Decksandrumsandrockandroll is the first (and currently the only) album by the British band Propellerheads

Propellerheads

Propellerheads were a British big beat musical ensemble, formed in 1995 and made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term propellerhead is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name...

, released on 26 January 1998 by Wall of Sound

Wall of Sound (record label)

Wall of Sound is an independent record label based in London, England. It is part of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent music company....

 (UK) and DreamWorks

DreamWorks Records

DreamWorks Records was an American record label. Founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG, the label operated until 2005 when it was shut down...

 (U.S.).

Wall of Sound

The original release of Decksandrumsandrockandroll features 13 tracks.

Most tracks are instrumental pieces of big beat

Big beat

Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in...

, breakbeat

Breakbeat

In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...

 and trip-hop, sometimes with vocal samples. The exception is "History Repeating", which features vocals from veteran singer Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a collaboration with composer David Arnold

David Arnold

David Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...

 and his orchestra. It is a remix of John Barry

John Barry (composer)

John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...

's theme from the James Bond film of the same name

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...

 which also features a cue from his score for You Only Live Twice

You Only Live Twice (film)

You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...

 (beginning at 4'42").

All tracks were produced by Will White and Alex Gifford. "Take California" was the first song to be used in an iPod

IPod

iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...

 advertising campaign, appearing in the first commercial for the original model and, in general, the first iPod commercial ever.

"History Repeating" was used in a Pantene

Pantene

Pantene is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1947 by Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient...

 Pro-V shampoo commercial and on the 1998 Jaguar S-type commercial. An instrumental version was also the theme music to UK programme So Graham Norton

So Graham Norton

So Graham Norton is a British television programme, hosted by Irish personality Graham Norton. It ran from 3 July 1998 to 1 March 2002.-Theme:...

 broadcast on Channel 4 between July 1998 to March 2002.

"Bang On" was featured in the Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64

The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...

 game Wipeout 64

Wipeout 64

Wipeout 64 is the third game in the Wipeout series and the only for the Nintendo 64. At the time of the game's release developers Psygnosis had been owned for 5 years by Sony Computer Entertainment, for whose hardware all subsequent Wipeout games have been released exclusively.Set in 2098, just a...

 and the first episode, "The Sofa," of sitcom 15 Storeys High

15 Storeys High

15 Storeys High is a critically acclaimed British sitcom, set in a tower block. The main characters are Vince Clark, a misanthropic, cynical recluse played by Sean Lock, and Errol Spears, Vince's exact opposite and whipping boy, played by Benedict Wong....

. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Lost in Space

Lost in Space

Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...

.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was also featured in full on Tony Hawk's prominent skateboarding movie titled "The End."

"Spybreak!" was featured in The Matrix

The Matrix

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...

 during the famous lobby shootout scene.

1. "Take California" – 7:23
2. "Echo And Bounce" – 5:29
3. "Velvet Pants" – 5:49
4. "Better?" – 2:05
5. "Oh Yeah?" – 5:28
6. "History Repeating
   History Repeating (song)
   "History Repeating" is a song written by Alex Gifford and originally performed by the Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey in 1997.-Single release:...
   
   " – 4:05
7. "Winning Style" – 6:00
8. "Bang On!" – 5:57
9. "A Number Of Microphones" – 0:48
10. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" – 9:23
11. "Bigger?" – 2:22
12. "Cominagetcha" – 7:07
13. "Spybreak!
    Spybreak!
    “Spybreak!” is a 1997 single by the big beat group Propellerheads from their first album, Decksandrumsandrockandroll. There are two versions of this song, called Spybreak! and Spybreak! . The former is approximately three minutes longer than the latter.It is most famous for its appearance in The...
    
    " – 7:00

Wall of Sound (Japanese edition)

The Japanese edition of the Wall of Sound album includes a bonus CD with the following tracks:

1. "You Want It Back" – 6:01
2. "360° (Oh Yeah)" – 4:29
3. "Go Faster" – 6:12
4. "Ron's Theory" – 6:38
5. "Dive" – 7:04

Dreamworks

The DreamWorks label released the album in North America and South America. This edition differs from the Wall of Sound album by removing "Echo And Bounce" from the soundtrack, and adding "You Want It Back", a collaboration with the Jungle Brothers

Jungle Brothers

The Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop group that pioneered the fusion of jazz and hip-hop and also became the first hip-hop group to use a house-music producer. The group began performing in the mid-1980s and released its first album, Straight Out the Jungle, in July 1988...

, added at the end of the CD. The version of "Oh Yeah" was retitled to "360° (Oh Yeah?)", and features vocals from De La Soul

De La Soul

De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...

, which are absent from the WoS release.

All tracks by Alex Gifford except were noted

1. "Take California" – 7:21
2. "Velvet Pants" – 5:46
3. "Better?" (Will White) – 2:03
4. "360° (Oh Yeah?)" (De La Soul, Gifford) – 4:27
5. "History Repeating" – 4:02
6. "Winning Style" – 5:58
7. "Bang On!" – 5:44
8. "A Number Of Microphones" (White) – 0:45
9. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (John Barry) – 9:20
10. "Bigger?" – 2:20
11. "Cominagetcha" – 7:02
12. "Spybreak!
    Spybreak!
    “Spybreak!” is a 1997 single by the big beat group Propellerheads from their first album, Decksandrumsandrockandroll. There are two versions of this song, called Spybreak! and Spybreak! . The former is approximately three minutes longer than the latter.It is most famous for its appearance in The...
    
    " – 6:58
13. "You Want It Back" (Jungle Brothers, White) – 5:59

Personnel

• David Arnold – Arranger
• Shirley Bassey – Engineer, Performer
• De La Soul – Performer
• Alex Gifford – Noise
• Chris Lawson – Guitar
• Mike Marsh – Mastering
• Prince – Engineer
• Propellerheads – Producer
• Lee Strickland – Photography
• Mike Thomas – Guitar
• Dave Trump – Assistant Engineer
• Will White – Drums, Noise