Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Very nice instrumental work.
awesome
5/8/25. Pretty typical sound from the 90s electronic/big beat scene. Somewhat enjoyable, but don't know if I would revisit.
damn I forgot to save my notes whatever this was some real wonky house goodness that's all I really have to say
I saw this was a 90s electronica album and prepared for the worst, but was pleasantly surprised after listening to it. This album did a great job of standing out from your typical repetitive, mundane electronica from the times. The vocals on some songs kept the air fresh and the tempo changes from track to track were necessary. It kept me interested (although there were some dull moments) for most part and I largely enjoyed what I was listening to. Didn't mind the length too much, either. Overall, a good chill album to bump.
This would be really good for 1992
It's a long album, but it's a lot of fun to listen to.
This album generally sits between annoying and boring for me. Starting off with the Macarena sounding Release the Pressure, and then following it up with Afro Left where they do that thing with their tongue and make a noise with it against their lips like a school kid taunting someone... yeah. Not enjoying this one. Otherwise it's kinda atmospheric dance beats that are repetitive, and wouldnt be out of place on a video game soundtrack. Didn't listen to the whole thing, kinda skimmed around when I realized early on that I wouldn't like it. Was kinda enjoying the vibe of Original, but the vocals ruined it. Dunno what it is with EDM records and their monotone talk-singing, but it just doesn't sound good to me. Some songs like Original and Inspection (Check One) almost verge on Massive Attack-esque trip hop, but its not enough, and not good enough. On top of that, and hour and nine minutes of this is entirely too much.
There are for sure better electronica records than this piece of badly aged elevator stuff.
when people attach the operative word "progressive" to anything, they usually mean something forward thinking, daringly structured, and artful. progressive rock, progressive soul, progressive pop. leave it to prog house to have the prog refer to how tracks "progress" over multiple sections. it's like how the "post-" in post-grunge doesn't mean Nickleback is using timbres. therefore, whenever i see a track labeled "progressive house" im basically understanding it as "house that anyone can potentially hear in a big club". i think most of the people who are heavily into EDM first heard of it from a prog house track. how appropriate for the inventors of The People's 120 BPM to be named "Leftism." i do think that this fulfills its mission statement of sounding cool as fuck but also being relatively approachable. i could enjoy it sober, i could enjoy it while ricocheting through a pocket dimension of DMT receptors. all the tracks here sound like they were custom made to be the best part of an hour long mix, causing people to go "awww yeah" the second the drums kick in. i appreciate the hyper-artificial soundscapes of this genre too, and thank it every day for basically being one of the most influential sounds in EDM. it's the soundtrack to PLUR. but that's also partially why i don't fully love it? i feel like the reason all the sad nerds gravitated towards braindance is because it lacked the toxic positivity of being so in love with the world, man. the experimental touches of Autechre and Aphex or the spooky hauntology of BoC are a different aesthetic experience to the Matrix Bullet Time of "Space Shanty". that song's incredible, but i bet you there are a million other prog house dudes biting from it. they're allll making nigh identical music to fill the rest of the hour long DJ mix. maybe it's the unfortunate orientalism of vaguely "tribal" sounds like sitars and African drumming and dub toasting, but this record feels a bit TOO earnest, to the point of naivety. if i wasn't in a good mood, it would be oppressive, especially on headphones. hell, it might be more oppressive if i was in the club -- what if i was having a horrible time and the only thing i could hear was cool breakbeats and trancey leads in major key? plus, to paraphrase one of the few decent memes from the dying internet: "You Bitches Be Like 💖✨🎶🧳🌈PLUR💖✨🎶🧳🌈 But Are Actually Horrible Human Beings". i had a friend get spiked a bit back and let me tell you -- not everyone on Earth is your brother. some of them are gross cousins who steal money from their mom's purse and they do not need to be part of the Global Tribe of Love. fuck 'em.
2.25/5 enjoyed some of the songs as background music
Quite liked it. More melodic than some other electronic albums on this list. Too long though
Very good. Didn't realise Original was by them. Only not a 5 become the opening track reminded me of The Macarena. Probably not their fault!
Like I said for my recent review of Blue Lines, I am Determined to stop liberally tossing 5s to albums I listened to extensively in my youth... Except, like I said for my recent review of Blue Lines..I can't start here - this still sounds so good... Finding the dub influences both more prominent and enjoyable than before, I think Renegade Soundwaves debut may have been an influence. Somehow brings back memories of post-club and Wipeout PS1 days (was this on the soundtrack?).
Genre defining progressive house. I was expecting something more chilled but I’d forgotten that it starts with some uptempo bangers. Consistent and varied throughout with intersting use of guest vocalists to add flavour. Anduperb album which I was glad to rehear after a good few years.
I always thought I preferred Underworld to Leftfield, but this album really is a banger. Especially when "Open Up" just comes out of nowhere and completely fucks you up.
Som ett spinningpass utan någon skön känsla efteråt
Bão
Early dance album. Always surprised to hear people sing on these
The first minute of the album is some of the coolest music I've ever heard, but the rest of the album doesn't nearly compare to that first bit. Some cool bits sprinkled throughout, but most the tracks seem to overstay their welcome
me gustó, pero como me pasa con muchos discos de electrónica: demasiado largos.
This is definitely more ambient house than I was expecting. It kind of all blended together as a result. I guess I can see the "progressive" house aspect as a result, but not sure how significant that makes this album in the grand scheme of things.
Good background noise.
Good background music. Could probably do work to it. Not much of a rave guy but can see the appeal
Not for me
Bangers
To første veldig kule
Not what I expected. Interesting mix of 90s electronic background music and tribal music
Wrong day to listen to this. Way too much going on. Still not a huge fan of house/dance/electronic, but there are some ok songs on here.
This gets a lot of flak in the reviews here for some reason. I thought it was pretty good
If I was in a field and off my bin on cider I’d probably love this…but I’m in my house doing dishes, so I don’t.
