For me, it's 8/10 or 9/10. It only seems to get better upon repeated listens. It is surprisingly experimental and varied. The atonal and harsh sounds in about half of the tracks will not be to everybody's taste. Every reviewer seems to have wildly different favourites and dislikes here. I disliked "Home" to begin with, but now it has become one of my favourites. And The New Abnormal has an amazing beat, pulse, and layered crescendo that reminds me of Orbital at their peak (circa In Sides). Phil's tracks, You Are The Frequency, What A Surprise, and Moon Princess might be my favourites here. Chunky madness.
As a keen fan since day one, I agree this album takes a few spins to get into it…..I found it quite similar to Monsters Exist (certainly some of the same synths and effects being used)…..but overall I really like it…..there are some really good tracks…..my personal fav is Moon Princess
First of all, I totally agree with your 6/10 overall rating. Secondly, I disagree somewhat with your track choices, but, it’s all about personal preference I guess, so, fair dues. After the mostly underwhelming Monsters Exist (which had maybe 3-4 truly great tracks accompanied by substandard filler), it was an album that I had really high hopes for after the three quality single releases. Sadly I was left underwhelmed again with the majority of the remaining tracks, at least upon first listen… 3 of them *have* grown on me a tad after a few more playthroughs. The New Abnormal really smacks of Paul’s solo material from 2007, so that’s a definite plus. Requiem for the Pre-Apocalypse and Day One are pretty decent too after a few more listens. But I find the two ‘Little Pest’ tracks so gratingly annoying - they simply don’t fit in with everything else (sorry Phil!) 🤷♂️. Moon Princess and Home just don’t cut the mustard either I’m afraid. Overall, the highest praise that can be given is that it’s a partial improvement on Monsters Exist (which really wasn’t a stretch - ME was, simply put, one of their weakest ever LP despite the presence of some genuinely interesting tracks). But I’ve seen other review quotes elsewhere proclaiming Optical Delusion to be the best since their 1996 masterpiece, ‘In Sides’, which is frankly a ludicrous proposition. At best, it boasts 3 belters (the singles so far), another 2-3 decent numbers, and 4-5 filler tracks. For me it just lacks the cohesive consistency and quality of 2012’s Wonky, which was probably their strongest output since The Middle Of Nowhere (an album that often seems to get woefully overlooked). But if there’s any consolation, one can at least manage to cobble together a respectably satisfying 10-track Spotify playlist from these last two LPs, with 30Something’s ‘Smiley’ tagged on as a bonus track sweetener. 👍🤔
@@OnTheFlipSideShow Hey, thanks man! It’s all subjective at the end of the day - we all have our own views on what makes for the ‘definitive Orbital sound’, and some of their albums are undoubtedly going to land stronger for some than for others.
The fact Hartnolls can spin out an authentic Jungle piece in the midst of this, just shows how outrageously talented they are. Love half of this album, rest is filler.
@@OnTheFlipSideShow decent review from an outsiders perspective. Orbital manage to still conjure up nostalgic memories of sweating out in front of huge soundsystems mid-90s. I was/am a junglist and orbital made the music I'd listen to on comedowns after those early raves. They hold a very special place in British rave culture that's hard to quantify. Royalty that make music only two brothers working in synergy can make. Legends.
@@OnTheFlipSideShow i'd also say, for context, if Prodigy brought hardcore raving to the masses, aggressive dance, then Orbital brought the vibes and warm, loving feeling MDMA gave to us, out to the masses. I kind of see them as two sides of a coin.
Dirty Rat was my least favorite track, and Are You Alive was my favorite. Overall, some hits, many misses, overall meh. However listen to Orbital's recent BBC mixes of breakbeat and it's fantastic.
As an Orbital fan I'd say that it was a pretty fair review. For someone who wasn't around the rave scene in mid 90s Britain following Orbitals work is always going to a challenge because with them context matters (I've been following them since '93 or so, so I get the context of each release.) I personally LOVE this album. Not a 10/10 but certainly top 3 of theirs, maybe 8.5/10. (And even as a fan, there have certainly been some clangers in the past but this is probably one of only 2 or 3 of theirs for me that doesn't have one track that I hate!) 🤣 There are enough sonic callbacks without it sounding like it's all fan-service and enough fresh sounding material to keep it up to date while still sounding definitely like it came from P&P. Only the CD box was disappointing for me...
That would limit the number of qualified reviewers to those of... Nationality: British and/or European. Age: old/young enough to have witnessed early Orbital. Background: Knows complete history of a forgotten genre and its many sub- genres. Which brings the number down to ONE.... Human Cortex! Please load up that review!
