It was about the right time for The Crystal Method to return with their second album in 2001. After the phenomenal success of their 1997 debut album, Vegas, it seemed that the anticipation was mounting for the USA-based EDM duo to release a follow-up album release. The duo themselves (Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland) had plenty of time to hone their craft. This album reached 32 on the Billboard 200 in the USA, which was the highest chart rating ever for the duo in that country. In any case, the name refers to the dying scene of the West Coast EDM trends in the USA, ironically so. This album should be an interesting listen, and it should point out whether or not The Crystal Method were either a one-album hit wonder or a much more long-term effort musically. The album was recorded from 1999 to 2000 and was released on July 31, 2001, on Geffen Records. The album was produced by The Crystal Method themselves and was recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Glendale, California. Let’s listen to this album, and we shall hear if it stands tall today.

PHD begins with some liquid and percussive sounds and beats. Bongos are added into the fray, and we get going very nicely. This sounds really fantastic to listen to, and it sounds very Cyberpunk and futuristic throughout. Nonetheless, this is an awesome introductory track, which quickly launches into a massive sounding and awesome Breakbeat EDM liquid Acid House sounding fest. Truly awesome, and fantastic to hear from the start. Obviously, time was not wasted on this tune alone. This sounds magically uplifting and terrific, with liquid robotic vocals (which are difficult to point out upon hearing) and this tune is a killer. It sounds absolutely amazing and is an underrated gem in the history of music. This doesn’t get at all boring throughout the six minutes of running time present here. Whether or not you have a decent set of headphones or the best speakers in the world, this will work a treat upon listening. A powerful and awesome listening experience, this is a unique and clever combination of sounds, samples and speech throughout. A really great listening experience to hear, this is sensationally good. A great mixture of liquid sounds, beats, sounds and original melodic textures, this sounds awesome. There is a breakdown in the second half which sounds sweet, before this progresses into a beat and bass-heavy section that sounds super cool. If you have a PhD of any sort, this is a must-listen for you. The Crystal Method have done their own homework, and they pass all musical tests out there. A truly fantastic tune and this sets the scene for the entire album nicely. It ends with a cool breakdown, which sounds sweet.

Wild, Sweet and Cool is a shorter piece with some monster liquid Acid House-styled melodies and some awesome and great beats to listen to. This quickly launches into a punchy, interesting and intricate tune. Correctly named, this is indeed, wild, sweet and cool. The Crystal Method has already made such an impressive album release to go head to head with their 1997 Vegas classic debut album. There is a breakdown with some cool guitar samples and other arrays of fragments and beats throughout. This has a very nice funk-based flavour throughout, and The Crystal Method mix up styles and genres into a great and powerful listening experience. The Soul sounds and singing samples sound absolutely great. Some awesome guitars, courtesy of Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, are present as well. A great listen from start to finish.

Roll It Up is an interesting piece from the start, with cut-up sounds and melodies, launching into another fantastic and powerful-sounding piece of music. It is energetic, eclectic and different, just like the best music should be. Nonetheless, this sounds awesome and adventurous as well. It breaks down into an MS-DOS sounding section, followed by some original and fantastic-sounding beats and a frenzy of interesting and tasty musical textures throughout. This sounds really fantastic and interesting to listen to, just sounding really very amazing, through and through. Perfect music to drive at high speed to, being chased by the cops and under the influence all at once, this is just as good as the best of The Chemical Brothers music, which isn’t too far away from this musical territory. A thoroughly musical and fantastic sonic adventure, this rips apart most EDM on the charts today. It sounds absolutely amazing, through and through. This is also highly Psychedelic in a musical sense as well, with some of the best and most futuristic LSD/Mushroom/Ketamine/DMT trip-laden sounds that you will ever hear in your life. All in all, this is a superb and fantastic tune, designed to take illicit drugs to. It sounds absolutely great, all the same. Towards the end, this continues along nicely in a very unorthodox fashion and sounds really cool. Absolutely worth hearing. It ends with a spacey loop to conclude with.

Murder (You Know It’s Hard) is a more straightforward tune with some simpler and more percussive beats throughout. It launches into a pounding and lush tune, which sounds again, absolutely amazing. Some vocals by Scott Weiland are thrown into the mix, and this tune is a very tripped-out and awesome listening experience. The vocals throughout sing rather sweetly about the nature of a murderer, and this tune takes a rather deep and dark element to it in that sense. All the same, this is a great listening experience, even if it feels a little dated in some areas to this day. Nonetheless, another winner of a tune that sounds warped and absolutely amazing from start to finish. A really great and warped tune, this is a tune that lyrically addresses homicide and is musically matched by some sweet and energetic sounds throughout. A really cool listening experience that is very much worth your ears. Very warped is the best way to describe this tune. Excellent, although this is not as good as what came before it. Good to hear nonetheless. It ends after nearly five minutes in length.