This is probably going to surprise nobody (local Leftfield/trance-in-general enjoyer, etc), but man, this is like if they got Mory Kanté to do the soundtrack for Tron and/or FreeSpace, and if you know me, you know how much of a compliment that is. Also, feels extremely on-brand for me to get jumpscared at the start of Inspection because The Orb used the same sample one time.
I expected this to be great, and it was.
No notes, practically a perfect album. Always looking to listen to this again, it's a formative thing in my life and I make no apologies for this :)
this slaps so far 5/5
Some tracks fine; others I suspect would be far better in a nightclub after a few drinks and suchlike. Not one for me I'm afraid.
2.5
Better than I remember and definitely one to listen to while doing something, I walked the dogs, as opposed to just sitting and listening.
An OK electronic album that ends up being great background music. Not super distracting, nothing flying out the speakers at me.
Was expecting a boring time listening to some bleeps and bloops but this surprised me. Great stuff
very catchy background music and I imagine a lot of misplaced candy necklaces were shattered on the concrete of U.K. warehouse floors... oh did I mention random pill consumption. This album smells like a subtle Rave.
Sounds like the soundtrack of a mediocre 90s sci-fi RPG/strategy game
Not for your boy
Kind of fun but forgetable
Music to vibe to while in the matrix
I remember that I didn’t care for this one. Bad electronic music.
Wasn't into this at first, but turned out to be an excellent electronic / dance album. Varied and interesting a start contrast to some of the other Bristish 90s electronic on this list
Soso. I've heard worse but it's not great either.
Een elektronisch album! Heel vet! super rare, trippy shit! Sommige nummers vind ik heel vet, maar er zit ook best wel wat meh spul tussen hoor! Het begint ook echt ijzersterk, maar kakt nogal in op de latere nummers, met de laatste paar als dieptepunt. Lastig, want een elektronisch album is natuurlijk een leuke afwisseling, en dat is hier ook echt het geval. Maar het voelt niet als een album? het voelt als heel veel vette, trippy ideeën, die toevallig bij elkaar op een album staan zonder dat ze echt bij elkaar horen ofzo. Toch he, ik snap wel een beetje waar dit album heen wilt; met hun trippy spacy ideeën. Space Shanty is FANTASTISCH - dikke acid, trippy plaaty, echt fucking vet! Die haalt het voor mij echt weer naar boven! God, wat een lastig album om te reviewen! Ik vind het fucking vet, maar het is gewoon geen perfect album. 4 sterren dan maar? 4 sterren dan maar. FAVO: Release the pressure, Afro Left, Original, Black Flute, Space Shanty,
This album really surprised me. It’s the kind of dance music that you tend to hear in travelling fun fairs, which is usually far from my kind of music. However, I found myself being hooked throughout this album, which my head bopping away from front to back. I couldn’t really tell you what is different about this when compared to other dance albums (to be more specific, I want to say it’s house music but I don’t actually know). regardless though, this is a bop. Give it a listen.
There's no way I could put up with this for over an hour. It sounds like Massive Attack and 2 Unlimited had a less talented child. Better than Daft Punk though.
Interesting and obviously influential electronic music. I ought to listen one more time later to understand it better
I was into it at first but it got way too long
Probably a 4-star album, but I need to bring a small measure of balance to this site and its hatred of electronic music
Video game menu music from the early 2000s. Please no more electronic music.
Music to get lost in the sauce.
Feels like I’m inside the 1999 PlayStation game, Gran Turismo.
Boring and repetitive video game music
90s club trash. Sounds like title screen music for gran turismo.
really just some cool tunes to put on in the background I was excited for space shanty since the title sounded cool but I was disappointed
Not a fan 😢
3.5 stars... Quite interesting album. Works well as background music but also weird enough that you kind of feel like listening to it more actively
2.5 - Meh
Not really my style of electronic music
It was alright. Weird vibes in the middle of the night
it's giving laser tag arena
Good dance music, good work music. Energetic and upbeat but not intrusive. Listened twice.
Hate it. 1/5
I was excited seeing this described as "progressive" house, thinking "progressive meant it would be for me. It is not for me. As someone who does not listen to house music, this was exceedingly boring.
3 words: Terr A Bull. This synthesized garbage is not music,
Sounded great. Might listen again later
Elektronisk, lofi, lidt for meget baggrundsmusik
I've been aware of this for ages but never really given it a full run through. It's alright, bits of tracks are cool but there's no big draw for me.
Felt like I should be tripping my balls off in some grimy loud European club while listening to this. I had and still have no idea what’s going on Not bad background music but far too long an album otherwise, strong 2/5
Robert Dimery - We need to talk! I realize 1001 is a lot of anything. Gun to my head, idk if I could name 500 let alone 1001 albums. I think you know where I’m going here. This wasn’t as bad as the inexcusable Timeless album by Dookie. AKA it wasn’t distracting in the background of me doing my bullshit ass job. Maybe just not my thing idgaf 2/5
Really trying to stare another electronic album in the face and get through it right now. All I can really say is I'm sure this went hard in a club in 1995 but it's 30 years later now and we have the Macarena. Song of Life and Original were pretty good. This album is another example of the purgatory of drum loop torture that this list seems to love.
