Dig Your Own Hole

Released in the UK on 7 April 1997 by Freestyle Dust and Virgin and in the US by Astralwerks, it was recorded in South London over 1996 and 1997. The title came from graffiti on a wall outside the studio. Steve Dub engineered, John Collyer assisted, and Mike Marsh mastered. Noel Gallagher wrote and sang Setting Sun, Beth Orton sings Where Do I Begin, and Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev plays clarinet and adds effects on The Private Psychedelic Reel, which Rowlands and Simons named after a Japanese bootleg of unreleased Beatles psychedelia. Piku is named after a rowboat the pair used when staying at Rowlands's parents' summer place beside a lagoon in France. Block Rockin' Beats samples Schoolly D's Gucci Again, It Doesn't Matter samples Lothar and the Hand People, and DJ Kool Herc has a vocal on Elektrobank.

It was the first Chemical Brothers album to reach number one in the UK, and was certified platinum by the BPI in January 2000. Five singles were released: Setting Sun, Where Do I Begin, Block Rockin' Beats, Elektrobank (number 17) and The Private Psychedelic Reel, a numbered release that could not chart. Charles Aaron wrote in Spin that nearly every track has a separate identity and that the album has an order and a flow. Rolling Stone's David Fricke called it a wild beauty of a record. Mixmag gave it 10 out of 10, Q readers voted it the 49th greatest album of all time in 1998, and it was nominated for the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.