unlike the other high-profile big beat DJ mix from around this time, Fatboy Slim's 'On The Floor At The Boutique', 'Brothers Gonna Work It Out' was recorded in the studio instead of live, eschewing Norman Cook's vinyl beatmatching and spinbacks for seamless digital transitions. So seamless, in fact, that they included 5 index points instead of separating each track on the mix.

Instead of just rocking the party, Tom and Ed take the opportunity to reveal some of their influences, including funk, soul, hip-hop, electro, classic house, Detroit techno and film music. Unfortunately the majority of these tracks have been reduced to a vocal sample or a 1 to 4 bar loop repeated ad nauseum, which is frustrating.

All in all, this disc is definitely worth a listen, but it's not a record you'll find yourself returning to many times over the years.

This is my favorite DJ mix of all time, ever. On a technical level it's a little repetitive, the EQing could be better, the mixes aren't amazingly smooth... but who cares? This CD is all about the groove, and the Chems don't let the feel of the mix down. The last track is my favorite, especially the last 2 songs.

If you love the Chems, you probably already own this record, and love it. If you don't own it, but it... NOW.

The Manics and Spiritualized remixes i think are the best part of the album and i don't think the rest of it is anything to lose sleep over.

I knew the original versions of "Everything Must Go" but not "I Think I'm In Love" and find these mixes really a pleasure to listen to. Not something i do a lot; but i'm glad i have this album in my collection. I like a couple of The Chems early tracks:
"In Dust We Trust" and "Chemical Beats (Dave Clarke Remix)" and found a softer side to them here.

The album i found by accident in Woolworths, and was pleased with my lucky find as it contains The Chemical Brothers Remix of "Everything Must Go" used on the Intro to the Playstation game "Gran Turismo", which i had spent an age wondering what that tune was!

This album is worth buying at least just to shove in front of band purists and say this was so much better than what the original bands had produced!

Press 'stop' before the last two tracks come in and you've got one of the best mix albums of funk and early 90s techno/breaks. ittedly I got this before I knew anything about any of these genres, but it opened a lot of interesting doors.

Hmmm
some great tunes on here...
.....but some of the tunes on here are basically ruined by some ridiculous looping malarky which at times reduces certain tracks in places to a reptitive one or two bar loops.

Take the classic break of "Hot Wheels-The Chase" for example they must loop the same few bars for about 5 or so minutes! Turning a classic break into boredom
Absolutely ridiculous!

Whilst the Live At The Social mix remianed a relatively straight-up sort of mix album the Chemicals got bogged down way too much in the studio over this mix album trying to force things to match and the end result is frankly bit poo in places.

Plus that Manic Street Preachers remix ........eurgh .