Come with Us

The Chemical Brothers' second and third albums, Dig Your Own Hole and Surrender, brought them international fame. The band had a worldwide tour for Surrender beginning in 1999, continuing until summer 2000, when they played festivals such as Glastonbury Festival and Creamfields.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Following this, the duo created a new track, premiered in December 2000, when they supported U2. Tom Rowlands seemed to initially have mixed feelings about the song, saying it had "quite a lot of percussion, big, sweeping sort of stuff. Live conga playing, quite spaced out. It's like Body & Soul, but really, really hard and twisted, it's like high-impact, full-on, but with more organic sounds, and quite intense, without the good vibe."{{cite web |url=http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/history.htm |title=planet-dust.laserjay.net/history.htm |website=planet-dust.laserjay.net |accessdate=12 May 2015 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117124109/https://planet-dust.laserjay.net/history.htm |url-status=dead }} The track was popular with fans, however, and was eventually issued as the white label release "Electronic Battle Weapon 5", in June 2001.

Work on a new album began in 2000, when it was initially titled Chemical Four.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} The record explores new gear, such as the Parker MIDI Fly guitar. When asked if it would be a "back-to-roots" album, following their change in style with Surrender, Ed Simons said, "The first three or four numbers do remind me of those days when we were so excited about putting together little grooves and beats – that whole cut-up era of hip hop. We had Grand Wizard Theodore DJing at our gigs then. Like that scratch segment in 'Afrika', those tiny segments where it sounds like a DJ cutting in, those sorts of things used to really excite us. But some of the music is totally removed from that. 'Hoops' is totally different than anything we – or anyone – have ever done".{{cite journal |title=[unknown title] |journal=Remix |date=January 2002 |url=http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/remix.htm |accessdate=12 May 2015 |archive-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211145804/http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/remix.htm |url-status=dead }} The album took eighteen months to record.{{cite web |url=http://www.udiscovermusic.com/come-us-said-chemical-brothers |title=Come with Us, Said The Chemical Brothers, and We Did |date=9 February 2015 |website=UDiscover |accessdate=12 May 2015}}

In making the record, the string arpeggios and the hard MIDI notes came first. "Then it was about finding the right sounds and building from that point", says Simons. The album's drum programming started with doing the snare sound, then a kick, and a bit of "high-end ssshhhhhh". The duo said they "took the actual individual drum sounds, then wrote the chords. We always sample tiny fragments of sound as a starting point. But there were more definite tunes and ideas and melodies from the start of this album than before". They also experimented with Emagic Logic Audio, which proved successful in the album's production as it never crashed, unlike Steinberg Cubase, which the band had used previously.

During the month of release, the Chemical Brothers received retrospective respect from publications such as Muzik magazine.{{cite web |url=http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/muzik_top_50.htm |title=Planet Dust – The Chemical Brothers – The Muzik Top 50 Dance Albums of All Time |website=planet-dust.laserjay.net |accessdate=12 May 2015 |archive-date=11 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511010628/http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/muzik_top_50.htm |url-status=dead }} Promotion for the album started in September 2001, and concluded in November 2002.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Come with Us was released on 28 January 2002 in the UK,{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} following the single "It Began in Afrika", a variation of the band's "Electronic Battle Weapon 5", which was issued in September 2001 and appears on the album, as well as the release of the single "Star Guitar". The tracks proved successful, both reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. The album itself entered at number 1, being the band's third consecutive number 1 album.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/23781/CHEMICAL-BROTHERS/ |title=Chemical Brothers | Official Charts Company |website=Official Charts |accessdate=17 May 2015}} As well as these two singles, the track "Galaxy Bounce", popularized on the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider soundtrack in the summer of 2001, also appears on the album,

In its opening week on the Billboard chart, the record sold 30,000 copies.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1452207/got-charts-beans-bleek-beatles-synch-up-soundtracks/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104210559/http://www.mtv.com/news/1452207/got-charts-beans-bleek-beatles-synch-up-soundtracks/|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 November 2016|title=Got Charts? Beans, Bleek & Beatles Synch up Soundtracks|website=MTV}}

