Additional personnel: K-OS, The Flaming Lips.

SINGLES '93-'03 is a limited edtion and contains a bonus CD.

The Chemical Brothers: Tom Rowlands, Ed Simons.

Additional personnel: K-OS, The Flaming Lips.

Compilation producer: The Chemical Brothers.

Personnel: Bernard Sumner (guitar); Mark Marinoff (clarinet).

Liner Note Authors: Robin Turner; David Fricke.

Recording information: Brixton Academy (03/1994-05/2001); The Roxy, New York, NY (03/1994-05/2001).

Animation: Juanjo Saez.

Editor: Cheeky Paul.

Photographer: Toby McFarlan Pond.

Celebrating 10 years of innovative electronica and party-starting dance grooves, this 13-track Chemical Brothers collection moves chronologically through the numerous highlights of the duo's recording career. Groundbreaking early singles "Song to the Siren" and "Chemical Beats" offer the first examples of their unique combination of hip-hop beats and electro-distortion hooks, before "Leave Home" ushers in the arrival of the landmark EXIT PLANET DUST album. Although SINGLES surprisingly omits "Life Is Sweet (with Tim Burgess of the Charlatans UK) and "Alive Alone" (featuring a then-unknown Beth Orton), it does includes other excellent tracks such as "Setting Sun" (one of two Noel Gallagher collaborations), "Block Rockin' Beats," "The Private Psychedelic Reel" (with Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev), and "The Test" (featuring Richard Ashcroft). And as outstanding icing on their birthday cake, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons present two previously unreleased tracks, the funky "Get Yourself High," and the mystic, majestic chime of "The Golden Path" (featuring the Flaming Lips).

Ed and Tom's ten-year anniversary was an excellent time to gift the faithful with a compilation, and Singles 93-03 illustrates nearly every distinct phase of the duo's career -- from their early Bomb Squad fixation to their flirtation with Beatlesque Brit-pop and later reincarnation as psychedelic beatmasters. Still, this straight-up chronological look at the Chemical Brothers as a singles act certainly isn't the best that could've been done. It doesn't even include all of their singles ("Music:Response" and the non-LP "Loops of Fury" would've been excellent additions) and over half of the contents comes from the period after their first two (and best two) LPs. It does begin in brilliant fashion, with early singles "Song to the Siren" and "Chemical Beats" displaying the band's weighty influence from Public Enemy and My Bloody Valentine but also their fresh ideas about making dance music as fun as it had been during the rave era. Unfortunately, Singles 93-03 quickly cuts to weaker latter-day singles ("Hey Boy Hey Girl," "Star Guitar") as well as the Brothers' set of half-baked rock collaborations (including both Noel Gallagher guest-spots, "Setting Sun" and "Let Forever Be"). Two new tracks, "Get Yourself High" and "The Golden Path," are also collaborations. After a feature for fellow Astralwerks artist and rapper K-Os, the second delivers on most of its promise as a soundclash for two of neo-psychedelia's most interesting acts, the Chemical Brothers and the Flaming Lips. "The Golden Path" is a cool, crisp song with two surprises: it's clearly reminiscent of Echo & the Bunnymen and features the solo vocal debut from the Lips' Steven Drozd. (Wayne Coyne, the band's usual mouthpiece, is heard near the end.) ~ John Bush

Celebrating 10 years of innovative electronica and party-starting dance grooves, this 13-track Chemical Brothers collection moves chronologically through the numerous highlights of the duo's recording career. Groundbreaking early singles "Song to the Siren" and "Chemical Beats" offer the first examples of their unique combination of hip-hop beats and electro-distortion hooks, before "Leave Home" ushers in the arrival of the landmark EXIT PLANET DUST album. Although SINGLES surprisingly omits "Life Is Sweet (with Tim Burgess of the Charlatans UK) and "Alive Alone" (featuring a then-unknown Beth Orton), it does includes other excellent tracks such as "Setting Sun" (one of two Noel Gallagher collaborations), "Block Rockin' Beats," "The Private Psychedelic Reel" (with Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev), and "The Test" (featuring Richard Ashcroft). And as outstanding icing on their birthday cake, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons present two previously unreleased tracks, the funky "Get Yourself High," and the mystic, majestic chime of "The Golden Path" (featuring the Flaming Lips).

Celebrating 10 years of innovative electronica and party-starting dance grooves, this 13-track Chemical Brothers collection moves chronologically through the numerous highlights of the duo's recording career. Groundbreaking early singles "Song to the Siren" and "Chemical Beats" offer the first examples of their unique combination of hip-hop beats and electro-distortion hooks, before "Leave Home" ushers in the arrival of the landmark EXIT PLANET DUST album. Although SINGLES surprisingly omits "Life Is Sweet (with Tim Burgess of the Charlatans UK) and "Alive Alone" (featuring a then-unknown Beth Orton), it does includes other excellent tracks such as "Setting Sun" (one of two Noel Gallagher collaborations), "Block Rockin' Beats," "The Private Psychedelic Reel" (with Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev), and "The Test" (featuring Richard Ashcroft). And as outstanding icing on their birthday cake, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons present two previously unreleased tracks, the funky "Get Yourself High," and the mystic, majestic chime of "The Golden Path" (featuring the Flaming Lips).

Ed and Tom's ten-year anniversary was an excellent time to gift the faithful with a compilation, and Singles 93-03 illustrates nearly every distinct phase of the duo's career -- from their early Bomb Squad fixation to their flirtation with Beatlesque Brit-pop and later reincarnation as psychedelic beatmasters. Still, this straight-up chronological look at the Chemical Brothers as a singles act certainly isn't the best that could've been done. It doesn't even include all of their singles ("Music:Response" and the non-LP "Loops of Fury" would've been excellent additions) and over half of the contents comes from the period after their first two (and best two) LPs. It does begin in brilliant fashion, with early singles "Song to the Siren" and "Chemical Beats" displaying the band's weighty influence from Public Enemy and My Bloody Valentine but also their fresh ideas about making dance music as fun as it had been during the rave era. Unfortunately, Singles 93-03 quickly cuts to weaker latter-day singles ("Hey Boy Hey Girl," "Star Guitar") as well as the Brothers' set of half-baked rock collaborations (including both Noel Gallagher guest-spots, "Setting Sun" and "Let Forever Be"). Two new tracks, "Get Yourself High" and "The Golden Path," are also collaborations. After a feature for fellow Astralwerks artist and rapper K-Os, the second delivers on most of its promise as a soundclash for two of neo-psychedelia's most interesting acts, the Chemical Brothers and the Flaming Lips. "The Golden Path" is a cool, crisp song with two surprises: it's clearly reminiscent of Echo & the Bunnymen and features the solo vocal debut from the Lips' Steven Drozd. (Wayne Coyne, the band's usual mouthpiece, is heard near the end.) [The double-disc version is a clear improvement over the original, including rare tracks ("If You Kling to Me I'll Klong to You," "Morning Lemon") and a few unreleased gems ("The Duke," a live version of "Elektrobank").] ~ John Bush