Timeless

I wasn't expecting Goldie to be in this list. I've listened to this one before, but it was nice revisiting it! I think I enjoyed it more this time around, and I also learned more about the album. My favourite track is probably "Sea Of Tears," mostly because of the guitar, but also because live drumming from Mel Gaynor of Simple Minds. I'm going to listen to the 25 Year Anniversary version the next time I listen through this album – there are a few differences and I really like the original version of "Sensual" included on it.

You could say this is album is “Timeless”.

Great beats, some absolutely dreamy vocals scattered throughout, honestly I'm not a massive Jungle listener but I have to respect Goldie on this.

I liked this a lot

Perfect for focus at work

This was an amazing listening experience, got through almost the entire thing, some incredible electronic sound here even if it could feel a tad repetitive at times

This is great, flew by.

savrseno

An absolute masterpiece of the genre. Still sounds as modern as 30 years ago. Truly Timeless.

Fav: This is bad I danced my desk off. So influential: the jazzy sound of DnB and Jungle in the 90ies, paving the way to an entire new galaxy of genres.

“Inner City Life”, along with “Block Rockin’ Beats” by the Chemical Brothers opened my mind to EDM in high school. I’ve loved it ever since!

uk garage!! give me more of this!! трішки простенька на мій смак, але дуже добро зроблена робота. все одно є оце нашарування текстур, які лоскочуть твій мозок. є ця електронна атмосфера дев'яностих, яку не можна передати інакше, коли технології ще вважались чимось загадковим та крутим, а сприйняття світу ще не було перезавантажено інформацією зі всіх сторін (це дуже відчувається в музиці, більш повільний ритм, більш лаунджевий вайб). це поки найкраще, що я чула тут, бо не тільки є просто дійсно якісною музикою, але і найбільш підходить під мої жанрові смаки.

Back in the dayz i was really into Dnb.This album was the first that i bought and it really blew me away until this very day.The soundscapes along with the drum programming and the lush vocals is what made this album really timeless like its title and emblematic.Inner city life is a hymn.

jungle? drum and bass?! i'm about to gobble up this album like it's a damn all-you-can-eat buffet. this album is educational material, kiddies... a pivotal and historical album for the genre i would say. this album is a raw blueprint for the breakin' junglist and electronic sounds, wide spacious pads and chord stabs, repeating vocal chops and soulful quips, uber-fancy drum beats ... even after 30 or so years, this album sounds very futuristic... and oddly sexy. this little cd here is the textbook definition of 1990s uk club culture. buss di stylish sound straight inna yuh eardrum, mek di music tek control! budda deng deng, di deng deng deng di deng deng!! give me more, give me more.

This one seems to be polarizing for some reason? I was way into it. '90s jungle/drum and bass rules, definitely something I want to get more into.

Apsolutno remek djelo. Dan danas mi je svjež ko krajem devedesetih kad sam ga prvi put čuo

I thought, “No way I'm listening to two hours of DnB, I’ll stop when the remixes and bonus tracks start.” Well, goddamn. When the album “ended”, I was still craving for more. This genre has a hypnotic quality that has you fully locking in to whatever you’re doing while listening, so it's straight up perfect background music -- but Timeless goes well beyond that, because it's also properly structured as an album. Tracks flow well, stay pretty varied, and offer cinematic moments like on "Sea of Tears", where we're transported to the oceanside for a little breather in-between drum and bass barrages. It just does an excellent job at keeping the sound fresh and bangin the whole way through. If you're looking for a tight and focused album experience, stop at Jah the Seventh Seal and it's peak. If you're hungry for *more* restless drums and funky bass by then, Goldie's got you! Keep listening for 2x the runtime of exactly that. It's got bangers. It's got atmosphere. It's got structure. If it accomplishes everything a DnB album strives to do... how can it *not* be a 5-star? Standouts: Timeless • Sea Of Tears

Really good. Probably 4 stars. I gave it 5 because I am a low-IQ individual.

keuken werd nog nooit zo schoon

HOLY FUCK

A pretentious title, to be sure, but one that is completely accurate. Flyer single “Inner City Life” stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it on the radio in 1994 and on the album it is expanded into a 20 minute prog opus. In the early days of electronic music that would have been Side A of a classic album, but here it is just the first track. There are numerous classics on this one hour and 45 minute epic. The only mis-step is “Adrift” in which we realise how important the “drum” in drum’n’bass is when it’s missing. But that not enough to stop it getting the maximum rating.

Qua jungle-albums kun je niet veel beter krijgen, geloof ik. De titeltrack is wel echt een episch stuk, meer dan 20 minuten lang, maar het verveelt nergens.

