Chemical Brothers - Diamond Sky - the Surrender B-Sides - 1999

I always loved the Chemical Brothers cover art.  Posterized and retro, very representative of their style and sound.  Their music is pretty good.  I like it.  I'm not in love with it.  I'm not going to drop mega-coin for anything by them, and I don't listen to them on a regular basis.  But they're good, and I'll listen to them every once in a while and enjoy myself.

This album came out shortly before I moved to Kansas City and I listened to it regularly at work and in the car.  The b-sides were interesting, and I loved Bernard's vocals on Out of Control.  Noel did pretty good, and, in fact, all the vocalists did great jobs.  But Bernard's were the best.  It sounded like a ravey sorta funky electro New Order.

I thought the b-sides were too experimental to mix into the album set, plus I'd run over the 80 minute mark on the CD limit.  I'm not really a fan of any of the remixes offered, as it's hard for a mixer to offer their interpretation without destroying the integrity of the Chemical Brothers sound, except for that slammin' Sasha mix.  That being said, I simply put the b-sides on their own disc, essentially making a album addendum for Surrender.  A little Surrender EP of sorts.

I used the cover to Let Forever Be, the best from the Surrender singles, so it maintains the art theme for the album and singles.  Nothing special, but it blends in well....

Chemical Brothers - Diamond Sky - the Surrender B-Sides - 1999