Out of the electronic albums that we've had so far, I think this one was the best; however, I question why it is on the list. To be fair, I probably enjoyed it more because it is closer to my EDM preferences, but I still wasn't blown away. I somewhat passively listened to it, but did find myself being more engaged than the others. I think this album deserves a 2, but I'm bumping it to a 3 just because it aligns more with my preferences.
another british dance album... seriously...... 2/5, please no more. its not even bad, just bored
The day is Friday, March 21st at 2:30 A.M, and I have been sitting in a hospital room for the last 20 hours straight, supporting my wife in a labor induction process that is starting to seem like it will take 3 days. My wife is asleep, and I am lying on a deeply uncomfortable couch unable to sleep because I have been on the night shift for the last 6 months. The only things I have heard over the last 20 hours outside of my wife and nurses has been 20 straight hours of a baby heartbeat over ultrasound and 10 hours of food network reruns. I set the scene, dear reader, to underline that I am currently apocalyptically bored, and it is in this boredom I have decided to undergo the task of listening to the third hour+ long English electronica album of this list, three of what is probably 200. and it's just making me more bored abysmal. I have put the album in it's entirety in my Spotify queue, and to make sure I don't overshoot and accidentally listen to even more samey electroslop that autoplays after this album ends I have put Perfect Way by Scritti Politti. This is no longer a review for Leftism, this is now an appended review for Scritti Politti: Scritti Politti, when heard after 70 minutes of this, is a 5 star magnum opus, and I'm sorry I doubted it.
Enjoyed the album artwork, and the hope that this would be good before I got into it
Not terrible but just way too long. This is like video game music. 2.5
In my last 17 albums I have had 7 albums rated as a 1 and then I get this, ugh, make them stop.
I'm not into this house/techno stuff. This was the most interesting tidbit for me: "The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1995 but lost to Portishead's Dummy." Yeah, that's not even a close contest.
I could see 3 situations that might call for this music: 1) I'm an early 20-something, just out of design school and listening to techno while I work, because that's what I think designers do. 2) I'm a mid-20-something, wandering around Burning Man at dusk, and this is playing 3 camps down. 3) I'm a late 20-something, in a night club, about to get into a gun battle with John Wick. But, I'm now 49, so the time for the first two has probably passed; and fortunately the third never happened.
Shitty, repetitive techno. If this is groundbreaking, I'm a shoe.
= The Beatles. If there's one thing this list loves as much as the Beatles and bands that wish they were the Beatles from the 60s and 70s, it's mid as hell British electronic duos from the late 90s and early 00s
I enjoyed it more than I expected it to. It fulfills its function as a dance / house album pretty well and there's a lot of variety in the album. I didn't find it immediately grabbing but I'm sure I'll warm up to it when I've listened to it more. Can see myself putting this on at a party.
I need an EDM for dummies to help me understand the nuances here. But it's fun to listen to
Cracking! Tremendous beats throughout and a couple of excellent collaborations. Recommended!
Unclear reason
5 - Period
Très sympa. 4,5 arrondi en dessous après avoir pas mal hésité. C'est juste que certains morceaux me plaisent moins que d'autres, et qu'en général ce sont les plus longs. Mais à part ça, j'ai beaucoup aimé.
7/10
It's dance, it's pop, it's upbeat. This record has its place, but this isn't something I would listen to every day. The sequencing is well done and it's very typical of a dance/house/jungle/electronic record of this era. Not bad.
I could see this being fun at a rave. I don't know what I'm supposed to do when this pops up on a random Sunday. Take MDMA and let loose in my living room by myself? I liked some of the beats that hey made, but I can't really say I'm going pop this album in when I'm looking for something to listen to.
Club Kid with a sprinkle of reggae. Fun listen, although I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy it more with some MDMA.
This was cool! 3.5 stars.
Not really my vibe. Pretty much background music at a 90s club.
🎧Not too shabby.
bad day to have ears.
While this isn't music that I would regularly listen to, I found it very enjoyable while working. Definitely some cool sounds in there and nice squelches, I'm a sucker for a good EDM squelch. It was interesting enough to keep me engaged with the music, energetic enough to keep me engaged with my work. That said I find basically all EDM so repetitive and unemotional that it's only good for working on something tedious or for dancing mindlessly at the clurb. One notable exception is Jay Electronica, who I wish was on this list instead of Leftism.
Virtually no lyrics but still good to listen to....
Not my fave but into it
👎🏻
#510. Not my favorite. 2/5: meh
Some solid grooves here along with that classic 90s cheese that's always a bit hit or miss. They really thought they were cooking with those "woaaaaaaooaooaah"s huh.
There’s nothing unique about this album, but it has bangers, and it gets wild. These dudes clearly have great production skills and an ear for great beats. They’re at their best when they’re pushing thumping four-on-the-floor beats, all with a bounce that makes you bounce with them. “Release the Pressure”, “Afro Left”, “Black Flute”, and “Storm 3000” are the real highlights for me, infinitely danceable tracks that have a little age but still bang. And their sheer breadth of style is impressive. But their efforts in more conventional EDM or even more ambient pieces just don’t have the same punch, and feel more like song collaborations than original tracks. This is a solid 3.5 for me, and I’ll ultimately side with a 3. When the beat hits it hits hard. But I wish there was a bit more consistency in this album than was there.
i fully expect this list to completely ignore innovative black electronic artists in favor of whatever this is. vocal samples were lame & none of the songs justified their runtime
Agree with the ps2 comment
Ahhhhhhh shit! Leftfield!! nice. To be honest I was confusing Leftfield with Underworld both on the Trainspotting soundtrack. I am thoroughly enjoying this album! Trance-endental. There are parts that remind me of psy trance, like 1200 Micrograms and other parts that remind me of Plastikman. Fuck yeah man this album is fire. 5 million stars. lol
Holds up super well
Solid lock in electronica music
More video game music. Felt like talented musicians having fun making new sounds....wasn't awful, but I wouldn't opt to put it on again.
Groovy, fun, ‘90s big beat dance. Not every single moment is riveting, but enjoyable as a whole piece.
Not awful but give me anything by Tiesto instead
Too repetitive and songs are far too long without any substance. Hard listen to finish the album, 3.2/10
is this english?? cant understand
Great album and definitely one the influential releases of its time.
Et af de bedre 90'er techno albums vi har haft. For lang
Et af de bedste 90er electronica albums, god catchy/weird balance langt hen ad vejen!
This was hardly even good as working music... Very minimal, very much the same all the time.
