"Block Rockin' Beats" | ||||
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Single by the Chemical Brothers | ||||
from the album Dig Your Own Hole | ||||
B-side | "Morning Lemon" | |||
Released | 24 March 1997 | |||
Studio | Orinoco (South London, England) | |||
Length |
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Label |
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Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | The Chemical Brothers | |||
The Chemical Brothers singles chronology | ||||
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Alternate covers | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Block Rockin' Beats" on YouTube |
"Block Rockin' Beats" is a song by British big beat duo the Chemical Brothers. Released in March 1997 as the second single and opening track from their second studio album, Dig Your Own Hole (1997),it topped the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It received a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. [1]
Two different edits of "Block Rockin' Beats" exist:the version found on Dig Your Own Hole has an intro,while the version released as a single begins with the bass line. The B-side "Morning Lemon" is also available on the second disc of the limited edition Singles 93–03 .
Blender listed the song on number 346 on its ranking of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" in 2005. [2] LA Weekly put it at number 14 in their list of "The 20 Best Dance Music Tracks in History" in 2015. [3]
The drums are sampled from "Changes" by Bernard Purdie. The vocals,"Back with another one of those block rockin' beats" is a sample from American rapper Schoolly D's 1989 song "Gucci Again".
Another reviewer wrote that the track uses (without compensation) the bass line from the track "Coup" by 23 Skidoo. [4] [5] The opening bass riff resembles the intro from the Pink Floyd song "Let There Be More Light",while the bass sound has been sampled from The Crusaders' song "The Well's Gone Dry". [6]
"Morning Lemon" opens with a vocal sample of a man singing "Morning lemon",and ends with a sample of Ice Cube saying "Take that,motherfuckers!" (from his song "What They Hittin' Foe?").
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic noted "the slamming cacophony" of the song,"where hip-hop meets hardcore techno,complete with a Schoolly D sample and an elastic bass riff." He added,"Everything is going on at once in "Block Rockin' Beats",and it sets the pace for the rest of the record,where songs and styles blur into a continuous kaleidoscope of sound." [7] Jack Needham from BBC commented,"Not only was the song an undeniable ear worm,but it took the art of sampling to a new level - borrowing its drums from Bernard Purdie and its vocals from US rapper Schoolly D. There have even been suggestions that the track covertly samples Pink Floyd too." [8] Larry Flick from Billboard described it as a "genre-spanning revelation",and stated that "after one spin,you'll be chanting the hook for hours,and the blend of scratchy funk beats and acidic keyboards are sure to get the body moving." [9] A writer for Complex said that "there was something about the combined fury of that Schoolly D vocal sample,that hypnotic bassline and those big drums that turned this one into an anthem for the breakbeat set." [10]
The Daily Vault's Sean McCarthy commented,"Beginning with a funky bass beat,the music explodes with a blast of sonic fury. The music itself is fit for dance halls,but what's striking about the leadoff track is the confidence that Simmons and Rowlands display". [11] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly noted "the burning-down-the-disco break beats". [12] Irish newspaper Evening Herald said tracks like this are based on infectious melodies "that stick in your head for ages." [13] Sally Stratton from Music &Media noted its "frenetic pace". [14] British magazine Music Week rated it four out of five,adding that "this chunky techno/hip hop sound clash finds the Chemicals at their most in-your-face". [15] Gerald Martinez from New Sunday Times viewed it as "thunderous". [16] A reviewer from People Magazine said that on the "cacophonous,turbo-charged" track,the duo "borrow heavily from hip hop’s cut-and-paste production methods". [17] Terri Sutton from Salon described it as "incorrigible",with its "frantic faux guitar interplay,funky bass and underwater detonations." [18] Sunday Mirror commented,"The dance kings follow up the Noel Gallagher flavoured No 1 Setting Sun with an even noisier mess of thumping drums and wailing guitars. No celebrity vocals this time but who needs them." [19]
All tracks are written by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons except "Block Rockin' Beats", written by Rowlands, Simons, and Jesse Weaver.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Block Rockin' Beats" | |
2. | "Prescription Beats" | |
3. | "Morning Lemon" |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Block Rockin' Beats" | |
2. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (The Micronauts remix) | |
3. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (The Micronauts bonus beats) | |
4. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (radio edit) |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Block Rockin' Beats" | |
2. | "Morning Lemon" | |
3. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (The Micronauts remix) |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Block Rockin' Beats" | |
2. | "Prescription Beats" |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Block Rockin' Beats" | |
2. | "Prescription Beats" | |
3. | "Morning Lemon" | |
4. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (The Micronauts remix) |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Block Rockin' Beats" | |
2. | "Morning Lemon" | |
3. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (The Micronauts bonus beats) | |
4. | "Block Rockin' Beats" (The Micronauts remix) | |
5. | "Prescription Beats" |
Credits are lifted from the Dig Your Own Hole album booklet. [27]
Studios
Personnel
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [48] | Silver | 200,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 24 March 1997 |
|
| [49] |
United States | 7 April 1997 | Alternative radio | Astralwerks | [50] |
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