Brotherhood

"Dance music isn't at its peak at the moment," Fatboy Slim told me in September 2007.

"Five years ago it was breaking rules and turning people on who didn't like dance music — rock bands wanted to get involved, and people were excited."

"Since then we've kind of lost our momentum a little bit."

It seems the Chemical Brothers didn’t get the memo — in the past five years Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands produced two albums as inventive, fresh and nuanced as their seminal '90s work. Not afraid to leave behind their signature "block rockin' beats", they kept evolving, collaborating with a new generation of big names and underground pioneers to stay relevant. No surprise then that four songs from 2005's 'Push The Button' and last year's 'We Are The Night' make the grade for the duo's second greatest hits collection.

The retro string stylings and smooth Q-Tip rap of 'Galvanise'; the hypnotic dazzle of 'Do It Again'; the psychedelic acid trip freakout that is 'Saturate'; and the frenzied air raid sirens of the throbbing 'Believe' refuse to be pushed off the dance floor by classics like Prodigy-kicking 'Chemical Beats'; the literally flaming 'Setting Sun'; '60s pop flashback (and funkiest Oasis song ever) 'Let Forever Be'; and thumping hi-NRG New Order homage 'Out Of Control'.

Even 'Keep My Composure' — one of the prerequisite new songs that's all fuzzy, dirty electronica, bright bleeps, and earnest rapping from Spank Rock — holds its own in such a packed club. But while the hyperactive 'Midnight Madness' shows the duo's barmy experimentation remains unfettered, it relies too heavily on its DJ roots, growing repetitive long before its three minutes are up.

Fortunately the same can't be said of this wilfully eclectic collection, gleefully sticking it to Fatboy Slim.