Leftism

great

I liked some songs, so I’ll give it a 3.25. It’s a long album and not really my vibe as much, but it does have some cool stuff.

Definitely a genre-defining album. Probably won’t listen to it again but it was certainly the backdrop for a lot of late nights in the mid 1990s!

You know what? That didn't suck. And, to be clear, I fully expected it to suck. House is not my jam. But the energy here is good and the music is more nuanced and layered than most house joints. Don't get me wrong, an hour of house is just... well, that's a lot of work to get through no matter how "good" it is. But, if you gotta listen to an hour of house, this isn't a bad way to spend the time. In fact, it gained a star for me simply because, even though I found the repetition somewhat numbing, it kept catching my attention and drawing me back in. There's a lot going on here and it's definitely worthy of inclusion on the list. That was VERY close to a surprise 5-star album for me. If I hadn't been so worn out by the constant boots-and-cats, it would have been. Cut 15 minutes off of this, though? Full marks easy. Gonna need to revisit this one later.

Not my style of music but overall, I enjoyed it more than other electronic albums I’ve heard.

Electrónica.

Pretty good actually even for the time, they laid down some good clubbin kinda dance music

My rule for electronic music is: was it pleasant enough to have on in the background? Yes? 3 stars. So… 2 stars.

62/100

As usual I found the drum and bass elements repetitive and the album as a whole overlong, but it was elevated by a greater variety and diversity of vocals.

AIGHT

Having only recently come to electronica, I had no clue what an influential album this was. I’d never heard of Leftfield. But reading up on them and how this album was made, and jamming out to it four times over the course of the last 20 hours, I gotta say I really get it. It’s wild! Earl Sixteen, Toni Halliday, Johnny Rotten, Danny Red. Very listenable. Can’t go five stars just because I got a little lost in the back third every time I listened to it and I don’t know that I’ll keep listening to it multiple times a day, but job well done lads.

The difference between listening on Tuesday to Wednesday was startling. Tuesdays are obviously the best day for this kind of music. Wednesday, not so much.

I love that this list shows sometimes a bit range and goes further than America or UK rock but it still doesn't make this project greater to me. For its time revolutionary but for today unnecessary. For me at least.

This sucks

Didn’t expect this kind album here, but I definitely like it

I have a bit of a problem with dance music/electronica particularly pure instrumental but this is a decent album. One I owned so I know reasonably well. So it cuts a bit above the crowd.

Meh. House music. The genre isn't really for me. one or two stars

At first it sounded like another one of those background music albums, but it actually slaps. Hard.

Lots of four-to-the-floor kinda stuff. The album did have its moments though.

This album, albeit obscenely long, had some interesting tracks. I like the alien kind of sounds, and I think “Melt” is what the Pokémon Diamond’s intro sampled from. (Specifically the shimmer sounds.) Pretty good beats as well. Also, I’m pretty sure that “original” uses the sound of a microwave button being pushed?

It's fine, but why is it on this list? Of all the electronic music in the world?

One of the heroes of electronic music, grooving melodies, funky toe-tapping rhythms, and timely vocal interludes.

not bad, eventhough I listen few electronic musci.

Koronan tuoma horkka vei sopiviin tiloihin tämän musiikin tahdissa. Ei varmasti perusarjessa jaksaisi kuunnella, mutta voisi toimia esim. videopelin taustamusana.

Loppua kohden parani, mut aika basic-tason edmää

Classic house, already had 3 tracks in rotation, however feel the three were definitely highlights, rest of the album acted as more filler. 3/5.

Estoy casi seguro que nunca lo había escuchado pero me dio mucha nostalgia. Chingón.

Decent club music

Do you know how many great electronica albums have dropped in the past twenty years? Arca, Kelly Lee Owens, Burial, hell even a deadmau5 or Tiesto album have been more impactful and important than whatever this dated dancefloor shit is. Electronic music is one of my absolute fav genres, yet it's one of my lowest-rated in the project because the representative selection is so godawful.

Good Electronic music, especially for the 90's. Serious rave/German/Dutch vibes in later tracks. It's fun, but I wouldn't own it on vinyl. I'd want a constant play through without having to flip the record.

1.5 - Way too long and boring in the modern age. But maybe house just isn't my thing?

Couldn't bring myself to finish this one. Not my kind is an understatement.

Nichtssagend, bisschen nervig

Cool album

Was goed voor op de achtergrond

I liked this more than I expected to. I really don’t have a lot more to say than that. I had it in the background while I was working from home and it was engaging enough without distracting me.

Kinda cool livin life in the matrix

It's a no

Eh?

Salonkikelpoista reivimusiikkia. Kliiniä/kliinistä. Luiskahtaa vain sormien välistä, ei edes jumita.

Hyvin hankalaa edes antaa mahdollisuutta. Yksitoikkoista, laahaavaa, halvan kuuloista.

Enjoyable. Sounds a bit generic in 2023 but obviously that isn't fair.

Fantastic and stands up well despite being almost 30 years old

I don’t like house, but I liked this. I’m a fan.

good but I don’t love house music

Album #: 310 (issued, #287 rated) first impressions: Oh this might be interesting (& what felt like 40 minutes and 3 songs in -- ok maybe I was wrong.) after listening through: I will not be listening to the extended version. I get it. It's kind of fun for a little bit and I'm sure sounds better when you're on ketamine. But I don't like contemporary EDM much and don't like this prototype for it. post-reading reviews/wiki: *Imagines everyone who loves this album dancing in that cybergoths dancing under a bridge meme video* recommended for: cosplaying club scenes in early seasons of Sex & the City

do i buy country life butter.... open up is a pretty epic track but it's a stand alone belter on this album the rest is nicely produced but fairly forgettable. Rhythm and stealth is a far superior album. that said it's better than 70% of the shite on this list.