"It Began in Afrika" was released in June 2001 as "Electronic Battle Weapon 5", exclusively for DJs to test in clubs. It was officially issued as the first single on 10 September 2001 and reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web |url=http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_C.HTM |title=Chart Log UK: Chris C. – CZR |website=zobbel.de |access-date=12 May 2015}}{{cite magazine|title=New Releases – For Week Starting September 10, 2001: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=37|date=8 September 2001}} The version on the album is a six-minute edit that segues into "Galaxy Bounce". "Star Guitar" was released on 14 January 2002 and reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite magazine|title=New Releases – For Week Starting January 14, 2001: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=25|date=12 January 2002}} "Come with Us" and "The Test" were released as a double A-side single on 22 April 2002,{{cite magazine|title=New Releases – For Week Starting 22 April 2002|magazine=Music Week|page=35|date=20 April 2002}} reaching number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. In Japan, the names in the title of the single were reversed. "Hoops" was released on 1 June 2002 in remixed form as "Electronic Battle Weapon 6", exclusively for DJs to test in clubs.

At the time of their Japan tour, the tie-in extended play titled Come with Us/Japan Only EP was released exclusively in that country, on 17 July 2002. The AmericanEP was issued exclusively to in the United States on 19 November 2002, in promotion of the North Amerika tour.{{cite magazine |title=[Unknown title] |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=12 December 2002 |page=98}} "Come with Us" and "The Test" were also issued as separate promo singles in addition to the retail double A-side.

{{Album ratings

| MC = 72/100{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/come-with-us |title=Reviews for Come with Us by Chemical Brothers – Metacritic |publisher=Metacritic|accessdate=18 September 2011}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/come-with-us-mw0000212865 |title=Come with Us – The Chemical Brothers {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards {{!}} AllMusic |last=Bush |first=John |publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=17 May 2015}}

| rev2 = Alternative Press

| rev2score = 7/10Alternative Press (2/02, p.67) - 7 out of 10 - "...A return to the early-'90s acid-house exuberance that first inspired them..."

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = B{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,197219,00.html |title=Come With Us Review |last=Hermes |first=Will |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=28 January 2002 |accessdate=26 May 2012 |archive-date=8 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108115654/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,197219,00.html |url-status=dead }}

| rev4 = Pitchfork

| rev4score = 6.2/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1417-come-with-us/ |title=The Chemical Brothers: Come with Us |author=Nathan Rooney |date=30 January 2002 |work=Pitchfork |accessdate=18 September 2011}}

| rev5 = PopMatters

| rev5score = 8/10{{cite magazine |url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/c/chemicalbrothers-come.html |title=The Chemical Brothers: Come with Us |last=Bowden |first=Marshall |magazine=PopMatters |date=29 March 2002 |accessdate=26 May 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020613010507/http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/c/chemicalbrothers-come.html |archivedate=13 June 2002 |url-status=dead}}

| rev6 = Q

| rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}Q (Jan/02, p.97) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...blend[s] the brutal efficiency of current dancefloor trends with...the music that prompted [them] to make records....good, clean, hedonistic fun..."

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/149849/come_with_us |title=Rolling Stone review |magazine=Rolling Stone |accessdate=4 February 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002075044/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/149849/come_with_us |archivedate=2 October 2007}}

| rev8 = Slant

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}[http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/the-chemical-brothers-come-with-us Slant Magazine review]

| rev9 = Spin

| rev9score = 9/10They've gone one step beyond the underrated Surrender by integrating their two sides: high-octane thrust and airy psychedelic dreaminess. [Feb 2002, p.105]

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite journal |date=February 2002 |title=[Come with Us review] |journal=Uncut |page=124}}

| rev11 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev11Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book|last=Berger|first=Arion|chapter=Chemical Brothers|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/157 157-8.]|year=2004|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8}}

}}

Initial critical response to Come with Us was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 72, based on 23 reviews. Kludge included it on their list of best albums of 2002.{{cite web|title=The Best of 2002|url=http://www.kludgemagazine.com/articles.php?id=186|website=Kludge|accessdate=25 November 2015|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20040722004721/http://www.kludgemagazine.com/articles.php?id=186|archivedate=22 July 2004 }}

