There are few electronic musicians in the world that have reached the level of superstardome that 808 State has. They are responsible for producing some of the most forward thinking music in electronic music history and are pioneers of the legendary sound conceived as "acid house."

From early beginnings, 808 State has managed to push the envelope of conventional music and contributed to shaping the evolution of electronic music.

Their music inspired a new breed of artists and pioneered a wave of UK-techno crossover acts such as Orbital, The Prodigy, Leftfield, Underworld, Fluke, The Chemical Brothers, and stood at the forefront as a founding figure of the electronic music world.

Among many accolades, in February 2000, 808 State's album Ex:el, was recognized by URB Magazine as one of "URB's best dance and hip hop albums of the decade".

After many years of touring the world, the band headed back to the studio for what would be 4 years of spiritual and musical solitude.

808 State finaly released "Outpost Transmission" in 2003 priced as a novelty album for their dedicated cult fan base. Many uneducated listeneres may expect to hear conventional dance beats. But the fact of the matter is that Outpost Transmission is a master piece beyond any simple and repetitive production.
From hard punching break beats,(roudbum mary, Boogieman) to mind bending acid house riffs (crossword, 606, wheatstraw), to melodic serenades (lemonsoulm) this album is truly a rollercoaster ride!

The boys truly reach down to their roots, even though the sound has evolved, they maintain their integrity of experimentation and in all together have created a timeless master piece.

This album is recomended for those who are truly electronic music lovers and for those who wish to truly understand what electronic music is and was all about. The album fills the gap between mainstream music and sits bold as a now rarity and a true "underground music" album!

It is known also that 808 State shares a passion for the progressive house genera as they perform and produce much of it. It is unoffisial, but it is rumored that a full progressive house production is on its way for 2004. It is also rumored that 808 State is currently plannig their return to the united states after 7 years since their last visit, which personaly i belive is genious and have awaited for their return for to long!

I give this album 5 stars and recommend that you check it out.

Ok, I guess that 808's time was in the 90's because this album is terrible. Where to start . . . Ok the first track: upon listening to it I was dissapointed that I wasted my money on such lousy music. I hope Gram Massey listened to this before releasing it domestically. This band's prime has come and gone with the album Gorgeous. Since then it's been nothing but showtune and video game music. Chant with me: "L-A-M-E, You aint what you used to be. You lame, you lame. Your music aint the same. It once was good, and now it's not. Your music has sure gone to pot. You lame, you lame. Take the walk of shame."

808 has evolved into something that I can't relate to anymore. I used to love, love, love their ingenuity, but they've cut their cord, and are flying off to the bleeps, whirrs and moans of a horror movie in outer space. I don't get it.... It'd be nice to see them work with more singers on their next try, just to see if that would bring their focus back to this world.

808 State have really gone beyond the call of duty with Outpost Transmission. Although you can dance to it, this is not your typical "dance music." The whole album is an ornate, sophisticated, jumble sale of peculiar electronic gizmos no one else knew existed or had a use for. The 808 have always been rhythm-obsessed. Here, they often use more than one completely different rhythm per track, starting and stopping them frequently to make room for a menagerie of aural curiosities.

Several tracks have an Oriental motif happening, like Slowboat, a cheery little melody, Dissadis which sounds like a soundtrack for a movie about samurai warriors, and Souflex which starts with cheesy scales then unexpectedly shifts to spy movie strings. Cool. Chopsumwong and Suntower are meandering and `experimental-sounding', the latter has you flying through a magenta sky overlooking an alien landscape of bright orange trees and fluorescent green sand dunes (visual impressions may vary by listener). Lungfoo employs sax, flute, vibraphone (I think), and gongs. Yoyo is Orb-ish - with a fast fluttery rhythm, synth washes . . . plus electric guitar. Right now my fave is Bent with its truly wicked drum corps / hip-hop rhythm & timpani thing. Some rapper could have had a huge hit with this as the backing track, though it's very good such a thing did not actually occur.

Three tracks have vocals (if you don't count Boogieman which samples someone saying "boogieman boogiewoman"). 606, featuring Simian, has a bouncy bassline and a dramatic tone to kick it off. Lemonsoul starts out like a Depeche Mode track but then pensive keyboard playing and sleepy vocals (supplied by Guy Garvey) break through. Crossword's got beat poetry courtesy of Rev. D. Wayne Love. Admittedly, I don't know who any of these people are.

A note regarding the UK and US track listings: both issues have Dissadis. I have the UK version and the 4 tracks it has that the US does not are Boogieman, Roundbum Mary, Slowboat, and Yoyo, while the US version has Quincy's Lunch, Brown Sauce, Long Orange, and Doctors & Nurses.

Is Outpost Transmission worth the price? Oh, yeah. It's PURE GOODNESS. Would it be worth it to get both the US and the UK issues with a total of 18 shiny new tracks? Yes - simply forgo the purchase of mediocre dance music that you know you'll soon be bored with and get the import instead. That's what I'd do. But at least get one or the other. 808 State compose their music for the joy of it, not to satisfy some esoteric criteria as the reviewer below would like. So enjoy!

Five years since their last release, 808 State are back in pitiful form. Once pioneers of the late 80's and early 90's acid/rave scene, here in the 21th century they really seem to be running on vapors and without a raision d'etre.

The music on this album is certainly danceable, but what's that worth in a scene flooded with mediocre yet still danceable music? Beyond that, 808 State plays a coy game of making conventional, conservative and derivative tracks that sound like the popular idea of "intelligent dance music." They know the formula -- they should, since they helped create it. But it's truly lame that they've fallen back on their laurels and expect us to still think it should be labelled intelligent in any way.

Most of the tracks are banal in a very commercially acceptable way, so I won't be surprise if this sells well. Some tracks are so dull it's downright painful, like "Lemonsoul," with its irritating Britpop vocals. The first track is interesting in an uncomplicated way, but beyond that the other more interesting tracks tend to be the most derivative, like "Bent" and "Quincy's Lunch," both of which harken back to the industrial/ambient of the early 90's. Through out it all, there's enough slickly planned glitches, switches and open ambient spaces to make it seem more intelligent and more sophisticated than it really is. Overall, it's a hack job from a group that shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. So, yeah, maybe it would've been better if they stayed away.