A disabled dog limping into the sea to drown. It's okay Little Jake, it's okay. You don't have to be afraid anymore. Lick your bum bum one last time and say goodbye.

Not arsed

Wow, amazing early stuff!

I went forcthe originsl version not the remastered as the remastered one was double the length. Although I recognised the album cover I don't think I'd heard of the band before so I was expecting to hate it. I loved it!

There's some interesting bits here and there, a few dub infused tracks that I kinda like bit everything is waaaay toooo loooong and in the end it's just generic. I could definitely make through life without ever knowing that this existed.

didn't listen to it all. sort of jumbles the brain 2.8

I know very little about house music, but this album does bump. Space Shanty really got me grooving, and the singles spread throughout were also solid. The bass is really heavy on most songs, and I love that. I don’t think I have the context to truly appreciate this one, but I can see how this would have influenced Disclosure or the EDM crowd. Would plan to come back to this one.

Test

Really love the sped-up reggae groove on the first track. Overall vibe of the album is very euphoric, with some high-energy parts and some much mellower.

House music. Well, not the "pure" kind of it that can be found in LFO's "Frequencies" or some of theose earlier Detroit acts. More like a "big beat" version of it. The Prodigy specialized in "punk" aggro energy, while The Chemical Brothers favored pyrotechnic psychedelics (or psychedelic pyrotechnics, I don't know...). Leftism's own trick was to sprinkle a lot of dub or reggae influences here and there. And it works out. Mostly. Even if that fomula didn't yield tracks that were as successful or memorable as the hits released by the two aforementioned acts. This album is what it is, I guess. Some of it aged surprisingly well, some of it didn't. I'm rather indifferent to the whole thing, to be honest. It's hard to invest emotions into a style originally meant to point towards the future (see the name of the cut closing the proceedings), which, ironically, sounds so dated now. Yet I can still sense that a lot of imagination has been put into most of those compositions, and that its tracklisting is pretty dynamic, building up to an interesting John Lydon featuring on the penultimate song. 3/5 for the purposes of this list, translating to a 8/10 grade for more general purpose (5+3). Number of albums left to review: 426 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 264 Albums from the list might* include in mine later on: 141 (including this one, waiting to see of it grows on me later on). Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 174

Started well, but went a bit too leftfield after that

Hacienda

Electronic

Je m'attendais à une compilation de discours de Bernie Sanders

de quoi rythmer une aprem de crochet dans le train

As we get ointo the last couple of months of our 1001 journey I wonder how long it will be until we start to react to another electronic album the way one of our group members reacts to another acoustic folk album. This electronic album didn't cause that reaction with me anyway. I quite liked it especially the way African / Jamaican sounds were fused in. Johnny Rotten was also a nice touch

I remember a soccer mom in my Spinning class saying to me while we were climbing out of the saddle to Afro Left, “This is really weird – but I Love it!”. While there’s an infinite number of great electronic dance music singles out there, this is, in my books, the greatest dance music album. 1001 has thrown us the top LPs by Leftfield's peers, the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Daft Punk & Fat Boy Slim and while Leftism may not have a catchy chart-topping hit, the album is much more listenable. Of course, they cheat a bit by mixing in other musical styles, most notable reggae, but House Music is still at the core. And compared to their peers, Leftism still sounds fresh nearly 30 years later. This is the first time ever that my co-judge has asked me to turn up the music at dinner.

Wow they really threw everything into this EDM album, D&B, trance, dance hall, dub etc, but that's not necessarily a good thing as I found myself getting bored with the long interminable beats so I fast forwarded through most of the tracks. I see that Portishead's Dummy beat this out for the Mercury Prize in 1995, and deservingly so. Hearing Johnny Lydon's voice on Open Up was a bit jarring also. I think if I was on a dance floor this album would have resonated with me better, but as it is, I'm working at my desk so it sounds pretty dated and monotonous.

it’s ok u can dance to it i guess

Archetypal 90's trance. I kinda like this sort of vibe- easy to chill to.

I got through one and a half songs.

Brilliant dancefloor that (unlike many others) works well at home. Inventive and excellent production.

malazo

Wow, another beats album…haven’t heard 50 of those already on this list..

2bstars mainly because of the runtime and the repetitiveness

Nice sounding record and pleasing background music. I don't listen to much British electronic music and I can't stand most club music. This one is listenable, so this one gets a pass. Essential? Definitely not from me.

A very good collection of tunes. Chilled at times, but also energetic sometimes.

I liked the electronic house sounds, but overall it felt bloated and unstructured. There were not any moments where I went "Hm, interesting". I was even stoned while listening to it but even that didn't help apparently. i'm giving it a three only because I'm a simp for electronic music.

Kinda vibey, but also not my favorite. It reminds of techno music, but also music that you see in movies when someone is hallucinating.

Way too long both album and individual songs, boring and uninteresting songs. Might have been good at the time but if so it's aged like milk.

It was too housey for me, but some of the songs were catchy.

What the heck? I guess I like house music. I came here to be surprised by music and that's what this album did. Big fan of the African style rhythm mixed into the dance-y house music. Solid 4.1

This was fine in the background.

If I were to rate this as house music, it rates very highly. It's far less tedious than most, incorporates some other interesting elements, and made for a background that caused the people in the room to start moving unconsciously to the beat. But being house music, it is still a bit tedious.

