Track Listing

1. Take California
2. Velvet Pants
3. Better
4. 360 Degrees (Oh Yeah)
5. History Repeating
6. Winning Style
7. Bang On
8. Number Of Microphones
9. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
10. Bigger
11. Cominagetcha
12. Spybreak
13. You Want It Back

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22464 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Import
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
Propellerheads' DECKSANDDRUMSANDROCKANDROLL shows the techno genre for the cultural chemistry experiment it is--as eachnew element is dropped into the stew, it changes every other element and is itself changed. Able to use any sound source available, be it live or recorded, these modern scientistsliterally have all of musical history to work (or play) with. Sticking primarily to samples of musical instruments, each song goes in a new and different direction, sharing only the common denominator of cool, often jazzy drum loop backbeats and a devotion to explosive musical invention.
"VelvetPants" melds multiple jazz tracks with vocal samples and scratches to create a frenetic, energetic atmosphere in a mix which redefines each of its constituent parts--The legendaryShirley Bassey saves the band a little wear and tear on their samplers by appearing in person--her soulful, chilling vocal provides the album with one of many standout tracks. De La Soul slows things down on "360 Degrees (Oh Yeah?)" with amellow rap which is, in their own words, "Ol' School like Ed Koch". The Jungle Brothers provide tongue-twisting vocals on "You Want It Back", a fast-paced, sexy thrill ride.

Customer Reviews

The epitome of "Cool".
The album is stunning. Read on...

Firstly, In case you think you're not familiar with the Propellerheads, you are. 'Spybreak!' was the used in the lobby scene in 'The Matrix'. An instrumental version of 'History Repeating' is the theme tune to 'So Graham Norton'. Another Props song, 'Crash!', was the used in the recent Austin Powers movie. In addition, I've noticed several tracks on this album used on a TV programme or advert.

But that's because this album is overflowing with style. The front cover reflects the spy mood in tracks like 'Spybreak!', 'OHMSS' and 'Take California'.

That doesn't speak for the whole album though; 'Velvet Pants' and '360 Degrees (Oh Yeah)' are totally different in style, yet equally cool in style too. 'A Number of Microphones' is a 40 second human beat-box, where-as 'OHMSS' a 10 minute remix of the orchestral theme from the bond movie. The choice of samples also brings an element of humour to many of the tracks.

You'd be forgiven for thinking some of the tracks on this album are fillers. Particularly 'Better?', 'Cominagetcha' and 'Winning Style'; but they're definitely not fillers. These tracks would be a centrepiece of any other electronic artist's album, but they only seem tame when compared to the many outstanding A-sides on 'Decksanddrumsandrockandroll'.

Indeed, if you swapped these three tracks for 'Crash!, 'Super Bon Bon' and 'Dive' the album could be called 'Propellerheads Greatest Hits' - there is so much variety and so many perfect tunes, including the three tracks featuring other famous artists (De la Soul on '360 Degrees', Jungle Brothers on 'You Want It back' and Shirley Bassey on 'History Repeating').

Clearly I can't preach enough good about this album. If you buy it, you're life (and taste in music) will be improved.

Promise.

Even if you don't do dance, you should own this album...
Every so often, an album of truly funky genius pops up and makes you want to write a movie just to set scenes to the songs. Unfortunately for anyone just arriving at the Propellerheads' seminal work, you've largely been beaten to it. Rarely a year goes by when there's no film released with at least a few bars from this album hidden away on it.

Where, to give just one example, would The Matrix have been without Spybreak to accompany the excellent `Government Lobby' scene?

This album shines from the opening bars of Take California, right through to the Jungle Brothers' remix of the same track (though cleverly renamed `You Want It Back') over an hour later. There are some lull's, but never a moment when you are not being taken on a tour of how funky Drum `n' Bass really should be. Shirley Bassey cameos on `History Repeating' and there's some fabulously reworked Bond-theme insanity in `On Her Majesty's Secret Service', but all in all, it's just a solid, original great piece of work.

Not being a huge dance fan myself, I still firmly maintain that this album, along with Roni Size's `New Forms' and Faithless' `Reverence' form a holy trinity of must-own dance music genius.

Buy it. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed.

Really, really, really, really good
Really, really, really, really good This album by the Propellorheads is one of my favourites and will always be amoungst my top collection. It has really good variation from track to track, which is a refreshing chamge from other albums which all tracks sound the same. It has a groovy re-mix of the classic james Bond film 'On her majesty's secret service' which is one of my favourites. The songs can get a bit repetative at times, but it still sounds really class.