The Chemical Brothers

The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers (2007)
General information
origin	Manchester , England
Genre (s)	Big beat , electronica , house , trip-hop , breakbeat , techno
founding	1989
Website	thechemicalbrothers.com
Current occupation
Synthesizer , keyboard , sampler , drum computer , mixer , sequencer	Tom Rowlands
Synthesizer , keyboard , sampler , drum computer , mixer , sequencer	Ed Simons

The Chemical Brothers are a British electronica duo from Manchester , consisting of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, who became popular as representatives of the big beat in the late 1990s . Since 1995 they have performed under the current band name.

Band history

After they were founded in 1989, Rowlands (born January 11, 1971) and Simons (born June 9, 1970) were named after the well-known American producer duo The Dust Brothers . As their popularity grew in 1995, Rowlands and Simons changed the band's name to The Chemical Brothers after they were threatened with legal action.

The Chemical Brothers, along with Fatboy Slim , The Prodigy and The Crystal Method, are pioneers of the big beat . With Setting Sun and Noel Gallagher singing to Setting Sun , The Chemical Brothers first reached the top of the UK charts in 1996. Their international breakthrough came in 1997 with the single Block Rockin 'Beats . In 2004, My Elastic Eye was used in the film Butterfly Effect . Their biggest hit so far is Galvanize from the 2005 album Push the Button . The single made it into the top 10 across Europe (including number one in Greece) and stayed there for weeks. Shake Break Bounce from the same album can be heard in the Ford S-MAX commercial (2nd half of 2006). Also, Do it Again was used for advertising, 2009/2010 for the perfume "One Million" by Paco Rabanne .

The Chemical Brothers collaborated a lot with other well-known musicians like Noel Gallagher (Setting Sun, Let Forever Be), the rapper Q-Tip (Galvanize, Go) and a few other artists like Richard Ashcroft , Kele Okereke , Tim Burgess , Ali Love, Beth Orton , Beck and some more.

The Chemical Brothers also attracted attention with their spectacular, sometimes award-winning music videos, especially Star Guitar, Hey Boy, Hey Girl, The Test, Let Forever Be or Believe. The music videos for Star Guitar, Let Forever Be and Go were created by Oscar-winning French director Michel Gondry .

font

The font of the The Chemical Brothers logo is called Sho and was designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer in 1992 . The original logo only differs from the Sho for the a and b . Linotype holds the license for this typeface.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1995	Exit Planet Dust	-	-	-	UK9 platinum (71 weeks)UK	-	First published: June 26, 1995
1997	Dig your own hole	DE25 (11 weeks) DE	AT26 (10 weeks) AT	CH30 (8 weeks) CH	UK1 platinum (30 weeks)UK	US14th gold (25 weeks)US	First published: April 7, 1997
1999	Surrender	DE7 (12 weeks) DE	AT16 (12 weeks) AT	CH17 (9 weeks) CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (53 weeks)UK	US32 (14 weeks) US	First published: June 21, 1999
2002	Come with us	DE18 (8 weeks) DE	AT16 (7 weeks) AT	CH12 (10 weeks) CH	UK1 (17 weeks) UK	US32 (7 weeks) US	First published: January 28, 2002
2005	Push the button	DE11 (17 weeks) DE	AT18 (14 weeks) AT	CH8 (22 weeks) CH	UK1 gold (18 weeks)UK	US59 (3 weeks) US	First published: January 24, 2005
2007	We are the night	DE28 (4 weeks) DE	AT18 (8 weeks) AT	CH6 (10 weeks) CH	UK1 silver (12 weeks)UK	US65 (2 weeks) US	First published: June 27, 2007
2010	Further	DE35 (3 weeks) DE	AT48 (1 week) AT	CH5 (10 weeks) CH	-	US63 (1 week) US	First published: June 14, 2010
2015	Born in the Echoes	DE10 (5 weeks) DE	AT10 (4 weeks) AT	CH2 (7 weeks) CH	UK1 silver (8 weeks)UK	US73 (1 week) US	First published: July 17, 2015
2019	No geography	DE18 (2 weeks) DE	AT26 (2 weeks) AT	CH10 (4 weeks) CH	UK4 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 12, 2019

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1998	Brothers gonna work it out	-	-	-	-	US95 (4 weeks) US	First published: September 22, 1998
2003	Singles 93-03	DE99 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK9 gold (16 weeks)UK	US123 (1 week) US	First published: September 22, 2003
2008	Brotherhood - The Definitive Singles	-	AT63 (2 weeks) AT	CH35 (4 weeks) CH	UK11 gold (3 weeks)UK	-	First published: September 2, 2008