I didn't know what to expect as I crawled into bed, slipped the earbuds in and started the album as my bedtime lullaby. I was transported to a cool dance club for 70 minutes and I loved it!

Oh, hell yes! One of the best electronica albums we’ve had I think. A delicious and relaxing groove.

I’m a fan of electronic music and this is a great electronic music album! It’s chill, interesting, smooth, and a great addition to my music library. I love it!

I was unfamiliar with this one. Glad I discovered it. Great '90s electronica sound.

I only liked Melt, everything else is not my jam. Melt reminded me of Fez.

EIIIIIIIII miten voi leftistit tehdä tälläistä musiikkia... 2 tuntnin elektroniikka trance pumputus jarremaista ripottelua möhkäle albumi konsanaan. niin vitun nannaa, ei haittaisi kuunnella tämä albumi vaikka 1001 päivää mutta huomenna herätään ja vastassa 1984 brittiläinen post-punk new wave klassikko jonka takia tapan itseni. kun luette tätä, olen jo kuollut. afro left

Epic! Took me to another time and place for sure!

So close to 5 stars. Just such an excellent Dance album with so much variety.

Music like this is the reason you'll never find me in partylocations like Ibiza. To me, that's just background noise.

Decent, especially the John Lydon song, but dance music albums often drag a bit. I prefer their later stuff, ii think, but didn't hate this.

Great to workout to, but Icannot imagine any other time I'd ever want to hear this again.

Me and electronica just dont get on, and thats fine 2/5

really great, would be great to smoke to

House progresivo. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

Progressive house.

Don't we already have like 3 John Lydon albums on this list? Why do we have to be subjected to him on a featured song on an already overly-long album?

There’s clearly something going on here, I just don’t think I’m getting it. Spooky 90s dance with lots of wailing backing vocals and jungle drums. Interesting but not very exciting to me.

Very different to anything else I have listened to so far. I liked the vocals on the first fee tracks and the varied choices of drums were good. It felt like the songs went on for a long time but I still thought it wasn't a bad album

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would since I’m not really into House.

Another 90s album recommended to me that is again very much of its time. Fits right in with Prodigy, Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, and so on. Made for the clubs so a little harder to appreciate while working on the couch, but it is good for focus. The production is flawless, and it's a trip to listen to with headphones or a multi-speaker system. I'm between a 3 and 4 on it. If it had my favorite Leftfield track ("A final hit") on it, easily 4.

Love it! I’m not familiar with electronic genres, so this was a revelation!

Leftism is the debut album by English electronic music duo Leftfield. This progressive house album was mostly critically acclaimed at release and was praised for being one of the first album-length works of dance music - especially from Britain. The labeled genre of progressive house doesn't quite cover the wide range of EDM influences like tribal, trance, and more. This album is a classic in the EDM - more specifically house - genre. I loved Leftfield's sound that can be enjoyed just by relaxing or dancing. It was such a great piece of EDM history from the 90's, that I thought was weird I had never heard of this album or duo before. This was a wonderful album!

It’s pretty long, and I’m not struck by any of it. I’m sure it’d be amazing in the right situation…like rolling in a club.

3/5

Un álbum de electrónica que si bien, se escucha bastante influyente, no envejeció bien, habiendo inspirado géneros mucho más interesantes, con sonidos mucho más atrapantes y envolventes. De todas formas, es una pieza fundamental del desarrollo de los subgéneros de la electrónica, como el House y a la estética “hippie” relacionada con la cultura raver.

sounds like a rave in a bad 90's movie. mediocre

Damn, where the hell has this been all my life? I was semi-aware of the name Leftfield but I'd never really looked into their work or realised just how much of an influence on electronic they had. I love all things that ooze that mid-90s rave culture, honestly. Unfortunately I was born too late to experience that era first-hand, but the revival of 90s and 00s video game nostalgia as of late (such as those classic/retro "PS1" Jungle playlists suddenly all over YouTube) warms my heart in a great way. Sure enough, a Leftfield B-Side made it into the Wipeout soundtrack, and that happens to be one of my favourite racing game franchises. This is just an amazing journey into a soundscape of electronica, house, dub, trance and all the rest. This is probably wildly enhanced by the 90s British rave trend of being absolutely off your face, but to me it very much holds up without that. I know what I'll soon be seeking out on vinyl, CD or cassette. Favourite: Storm 3000

Just techno stuff. I imagine it may have been groundbreaking at the time, but nothing special to me.

Album opens with some very sparse synth. A minute and a half in we get some vocals -- sounds like a Gorillaz song (wonder if the same guy). Eventually gives way to a dancey techno beat with some dub influenced samples. Reminds me a little of Shpongle with less DMT. Melt is a pleasant song with some jazzy trumpet warbling above some spacey drum / synth work. I'm enjoying this. Gives way to Song of Life that flips directly into a deep bass line + chant vocal that evokes a sci-fi movie montage. Oh man this song samples the same drumline that Beastie Boys ripped for Looking Down the Barrel Of A Gun (what a fucking jam that is). What a completely different usage here when paired against atmospheric elements rather than the heavy guitar riff that Beastie Boys used. Around the 5 minute mark this just rips into a relentless D&B song. This is peak study / work music; glad to have found it. Original has a whole trip-hop feel to it with the nature of the beat and embedded vocals that rest evenly with the instrumental. Inspection is a jam. Love the dub vocals. Feels like I am living in The Matrix. All around this is a pretty great electronic album. There are a lot of different textures and techniques at play. I found this to be an enjoyable listen end to end. 5/5 will come back.