Fun. Synthy.
you know, i initially rated this a 3 and i was only loving one song, melt. but then time passed and a friend of mine introduced me to aphex twin and i got hooked. and then i listened to a few other EDM albums. i knew then i wanted to revisit this album and see how my mind has changed with my new found love for EDM. and i gotta say, i am loving this. it was the perfect get chores done music. i will say it’s pretty much a “get things done to” album, if i were to purely listen to it and not do anything i would probably get tired fairly quickly as it is over an hour long. but i am increasing my rating to a 4 because it does slap.
4.15
A great dance record. Love the sound of 90s dance
2 hours too long. 1/10 for the effort of making something that no one wants to listen to
Not bad. Feels like you're in the matrix.
What an incredible first three minutes. Bit mixed thereafter, but still worth the four stars.
A record truly ahead of its time, and, in my opionion, one of the cornerstones of the electronic music of early 2000s.
Have no idea how anyone could feel anything about this
This is #day180 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... here's to electronica from the mid-90s. I'm not sure why this album ended up on this list... was it really that groundbreaking? I've always been more on The Chemical Brothers' side, maybe a little Fatboy Slim... OK, features with Toni Halliday from Curve and John Lydon from Public Image Ltd. ring the bell. But aside from that? That said, I did learn that the term "progressive house" was coined to describe the band's style, a mix of house with dub and reggae. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day181.
I mean... it's alright. This is certainly not the worst 90s British electronic album on the list. Lord knows I've listened to too many bad 90s British electronic albums, but Leftism is alright. I'm okay with this one. It definitely reminds me more of an album like The Fat of the Land by the Prodigy (which I reviewed fairly favorably) than one of the ones I hated like Haunted Dancehall. The style here is fairly solid. There are musical moments that actually stick out to me, so that's good. The vocals are fairly minimal, but are nice when they're there. The instrumentals do work on their own though. The album is pretty long at just under 70 minutes, but I wouldn't call it egregiously long. Nothing here really annoyed me. This is a solid album. Of course, it's not really my thing, but I respect the album. 3/5.
How did the appeal of musical tastes get so far apart after the Boston Tea Party? It's amazing to me. Reading the summary for this album I was excited. The first song had promise. I'm even at the gym on a bike. This is what you should be listening to right? Well it drove me crazy by track 8 and I wanted to be done. Sorry 9 10 11 for not giving you a full listen. Your siblings were simply too unruly.
When this album came out I would have despised it. Since then electronica and hypnotic sounds have really grown on me. It’s solid music to focus to.
Alucinante viaje el que propone. Dimensiones acústicas muy atractivas, pero...
I just can’t listen to a full edm album
Good, didn't finish
Melt is amazing, some of the other songs not so much. 2stars based mostly on Melt
Ace.
Out of all 90's House records, why this one? It's certainly not bad, but it's also so unremarkable. I'm sure there were better options out there. Key tracks: Release the Pressure
I think that this kind of sounding music doesn’t prove to me skill. To me, it sounds similar to music similar to itself of that makes sense. I don’t get it.
This first song makes me want to hurt myself and small animals. ...I was tempted to leave it at that, but there actually is some merit in here. For example track 3 "Melt" is nice - that's the kind of background chill techno I could put on. It's just too rare on this collection. Also it feels like cheating writing so little about something so I'll say this -> I do like to look back and try to remember albums that I listened to that I don't remember...reasons I gave scores I did -> I'm just not interested at all in this - it doesn't feel creative or even fun. There are definitely times where there's a nice groove (e.g. "Inspection") but this album feels like a shiny and shitty toy. Obviously different genres/tastes for different people - or the same people at different times - but this just feels like (is) a pastiche of loops copied and pasted together to occasionally make me nod my head, but I feel like I'm being played. And none of these are really songs which again, fine, but I don't like it. And I truly hate the vocals (John Lydon esp good god). 2/10 1 star
Album length 1 hour 9 minutes, should be able to sleep for an hour. Not as bad as most of its kind. Still boring and dated.
Really liked it
Enjoyed this!
Groupe inconnu. Cet album aligne des morceaux systématiquement longs, mais suffisamment variés pour retenir l'attention. Et certains morceaux sont instrumentaux (ou pas loin), ce qui est une bonne surprise. J'ai apprécié Melt (instrumental, trompette), Song of Life (voix féminine éthérée). Mais sur 70 mn les morceaux ne sont tous pas aussi intéressants (Space Shanty, Inspection trop répétitifs). Je n'y reviendrais finalement pas. =>2/5
This is more like it! I hear the beginnings of nine inch nails in here, early club techno. Lots of good stuff here. I need to listen to it more, but this is one I can actually listen to again. My rating: 4/5, based on one listen. I also want to check out other albums in their catalog.
Ugh. Acceptable
Who the hell did this album influence? Utter crap is what it was.
hade kunnat få en tvåa om det inte var för långt
# 402 : Can't Listen, don't like it, I'm not sure it inspired anyone, but if the music isn't good, I'm not sure I need to hear it before I die. I can't imagine getting hit by a bus and my last thought being, "But I never got to that album about Leftfield"!".
I've never been a big electronic fan. I've listened to dozens of electronic albums at this point in my Albums Generator journey, and have been able to moderately enjoy some of them. I have a rule that I can't skip tracks while going through this project...but I had to break it for this one. I'm sure it's very influential to somebody, but I couldn't stand this album.
Some of it was interesting and some was rave like and noisy. I liked some of the beats but it felt kind of all over the place.
1/5
Best Song: Afro Left. Grungy, groovy, although the use of "African-sounding gibberish" feels strange. Worst Song: Open Up. Jesus those Sex Pistols vocals are atrocious. Overall: Compelling collection of house music. As a complete outsider to the genre, it mostly felt good, although the discrepancy in tone between one track and the next was often jarring. The vocals were also not of equally quality, and detracted from the songs as often as they buoyed them.
That felt unnecessary.
I was going to fully dismiss this as boring and pointless, until I noticed the striking similarities to Moderat's eponymous 2009 album. Still don't find Leftism all that, but I do have respect for strongly influencing an outstanding album coming after it.
