Track Listing

1. Sunset (Bird of Prey)
2. Ya Mama
3. Talking Bout My Baby
4. Demons (feat. Macy Gray)
5. Song For Shelter (feat. Roland Clark)
6. Retox
7. Weapon of Choice (feat. Bootsy Collins)
8. Drop The Hate
9. Star 69
10. Love Life (feat. Macy Gray)
11. Mad Flava

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8548 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
Fatboy Slim has come a long way since his debut album, Better Living Through Chemistry, saw him bring big beat to the masses. His first offering of the new millennium, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars was his most ambitious project to date. Married life and impending fatherhood seemed to have made the original party animal grow up, and this was reflected in the new and improved sound--the banging floor-fillers being replaced by a more refined and adult sound, as he teamed up with Bootsy Collins and Macy Gray to bring a fantastic blend of funk and soul to the dance floor. His collaborations with Macy Gray are two of the standout tracks--"Love Life" and "Demons" effortlessly combine funky fluid beats and Macy's distinctive vocals with fantastic results. Jim Morrison even pops up, providing the haunting looped sample for the first single to be taken from the album--"Sunset (Bird of Prey)". Purist fans of his previous output won't be disappointed by his change of direction, as tracks like "Ya Mama" and "Mad Flava" are instantly recognisable as vintage Fatboy Slim--big of beats and samples. The sound of a man growing old disgracefully. --Helen Marquis

CD Description
This is Norman Cook's follow up album to 1998's 'You've Come A Long Way Baby'. It is his first to feature guest vocalists, and includes performances by Macy Gray and Bootsy Collins. The singles, 'Sunset (Bird Of Prey)', 'Demons' and 'Star 69' are included.

Customer Reviews

He's come a long way...
Dissapointing to some perhaps, but I'm from the 'give this a chance and it'll grow on you' school of thought. I was none to impressed on the first spin but Norman's beats are so infectious that you can't help warming to it in the end.

'Sunset [Bird of Prey]', 'Weapon of Choice', 'Drop the Hate' and the epic 'Song for Shelter' are my favourites. My only real gripe with this album is collaborating with Macy Gray, she has a unique, intriguing voice - but on this album it's more far more grating than actually bringing something special to Cooks' tracks. It might not be as groundbreaking as 'You've come a long way, baby' but he's still way ahead of the pack with this release.

Breathtaking
You'll either love this album or you'll hate it. The only reason people hate it is because it is less commercial than his previous effort. Don't expect the hyper-style dance featured in "You've Come a long way, baby". Instead expect something darker and more gospel influenced. This album is amazing. From the soulful beginning to the heavenly end, this is pure perfection. The best songs are the Macy Gray collaborations ("Demons", "Love life") the chemical-brothers esque "Ya Mama" and the horribly catchy "Weapon of Choice". This hasn't left my CD player since I got it. Undoubtably the album of the year

Has the world gone mad??!!
I really, truely can't understand how this album is so under-rated. Sure, it has a different feel to his previous two, but that is not reason alone to condemn it. It really is a fine collection of work from somebody who is an excellent song-writer as much as he is a DJ.

Sandwiched between the sun-drenched, Ibiza inspired Talking Bout My Baby and Song for Shelter, there are moments of greatness. These include the haunting Moby-esque Demons, the funk of Weapon of Choice (forget the hype the video received, just listen to the song) and dream-like Bird Of Prey.

Sure, there are a couple of low-points, but even somebodyas talented as Norman Cook can't keep it going for the full 65-minutes. But overall I was highly impressed by this difficult second album. As the Amazon reviewer says, if this Norman growing old, wait till he hits 60....