Interesting mix of early EDM

Th is was unexpected and enjoyable

Not bad. Dance music isn’t my genre though.

I don't know what I think about this.

It’s ok but why does every song have to be so long and repetitive? If you could cut each of these songs to like 3 minutes I might sort of enjoy it. 2 stars.

I actually kind of enjoyed Original, but the other songs are so boring and there are too many of them

Pretty cool

One of the best albums of the 1990s. I bought this on CD from a record shop on Buxton high street some time in probably 1997, or maybe 1998, so I was a little late to the party, but I got there eventually. Everyone in the 90s knew about Leftfield from the Guinness advert, but their stuff was worth way more than mere popularity. This is an absolute pleasure to listen to again.

I just realized that my amazon music was playing this album on random. I didn't notice for an hour.

This is kinda cringey

Yeah, no... I am not into this at all. Electronic music with a reggae undertone. It is just plain awful

It's a bit intense for me. Great atmospheric opening that reminds me of the BBC news theme tune. Lots of tracks that have been used on TV and in adverts. I wouldn't choose to listen to this again. Unless I was raving. Or doing a HITT workout. Two to three stars, will decide at the end.

This is a really solid progressive house record. The pace starts slow and then picks up as it goes on. Very listenable beats and the sampling fits in well. Standout is "Afro Left."

Up there with the best house albums Iv heard loved the mix on music on this added to my rotation

Progressive house.

I'm not a huge fan of electronic music so this wasn't really the album for me. I liked it a little bit but after a while I started to get a little bit of a headache. I'm sure someone more used to the sound would prefer it.

Chugs along, has some flashy, inspirational moments; occasionally drags and feels repetitious; but when it is in the zone, it is in the zone. Good for focus work and other stuff I'm sure.

1 or 2 Stars max

Meh

Album 55 of 1001 Leftfield - Leftism Favorite Track : NONE Rating : 1 / 5 (Rounded Up) 2 Hours of Electronic Music. This really sucks. Sorry. After listening to some of the greatest music ever made, it is an insult that this is even included.

This album sounds like what you’d get if you asked AI for house music nowadays. I was expecting much more.

Mysig musik, dock lite enahanda i längden

Dance album, highly inspired, not fully listened yet but good first few tracks, pretty psychedelic also

This is one of those albums that stops my progress on daily albums for a week or so because I keep putting this on. The first 5 tracks are awesome.

Intéressant! Electro. Faut être dans le mood

I don't really have much to say nor do I know where to begin with this. I do not know electronic music at all nor do I know progressive house music in general. I will say this was a wild thing to listen to for 70 minutes on a lazy Sunday morning. It's not bad by any means, and I get the appeal, but just honestly never something I've ever been interested in.

No

I’m exhausted by the relentless stream of crap records I’ve been assigned lately. I just want some good music, please. PLEASE. But then I get more 90s English electronic junk… *exasperated sigh*. After 20+ records exactly like this one you’re telling me we still haven’t plumbed the unlistenable depths of that genre yet? Jesus.Fucking.Christ. Enough already!

Going into this, I was expecting it to be like all of the other 90's electronic albums on here: bloated, boring, and making me wish it was over. Well, this one was still bloated lol. But unlike the others, it was fun and interesting at almost every turn. I liked it more and more with every song. This is the album all those others wished they were.

Too long, always stuff like this is so God damn long. And really, the length isn't the problem. It is that the length is combined with repetitive tracks. If you have repetitive tracks, just play them on repeat.

Definitely not bad but nothing I could tell that distinguishes it from any other electronic music. 3.5 stars

this is probably too high but i like the way the bass goes womp womp womp and the matrix soundtrack hasnt happened yet and no one is smacking any b***** up and that it aint no trance and that these dudes must have liked daft punk and kraftwerk probably and that it seems like the 90s cause womp womp laser beam.

This is just SO not for me. Everyone else can enjoy if they'd like.

House music. I don't need 70 minutes of this.

Never had heard of Leftfield prior to this. Sweet jams. I love 'ambient' electro.

frekar gott bara. heimstónlistar söngur. ber upptökutíma sínum vitni en er skemmtileg. hlusta sjálfsagt á þetta aftur samt.

A really good listen. I was too young to get it at the time. I didn’t think electronica was for me. Certainly not the case now. This is an amazing piece of work.

2.5 Easy to listen to, but not really outstanding in any major way

Background music

Th kind of elctronic music I can't take sriously. Inspection is ok, but some tracks are just a nightmare.

Fuck you! Straight fucking garbage.

Open Up is so good! Love it! Couldn’t spare another 2 hours to finish listening to all the other songs.

I know and like Open Up. I don’t really care about the rest of this album though.

Hot garbage with glow sticks.

Better than a lot of the other electronic albums on this list. Doesn't get too repetitive and songs don't overstay their welcome. I think Original is my favorite track, although I was enjoying it more before the vocals kicked in.

Mixed. Some of the tracks are quite good musically, but are marred by the presence of vocals bordering on Hip-Hop, where just the music would have made it a much better track. Case in Point: Release the Pressure. But also musically, there is too much standard dance music here to be truly groundbreaking. 2/5

Had no clue what this album was going to be like, wasn't expecting eletronic. Melt is great - reminds me of playing Terraria. A lot of these songs are good, although a bit repetitive. These songs would make very memorable songs for games on AddictingGames.com There is a lot of influence from this album I can hear in some electronic songs today; especially in Inspection (Check One). Overall I like the sounds of this album a lot, it is a bit repetitive like most early electronic. I think that if you compare it to most early electronic, though, it has a lot of fresh sounds. This is a 3.5 stars at face value, but I'm giving it a nudge because it feels so original.

