The duo Ed Simons and Tom Rowland created the song "Block Rockin Beats" one of the anthems of the big beat genre. Her fourth album starts immediately with the proven ingredients of rolling, staccato-like beats, echoing screams and the inevitable whistle. Are new to them, the more trance and disco related titles as "Star Guitar", "Galaxy Bounce" or "It Began In Africa", which are small ethnic admixtures course again rock the dance floor, but do not act very innovative. After a physically demanding start to the second half of the CD in the stylistic Niemandsland loses. It follows the appearance of the standard guest singers like Beth Orton, which gives an atmospheric breathy ballad "The State We`re In" the best. A matter of taste! Completely out of hand the final title "The Test" in which guest vocalist Richard Ashcroft sings a psychedelic (Simple Minds on bad drugs) sounding rock song. So it may be commendable, introduce new aspects in his music, so bad they are unfortunately implemented here. Because of the dancefloor innovators we would have expected more - especially sound some dance titles like blueprints that someone else discarded ('Denmark'). The bottom line is a CD, which unfortunately is below the possibilities of Chemical Brothers.
