Orbital’s self-titled debut, often referred to as ‘The Green Album’ is the one before the one which featured the song everyone of a certain age – that is, around my age – knows, the one which sample Butthole Surfers, and which made Orbital cool with the alternative kids. This reissue is a monster, boasting three CDs.
The late 80s and early 90s saw peak fan exploitation – the likes of which we’re seeing making a comeback now thanks to major artists releasing multiple formats of albums with different covers, colours and bonus tracks. As a fan and collector at the time, I would find myself racing to my local record store after school on a Monday to bag all versions going of releases by certain (but not all, I was never that obsessive), often 7”, 12”, limited 12”, CD, limited CD, and cassette in fancy and easily knackered packaging.
So while we reflect on the extravagance of a three-disc reissue, consider that the original release saw that – as our friend Wikipedia records, ‘Each format (LP, CD and cassette) included a track not included on the others. The unlisted outro track appeared on the CD version only. The double vinyl LP version included a track called ‘Macro Head’ between ‘Speed Freak’ and ‘Oolaa’,while the cassette included a nine-minute track listed as ‘Untitled’ between ‘High Rise’ and ‘Chime (Live)’’. Let’s also not forget that ‘‘Orbital’ was released in 1992 with a significantly different cover and track listing in the United States, incorporating remixes and non-album singles. All tracks on the U.S. release had also been remastered using the Bedini Audio Spectral Enhancer (B.A.S.E.) to enhance their stereophonic effects.’
Fucking hell. It’s a minefield, and the trouble with expanded editions is that they can go one of two ways – to provide a definitive version which addresses the matter of extraneous contemporaneous material, or to splurge with a raft of shit no-one really wants or needs, which was either available elsewhere before, or was unavailable for a very good reason. The recent Joy Division reissues, which bung a couple of previously-released live sets on the back of the albums, felt particularly uninspired, while box sets by The March Violets and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry were comprehensive without unnecessary padding with ropey crap like bootleg live recordings that should have remained in the vaults.
This monster reissue of ‘Orbital’ manages to sit between the two.
CD1 of the 4-disc reissue features the same track listing as the original UK edition – minus the outro, that is, and I suppose this is as close to what one might call a ‘definitive’ or core track listing as possible.
It seems impossible that 1991 was 33 years ago, but apparently, it’s true, and the album sounds great here in 2024, mining a seam of electronica that’s never really gone away, with some glitchy grooves and bumping bass, scattered here and there with samples and for the most part nagging away through insistent beats for seven or eight minutes at a time. It’s not that hard to distinguish a trajectory from Cabaret Voltaire to here, and forwards.
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Like many acts, Orbital landed probably their best-known song early in their career, and although ‘Satan’, with its inspired Butthole Surfers sample, was contemporaneous (and pretty groundbreaking, and still sounds great, even if the scratching does sound a but dated nbow) wasn’t on this – or any – album. Apart from the US version of ‘The Green Album’, that is. Of course There are 2 versions to be found on CD2, which features the version found on the EP ‘III’, along with ‘LC1’, and a remix. Two of these are definitely worthy inclusions – one less so.
Disc 3 is notable for the epic 12” versions of ‘Chime’ and ‘Deeper’, which each run for almost a quarter of an hour, and it has to be said, if you want to feel the flavour of early 90s techno / rave, these are essential and likely justify forking out for.
Then we come to disc 4 – the one that’s probably exciting to some in principle, but in reality is the one that no-one’s likely to play very much, featuring as it does recordings from a couple of live shows from 1991, giving us another rendition of ‘Satan’, and 2 more of ‘Chime’ along with other album tracks. They’re fine and all, and the quality of the recordings is faultless, but… is even the most hardcore fan going to think ‘I really need to listen to that live set tonight’? Perhaps I’m way off. It does feel like the inclusion of this ‘bonus’ is still more of a bonus for the label when it comes to pricing than it for fans who are stumping up for it.
But, on balance, this is a decent reissue with no shortage of additional material that’s both relevant and worthwhile.
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