Good beat for some power walking. Made me want to bump my booty right there in the middle of the Eastport. Felt like it took me to Jamaica to Star Wars and some weird places in between. Wouldn’t go out of my way to listen again.

Would eat a fistful of ecstasy and listen again British electronic music singers are funny sounding Melt lived up to its name it certainly melted my brain

Had no clue what to expect going into this one wowza. Blew my mind this came out in 95. Reminds me a bit of a more electronic Thievery Corporation. World musack with some crazy good guest appearances (Johnny Rotten????). Some absolute jams and I have no doubt some early-mid Daft Punk was getting stuff from them.

Sort of chill club music. I liked the first couple of tracks but the more I listened the less I was enjoying it and by the end I was pretty bored. Not something I’d ever listen to again.

Nope.

Je l'ai trouvé un peu long et monotonne. Les pièces étaient un peu longues considérant comment certaines étaient lentes et douces, plusieurs sonnaient comme des longs interludes.

if I listen at work I feel like a hackerman

3.5

Ok electronica, was relaxing to listen to, but couldn’t find it engaging

I don’t know that I needed two hours of this. Good for: attending raves, getting your chakras balanced at a new age spa, or playing Need for Speed at an arcade.

This is an clever assortment of house and techno sounds. Some classic trippy club fare mixed with dub, trip hop and tribal/World Beat sounds. I appreciated the unexpected presence of John Lydon on "Open Up." This is quite good, if overly long. Fave Songs: Melt, Storm 3000, Open Up, Song of Life, Space Shanty

3.5

This was definitely not my type of music, but I enjoyed it more than I thought. There were even some vocals to mix things up.

Absolutely built to live in my background and to potentially get me to call the police if it plays too late into the night because, seriously, teenagers. But also - extended editions strike again. I was halfway into 'Afro Ride' and was like "I can't listen to this whole album. This is starting to hurt." So now because of a terrible expanded streaming album, my first impression of this group is 'did not finish'.

Not a dance music fan particularly, but I don't mind this one bit. It certainly fills the space with sound, features some very satisfying beats and drops, and the electronica of 'Melt' was pleasingly redolent of Kraftwerk. Aye, alright.

Some interesting moments and sounds, but when I played little league I got stuck in RIGHT field. So maybe this just wasn't meant to be.

I kept waiting for a drop of something, bass or otherwise.

When you leave a game on pause for an hour while you do something else, and the repetitive background music keeps going.

meh

Its undoubtedly era defining

Raw. Eclectic. A spiritual journey ahead of its time. Bonus star for sampling the Beastie Boys

eh

Spore creature creation music

Very chill inducing electronic tracks. Rarely repetitive long enough to become stale. I like the addition of mellow vocals on many of thr tracks.

This album was decent, but I wouldn't say great. A couple of tracks stood out for me more but not necessarily the ones that are (apparently) more known.

Background music, but OK in that role. Seemed like a strong 90s Bristol sound to me.

Super cool 90s electronica. When I was listening to it I kept thinking it would have gone well in the Hackers soundtrack. After I looked at the track listing for Hackers and saw them prominently featured.

On their debut album, Leftfield explore some intriguing sonic territory, but end up overstuffing and underwhelming in equal measure. Like all the electronic or house albums I've had so far on the list, it's a product of the 90's CD era and ends up interminably long at 69 minutes, with over half the tracks around the 7 minute mark. The best praise "Leftism" is deserving of is that it's immaculately engineered. Clean, tough and spacious, it sounds great and would surely be a good candidate for showing off a new hi-fi or club sound system. Some of the vocal tracks were intriguing at times: "Release the Pressure" is a solid start, with its fluttering synths and pads gently building into a shapeshifting, pulsing manifesto. Earl Sixteen is a great fit for vocals here, particularly when his ethereal falsetto kicks in at about the four-and-a-half minute mark. One must also admit that it's difficult to imagine something more "left-field" than John Lydon guesting on an EDM record for the very convincing "Open Up": another of the record's high points. And "Melt", mostly beatless, gets top points for crafting an immersive, dreamlike soundscape: perhaps my favourite on here and a side to Leftfield I would have liked to have seen more of. Beyond this, though, the songs I struggled with were hell-bent on degenerating into an endless, pulsing, four-to-the-floor beat, really leaning into house music. "Black Flute" plays all its tricks within about thirty seconds, and then "Space Shanty" is an extreme test of patience over seven minutes, as is "Storm 3000" with its very dated breakbeat. And as much as I liked Toni Halliday's vocals, "Original" just came across as a slightly poor, more dated Massive Attack track. I really did try to like this one, but ultimately it just faded into the background. I get the appreciation its length is much more a factor in its downfall than the skills of the group, as there is some promising material in here. But by the end, I found myself longing for some good old-fashioned songwriting rather than farting around with synths, drum machines and production wizardry.

Not a huge EDM listener, but the afro influence on this record made it much more interesting to me. Fun record to have on in the background. Will very likely listen again.

Pretty decent electronic. Definitely sounds like the 90s now though. 3.5/5

I don’t get it. C

Interesting re-hearing it after plenty of years, it didn’t disappoint.

LP

nope

This was alright, not my thing

A bit mindless. Not my scene.

traditionally not a huge fan of electronica but this one had me engaged and entranced.