Kinda bad
Interesting kind of electronic techno stuff. Not really my favourite but I like that it came up 6/10
I got the gist after the first CD. That is not a compliment. 2/5
I enjoyed this electronic album much more than most of what I've gotten on this list. For some reason, it was far more listenable. In fact, some of the songs were quite inspiring. Melt, in particular, is beautiful. Sounds straight out of the game Tunic and pulls hard on 90s nostalgia. I also liked Afro Left. Overall, this bum is more subdued than it's peers and as a result, way nicer than expected.
I liked a handful of tracks here, some of which I'd argue were total bangers. But it's very VERY difficult to make a 2+ hour long record where every song is offering a reason to be on the record. And this ultimately fell flat for me while testing my patience quite a bit.
A genre-jumping, speaker-bumping house mosaic that deftly builds upon its electronic foundation with diverse sounds and guest vocalists, creating a dynamic yet unified sonic experience.
While I felt this was more thorough and comprehensive listening experience than Fatboy Slime's "Better Living...", and seemed closer to EDM as I know it today (despite its '95 timestamp), I still maintain that these are not albums that must be listened to before you die. Do these songs come on in the club and people go "OMG I love Leftfield!" or "OMG I love this album!". I have a hard time believing it, but then again I'm just an EDM hater. Yet I've already gotten 3 EDM albums on this list and it's my goal to take with me at least one song from every album, so perhaps I will be a changed man by the end of it.
Another pretty boring electronic album. I could see a couple tracks in a club environment. Not worth the list in my opinion.
Really cool house album
Diverse styles with Middle Eastern type beats
A classic in my collection, reminding me of college days.
Another unpleasant electronic album.
Not really for me only listened halfway though
Satisfactory electronic tunes to ease this winter day
This gives millennium era Ministry of Sound compilation vibes. I guess it’s influential
This seems like a good electronic album. Unfortunately I don't like electronic at all. The songs are just too long and repetitive, and the lyrics, when they exist, are a bit too stupid for me.
good but not for me
Just barely tolerable. 2 stars or D-.
Fantastic dance/electronica, a lot of it with a steady house beat. Wow, “Afro Left” is a banger!! It’s really hitting for me right now but I’d also love to be sweating it up on a packed dance floor late at night listening to this. There are a lot of styles from around the world fused into some of these tracks. It’s really well done. Very cool album worth replaying soon.
I had fun with this but I wish that the transitions were more gradual. I feel like there's a nice variety of style inside of the bigger macro genre of "electronic music" here, like "Afro Left" is a nice upbeat dance track, but then the following track "Melt" is like "space video game main menu screen chill". The disparity in the energy level between tracks like these hurt my listening experience, which is a shame because these there's a lot of great songs here. Overall I definitely enjoyed it though, and the flow of the album on a song-by-song basis is the only real negative. The songs are exciting, cohesive, and have plenty of interesting moments, like little drum syncopations, and random voice parts. There's even some throwback sounds to old electronic styles that I specifically love- like "jungle EDM" that you hear on tracks like "Storm 3000" with it's drum n bass percussion, liquid-y synth bass, and dense atmospheric pads on top.
I normally love anything that sounds like the background music for a PS2 game. But something about this record just isn’t doing it for me. Thin isn’t the right word, but it’s close. Almost every other electronica album I’ve gotten so far has depth and variety, and I’m just not finding that here. Sure, I get that house tracks are long– that isn’t the issue for me. To me, ‘90s house music did a lot of stylistic blending and used a lot of diverse palettes. I can definitely see an attempt toward that on songs like “Afro Left” and “Original,” and I don’t think this is inconsistent or anything, but it’s just…a bland take on it all. Whatever boundaries Leftfield are trying to push, they’re making minimal efforts to change anything. But unlike most dated electronica where you can critique the technology behind the music, here, that isn’t a problem. My issue is solely with the song structures. These songs lack progress, depth, style, genre fusion, riffs, hooks. It’s all just music to dance to, not music to listen to. I do wonder if my apathy toward Leftism is one of those things like, “This record was so influential that now it feels insignificant,” which is an argument I very rarely believe. In my opinion, a good record should be influential AND stand up against the shifting sands of time. But Leftism does feel like it’s more of a stepping stone record meant to be looked back on less fondly as house music matured more. Maybe that’s me trying to justify my opinion, though. For once, I could do without the PS2 music.
Enough edm dance nonsense.
Unique and beautiful, but a bit repetitive
Got a lot of work done w this one on.
Oh....
Not the worst thing I’ve ever heard but not the most interesting either. Cool background music.
Niektóre dobre, niektóre złe, 3+
It was weird, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad ways.
Fun, upbeat techno. Kind of gets lost in the background for me, but that can be a good thing on occasion.
Progressive and electronic and Brit. 3 of my dislikes. Soulless.
Quite likedryhmic
There's a lot of mid-nineties mediocre EDM on the list, and this definitely counts among them. Not completely awful: "Open Up," "Afro Left," and the opener "Release the Pressure" were good. Really enjoyed the eclecticism, but this didn't make me want to jump up and tell anybody "You must listen to this before you die!!!"
Fine
Y2K rave
English prog house/electronica from the mid-1990s. I can imagine what a hit it was in the height of the rave scene and it must have sounded very fresh and new at that time. Not too repetitive, still good considering it was made almost 30 years ago and has that very 90s sound. I am sure it sounds even better under the influence of ecstasy or other drugs but I enjoyed it without them...3 stars.
I wasn't sure at first but I enjoyed it.
I've listened to it for more than an hour, it's a 2 hour double CD and I'm not super inspired by this album. I do like electronic music and this was a decent fit into my workflow this afternoon but I've heard and enjoy better electronic music than this. I think I'll go with 2 star.
Some interesting sounds and the arrangements are varied and interesting, but there is too much 4-on-the-floor and "boots-n-pants-boots-n-pants" beats. 3 stars.
