We Are the Night

by The Chemical Brothers

Overview

The Chemical Brothers never stopped being great producers, but during some of their ho-hum full-lengths of the early 2000s, they relied too much on production skills and forgot what they were first known for: innovative sounds and great hooks. (It's hard to deny that their comparatively sleek psychedelic house was a far cry from the big-beat bombast and excitement of their first two LPs.) Unfortunately, We Are the Night is no departure, although it does reveal Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons showing some build-to-suit character instead of angling for the straitjacket-tight and over-serious dance music of their past ten years. The first half of the record, including the single "Do It Again" (unconsciously ironic title?), is no better nor worse than most of what the Chemical Brothers produced between 1998 and 2007, but beginning with a diverting little electro noodling called "Das Spiegel," it becomes clear that there's a little more going on here. Hip-hop's favorite toker, Fatlip, stops by to relate an odd tale about fish ("The Salmon Dance"), "A Modern Midnight Conversation" dabbles in Italo-disco (but gets most of its flavor from a sample), and the duo stretch out (slightly) for the creepy four-four crawl "Battle Scars" with neo-folkie Willy Mason. The Chemical Brothers have occasionally shrouded their more interesting productions until the second half of their LPs, but something else is obviously needed. ~ John Bush

Product Details

Release Date:	06/05/2007
Label:	Astralwerks / Universal / Virgin Emi
UPC:	0094639415816
Rank:	47701

Tracks

1. A Path to Follow
2. We Are the Night
3. All Rights Reversed
4. Saturate
5. Do It Again
6. Das Spiegel
7. The Salmon Dance
8. Burst Generator
9. A Modern Midnight Conversation
10. Battle Scars
11. Harpoons
12. The Pills Won't Help You Now

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Chemical Brothers   Primary Artist
Klaxons   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Willy Mason   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Ali Love   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Fatlip   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Midlake   Primary Artist
Seggs   Guitar (Bass)
Little Barrie   Guitar
Lightspeed Champion   Featured Artist
Martin Duffy   Piano,Keyboards
Tim Smith   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Tom Rowlands   Audio Engineer,Engineer,Composer
Steve Dub   Audio Engineer,Engineer
The Chemical Brothers   Audio Production,Producer
Devonte Hynes   Composer
Edmund Simons   Composer
James Wrighton   Composer
Bill Bissett   Composer
Fatlip   Composer
Ed Simons   Composer
Juana Molina   Composer
Mike Marsh   Mastering
Riz Ortolani   Composer
Barbara Massey   Composer
Ali Love   Composer
Willy Mason   Composer
Tim Smith   Composer
Jamie Reynolds   Composer
Tappin Gofton   Art Direction,Design
Ernie Calabria   Composer
Mark Allaway   Assistant Engineer