That was the macarena right

So this album is perfect. Every track could have been a single. It’s my 4th favourite of theirs because, well, they’re Radiohead and they did a lot right. Street Spirit is the best closing track by a band that specialises in closing tracks. This whole album is a happy place. 10/5 Immerse your soul in love.

Never heard of this album prior to this challenge, so once again, props to this challenge. Familiar with this era of electronic music (Bjork, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Tricky, Underworld, etc.) so this does sound familiar in context, sound, and vibes. My favorite tracks are "Release the Pressure," "Melt," and “Open Up.” With that being said, I don't necessarily think this is as strong of an album or one meant for listening to as a whole as contemporary albums like "Music for the Jilted Generation" or "Maxinquaye." So it’s not a 5 star album, but there’s enough bangers on here to qualify it as a healthy and hearty…

Doesn't really do anything for me. Good grooves, but too samey. Obviously not meant for a first thing Wednesday morning listen while you sip coffee and catch up on emails so maybe I'm not in the right headspace for it. Maybe I'll put it on the headphones this weekend when I go to Costco and see if it improves. 2/5

I had never heard of this band or album before today and techno/house is not usually my genre.... That being said I really enjoyed this and would listen to it again in the right circumstances. 4/5.

House music that works from home with an album that doesn’t just slog on. Solid stuff.

Massive Attack / Faithless, but not as good vibes immediately. Or as good as The Shamen. Terrible, just terrible. Ooh, I recognize this drum beat... (Song of Life) Nah, had enough. 1 / 5 stars. Being generous.

I flip-flopped on this one a few times, but mainly on whether to round up or down from a 2.5. Because while it didn’t offend me much at all, there’s nothing on here I think I could ever love (unless, perhaps, I was in a field full of people at a very specific time of night). Maybe the genre just isn’t quite for me, and that’s ok. The John Lydon track is a belter though.

Never heard, idkh this one got past me? John Lydon track is a standout! 8!

Really enjoyed. Enigma, Ray of Light, dub Electronica. Gives me energy

Not even the worst one, but continuing to strike down the multitude of 90s electronic on this list.

mostly unlistenable

This album gave me a headache and had no words - 2.5/5

Yeah I really like this, it has so many sounds that came along years later in the late 90s trance anthems era, dunno how influential it would've been but hard to deny it must've had an impact. Stuff I can just stick on and chill to but also I've always found it really helps me focus.

Did not enjoy this for the first five minutes, then got way more into it as I listened. Does the album get better as it goes on or did I just get into the groove better? I'm not a massive fan of dance music, but this is way more listenable than a lot of it - still suffers from a lot of the songs being overly repetitive, but it's good. Open Up is wonderful - I definitely prefer their music with lyrics over the top of it rather than the purist dance music. 3/5, verging on a 4 but a bit too repetitive a bit too often to get there.

The album cover makes me feel shivers down my spine. Am I supposed to be watching something or become the focus of something as I'm being swallowed whole by a set of teeth? Is that a camera or a portal into something otherworldly soundtracked by this Leftfield tapestry marauding my ears? Too many questions that don't have many answers but, quite frankly, this album is really good. Favorites: Release the Pressure, Afro Left, Melt, Song of Life, Original, Black Flute, Space Shanty, Open Up.

Good music to listen to while working. A bit repetitive to sit down and listen to

Love me some house music. This album has a really great flow from beginning to end and some great guest features. Pretty sick.

I said I would give every album a listen all the way through. I did and that was difficult to do..... Loved the lyrics to Open up. Too funny. Otherwise, this album was difficult to get through. I'll score a 1 just for the "Burn Hollywood down" part. hahaha 1

I was super worried this would be annoying as fuck like a lot of electronica music can be, but this was delightful. Each song has a unique identity that had me wondering what they were going to throw into the mix next. Also not to get political but speaking as a lefty, I experience leftism every day and I'm glad it's getting recognition. I mean the scissors, bro. and the notebooks, too! Whiteboards? Literally unusable. Thank you Leftfield. I finally feel seen. Jokes aside, this was surprisingly listenable and varied. I can absolutely seeing myself listening again. 4

3 Looking at the album description and seeing “electronic” and “dance” really had me prepared to dislike this one, and I even had a joke set up where I was going to say it’s called Leftism because it never sounds right, but I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. A lot of the album is actually more ambient sounding than dance, another genre I’m not a fan of, but compared to Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno, I actually thought a lot of the soundscapes were really cool. In some ways, they reminded me of the scores to video games I used to play as a kid. Release the Pressure is a solid opener and dance number, but I realized about halfway through it kind of sounded just like Macerena, which is honestly a better, catchier song… and it has its own dance! It was also pretty cool hearing Johnny Rotten on Open Up - like him or not you have to admit his voice is iconic. A lot of beep boop, but cooler beep boop than I’ve heard before. Favorite songs: Melt, Release the Pressure, Open Up

LSD Music

I was locked in a crisis mode at work and this played throughout in the background so I made it through. If it wasn’t for that I would’ve been very upset with the two hours

Thievery Corporation upside. A pretty good time! Happy new year

En del interessant... Fire stjerner?

never heard of this band before but you could have told me this album came out in 2022 and I would believe you. I really enjoyed it and as an electronic music listener I'll be on the lookout for more Leftfield music

Overall I thought it was pretty cool. Songs incorporate a lot of different sounds or vocal samples that keep them fresh, and just in general they are pretty interesting h instrumentals. 7/10

You can imagine my disappointment when I realized this wasn't 1980s pop rock group The Outfield (RIP John Spinks). Listening to this album made me want to take a bath with a toaster. Best track: N/A

Nice

Innovators of the Chillwave genre that shows not only an influence from world music, but also the lengths any track and groove can go. These extended jams and tones can oscillate from soundscapes, relaxation, and larger peppy tunes. It is easy to see why this group had been approached for Soundtrack work.

