Customer Reviews
Some of the biggest of techno's big beats and samples - By: Mr. Rgs Draycott, 14 Jan 2006 
With some of the biggest of techno's big beats & samples recognizable to any self-respecting '70s AOR junkie, Apollo 440 is an electronic act which combines rock culture, futuristic & technological imagery with a sound-system attitude into a high-gloss sampledelic package. As a reference point, think of Crystal Method on a Zeppelin trip. ELECTRO GLIDE IN BLUE, their full-length debut, is the kind of techno album any rock fan could love. Start with "Ain't Talking About Dub," which marries a classic Eddie Van Halen riff with some jungle beats to spawn a triple-time, heavy metal rompin a bass-heavy vacuum; move onto "Altamont Super-Highway Revisited" where a dirty electric slide guitar plays on top of a seething techno throb; or feel the "Tears Of The Gods," a boogie shuffle reminiscent of John Lee Hooker fronting a Santana-on-hip-hop rhythm, before exploding into dubbed out Spinal Tap-ish fireworks. When fusing the rock & electro worlds, the Apollo crew can be shameless--big, bigger, biggest sounds dominate, whereas understatement has no placein their world-- but such shamelessness is also the reason ELECTRO GLIDE is among the most successful of the next-school nuptials. Call them the Run DMC of electronica.
Apollo Four Forty: Howard Gray, Trevor Gray, Noko. Additional personnel: Harry K. (vocals, programming, scratches); Ewan MacFarlane, Dr. Garfield Hoxley, Mary Mary (vocals); Keith Holden (harmonica); Cliff Hewitt (drums); Stealth Sonic Orchestra, Elizabeth Gray, Billy MacKenzie. Recorded at Apollo Control, Camden, London, England.
No Radiohead No Prodigy - But The Best Album of 1997 - By: ALIEN ALRIGHT, 12 Jun 2005 1997 was meant to be The Prodigy's year. Their album 'Fat of the Land' was the most anticipated album since probably Guns'n'Roses' 'Use Your Illusion' six years earlier. But as always, it's the one you're not expecting that steals the show.
Radiohead's 'OK Computer' was released on the same week as 'Fat of the Land' & very quickly became the most important & talked album of that year, very muchin the same way Nirvana's 'Nevermind' did out of the bluein the incredibly fertile last four months of 1991. However, my favourite album of 1997 is Apollo 440's 'Electro Glide In Blue'.
It managedin my opinion to combine the deadly distortion laden big beat tracks of The Prodigy with the emotional, human & tender beauty of 'OK Computer'. Tracks like 'Raw Power' & 'Ain't Talking 'Bout Dub' were as amazing & immediate as 'Firestarter' & 'Breathe' (but richerin ideas & sounds). Tracks like 'Stealth Massin F#minor' & the aching opus 'Pain In Any Language' were as choke provoking as 'Exit to a Film', 'Paranoid Android' & 'Karma Police'. And the theme song 'Electro Glide In Blue' was a funky chilled riff based song with some excellent lyrics & singingin a way that reminded me of The Verve's 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' which was released later that year.
I read Trainspottingin one weekend with ELGB on repeat. There isn't any better or more appropriate soundtrack for that book. Iggy, Lou & Underworldin one LP by one band with a mood that truly captures the atmosphere of mid 90's United Kingdom. A classic!
The future of music - By: , 15 Jun 2001 In EGIB @440 manage to truly find the perfect balance between their techno, electronic side & their rock elements. This is perhaps best embodied by their hit Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub. This track combines a great guitar riff with a really upbeat pacey techno beat. I have frequently been seen to wander along a street listening to my minidisc becoming more & more tense waiting for the beat to kickin then suddenly jumping upin the air & generally going crazy.
Yet again though @440 hit us with some really chillin' tracks like Electro Glidein Blue which has some great haunting synth & harks back to the slow layering of Millennium Fever. We are graced with more tracks from the Stealth Sonic Orchestra with the intro, Stealth Overture, not an overturein the true classical but merely a short spooky intro. Their later full length offering, Stealth Massin F#minor, isin my opinion a representation of what is great about @440; their ability to create tracks like Stealth Massin F#minor & Ain' Talkin' 'bout Dub & put them on the same LP.
A great fusion - By: , 12 Oct 2000 This is by far Apollo 440's finest album. The mixture of beats & rock instrumentals makes this a great chill out album. There devotion to classical styles using modern techniques is show with tracks like Stealth Overture which is excellent.
