After the extremely poor showing of 2001's The Altogether, by far Orbital's worst album in their (at that time) 10 year career, it isn't a total surprise that it's taken the Hartnoll brothers three years to make a follow-up, which they've also announced will be their last. It's been one hell of a career for these techno pioneers. They've had countless hits, such as the Butthole Surfers sampled "Satan," the fantastic single "The Box," which was an accomplished MTV hit, and the incredible "The Saint" the single from the soundtrack of the Val Kilmer film.

The Blue Album starts off at a wonderful pace with the string-heavy "Transient," and the bass pounding, hand-clap inducing "Pants." The third track, the trance inspired "Tunnel Vision" though is the best of the bunch here. Unfortunatley after a strong start, the Blue Album begins to orbit toward the monotonous. "You Lot" is a seven minute exercise in patience-wearing, and Sparks, who usually can be depended on for something interesting, lend their vocal talents to the hopelessly repetitive "Acid Pants." The fact that this song might make you think that David Gray's contribution to The Altogether wasn't so bad after all, should give you some idea how bad the Sparks "Acid Pants" is.

"Bath Time" is also one of the weaker spins here, sounding like it would be right at home next to anything by Enya or Enigma. The final track, "One Perfect Sunrise," attempts to right the ship but by this time it's too late, the ship is hopelessly out of the oribit that the first 3 songs grooved. It's unfortunate that it seems the techno world has passed Orbital by, but at least they have the class and good judgement to bow out gracefully. The Blue Album won't be remembered for being one of the best Orbital albums, but it's a respectable way to end a remarkable career.