VIA PRESS RELEASE | Orbital are to reissue their seminal self-titled 1991 debut album, known to fans as ‘The Green Album’, on 19th April via London Records. Formats include a 4LP Box Set, 4CD Box Set, Black and Coloured 2LP, 2CD, and Cassette, pre-order here. All tracks have been fully remastered by Phil and Paul Hartnoll for the very first time.
The news arrives as the duo confirm details for ‘The Green + Brown Tour’ this Spring, in which they will revisit not only ‘The Green Album’ but also its legendary successor ‘The Brown Album’ at their upcoming UK + Ireland dates in April and May. Tickets are on sale now here.
Originally released on 30th September, 1991, ‘The Green Album’ contains landmark Orbital tracks including their breakthrough 1990 single “Chime,” and the evergreen comedown classic “Belfast.” The comprehensive reissue package also includes early Orbital favourites like “Satan” plus previously unavailable tracks, making it a must have for fans of the pioneering electronic music duo.
Additionally, Orbital will also be revisiting their pre-’The Green Album’ EPs with a series of ‘Orbital LED’s’ (Limited Edition Drops). Again, these will be fully remastered versions of the duo’s original 12” EP series, with brand new artwork. Fans will be alerted to these extremely limited releases on the day of release.
Following the success of “Chime,” Pete Tong signed Orbital to London/ffrr Records, and Tong allowed the Hartnolls the freedom to record the album they wanted to make. Where their contemporaries on the rave circuit would knock out ten formulaic 4/4 piano bangers with guest vocalists and call it an album, for their debut Orbital wanted to explore wider textures, different rhythms, stranger mind spaces. “Our heroes were always Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, the Severed Heads—people who made proper, satisfying, full albums,” explains Paul, “and we were like, yeah, that’s what we want to do.”
It was this ambition that led to Orbital becoming giants of electronic music. The Hartnoll brothers would go on to redefine what dance music could do and the place it took within popular culture itself. Their music has influenced and inspired artists from Björk to Bicep and they have collaborated with minds as diverse as Madonna, Kraftwerk, and Professor Brian Cox.
Following ‘The Green Album’ their second self-titled album—aka ‘The Brown Album’—cemented Orbital’s position as musical visionaries. A career of creative leaps quite unlike those usually seen in the fast turnover world of dance music followed, including creating soundtracks for Hollywood films including 1997’s Event Horizon, and most recently for Mike Myers Netflix series The Pentaverate.
Alongside their boundary-pushing work in the recording studio, Orbital earned a reputation as one of the best live acts on the planet. This year marks the 30th anniversary of their legendary 1994 Glastonbury performance, often cited as converting the festival to dance music.
33 years after its initial release, and over 10 years since last pressed on vinyl, the remastered ‘The Green Album’ arrives ahead of the recently updated ‘The Green + Brown Album Tour’, which will see the legendary electronic music duo revisit and reinterpret both albums in their entirety, including performing several of the tracks live for the very first time. The tour will start in New York in March and Orbital will appear at Coachella Festival in California on April 13th and 20th before returning for the UK and Ireland leg.
Since reuniting with London Records, Orbital have released the 2022 compilation 30 Something, which contained reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of their landmark tracks, and last year’s critically acclaimed new studio album Optical Delusion which gave Orbital their UK Album Chart Top 10 album since 1999’s Middle Of Nowhere.