Name Of The Game is the key track of this album. It begins with some low-down bass-heavy sounds and enters into a fantastic and moving tune. This is indescribably good, it sounds sweet, powerful and awesome throughout. Undoubtedly, The Crystal Method found some major success on this one. The track also features Tom Morello on guitars and vocals by Ryan “Ryu” Maginn, alongside some DJ scratching by DJ Swamp. This is a punchy, listenable and awesome tune that sounds super cool to listen to. The Crystal Method had hit it big on this tune quite clearly, and they made for a wonderful listen throughout. This rather funkalicious sounding piece of music is superb, and it sounds absolutely wonderful to listen to. The vocal samples and use of DJ scratching throughout are absolutely sublime. A very awesome listen, this is worth putting on repeat and sounds light years ahead of anything released at the time. Really cool tune. An amazing listen.

The Winner begins with some distorted sounds, and some excellent beats and textures. Soon enough, this launches into a really powerful and superb tune that sounds really electrifying and different. This may come across as a lesser offering on this album, but it still contains the consistency and energy of other tunes before it. A good listening experience, this sounds magical and wonderful. A wonderfully electric and powerful tune, this is best experienced at full volume on the best quality speakers that you have. It sounds interesting, descriptively electronic and wonderful throughout. Some Acid House-based sounds and textures, alongside a suspenseful and excellent breakdown, are here, as the sound builds up to a crazy crescendo of a multitude of sounds, textures and sonically futuristic parts to make a mellifluous piece of music that sounds amazing. This all sounds superbly excellent and sweet. A fantastic tune, The Chemical Brothers and others in the music scene had some real competition at the time. A really awesome listening experience, and something definitely worth listening to, even in the slowed-down outro which is muffled and concludes with some cut-up sounds and leads into the next track.

Ready For Action is an interesting tune from the start. It has some nice melodic cut-up liquid sounds, samples and beats to make your mouth water. This sounds superb and excellent throughout. The music throughout is really cool, interesting and top-notch. A good mixture of celebratory sounds and samples, into a great tune. If anything, this music is Acid House for the 21st century. It sounds absolutely amazing and is extremely catchy throughout. An adventurous and wonderful piece of music that sounds absolutely mindblowing, this music demands heavy drug use to be truly enjoyed. A super cool and interesting tune to hear, this sounds absolutely cool to hear. A really nice listen throughout, this sounds very, very good for a lesser tune on an album such as this. The vocal sample and melodies throughout will absolutely blow your mind away into the future. A build-up towards the end makes this tune sound absolutely obliterating, and cool, too. This is the EDM album that you need to hear, right here right now. A top tune. It ends with some cut-up vocal samples and beats to match.

Ten Miles Back begins with some rather ambient liquid Roland TB-303 styled sounds, beats and vocals from Julie Gallios. It sounds fresh, interesting and amazing throughout, just sounding exactly like what one needs to hear at this stage in our existence as human beings. Some warped bongo percussion, liquid sounds and Techno stylings are present throughout this tune. A splendid listening experience that sounds reassuringly amazing and powerful, the vocal performance throughout is tasty and pleasant. A really great and interesting listening experience that works, through and through. Nonetheless, this continues the theme of Acid House with breakbeats and a real Techno vibe throughout. This has a sweet breakdown near the midsection, which sounds absolutely lively and awesome, before rushing back into the action. A really wonderful and interesting song that sounds descriptively eclectic, the vocals from our guest are fantastic, too. This is better than most junk Techno or EDM made today, it just sounds wonderful and fantastic, through and through. A cool and sweet tune to listen to. In the second half, things sound really dynamic and sweet with plenty of subtleties of sonic dimensions that are really great. Nonetheless, a truly awesome listening experience that has a large and awesome variety of sounds throughout. A very, very good listening experience that sounds amazing to this very day. Worth it for the entirety of the seven-minute-long running time. Absolutely wonderful to hear. Awesome.

