The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole (2 LP)
- LP
- 2 piece(s)
- 1997
- 11 tracks
- 1 uur, 3 min
- big beat
Dig Your Own HoleCheapest atamazon.co.uk
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4.4
Average of 26 reviews
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Wow, where do I even begin? This remastered version of Dig Your Own Hole is like the electronic music equivalent of Led Zeppelin II, and I'm not exaggerating here. The genre has always been about powerful, bass-heavy grooves, but this album takes it to a whole new level. The sound is dense, relentless, and layered, with bass drops that shake your room and synths that seem to reach into your mind. It's a spiritual experience. The challenge of translating this kind of density to vinyl, especially with such varying side lengths, is immense. But Mike Marsh, the original mastering engineer, has absolutely nailed it. These records are a sonic journey that disappears your speakers, creating a soundstage that's wide, enveloping, and emotional. Every note is distinct, and it all draws attention to the Chemicals' incredible sense of rhythm and arrangement. This is music that you can feel on a deeper level than just consciously listening. From the raw energy of "Block Rockin' Beats" to the religious experience of "The Private Psychedelic Reel", you'll never hear this album the same way again. The Chems wanted their music to feel like a trip, and this almost feels better than drugs. The master itself is full of digital clipping and compression, but none of that harshness made it onto the vinyl. The same mastering engineer who gave it edge on digital media has smoothed it out for the lacquer transfer, making it sound like something cut in the 80s or 90s. Streaming and CD versions pale in comparison, sounding boomy and fatiguing by comparison. The treble and high frequencies have a scarily intimate quality that's hard to describe. This has to be the most astronomical vinyl glow-up I know. It fundamentally transforms the character of this life-changing masterpiece. I've had lots of great vinyl experiences over nearly 20 years, but this has to take the cake. I can't stop enjoying it. It's also an exceedingly rare example of the original mastering engineer recutting the same album from the same source using likely the same mastering moves as he did in the 1990s. Mike Marsh did this for the entire Chems catalogue with stunning results. The current US Astralwerks pressing uses a new GZ recut, but I held out for one with these "MIKE'S" matrices because I felt anything else would lack these formidable qualities. The records are dead silent, per Record Industry tradition. I was a bit concerned about the grey/"silver" vinyl but one playthrough alleviated my worries about surface noise. Many many thanks to all involved. Releases like this are what make vinyl WORTH IT. When you see "MIKE'S–THE EXCHANGE" in the runout, it's the Midas touch. Grab it. This and its black vinyl counterpart get my very highest recommendation. Some footnotes: 1. The grooves are DEFCON 2 for your stylus and tonearm. They are challenging. Some wild dynamic peaks on this thing! If you drop the needle on "Block Rockin' Beats" and it sounds muffled, chances are your stylus is misaligned, or the suspension is shot. A swap to a new ATN3600LE elliptical instantaneously revealed the magic. I can guarantee you that ALL the low bass content of this album is perfectly intact, including the deeeeeeep, subterranean kicks in "Elektrobank" and "Setting Sun". If you don't hear it, something is wrong with either your speakers, or stylus, or both. 2. Lots of people give Side One all the credit. It's earned its right to it, with 10 loud minutes filling all the groove real estate like crazy, and those two songs actually benefiting from the resulting distortion. The 'decay' in the title track is a delight. But for sheer hi-fi street cred, my top picks on this album have to be "Elektrobank" and "It Doesn't Matter". 3. I can put up with the volume differences and side breaks. If you can't, you can easily digitize it, edit Tracks A2 and B1 together, and normalize the remaining 3 sides. This is the same presentation as the original 1997 UK pressing, so I'd you're after an original, don't expect any difference in that respect. HARDWARE Audio-Technica AT-LP60-USB with ATN3600LE elliptical stylus Turntable LINE OUT to Philips MMS321/17 multimedia speakers
Wow, by the end I was just blown away, thinking 'what an incredible track!' Turns out it's the debut release of Mind:Response. Sure, it's a live version, but it's an absolutely mind-blowing finale. Fingers crossed we get the studio version sometime. Digging up info on Mind:Response online only leads to one old thread on thechembase.com where they spotted the song title registered to Tom Rowlands in 2019 and figured it was just an early name for Music:Response (spoiler: not the case, though it does share the Music Response vocal sample from the start and bits of Hey Boy Hey Girl). https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php?topic=1043.40 Some other live version of this track supposedly surfaced on a bootleg before, from Osaka '97. Apparently, this version has also been uploaded as "I Take LSD", which is super odd because there's no mention of that on that version, but in this one, a sample repeats "I'm taking LSD." ...I wonder if that obvious drug reference had anything to do with it not being released earlier? This version completely outshines the Osaka one with some massive breaks, while the other is a bit more chilled, though only in comparison. The whole release totally surpassed my expectations with the surprise live set. You get one of their best albums ever, some killer bonus tracks, and undoubtedly one of their best live sets released to date. All in all, an amazing reissue.
In my opinion, their tunes sound way better on vinyl records. On CDs, it's too clinical and lacks warmth. The only issue is that the vinyl disrupts the album's flow! I grabbed my copy at a HMV shop circa 2010, during a sale, for half the price, and it's an original press too!
hey if you've got a/b sides, send me a msg. thx. .
The first time I encountered the Chemical Brothers was through "Block Rockin' Beats," and I instantly knew I had to purchase their CD. Back then, I was a huge Big Beat enthusiast, and The Prodigy were my absolute idols. However, after "Dig Your Own Hole," I soon realized that the Chemical Brothers' style was far more sophisticated than any other Big Beat group. It was more mature because it was more emotional, incredibly more powerful yet serene simultaneously. And that's precisely what you'll find in this album: a serene power and powerful serenity.
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| Date | Lowest price | Average price |
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| 29 Sept 2025 | £39.99 | €39.99 |
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| 31 Jan 2026 | €40.86 | €40.86 |
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