Eliot's Reviews: Orbital 2 [Brown Album] | Orbital
- Eliot Jemison
- Oct 22
- 2 min read
Welcome to the first edition of Eliot's Reviews. In this installment, we will be reviewing the Orbital 2 also known as the Brown Album by the English duo named Orbital. Now, onto the review.
ALBUM DETAILS:
Released: May 24th, 1993
Genre(s): Ambient Techno, Acid Techno
REVIEW:
BEST SONG: HALCYON + ON + ON
WORST SONG: WALK NOW...
OVERRATED: LUSH 3-2
UNDERRATED: PLANET OF THE SHAPES
BEST MOMENT(S): 4:14 on PLANET OF THE SHAPES, LUSH 3-1 intro, LUSH 3-1 drop vocals on IMPACT (The Earth Is Burning), MONDAY drop, HALCYON + ON + ON intro, basically everything from HALCYON + ON + ON input translation, output rotation, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop, where time becomes a loop.
FINAL SCORE: Decent 9/10
OTHER NOTES: This has to be one of the most creative techno albums of all time, specifically because of all the unique instruments not usually seen in your every day techno album. Some instrumentation was definitely influenced by other albums, but instead made that influence larger. Certain vocal samples used in IMPACT (The Earth Is Burning) and HALCYON + ON + ON definitely inspired producers like Clams Casino for certain songs like "I'm God". Not including the beginning and ending interludes, this album is almost flawless. The album kicks of with an amazing intro with PLANET OF THE SHAPES, showing Orbital's experimentation with different instruments for a techno album. Followed with LUSH 3-1 and LUSH 3-2, is a great 2 part song, but I still think the first part is better because of the length and the introduction of new sounds unlike the second part. The album follows up with IMPACT (The Earth Is Burning), REMIND, and MONDAY, 3 very solid songs, but I'm not that big of a fan of WALK NOW..., it's not like the song's really bad, I just found it more boring than most of the songs on this album, but I can't deny that horn sound on WALK NOW... is pretty sick in some sort of way.
Anyway, my main issue about the album isn't really about the album itself at all, it's mainly about the recognition this album just isn't receiving. Orbital themselves and this album are extremely underrated for absolutely no reason, so I'm telling all of you to PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS (you will not be disappointed).