This is like a electronic club dance album. I do like some of the sounds but it also sounds like very generic dance music. It’s not innovative or different enough to cause me to like it or anything. So has to be a 1/5 for me.

The sound of clubbing in the 90s and with the Chemicals and Underworld part of the 'big 3' of dance music bands making actual albums. As successful as either of the others in making an album that sounded like clubbing while actually being listenable to. Lydon and Halliday the coolest guest vocalists as well.

Some very good tracks but not sure if enough to warrant a double album.

Not bad. It comes with the usual pitfalls of electronic music (namely lengthy and repetitive tracks), so it's something I'd need to be in the mood for, but given the right circumstances this is a solid album.

EDM/House is best enjoyed live or in a club. Listening to this as part of this challenge was not great, bur still decent music all in all.

Great mix of ambient electronica, house, dub step, for your 90’s rave party. Would have liked more vocals though.

Eh. It sounded like every 90s house record so I don't know why they thought they were left-field. Also, as someone else pointed out, it felt like most of the album tested on the brilliance of a couple songs, which is a shame, because the first song in particular has me ready for something fantastic. I will admit it had the ideal sound for a house album, however. Feels pretty great with headphones. A decent record.

It wasn't interesting. It felt like the same beat was playing over and over again and I would not have been able to differentiate between songs if you asked me to.

It feels wrong to be listening to this album through headphones, it feels like it should be playing in the background as I walk through seedy alleyways and through grimy underground clubs in a neo-noir film or Matrix ripoff. Some cool stuff happening on here, but some of the production choices are hugely dated (the fake record scratches on Original are strangely endearing though). Also, most of the songs are a minute or two too long. I don't see myself revisiting the album, and even for the songs I really liked, I preferred parts of them over the whole. Still, enjoyed the listen well enough. 3 stars feels about right. standout tracks: the run from Inspection -> Open Up

Un disc interessant i original de house 90s, barrejat amb sonoritats reconeixibles i amb temes tan punyents com l''Open Up' amb John Lydon, que va servir de carta de presentació de la banda. El temps l'ha deixat una mica desfassat però temes com l'anomenat o 'Afro-Left' continuen tenint la seva força

Too long. Pacing is a bit slow. Pretty unfamiliar with this kind of electronic music not sure exactly what I should be listening for. Most interesting things are the sounds and textures I guess. Sounds like it’s missing something to me. I couldn’t really get into it

House music is a little torturous to me. In my personal level of hell there would be house music playing constantly. 1.4because it’s marginally more interesting than some house music I’ve heard, but there’s no way I’m gonna make it through two hours of this album

2 hours?!?! That is really too much. I'm not sure I would even appreciate a two-hour Paramore album (actually, I probably would). House music just isn't for me. I listened in the background while I did a bunch of activities but if I was walking around the street or hearing this at a bar., I'd get sick of it quick. I guess I'd rather listen to this than some of the other English punk rock shit we have been listening to.

Fun techno, EDM album

Great album

its aight kinda similar to the chemical brothers but uses international beats and singers rather than rap 2.5

It sounded like lofi study music meets The Matrix. Not bad, but not memorable.

Leftism? Biden's America eh Nolan? Nolan: Yuh

1 save. I will soon join the left

It took a bit for me to get into this album, but I really enjoyed it once I did. The music is best categorized as progressive house but frequently incorporates techno elements such as the four on the floor bass drum. There are some dub influences in here as well. The result is a great dance music that has a great sense of tension building and knowing when to drop the beat.

House progresivo. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

I had no idea how well I would know this album. I’m not an aficionado when it comes to dance music so it must have just been via osmosis over the years. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, in particular the slower tracks, but overall it was great. Will listen again for definite.

Again I don't have a chance to write my essay style review. This is an album I keep coming back to

The singing on this album brought this from a 4 to a 3 for me. Without the singing, this album has held up surprisingly well. While I can tell it’s mid-90s electronica (a pretty defined sound), I thought it only barely sounded dated. I wouldn’t listen to this again but not bad. Not bad at all.

A lot of house type instrumental music and super repetitive. Wasn't a fan

Dark, brooding electronica... felt like it was bubbling and simmering but then never quite came fully to the boil.

Just a meh electronica piece. Nothing special. 2/5

EDM...blerrgg

Alright, it's a bop. I was nodding my head.

Solid cohesive trance album. Impressive that this was released in 1995. Ahead of its time I’d say.

Enjoyed it a lot! X

Decent tunes, enjoyed the vocals too!

Chill dance tracks, nothing too crazy

27th September 2022 Listened mainly on the train home from London and while legging it to Paddington. Out for dinner at the Japanese restaurant in Stroud with mum and dad. Not really my bag, too young for the 90s dance scene but definitely vibey. 2.5 if I could.

Never heard of this group before. I'm not a huge electronic music fan. I wish I could get into it more but I didn't enjoy this album. Its just not for me and unfortunately I couldn't finish listening to it.