Over The Line begins with some static Acid Techno sounds, and launches into a really cool listening experience. This has some interesting treated and cut-up vocal sounds, alongside some interestingly cut-up and powerful beats. Some awesome electronic melodies enter, and this tune comes alive. A supremely cool and interesting listening experience, this sounds really cool and dynamic throughout. This is excellent music to listen to and sounds magical and powerful in a very Breakbeat EDM way. A very powerfully refreshing listen, this sounds absolutely different and amazing throughout. Very, very cool. It sounds better than most music being made at this point in time, which says a great deal about the scene of both EDM and music in general today. Really very cool, this is a musical frenzy of power and glory. The sounds and sonic melodies are nothing but really fantastic to hear. The second half sounds like something out of a literal Psychedelic trip, and this music sounds very, very sweet. An absolute joy to hear, this sounds literally nice and fantastic to listen to. A really great and adventurous tune, this is a winner. Worth every single moment of hearing, and something you should hear today. A great, great tune to listen to from start to finish. The modified Radiohead-styled vocals and strings at the end are cool. Very futuristic and worth that DMT trip to take with it as well. The string section at the end is very different.

Blow Out begins with some interesting and science fiction-styled sounds that sound really quite deep. This quickly enters into a strange and sparse listening experience. Some punchy and interesting beats follow along nicely and this tune begins to get going along in the best way possible. A really cool and well-pieced-together tune that sounds eclectic, electrifying and amazing, this has some punchy and sweet beats to match. The Crystal Method made some absolutely powerful and interesting tunes for many people out there to listen to. A really interesting and minimal listen with some amazing and out-of-this-world sounds. This is an amazing and interesting mixture of sounds and samples throughout, which sound super cool. If electronic-based music has a future, it is based on past achievements such as this album. An adventurous and wonderful piece of music to listen to, this sounds really sweet for what it is. There is a winding back of the sounds and instrumentation in the second half, which sounds really spare and laid back. This is very much like Underworld’s music in many aspects. A really interesting breakdown is here, and it sounds marvellously interesting and detailed throughout. A very cool tune to hear and to listen to. In any case, this is another success by The Crystal Method that really sounds amazingly good to hear and to listen to. A really great and awesome tune, this sounds futuristic and amazing to hear. A really different piece of music by The Crystal Method. Worth it 100%. The outro is very good as well, sounding a lot like IDM with Breakbeats. It segues into the next tune.

Tough Guy begins with some super trippy sounds and beats to match. It sounds completely different to a lot of music out there and enters into a downtempo Trip Hop sort of piece. This is an anthem for when one wishes to feel bold and tough throughout. Nonetheless, this sounds super awesome to hear. A really different and punchy tune to hear as we approach the end of this album, it sounds quite surreal and unlike anything else out there in the world of music. It breaks down into a very Psychedelic musical section that is warped, weird yet powerful. A sensationally sweet and tuneful piece of music, this is exactly what one should use in an action film of sorts today. It sounds very, very amazing to listen to. Imagine being able to break through the limitations of The Matrix and be like the main character from the film (who Keanu Reeves played) Neo, doing your thing in the Cyberpunk and dystopian future. All in all, a really awesome and sublime tune. This one needs noise-cancelling headphones or the best quality speakers cranked to the full to enjoy. Nonetheless, this is another winner from The Crystal Method that sounds absolutely awesome. A powerful and pulsating tune, this is very similar to some of the works of The Prodigy. The album is seemingly perfect for this sort of music from beginning to end. A great and powerful listen, through and through. Very, very cool to listen to. A wonderful tune that gets more subtle just before the end, before finishing with some interesting delayed sounds. Worth it all the way through.

Name Of The Game – Reprise was originally a hidden track on the original CD releases. It is obviously a remix, but launches straight back into the track at hand, with the guitars being prominent. Again, a sensationally powerful and wonderful tune is present here, and The Crystal Method do a great job of creating powerful and sensationally awesome music. A really cool and interesting reprise of the original track, this has power, interesting melodies and finesse throughout. A cool and memorable listen that is absolutely worth hearing twice on this album, The Crystal Method obviously knew their strengths and weaknesses. A sensationally wonderful track, this sounds really amazingly cool. A sensational listen from start to finish, this music is really awesome for what it is. A real joy to hear, time and time again. Towards the end, the guitar riff becomes prominent and sounds absolutely wonderful. One of the best moments in EDM is both this tune and its bigger brother earlier on in the album. Nonetheless, a winner. Absolutely worth it.

This album is a must-hear for anyone who has a passing interest (at least) in Electronic Music of any sort. The music on this album is consistently good and not a single track is out of place on this release. Tweekend is a near-perfect album that demands to be heard and praised more often, not just by the music critics, but by the record-buying public. It is an amazing album. Should you hear this? If you want to hear one of the best albums of the 21st century and love EDM, then yes. If you like more traditional genres of music, you may not like this, however.

A very impressive album release.

9/10