Cool to hear
Terrible
Not terrible
It's not all my bag but a lot of this scratches that 90s electronic music itch. The keyboards create a wonderful atmosphere in tracks like Melt and Song of Life. It's all a great mix of prog house, trip hop and tribal with plenty of acid tinged synths. Some of the drums go hard too - lots of bangers in the middle part of the album. Open Up is still a big track with that rumbling bassline. This is absolutely a classic in the EDM world, but not sure it reached the mainstream anywhere else (outside the UK?). Still very good.
For a house/trance mix it wasn’t that bad. There were elements of early 1990s Enigma mixed with influencers you can later see with DJ Tiësto and French DJ Vangelis. I wasn’t quite sure I needed a double disc, though I have to admit, that I put it on to clean the house and it was a good listen. Not a dinner with the family album but a martini bar and get shit done album definitely.
This one was quite good to listen to while I was focused on work. But moreover, I feel like I was too busy with grunge, pop, and rap in the 90s and missed the underground (at lest to me) electronic music scene. I obviously got there when I started listening to Daft Punk but I feel myself gravitating to these 90s electronic albums and being a little disappointed I missed them when they were fresh. Electronic music is just one of my jams (while country and metal just aren't). I feel like the electronic music that went mainstream (Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy) weren't like these albums on this list. I'm into the more moody and dour 90s electronica. I'm still eating this up and learning. I'll keep listening and liking.
Too much electronica lately. I'm not listening to all of this.
not bad compared to some of the other electronic albums i’ve listened to on this list, but still not my thing. and sooooo unnecessarily long, did that last song seriously need that extra minute and a half of silence at the end???? highlights: melt, original (feb 17 2026)
Albumi #131, 11.12.2024 Leftfieldin debyyttialbumi vuodelta 1995. Albumin genreä on luonnehdittu progressiiviseksi houseksi. Albumi on mainio ajankuva ja pääosin ihan mielekästä kuunneltavaa.
I was lying it ... but it's too much sameness. And then I looked and there are TWO DISCS???? no thank you .... next!
I think a big issue with electronica is that something gets lost in the general listening experience. There’s something enjoyable about it playing at a party or in a club, but on its own it can be repetitive and boring. The ones who can make an enjoyable listening experience regardless of setting are truly special. Sadly, this is not that. I was waffling between a 2 and 3 for this because I didn’t hate it, but the last two songs I really disliked for some reason, so I’m going with a 2.
Wild beats, fresh grooves, unlimited creativity
даже не пыталась танцевать на рабочем месте(
This is just a really fun techno album. It's solid the whole way through without getting boring. Just the right amount of beeps and boops 4/5
Alright
My knowledge of house music and other genres of edm is shallow at best but I can recognize a well-crafted record when I hear one. I found that most of the guest appearances added to the energy and vibe of the track (although I'm only familiar with the Curve singer and John Lydon, of course, because that guy never met a microphone he didn't like). This album is levels above some other DJ led projects this project has recommended/served me.
Good as a film score, not good as a cohesive album
Background electronic music. Could be in a scifi video game. I did not like when there were vocals, but the instrumental tracks were pretty solid. Stand-out: Song of Life
I like electronic music but hate dance music, and this falls too much on the dance side. I think if it had live drums I would get more or of this, but the soulless hihat and metronomic kickdrum is annoying.
My favorite so far by a mile. So many infectious songs, so entrancing
Not to be controversial, but I think there’s a bit too much 90’s British electronica on this list.
Pretty good, but way too long. That's how it usually is for these 90s British Electronica albums. Wasn't expecting the Trip-Hop vibes to come in so prominently, so that was a nice surprise and change of pace. Also John Lydon jumpscare. Okay, you know what, I went in with a hater mindset, but this kind of slaps. A strong 3/5.
Een jaren '90 dance album. Je weet grofweg wat je kunt verwachten en dat krijg je ook. Effecten die achteraf gezien net een beetje amateuristisch klinken, maar tegelijkertijd prima dance muziek die nog wel even mee kan. Wat invloeden van acid house. Als je lang genoeg wacht raakt ook dit weer in de mode. Elk nummer bouwt minimaal 3 minuten op naar iets weinigzeggends en gaat dan rustig nog 4 tot 5 minuten door. Een Jamaicaan of ander exotisch type die als een soort Maxi Jazz van Faithless wat globale statements eruit gooit met betrekking tot je ziel, de toekomst of juist het nu, de liefde of de dansvloer. Een stukje Massive Attack of Portishead valt er ook wel in te ontdekken (op track 5 - Original met name). Ik klink wat negatief, maar tijdens het werk zijn dit prima platen. Een uur en 10 minuten is wat aan de lange kant, maargoed, hoort bij het genre. De op één na laatste track is me wat te zenuwachtig. 3,5 afgerond naar 3, omdat het toch de tand des tijds net wat minder goed doorstaat dan sommige genre-genoten. Als je dit een 4 geeft heb je niet per se ongelijk.
I would have loved this album if I heard it drunk at a lowkey cocktail bar. Unfortunately, I listened to it driving home from work in my Toyota Corolla.
Anytime I have a busy day I’m like “okay please give me one of those classic 30-35 minute banger albums” and this project is also like “no, you’ll get two hours of British electronica.” How many can there be?!?
This has been a tough stretch of albums.
This was probably the best house I've listened to. But I don't really like house.
1001 Albums #17 eugh dont care for it
I'm glad this was a dance music album and not a political lecture. I still don't know what makes one of these better than another. What's this comparable to, a Prodigy album I guess? They all give me mostly the same feeling. I can bop along with the music in my car, but it never gives me any lasting feeling or want to put it on again.
awful
Yes 5 star electronic album from first half of 90s, Aphex Twin, the Black Dog, Chemical Brothers, Future Sound of London, the Orb, Orbital, Prodigy, Underworld.. Leftfield fits right in between lot of 5-star albums from that period. superflow, nice beats, all extremely wel
Electronic music from the nineties was the best. Not a weak track on this album, but Afro Left is probably my favourite.
