Chemical brothers - Brotherhood

Another hits set, now with Electronic battle Weapons

There's already been criticism on the internet about another greatest hits collection coming so soon after 2004's Singles 1993-2003 set, but the obvious carrot here is the bonus CD roping together the 10 Electronic Battle Weapons tracks which have been appearing over the years as limited promos highly-sought by DJs and collectors. Here the Brothers run free with unbridled dancefloor destruction rather than charts in mind, while trying out prototypes which were then developed into full-scale releases: the seismic It Began In Afrika, for example.

The main set differs from its predecessor with tracks from Push The Button and We Are The Night replacing four tracks and new song Keep My Composure, which plants rapping over the kind of ugly riffing currently dominating breakbeat (ironically, the genre the Chems helped start). Most diehards will buy for the EBWs disc: maybe a more sympathetic plan would have been to make that available with a CD of some of the great remixes the Chems have enjoyed over the years, like Andrew Weatherall's epic rework of Song To The Siren. While there's no denying the nostalgic element, some tracks now sound over-familiar or dated, but wealthy completists or festival-converted newcomers won't moan.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Virgin | tbc

Reviewed by Kris Needs
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