Will this compilation bring lapsed fans back into the fold? Hard to say.
4
By Unint
You can tell that Twenty was released to remind old Chicane fans of the mesmerizing tracks they fell in love with during the first decade of those twenty years... while at the same time trying to sell them on the years of new material that make up Chicane's second decade, a testament to years of astonishing perseverence. On the first of these goals, mission accomplished for packing disc 1 with some faithful remixes of the big hits by respectible producers, plus some very promising selections to round off the disc. But it is telling that the only certifiable hit from the latter days is "Poppiholla," and the collection simply runs out of material of the same caliber on disc 2 even after taking great liberty to pick and choose (a lot had to be dumped to make this compilation cohesive, including the ill-advised pop direction taken on 2007's Somersault, plus quite a few subsequent singles). Some mighty efforts were made to play the nostalgia card, like preserving the "Already There" -> "Offshore" segue from the debut album, and even including (for iTunes only) rarities like the standalone single "Strong in Love," which was never collected on an album, and the fabled track "Mojave" from early concerts that was never officially released until now. Thank you, Mr. Bracegirdle, for finally filling in the collections of myself and hopefully many others. (What about "Empires"? Surely it deserves its day in the sun.) At the end of the day, though, this collection mainly makes me long for the glories of the old Disco Citizens remixes (sadly left out here), not necessarily to buy into the Chicane of 2016.
