Orbital – Snivilisation

At the time Orbital was in a league of their own. Not content just resting on the laurels of Orbital 2, they pushed their sound further and into new directions. No doubt one of the top releases of the 1990's, but in hindsight a couple of the tracks haven't aged too well: "Crash and Carry" ("middle of the road" and too short, ends when it is about to develop), "Quality Seconds" (a fun joke that should have self-deleted after a couple of listens), "Are We Here? (far too laboured and too long)". And, not that it matters too much, but the sleeve artwork must rate as some of the worst ever seen.

Pleeaaaaase reissue this album on vinyl! My favorite record by Orbital.

What can I say about an album that has meant so much to me for over 20 years? It is my favourite album of all time. It blew me away when I first heard it and it still gives me tingles when I return to it like an old friend time and time again. I have been an avid collector of music since childhood and still consume a lot of music (both old and new), so it's even more telling that this album remans a standout for me. The single Are We Here? introduced me to the Hartnolls and I've loved their music ever since. When I heard the 15-minute-plus album version of AWH I was spellbound by it. There was a companion piece of sorts to this album which also holds fond memories for me - they performed a live set of music from the album (plus a couple from Brown album) and I watched it late night on MTV Europe back in '94 (on the Party Zone programme - that?!). I taped it on VHS and watched it till it wore out! Good news that it can now be found on Youtube! Have a look at the link below. I've seen them live in person numerous times since, and they've always been incredible. Hope they reunite once more to let us witness it again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0qH12wNCmE

Great album, opens strongly and finishes even better. An electronic classic.

Good records often have special memories you associate with them. Great records, however, make their own special moments. My special moment with Snivilisation came in the July of 2008 when I discovered the album happened to have almost the exact same duration as a train journey between Doncaster and Manchester Picadilly train stations. A cross-country train journey doesn't seem the kind of experience that immortalises a piece of music, but there was something oddly fitting about listening to Orbital's savage critique of modern society in the sterile blue-grey plastic confines of modern public transport.

This was Orbital's first commercial smash- it deservedly cracked the UK Top 5 in the album charts in 1994 after their legendary performance at Glastonbury. Years ahead of its time, it must have sounded absolutely cutting-edge then and was really the moment when Orbital broke away from the conventions of established dance music and went their own unique, brilliant way. It's also a surprisingly effective social commentary, as the Hartnoll brothers scatter the record with old sound recordings of freak shows and political diatribes alongside soundbites of ments for bourgeois services such as plastic surgery clinics and colleges offering philosophy courses. The amount of sneering irony they create through the most economical uses of samples, which never threaten to drown out the musical innovations, is astonishing.

It turned out that Snivilisation was about 12 minutes longer than the train journey, and as I stepped out into the vast, arched open space that is the Victorian station at Manchester, the air warm and still and golden with summer sunshine, the swirling euphoric strains of Attached made me feel as though I was floating as I walked off the platform and headed for my next train. A beautiful moment to close a quite brilliant album.

This was my first Orbital album, and while it's barely edged out by the Brown Album as my personal favorite, it will definitely be the most nostalgic one for me. Snivilisation is especially unique for its wide range of styles - from the totally bizarre breakbeats to aggressive techno to beautiful, lush soundscapes. Kein Trink Wasser is simply amazing - one of the all time best Orbital tracks, and the crown jewel in this already rich album.

This is my favourite album of all time, i have over 2,000 cd and LP's but i keep coming back to this album, ever time i play it i find a new sound and it make me tingle ever time. i have had this cd for about 7 years and it still sounds fresh, i just wish i made it.
If you dont have a copy of this then i am sorry but you just have to go out a get a copy.
Thanks to them hartnoll Boyz, Thanks for making me the person i am.