Thoroughly entertaining dance album.
A few interesting sounds here and there but by and large pretty boring and repetitive.…. No flute in the song called black flute ?? kinda lcd knockoff lol
I've never heard this before (I tend to avoid dance music) but I really enjoyed it.
This was fun. I wasn’t blown away but enjoyable.
Giving fruitige airo or a mario level sometimes
90s EDM was amongst the most creative genre of music Everything else now is just a pale imitation
Not bad.
Pretty solid instrumental album.
A few interesting sounds here and there but by and large pretty boring and repetitive. The bright spots were songs that had unique instrumental parts or vocals like on track 10 Open Up. Maybe I’m just not super into house music but it’s hard to believe that this album is one of the genre’s all-time best offerings. Well produced but not much more than background music imo.
I love this album. I know that its dance music and not, like, the best album ever or anything, but it really speaks to me. 5/5
Interest level: 0
That was awesome! I downloaded the rest of their discography and spent the rest of the day listening to it.
Am I listening to Macarena or is it Terry Crews doing his comidic schtick in an Adam Sandler movie? Am I at a wellness spa or visiting a new age cult? Whatever it is, not for me.
good music to nod off in a bathroom to
There is a song called Black Flute and it doesn't have a flute in it. Boring.
Unce unce unce unce
4+/5
Decent house album. I wasn’t crazy about the whole thing, and it had some weird bits, but I could see it growing on me.
I’m sure the rightism by the right field wouldn’t be any better. Supposedly this is great while taking drugs. That’s fine, but it should also be good when your sober.
Good electronic band. Decent music.
Did not enjoy.
This probably would've been fun to drink and dance to in the 90s. Hell, it might even be fun to drink and dance to right now. Being completely sober though, it's a bit of an exercise in boredom. Still, it got me moving a bit, so I think a 3 is appropriate.
Oddly boring album Has it's merits. Great music to work to.
Surprisingly listenable
meh
Electronic music. OK.
Leftfiel son un grupo aclamado por su mezcla de tecno-electro-house-rave-world music- ambient etc. Leftism es reconocido como su obra maestra, aunque como disco entero, ha envejecido peor que otros coetáneos. Varios de los temas de este Leftism son versiones de temas ya publicados previamente: Release the Pressure, Song of Life y Open Up (con la voz de John Lydon). Original cuenta con la voz del cantante de Curve, y Afro-left es una buena mezcla de ritmos africanos-brasileños y electrónica. El disco presenta una paleta de estilos muy variada y coherente. Release the Pressure es una buena muestra. Melt es Chill-Out, Song of Life es otro tema rave que mezcla House-chill out étnico y lo que se le ponga por delante, con Black Flute, Space Shanty y Storm 3000 por esa estela que desemboca en Open Up, otro gran clásico. Original es otro de sus mejores temas, encaja en el Trip-hop y en la pista de baile. Inspection (Check One) mete ritmos y voces reggae dancehall. Cierra el disco el dub ambiental de 21st Century Poem. Portishead, Massive Attack, One Dove, Orbital, Underworld, Inner City Stereo MCs o sobre todo KLF ya habían llegado antes (también The Brand New Heavies de donde salió uno de sus componentes). The Prodigy ya habían publicado su Music For The Jilted Generation y este mismo año Tricky: Maximquaye, THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: Exit Planet Dust y GOLDIE: Timeless. P J HARVEY: To Bring You My Love, TRICKY: Maxinquaye, OASIS (What's The Story) Morning Glory, TINDERSTICKS: The Second Album, BJÖRK: Post, PULP: Different Class, SMASHING PUMPKINS: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, SUPERGRASS: I Should Coco, GARBAGE: Garbage, THE JAYHAWKS - Tomorrow the green grass, TEENAGE FANCLUB: Grand Prix, RADIOHEAD: The Bends, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: The Ghost Of Tom Joad, ELASTICA: Elastica, D’ANGELO: Brown Sugar, WILCO: A M, SPIRITUALIZED: Pure Phase, YO LA TENGO: Electr-O-Pura, Slowdive (‘Pygmalion’), GUIDED BY VOICES- Alien lanes También: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: Exit Planet Dust, GOLDIE: Timeless, FOO FIGHTERS: Foo Fighters, BLACK GRAPE: It’s Great When You Are Straight Yeah PAVEMENT: Wowee Zowee , SPAIN: The Blue Moods Of Spain THE AMPS: Pacer, THE PRESIDENTS OF U.S.A. - The Presidents of U.S.A., PAUL WELLER - Stanley road, BEN FOLDS FIVE - Ben Folds Five, SONIC YOUTH - Washing machine, NEIL YOUNG & PEARL JAM - Mirror ball, MATTHEW SWEET - 100% Fun, LUNA - Penthouse, CHRIS ISAAK- Forever Blue, Throwing Muses- University, Supersuckers- The Sacrilicious Sounds of the Supersuckers, Superchunk -Here’s Where the Strings Come In, Annie Lennox- Medusa, Jamiroquai-The Return of the Space Cowboy, THE VERVE- A northern soul, THE MAGNETIC FIELDS- Get lost, U2 (Passengers)- Original soundtracks 1, Prince - The Gold Experience, NO DOUBT- Tragic Kingdom. Y el Second coming de Stone Roses, pero eso es otra historia...
This was a weird blend of stuff, and I enjoyed it.
I really dig trance/edm and this album was incredibly enjoyable. some of the tracks I couldn't help but here the Buck Bumble thing but so many were just head bobbin body swayin good times.
I just don't get it. Can get a 2 Will I listen to again: 0%
1. prezzure - 1.5 2. afro - 1.5 3. melt - 1 4. life - 1.5 5. original - 1 6. flute - 1 7. zpace - 2 8. inzpection - 1.5 9. ztorm - 1.5 10. open - 1 11. poem - 1
Eh I liked the first two!
