When the Chemical Brothers debuted in 1995 with their stunning first album, EXIT PLANET DUST, they virtually plotted electronic music's ascent into the mainstream. Their fresh take on breaks-based big-beat electronica--mixing elements of hip-hop, acid house, and hard rock--would win them both critical and popular accolades, and propel them to arena-sized stages around the world. Now, with the electronic and rock worlds fully bridged, the Chemicals offer us a more nuanced version of musical fusion on WE ARE THE NIGHT (2007).

The cut-and-paste musical radicalism of their hip-hop influenced past is now mitigated by the silky-smooth tech-R&B strains of disco, house, and their futuristic variants. On "Do It Again," modernized electro-funk beats churn robotically against guest vocalist Ali Love's appropriately dispassionate delivery. Reminiscent of the call-and-response verse/chorus rapping delivery of many dance-floor R&B hits, its appeal to pop audiences seems insured. Other tracks are definitive nods to their underground dance roots. The growling acid-house synths of "Saturate" blend seamlessly with bombastic stadium-rock drums. A peak-hour dance-floor slayer, it proves the Chemicals still have an assured footing with DJs and electronica purists. Proving again that electronic music need not wear a hair shirt to have a purpose; the Chemicals have delivered another vital blast of block-rocking beats for electronic party-people.

The Chemical Brothers never stopped being great producers, but during some of their ho-hum full-lengths of the early 2000s, they relied too much on production skills and forgot what they were first known for: innovative sounds and great hooks. (It's hard to deny that their comparatively sleek psychedelic house was a far cry from the big-beat bombast and excitement of their first two LPs.) Unfortunately, We Are the Night is no departure, although it does reveal Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons showing some build-to-suit character instead of angling for the straitjacket-tight and over-serious dance music of their past ten years. The first half of the record, including the single "Do It Again" (unconsciously ironic title?), is no better nor worse than most of what the Chemical Brothers produced between 1998 and 2007, but beginning with a diverting little electro noodling called "Das Spiegel," it becomes clear that there's a little more going on here. Hip-hop's favorite toker, Fatlip, stops by to relate an odd tale about fish ("The Salmon Dance"), "A Modern Midnight Conversation" dabbles in Italo-disco (but gets most of its flavor from a sample), and the duo stretch out (slightly) for the creepy four-four crawl "Battle Scars" with neo-folkie Willy Mason. The Chemical Brothers have occasionally shrouded their more interesting productions until the second half of their LPs, but something else is obviously needed. ~ John Bush