Customer Rating: 
Summary: techno-drumbeats
Comment: This CD is a excellent mixture of drum and bass. Arguably one of his best works!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Photek's Masterpiece
Comment: this is all photek was on his debut, "Modus Operandi", but with some dressing added, if you will. while photek is known for Drum n' Bass, there are 2 house tracks and one ambient track on here that are very worthwhile. The opening track, Terminus starts off with beats like none other and by the time it reaches full swing, youll find yourself wanting more. also be sure to check out the house track Mine to Give featuring the awesome voice of Robert Owens. the title track, Solaris is perfect in every way, and is a real chill out song on a great chill out album which is a necessity for those long trips where you have nothing to do and just feel like tuning out to everything around you. Solaris by Photek is sure to open up new worlds for fans old and new
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Photek Solaris
Comment: Comparing this to "Form and Function" is quite a big jump, but never the less the Photek soul is still visible. I wasn't all into diva singing...I almost regretted buying the CD completely, especially when I discovered the next track had the same deal once again. But I gave it another chance and they grew on me, and before I even realized I was singing along! Along with all the uniquely developed sounds, the song order rolls on very nicely. It beings quite chaotic, but positive, then aims towards love, gets aggressive, then very glum. People that don't like this CD are shying away from Photeks experimentation that's executed extremely well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: if this is bad then I can't wait to hear the good stuff!
Comment: i've never heard of photek.then one day i stumbled upon 'solaris' at the music store and was instantly taken by the CD for two reasons: 1)the CD cover, a cerulean blue sky meeting a cerulean blue sea in some far off exotic locale was the most gorgeous CD cover i've seen in a long time and 2) the CD title 'solaris' is the name of one of my favorite foreign sci-fi movies. so warily i shelled out the fifteen bucks for it, popped it in my stereo and was immediately suprised by what i heard.
judging by other reviews, die-hard fans are saying he's selling out with this release and i don't know if he is. if 'solaris' is any indication of what he's capable of doing then the man is a genius.
'terminus' is a weird track i liked the moment i heard that familar yelping synth sampled from autechre. two sets of conflicting yet complimentary jungle beats battle it out over a lot of synth keyboard.
'junk' is my favorite track w/ it's throbbing warbled bassline, a trippy jungle beat and the word 'junk' repeated at intervals. i can never sit still when i listen to it. this track is the closest thing to perfection on 'solaris'.
'infinity' is true d'n'b and sounds a lot like roni size w/ a little bit of u-ziq thrown in for good measure (maybe it's all those rising strings that make me think that).
'lost blue heaven' is like a dragged down, slowed up version of the orb's 'plum island' even down to the echoed out bjorkesque vocals. drifty, dreamy dub.
'solaris' is another track of pure perfection. a throbbing house beat doubled back on itself that you can feel at the bottom of your belly with an eerie melody and a weird solar wind effect (possibly a sample from the movie 'solaris'?). if swayzak did dark menancing house tracks this would be it.
'glamourama' sounds like filler to me. minimal trance stuff i danced to at early 90s raves in san francisco. a repetitous beat, 4/4 claps, hi'hats and some gal rambling on and on in french. YAWN.
i also have to admit the two actual 'house' tracks on here, 'mine to give' and 'can't come down', are pretty weak (although robert owens has an awesome voice, it just doesn't quite gel with photek's beats). of the two, 'mine to give' is the best. it's turer to the stripped down minimal Detroit techno grooves associated w/ a lot of house music which is probably why it's one of the singles off this release. in any case it's still good stuff.
i know i will definitely buy photek's previous releases. if this is considered his worst 'sell out' CD, then i can't wait to hear what's considered to be his best.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Unexpected cool
Comment: I remember feeling betrayed when I read that Rupert Parkes was experimenting with house on Solaris. Parkes? The same man who gave us "Ni Ten Ichi Ryu"? That turned me off. I was really into his brand of martial arts-inspired jungle.So for the longest time, I had no intention of getting Solaris. Then recently my brother and I decided to pool some record store club cards and claim a free CD. We couldn't really agree on something that we both wanted (within the offer's price restrictions), but after some pressure - including the store closing as we argued - my brother gave into Photek as a suggestion.
I'm glad he did. The two house tracks on the album ("Can't Come Down" and the ridiculously successful "Mine to Give") still feature Parkes' signature sound, the meagre changes being vocals and a 4/4 beat. The rest of Solaris is basically a logical progression from Modus Operandi - brooding and somewhat minimalist, with heavy staccato bass hits. But whereas MO had a film-noir feel, Solaris is science-fiction. It's difficult to explain how this translates into music. Have a listen to samples of "Junk" and "Halogen" though, and you'll know what I mean.
The only reason I've knocked a star off of my review is because parts of some tracks seem sterile and uninspired. If you're willing to put up with this, as I am, then Solaris is a recommended buy. Even for fans of earlier Photek.
