This is in my opinion Orbital's best album up to this point. I can only hope their new album, set to be released in the early part of 2001, is nearly as great as In Sides.

What makes this album so incredibly good you may ask yourself. There are many reasons for this. To begin with there are no filler tracks on the album which is so common in today's music. All 8 tracks are superbly structured with melodic synth layers and precise beats building up a certain mood in every track. This is another great aspect of the album. Every track expresses some kind of mood. Most Techno/Electronica albums out there are just delivering some cool rhythms and beats. These albums are cool for a limited time, maybe a few listens at most. That's why In Sides is a rare album in this musical genre. The layered structure of the music combined with the fact that each track expresses a different mood favours repeated listens. I have listened to this album for a long time and i still enjoy it as much every time!

The first track, The Girl With The Sun In Her Head, is a tribute to Orbital's photographer, Sally Harding, who sadly passed away. It expresses both sadness for the loss of a friend, but at the same time optimism because she had such a positive personality. P.E.T.R.O.L is a really dark and spooky jungle track. It almost makes me feel paranoid when I'm out running and listen to this track. The Box hints influences from soundtrack composers and classical music. The first part is slower and moodier than the second part, which has more beats.

Dwr Budr means Dirty Water in welsh and is about a oil catastrophy in Wales. It's a really sad and dark track and towards the end you can almost feel the oil totally killing all sealife in the area. Adnan's has a really relaxing feel to it with its majestic sound. Out There Somewhere is a 24 minute epic in two parts. The first part starts out with samples like "What's Wrong?" together with some weird sounds that make you feel unease and danger lurking underneath. It continues with the coolest synth sounds and beats you can imagine through the rest of the track. Part two is a more positive track with its great melody and flow.

All in all, In Sides is nearly as great music can get in the Techno/Electronica genre. Every track is superbly composed and structured and expresses a certain mood. This is a highly personal album by the two Hartnoll brothers with influences from classical music and soundtrack composing added to the world of Techno/Electronica. What a great album!



Recommended: Yes