Happy to report that this is many times better than I remember it. By turns tribal, trancey, dubby, housey and ambient, ‘Leftism’ takes you on a journey, battering you into submission one minute, seducing you the next. It really hits the spot and doesn’t sound dated at all considering it’s almost 30 years old.

gotta dance to this album

i was not expecting such a cool album. so rarely have we had an album full of this amount and this level of cool. it's full of creative, unique sounds and not repetitive at all. there's a variety of softer and bouncy, fun songs. with the minimal vocals (and i like how not every track has vocals), the electronic music is the focus! according to the wikipedia article, this album was a pioneer in house music and i can't say i'm surprised. barnes and daley put together such a fun album. looking forward to listening to this more and more.

I found this album to be enjoyable enough, but a lot of the songs drew on a bit longer than I think they needed to. The lengths allowed each track to become a bit repetitive and boring. That aside, the music itself is creative and still holds fairly well, all this time later! If this is really a birthplace for EDM and house music, they really got things right here. I loved the various eastern and new age influences throughout the tracks. Both styles have become prolifically woven into EDM and house music over the years, and if Leftfield is also responsible for that, then they deserve even more brownie points. I do think Release the Pressure and Open Up did a lot of the heavy lifting on the album. While everything was decent; these two tracks are the only real memorable "bangers".

I find this kind music is only ok in short time frames kind of in the background. So to intently listen to this entire album where every song is like 7 minutes was quite a chore. I don't know how some people can just listen to these 7+ minute songs of like looping beats and patterns without being extremely bored. This would be a 1.5 if I could give it that.

Good house music is barely tolerable if you're not on the dance floor. This is not really good house music.

Good

This grew on me. Some bangers on here even though it’s not my favourite genre.

Dit is top!

Coole sounds. Zeer tof voor op de achtergrond. Begin van storm 3000 laat me wat aan een oscar and the wolf liedje denken.

I write almost the same for all electronic albums because it is not my favorite kind of music, with 1 or 2 exceptions until now. This one is not an exception.

Honestly not a bad electronic album. I'm usually pretty harsh with these because there a high bar to cross for me to enjoy listening to one of these outside of the context of being inebriated and in a large crowd of people dancing. But I enjoyed this one at work and could see myself listening to it in other contexts

The EDM conundrum. How do I consider music that is essentially written for the clubs and belongs in the clubs? Especially when I am many decades removed from clubs to begin with. I knew a lot of this work from singles that were released before the full length. But this doesn't play like a collection of disparate singles. It holds together as a cohesive statement and is one of the best EDM releases of the 90s.

I probably made it through half of the record. I do not like (or understand the appeal) of EDM. Just pounding for the sake of pounding. No heart or soul here.

Nope. Shouldn't be here.

Get's very repetitive and boring after a while

Becomes boring after like the 3rd track or so

franchement bien, plein de styles techno différents, vachement en avance sur son temps on dirait. ptit côté infected mushroom ?

Probably revolutionary at its time; an enjoyable, but somewhat pedestrian sounding electronic record today.

What was that? Jamaican electronic dance music? It was great.

Not for me.

Well, this is a pleasant surprise.

À l'instar d'eltrapeze, j'ai d'abord pensé que derrière l'artiste Leftfield se cachait le crâne chauve et luisant de Moby. Mon compagnon d'écoute ayant découvert qu'il s'agissait bel et bien de deux artistes différents grâce à l'usage d'un déguisement d'Eminem, j'empruntai cedit déguisement pour aller voir Moby directement et lui provoquer la peur de sa vie à des fins de pur divertissement. Je toquai donc à sa porte avec l'apparence de son traumatisme et notre ami dégarni sursauta comme attendu lorsqu'il m'aperçut. Encore une belle satisfaction.

J'ai d'abord cru que cet album était l'oeuvre de Moby sous un nom d'emprunt. Pour vérifier ma théorie, j'ai procédé de la sorte: - Je me suis rendu à Londres, dans les quartiers du groupe Leftfield - Je me suis équipé de mon déguisement d'Eminem - J'ai poussé la porte de leur studio, en poussant un cri strident Malheuresement, aucune réaction d'effroi ne me parvint de la part des deux membres du groupe Leftfield, ce qui contredit donc ma théorie.

Fun

Cool

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Afro left, Space shanty

Dinner party house. I was surprised how much of this I actually remember, it must have been playing in shops constantly in the late 90s. Mostly, the album sleeve reminds me of the Columbia Record Club ads in Select Magazine. For me 'Open Up' is the only track with much value here. Everything else just happens. Just sounds like generic video game music now.

this legit hurt my ears

Braucht kein Mensch. Das war auch damals schon nix besonderes. Unfassbar, wie dieses Album für würdig befunden werden konnte, in dieses Buch aufgenommen zu werden.

Not my thing

A pleasant surprise. The first few tracks I wasn't super into, but once the album really kicked in, I was totally into it. Very retro-futuristic. Not sure how much I enjoyed John Lydon's performance, but enjoyed the other performance. Favorite tracks: "Melt", "Song of Life", "Space Shanty", "Storm 3000"

Utter classic.

More sampling and dance music. It's fun, but unless I'm at the club, idk if I needed to hear this before I die

I'm not usually into electronic dance music. I might have enjoyed it better if I was younger in a night club hearing this very loud. I like how they incorporated different types of music in the songs. Like Dubstep and hip hop.

This is really good

Loved hearing an electronic dance music from the 90s. Cool to see how things have progressed.

eh

Great album of"Progressive House" (Prog House). Some great tracks I particularly liked Earl Daileys Vocals on "Release The Pressure" and Ol' Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) on "Open Up". Better side of Dance music here with some really creative tunes. Rightfully on the list in my opinion.

Bang chillin