These type of albums are so hard for me to rate. Did I groove to it? Sure. Will I ever seek this out again? Probably not. But I did enjoy my time with it. 3/5
Ok, not as good as I remember
Brought back good memories.
It was okay. But its a one and done.
Nah
This is good, for the type of music it is. I think if you’re into this type of music it’s an easy 5 stars. It’s not really my thing though so doubt I’d ever listen to it again but can appreciate it’s better than a lot of its genre.
Not for me.
My third electronic album in a row… give me reprieve.
4/5
Favorite Track: Storm 3000
Dated, trendy, electronic
I love this album. This reminds me of my brother at university because his flatmates played it constantly then I bought it and played it constantly
Trash
4/5. A well-balanced electronic atmospheric and dance album, implementing a lot of ambience to start most of their songs and then using an infectious beat to drive the song to the end. It's a little formulaic but it's not a bad thing. These songs sound so good and are fun to listen to, each one sounds unique enough for me to tell the difference to which one I am listening to. There are some that overstay their welcome with the length that they are but it's very welcome for most of them. I did lose focus near the last few songs it was good overall. Best Song: Original, Melt, Release The Pressure
Perfection
First of all, this is not my kind of music. But what I wonder most about is why should listen to this music when not dancing. It is so clearly made for dancing and for that purpose is good. On the other side, the monotonic 4 and 8-beat are quite ok as background music for work etc.
I didn't get a lot out of this at all. The second half of this is definitely more energetic than the first but for the most part I found this to be incredibly mid-tempo and uninspired, and I can't tell if it's a Seinfeld effect type thing where maybe this was massively influential or if it is just straight up boring. It reminded me of generic runway show music, generic video game loading screen music, generic gay club music. I'm not surprised Leftfield doesn't like it either.
Voice like Nina Simone at time. Like being in a Fifth Element scene, or in a nightclub DJ’d by Tricky. Tribal / African sound similar to Dead Can Dance. How refreshingly original!!!
This was fantastic background music for a long gaming session today. Checks the two most important boxes for me when it comes to EDM. High energy Not overly repetitive
Needs to be ecstasy passed out when you get this album. I enjoyed nothing about it.
It's like someone bottled the 90's and condensed it into an album. It's not an album I'd heard in it's entirety before, but I had had several of the tracks individually. It was nicve, very easy to listen to, but nothing ground-breaking - there are many better examples of this type of music from the same period in time.
Gave up after two tracks
Didn't flow as well as I remembered, but really decent in places.
This is good background music to work to. Has potential but never seems to take off. Forgettable.
Pretty good house music.
2.75
Great for what it is. Potentially an objective 5 for dance music if it is as influential as it sounds. Reminded me of Timesplitters and other late 90s / 00s videogames. Overall probably wouldn't listen again though so it's a 3. (Also I've never been a fan of the album cover, the one with the samurai is better)
Aika kädenlämpöinen konelevy. Ei oikein lähde 2/5
Hyvää tunnelmointia uskomattoman dänkin levykannen takana :D 4/5
Wide left.
This was probably pretty out there and groundbreaking for the time, but can't say it holds up super well in todays world of electronic music. I wish the songwriting was more compelling, I wish the grooves were better, I wish there was a bit more interesting stuff going on.
This was a nice surprise. Never heard of this group before so I came in with no expectations or presumptions. Great to listen to while working.
Enjoying Melt. It's alright overall
While I never listened to this before, this style brings back all the memories of grinding in MMOs for hours at a time. Great music to get shit done!
Classic
Electronic music - definitely got my head bopping!
Some of my favourite albums are albums that I (1) bought in the immediate period after I got my first CD player (1993) (I didn't buy very many CDs, they were too expensive – upwards of £10 a shot, which is a lot of money if you are an undergraduate and working at BHS weekends. I borrowed from the library and dubbed them to cassette) (does anyone use the word 'dub' in this sense any more?) (does anyone remember BHS any more?), and (2) were cheap enough (i.e., with the benefit of hindsight, had probably 'fallen off the back of a lorry') that I was willing to take a chance on them. REM's Automatic for the People was one; Mary J. Blige's What's the 411? was another. And so too this. I vaguely remembered Leftfield's collab with John Lyndon briefly residing in the singles charts a couple of winters earlier, and I did did like the song on the Shallow Grave OST. That was pretty much all I knew about them, but it was enough for me to hand over a fiver to the well dodgy bloke in the Enfield Town Street Market. Summer of 1995. Unusually warm. (We were still talking about aerosols and the ozone layer then; 'global warming' as a catchphrase was still a few years away. I didn't care. I wasn't used to summer sunshine and girls in shorts. England were doing battle against the Windies; on the days I was working, I'd call my sister during my lunch break and ask her to check the scores on Teletext p.341.) Best fiver I spent on anything between 1991 and 1999. It's great because Leftield did things no one else was doing at the time, sustained this over the length of an LP (although, I guess, Afro Left wouldn't be treated so kindly today. Pity that, imho), and did these things very well indeed. Bonus points: Listening to this thrust me back to one of the happier periods of my life. No money but no responsibilities = living fully in the moment. God, I miss that.
I might like this if I was a young club-kid high on X. The music is so mind-numbingly repetitive and predictable that it quickly gets annoying and ultimately, boring. This is music to dance to, not listen to. 1.5/5
Repeat after me: No intrumental electronica album should be anywhere near a best album ever list. This having had listened to John Prine the shein version of bob dylan who doesnt belong in this list either. I also had to sit through Moby whoch at least is better
If I had to rate it on the idea that my life wouldn't be complete without ever hearing this, it is definitely 1 star. If I rate this as whether or not I did or didn't like it, I'd say it was totally fine and I'd give it an average score...maybe a 2.5. I feel like I give a lot of 3s because stuff is just average. This is another in that line. Not bad, but not essential by any stretch of the imagination.
Chill