Andy Puleston of the BBC said that "years ago Tom and Ed assured us 'the brother's gonna work it out'. If you've ever felt that they had yet to make good on this promise then, as far as Come with Us is concerned there was never a truer word spoken."{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xx3n|title = BBC – Music – Review of Chemical Brothers – Come with Us}} His review also acknowledged the success of "It Began in Afrika", saying that by "removing shrubs, laying concrete and generally paving the way for this album, "Afrika" conquered Ibiza, Notting Hill Carnival and contrived a craving amongst those with an affinity for a big, bouncy kick drum."

AllMusic said that "After forgetting the key on 1999's Surrender amidst handling all of the celebrity guests, they got back to business with Come with Us", and that "from the vocal sample introducing the opener ("behold...they're coming back"), it's clear Rowlands and Simons know the importance of this fourth album, and it detonates like a bomb blast, as though the duo knew that Come with Us had to be bigger and badder than all the bombastic breaks they'd dropped in the past."

Following the album's release, the band embarked on two tours, the Go with Them tour and the North Amerika tour.{{Cite web |url=http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/live.htm |title=Planet Dust - the Chemical Brothers - Live |access-date=17 June 2012 |archive-date=8 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708192223/http://planet-dust.laserjay.net/live.htm |url-status=dead }}

{{track listing

| headline = Come with Us track listing

| total_length = 54:48

| title1 = Come with Us

| writer1 = {{hlist|Tom Rowlands|Ed Simons|Tony Rallo|Copperman|Peter Krissen|David Fairstein}}

| length1 = 4:58

| title2 = It Began in Afrika

| writer2 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons|Jim Ingram}}

| length2 = 6:16

| title3 = Galaxy Bounce

| writer3 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons}}

| length3 = 3:28

| title4 = Star Guitar

| writer4 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons}}

| length4 = 6:27

| title5 = Hoops

| writer5 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons}}

| length5 = 6:32

| title6 = My Elastic Eye

| writer6 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons|Bernard Estardy}}

| length6 = 3:42

| title7 = The State We're In

| note7 = featuring Beth Orton

| writer7 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons}}

| length7 = 6:27

| title8 = Denmark

| writer8 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons}}

| length8 = 5:07

| title9 = Pioneer Skies

| writer9 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons|Mathias Camison}}

| length9 = 4:05

| title10 = The Test

| note10 = featuring Richard Ashcroft

| writer10 = {{hlist|Rowlands|Simons|Richard Ashcroft|Czeslaw Niemen}}

| length10 = 7:46

}}

• As with all other albums by the Chemical Brothers, some of the tracks segue into the next. These are 2 into 3 and 7 into 8.

• The Chemical Brothers – production

• Jared Faber – drums ("Come with Us")
• Steve Dub – engineering, additional guitar
• Greg Fleming – assistance
• Kate Gibb – artwork
• Beverley Skeete – vocals on "Star Guitar"
• Richard Ashcroft – vocals on "The Test"
• Beth Orton – vocals on "The State We're In"
• Shovell – percussion on "It Began in Afrika"

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{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Come with Us}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Australia|award=Gold|certyear=2002|relyear=2002}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=The Chemical Brothers|title=Come With Us|award=Gold|certyear=2002|relyear=2002}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Japan|artist=The Chemical Brothers|title=Come With Us|award=Gold|certyear=2002|relyear=2002|certmonth=3}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=New Zealand|artist=The Chemical Brothers|title=Come With Us|award=Gold|certyear=2002|id=2002-05-03|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|relyear=2002}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=The Chemical Brothers|title=Come With Us |award=Gold|certyear=2002|relyear=2002|id=1470-223-2|refname="BPI"|salesamount=217,000|salesref={{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/iconic-albums-turning-20-in-2022__34756/|title=Iconic albums turning 20 in 2022|work=Official Charts|access-date=9 September 2023}}}}

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Category:2002 albums

Category:The Chemical Brothers albums

Category:Astralwerks albums

Category:Virgin Records albums