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setting sons

Spring 1997 brought Dig Your Own Hole, the Chemicals' second album and one which confirmed their status as one of the best bands in the country. "Back with another one of those block rockin' beats," promised the opening track, which swiftly became their second number one UK single. But there was a lot more to the album than that. As well as Noel, Beth Orton appeared again, and cult American band Mercury Rev contributed to the album's epic showpiece, "The Private Psychedelic Reel." It was their finest moment yet and finally replaced "Chemical Beats" as their set-closing anthem. "I think the key is to change how you make your music and how it sounds but still keep what was good about it to start off with." reasons Tom.
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The rest of the year was spent on a mammoth world tour that included a residency at Tokyo's Liquid Rooms, a triumphant set at a swamplike Glastonbury and climaxed at the Brixton Academy in December. Two further singles, "Elektrobank" and "The Private Psychedelic Reel", were released off Dig Your Own Hole. Somehow, Tom and Ed managed to squeeze in a remix of spacerock gospel heroes Spiritualized, done at their own request.
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1998 was meant to be a quiet year for the Chemicals, working on the next album and getting back to their roots as DJs. Such was the anticipation for their deck skills, though, that every DJ appearance - from the Heavenly Social's third birthday party to Glastonbury - became an event in itself. Apart from remixes of Mercury Rev and the original Dust Brothers, their only release of the year was Brothers Gonna Work It Out, released on their own Freestyle Dust subsidiary of Virgin. A mix album that mashed up their own tracks and DJing favourites into a full throttle, manic frenzy. It was voted Compilation Of The Year by most music magazines. More bizarrely, "Block Rockin' Beats" netted a prestigious Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental. The Chemicals were not aware they made rock instrumentals, but they accepted it anyway. Dig Your Own Hole went on to achieve gold status in the USA, selling 500,000 there and over two million worldwide.