Blue Album

Import version.
With charges of repetition and failure to keep pace with the standard set on initial releases, Orbital lost some critical standing with THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE and THE ALTOGETHER. 2004's BLUE ALBUM incorporates glitch-hop, big-beat techno, and many of the tricks the duo pioneered in the early 1990s and, as such, may invite some of the same criticism, but BLUE ALBUM is an engaging techno-flavored work that's melodic as well as danceable.
Orbital is at its best on tracks that are either wholly ambient (particularly the beautifully textural, abstract orchestrations of the opener, "Transient") or moody, rhythmic odysseys ("You Lot"). But for every familiar techno revisitation ("Pants"), there are bright moments of innovation (the expansive "One Perfect Sunrise," on which a phased synth- and-vocal interlude is overtaken by a driving backbeat). In truth, Orbital's marriage of soaring melodies, dark atmospherics, and machine-driven beats still packs a punch, and BLUE ALBUM is equally appropriate for big-sound-system rave parties and living-room chill-out sessions.