EPs

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1996	Loops of Fury	-	-	-	UK13 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 15, 1996

More EPs

• 2019: Eve Of Dubstruction (First released June 21, 2019)

More albums

• 1996: Live at the Social Volume 1
• 1997: Radio 1 Anti-Nazi Mix
• 2002: In Glint
• 2003: Confront Your Demons
• 2005: The Remixes Volume 06
• 2007: B-Sides Volume 1
• 2008: remixes
• 2011: Who is Hanna? (Soundtrack)
• 2012: Don't Think

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1995	Leave Home Exit Planet Dust	-	-	-	UK17 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 5, 1995
	Life Is Sweet Exit Planet Dust	-	-	-	UK25 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 29, 1995 feat. Tim Burgess
1996	Setting Sun Dig Your Own Hole	-	-	-	UK1 silver (11 weeks)UK	US80 (5 weeks) US	First release: September 30, 1996 feat. Noel Gallagher
1997	Block Rockin 'Beats Dig Your Own Hole	-	-	-	UK1 silver (14 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 24, 1997
	Electrical bank Dig Your Own Hole	-	-	-	UK17 (6 weeks) UK	-	First release: September 8, 1997 feat. Keith Murray
1999	Hey Boy Hey Girl Surrender	DE41 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK3 gold (17 weeks)UK	-	First published: May 31, 1999
	Let Forever Be Surrender	-	-	-	UK9 (9 weeks) UK	-	First release: August 2nd, 1999 feat. Noel Gallagher
	Out of control surrender	-	-	-	UK21 (6 weeks) UK	-	First release: October 11, 1999 feat. Bernard Sumner
2001	It Began in Africa Come with Us	-	-	CH89 (2 weeks) CH	UK8 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 10, 2001
2002	Star Guitar Come with Us	DE98 (2 weeks) DE	-	CH73 (3 weeks) CH	UK8 (11 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 14, 2002
	Come with Us / The Test Come with Us	-	-	-	UK14 (3 weeks) UK	-	First release: April 22nd, 2002 feat. Richard Ashcroft
2003	The Golden Path Singles 93-03	-	-	-	UK17 (8 weeks) UK	-	First release: September 15, 2003 feat. The Flaming Lips
2005	Galvanize push the button	DE8 (26 weeks) DE	AT14 (33 weeks) AT	CH34 (23 weeks) CH	UK3 gold (21 weeks)UK	-	First published: January 17th, 2005 feat. Q-tip
	Believe push the button	DE84 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH63 (1 week) CH	UK18 (5 weeks) UK	-	First release: May 2nd, 2005 feat. Kele Okereke
	The boxer push the button	-	-	-	UK41 (3 weeks) UK	-	First release: July 11, 2005 feat. Tim Burgess
2007	Do It Again We Are the Night	DE65 (5 weeks) DE	AT59 (4 weeks) AT	CH86 (1 week) CH	UK12 (10 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 14, 2007 feat. Ali Love
	The Salmon Dance We Are the Night	-	-	-	UK27 (7 weeks) UK	-	First release: September 10, 2007 feat. Fatlip
2008	Midnight Madness Brotherhood	-	-	-	UK80 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 3, 2008
2010	Swoon Further	-	-	-	UK85 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 9, 2010
2015	Go Born in the Echoes	-	AT56 (2 weeks) AT	CH73 (1 week) CH	UK46 silver (9 weeks)UK	-	First published: May 5th, 2015 feat. Q-tip

More singles

• 1992: Song to the Siren
• 1997: The Private Psychedelic Reel
• 2000: Music: Response
• 2003: Get Yourself High (feat.k -os )
• 2010: Escape Velocity
• 2010: Another World
• 2011: Container Park
• 2015: Under Neon Lights (feat. St. Vincent )
• 2016: CHEMICAL
• 2018: Free Yourself
• 2019: MAH
• 2019: Got To Keep On

Video albums

• 2002: Star Guitar (DVD single)
• 2003: The Golden Path (DVD single)
• 2003: Singles 93-03
• 2012: Don't Think (also as Blu-Ray)

Awards

Grammy 2006 :

• Best Dance Recording for Galvanize
• Best Electronic / Dance Album for Push the Button

Grammy 2008 :

• Best Electronic / Dance Album for We Are the Night

Grammy 2020 :

• Best Dance Recording for Got to Keep On
• Best Electronic / Dance Album for No Geography

MTV Europe Music Awards 2005:

• Best video for Believe

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Music Sales Awards: UK US

Web links

• Literature by and about The Chemical Brothers in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official international site (English)
• The Chemical Brothers at laut.de
• The Chemical Brothers at MusicBrainz (English)
• The Chemical Brothers at Discogs (English)