better living through chemistry

fatboy slim

astralwerks, 1997

Mood—upbeat, funky, mostly optimistic

Sample: "Song For Lindy"

Thoughts— The Fatboy Slim album that really blew up was You've Come A Long Way Baby, mostly because Norman Cook (the aforementioned Fatboy), allowed every track on the album to be licensed for commercials and movies. That album is pretty great, but I actually prefer Better Living Through Chemistry.

Looking at the album cover, I wonder if anyone will remember that in 1997 people still used floppy disks. In that sense, it's a very appropriate image, because the music on the album contained within definitely seems antiquated, a decade later. The beats are simple, the songs are relatively slow by today's standards, and there aren't any vocal tracks... just some repetitive clips of talking thrown about.

The simplicity and seemingly-safe reach of the album gives it its charm. The music is overwhelmingly positive; it would be hard to stay in a bad mood while listening to "Going Out Of My Head", and the bass line from "Everybody Needs A 303" begs for dancing.

I don't feel as if there's a bad track on the album. My personal favorite would have to be the final track, "Next To Nothing"; I think that of all the tracks, it is most indicative of what people thought "cool electronic music" was in 1997.

Recommended? Most Definitely.

Link—discogs.com/artist/Fatboy+Slim

Tracklist
1. Song For Lindy
2. Santa Cruz
3. Going Out Of MyHead
4. The Weekend Starts Here
5. Everybody Needs A 303
6. Give The Po' Man A Break
7. 10th & Crenshaw
8. First Down
9. Punk To Funk
10. The Sound Of Milwaukee
11. Michael Jackson
12. Next To Nothing