The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THIS LEGENDARY ALBUM.
Giving it a spin and doing push ups.

I love this album to death and was beyond excited to pick up this original. When I dropped the needle, I was disappointed, it sounded really soft and kind of lifeless, not a ton of bass. But miraculously, once I cranked up the volume knob on my receiver, this pressing comes to life. Crystal clear and much more dynamic than what I originally heard. Also just one of the best albums hands down, so safe to say I’m thrilled.
TLDR: I guess it’s intuitive to some, but I should have turned the volume all the way up from the second I hit play!

I like it. A side sounds the best to me in of quality, in my opinion. The B side I felt like Piku sounded a bit dirty in the background (noticeable drop in quality compared to A side tracks). C side sounds OK to me. Love the It Doesn't Matter song, the bass sounds GREAT. Don't really care about D side honestly. I bought this album for those first three sides.
Beautiful packaging, love the artwork. It's a good item to own. Arguably their best album they've made.

I write this as someone who is definitely not of the electronica camp, even though I once had several shelves filled with cheap house & jungle 12" singles from scores of thrifting (and I binge-listen Daft Punk on a regular basis). Then this album fell into my playlist.

HOOOO-LYYY SHIT. What the hell have I been sleeping on.

What these two men did with old sampling equipment nearly 30 years ago is ungodly. The one-two punch of "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Dig Your Own Hole" sets the tone for the rest of the album, chopped-up drums vocals & basslines converging into an angsty hard-rock apocalyptic dance party that sounds like it's about to spontaneously combust at any second, while shifting from mood to mood effortlessly.

Even if the droning bass in "It Doesn't Matter" may be near headache-inducing, this reminds me of music I'd produce in my youth but much angrier and more aggressive -- and who doesn't have anger to unleash these days. And when "The Private Psychedelic Reel" comes on...what a climactic way to close this album. WOW WOW WOW.

I was not alive in the era, but I've got to say, Big Beat is my new drug.

[EDIT] I have to amend this review. "It Doesn't Matter" is a grower with every listen...and the continuous mix of the two tracks that follow it. "It Doesn't Matter" is my new mantra. It...doesn't matter. It...doesn't matter. The meaning is boundless. The Chems have officially reinvigorated my love for making sample-based music. Thank you Ed & Tom.

As I read in someone's review, on another version, this one seems to lack the dynamics of the digital album. I don't get much mid in the sound, and when listening to Setting Sun I feel that bass should be deeper.
Of course cranking this album is the way to go, but it feels a little hollow sounding.
Weird, since none of the tracks are pushing the time limits of a single side of record, and the grooves look wide.
My pressing is dirty, too. I can see lots of imperfections in the vinyl when looking under a light, and there are a few clicks.

i bought my copy from a record store owner... his personal copy that he got directly from a team member who helped in the production of the album. I couldn't believe it when he agreed to sell it to me directly.

For what it is, fantastic record. Truly a timeless sound and even more classic grooves they create within this section of their releases. Forever grateful that I knew who Chem brothers were until i actually KNEW who they were. Everyone knows a song from them, but don't know its by them. What a lovely discovery that is once you turn around and look for the root.

Sounds great, and no pops, clicks, or skips. For 25 pounds, that's a bargain.

Some copies are unnumbered, like mine. It came in perfect, sealed condition, but the white box is blank.
I'd really like to know the reason for this. Probably they just got tired of numbering them by hand and sold them as they were, with a plain white box.

Does anyone know the reason for some records being unnumbered?

Beware of fake numbering. I've seen two copies with the same number, /0001, because nothing stops someone from numbering it themselves and sell them as a "RARE" unit.

Cmon let's talk about the music - it is incredible how much this work holds up after almost 30 years, so harsh, so direct. It has always been labelled as "rock stadium" kind of electronica like what Underworld were doing at the time because it reminded of the same thing guitar heavy rock was about, a kind of confrontational sound that was not as radio friendly as it reputation may say. There are mellow parts of course (lost in the k-hole) but most of it is distorted breakbeat and menacing synth glissandos and noise and noise.

I do think the later Chemical Brothers albums are underrated in the sense that they were always fun and danceable, but yet this album is so good it casts a huge shadow over everything else they have done. A never ending exhausting pace of drum loop after drum loop and vocal loop and a Gallagher doing the first and better remake of "Tomorrow never knows", and Beth Orton singing a drugged up version of the closing song of the previous album.

I wish I had seem them live during this breakbeat era (there are techno parts as well which blend into the psychodelia). "Hey boy hey girl" and all is more popular but I love how even uncomfortable this album is at times.

One of the best sounding vinyl ever. The bass is everything. The vibration of the apartment was insane. Hope my neighbors don't bother. Great pressing.

Compared to Surrender box , this one is really cheaper then cheap !
No gatefold , one lp with remixes & couple of prints ( who looks at the pronts , anyway ? ).
Shameful !!!