For me, it's 8/10 or 9/10. It only seems to get better upon repeated listens. It is surprisingly experimental and varied. The atonal and harsh sounds in about half of the tracks will not be to everybody's taste. Every reviewer seems to have wildly different favourites and dislikes here. I disliked "Home" to begin with, but now it has become one of my favourites. And The New Abnormal has an amazing beat, pulse, and layered crescendo that reminds me of Orbital at their peak (circa In Sides). Phil's tracks, You Are The Frequency, What A Surprise, and Moon Princess might be my favourites here. Chunky madness.
As a keen fan since day one, I agree this album takes a few spins to get into it…..I found it quite similar to Monsters Exist (certainly some of the same synths and effects being used)…..but overall I really like it…..there are some really good tracks…..my personal fav is Moon Princess
First of all, I totally agree with your 6/10 overall rating. Secondly, I disagree somewhat with your track choices, but, it’s all about personal preference I guess, so, fair dues.
After the mostly underwhelming Monsters Exist (which had maybe 3-4 truly great tracks accompanied by substandard filler), it was an album that I had really high hopes for after the three quality single releases.
Sadly I was left underwhelmed again with the majority of the remaining tracks, at least upon first listen… 3 of them *have* grown on me a tad after a few more playthroughs. The New Abnormal really smacks of Paul’s solo material from 2007, so that’s a definite plus.
Requiem for the Pre-Apocalypse and Day One are pretty decent too after a few more listens. But I find the two ‘Little Pest’ tracks so gratingly annoying - they simply don’t fit in with everything else (sorry Phil!) 🤷♂️. Moon Princess and Home just don’t cut the mustard either I’m afraid.
Overall, the highest praise that can be given is that it’s a partial improvement on Monsters Exist (which really wasn’t a stretch - ME was, simply put, one of their weakest ever LP despite the presence of some genuinely interesting tracks).
But I’ve seen other review quotes elsewhere proclaiming Optical Delusion to be the best since their 1996 masterpiece, ‘In Sides’, which is frankly a ludicrous proposition. At best, it boasts 3 belters (the singles so far), another 2-3 decent numbers, and 4-5 filler tracks. For me it just lacks the cohesive consistency and quality of 2012’s Wonky, which was probably their strongest output since The Middle Of Nowhere (an album that often seems to get woefully overlooked).
But if there’s any consolation, one can at least manage to cobble together a respectably satisfying 10-track Spotify playlist from these last two LPs, with 30Something’s ‘Smiley’ tagged on as a bonus track sweetener. 👍🤔
I respect this well thought out take.
@@OnTheFlipSideShow Hey, thanks man! It’s all subjective at the end of the day - we all have our own views on what makes for the ‘definitive Orbital sound’, and some of their albums are undoubtedly going to land stronger for some than for others.
The fact Hartnolls can spin out an authentic Jungle piece in the midst of this, just shows how outrageously talented they are. Love half of this album, rest is filler.
Thanks for your input!
@@OnTheFlipSideShow decent review from an outsiders perspective. Orbital manage to still conjure up nostalgic memories of sweating out in front of huge soundsystems mid-90s. I was/am a junglist and orbital made the music I'd listen to on comedowns after those early raves. They hold a very special place in British rave culture that's hard to quantify. Royalty that make music only two brothers working in synergy can make. Legends.
@@OnTheFlipSideShow i'd also say, for context, if Prodigy brought hardcore raving to the masses, aggressive dance, then Orbital brought the vibes and warm, loving feeling MDMA gave to us, out to the masses. I kind of see them as two sides of a coin.
Dirty Rat was my least favorite track, and Are You Alive was my favorite. Overall, some hits, many misses, overall meh. However listen to Orbital's recent BBC mixes of breakbeat and it's fantastic.
I find the album is messy and out of tune. Just can't get into it. Requiem is the best
I'm gonna have to say, you're not qualified to review Orbital. Wrong age, wrong nationality. Can you tell I love Orbital? 😂
Hey man, fair.
As an Orbital fan I'd say that it was a pretty fair review. For someone who wasn't around the rave scene in mid 90s Britain following Orbitals work is always going to a challenge because with them context matters (I've been following them since '93 or so, so I get the context of each release.)
I personally LOVE this album. Not a 10/10 but certainly top 3 of theirs, maybe 8.5/10. (And even as a fan, there have certainly been some clangers in the past but this is probably one of only 2 or 3 of theirs for me that doesn't have one track that I hate!) 🤣
There are enough sonic callbacks without it sounding like it's all fan-service and enough fresh sounding material to keep it up to date while still sounding definitely like it came from P&P.
Only the CD box was disappointing for me...
@@AlistairBrugsch I appreciate your input a lot!
That would limit the number of qualified reviewers to those of...
Nationality: British and/or European.
Age: old/young enough to have witnessed early Orbital.
Background: Knows complete history of a forgotten genre and its many sub- genres.
Which brings the number down to ONE.... Human Cortex! Please load up that review!