Nothing says "lock in" like some good ol' drum and bass.

shit was fire and dope

I thankfully split this up in its discs throughout the day. Earlier I listened to disc 1, and now I'm finishing up disc 2. It really helps recognize how fucking good all these songs are, because I'm no longer being bogged down by that 2 hour runtime. This is some fine jungle work, I really wish I could dock points for the length but it's too good to bring myself to giving it any less than a 5. Still think Roni Size is best DnB, but this one is also amazing. Also why the hell is Inner City Life on here 3 times 😂

When you're in commute, you're gonna need something to assist you in movement. Whether it is the start of the day, in the middle of it or towards the end, something of a considerable length is required to help make sense of the sights around you. The rush of the crowds and the magnitude of its mutable size, jostling amongst one another to get to their varying destinations. Music like this helps with that. Whether he intended it or not, Goldie helped crystallize a sound that had been bubbling under the surface for some time and, regardless of what would become of it, it wound up being what it was ultimately called: timeless.

A masterpiece that sounds great and influenced so many drum & bass artists to come. But the title track is too long. 21 mins… come on!

Pas mal pour écouter au bureau 5/5

That was great, I'd never heard the album or knew Goldie. Going to enjoy it on long bike rides.

This is right up my alley. Yet another album I've been happy to discover on this journey. Timeless is an epic opener, A Sense of Rage, and Angel are other standouts.

Long as hell but one of the best albums in the genre.

This is a banger and right up my street. I love dnb and seeing one of the founding albums of the genre here fills my heart with joy. I played it in the car and my 7 year old loved it as well so thumbs up all round.

whoa

This and DJ Shadow were my soundtrack during some Raver years. I smoked a joint and drove around listening to this yesterday and never got to where I was going.

One of the finest artists and producers the UK gave to the world. Are some of the tracks overlong? Yes, but the depth and experimentation deliver magnificently. I met Goldie at a house party back in the day. He's an absolute gentleman.

Genre defining one. And the one i spent my final school years listening to. Unforgettable.

Fucking classic, when the bass drops 5 minutes into the opener is just epic. Long time DnB fan, gotta give this top rating since it may be the only one of the genre on this list.

meh

Fuck yes, this is an absolute banger. Goldie smashing it to bits with a heavy chunk of drum n bass junglist meat

Hard to overstate the importance of this record. Superb

Superb, and timeless 4.5/5

Early dnb and jungle inspiration

It's fair to say that given the choice between listening to this record by Goldie or ramming 15 pork pies up my ass so hard, I piss blood for the next 3 months, I'd listen to the music. That's not to say I don't love being chock-full of pie, but the music of Goldie is simply perfect.

As the title says timeless. Although this blew the scene up was and is a great album

Fantastic work. I love this album.

Non stop epic

Drum 'n Bass, my favourtive.

Yeeeew. Rolling drum and bass perfection. There was the occasional one that didn't fire for me, but overall, fantastic.

One of my favourite teenage albums

Hreat

Crazy that this was released in '95. Quite ahead of its time. Heavy 90's action sci-fi vibes. I enjoyed this a lot.

Seminal D&B. Really showed how personal and musical the genre can be

love this. Have heard bits bit never the whole thing. definitely on my play again list

Epic

slower and more chill than I remember, but loving it, laid back beats taking me back to a time and a place!

Lovely album. but I'm a bit biased towards Dn'B.

Electronica similar to Enigma

5

Unfortunate that others don’t really get drum n bass. Took me a while to get into when I started listening to electronic music. I’ve noticed any electronic album just has bad reviews here. This is the first full length concept album for the genre when all that was being released was club singles. Fun journey through ambient soundscapes, jazzy beats and space. Interesting to see where the genre started and what it is today.

Interesting sounds! Mostly relaxing and reminds me of the pure mood albums I’ve listened to in the past Happy listening all!!

until now, my only experience with goldie was in his role as gary oldman's henchman in "the fifth element". i knew of goldie, and i think he may have done some work with björk (or maybe they dated?)? both? regardless, this is astoundedly good. not at all what i expected. even the stuff that is clearly drum 'n bass doesn't sound like it. there's even a jazzy, stevie wonder-esque track that still kind of blows my mind. this album will enter my listening rotation

good

The sound, the album cover, the time period, it's all a nearly lost aesthetic. It's a perfect Drum & Bass album and Goldie basically invented the genre as we know it today. You think of raving in the 90s and Goldie is involved in some way. 8/10, I'll definitely be revisiting.

I liked this, but listening to it was quite the trip. The electronic noises are fun, but occasionally off-putting. Sea of Tears, and State of Mind are two extremely beautiful tracks, I loved them both. Jah the 7th seal has a really fun effect, playing with the audio channels. The computer I was listening on crashed during one of the sci fi sounding sections, which really freaked me out too. Good fun, but I'll give my computer a break for now!

Weird vibe, but enjoyable.

Turns out I don't need a handful of drugs to enjoy drum and bass. Nice.

8/7 no se, sentimientos encontrados. Album raro me recuerda a shaking the habitual, bloated diría algún amigo gringo

Nice drum and base

Unique and well produced, although it should definitely be shorter

This album makes me feel like a hacker in an action movie from the late ‘90s. And I mean that in a good way. (bad way is Linkin Park (don’t look up when their first album came out)).

Listened to on my Apple AirPods Max, Apple EarPods, and my 7.1 surround set up. I am very familiar with drum n' bass, a subgenre of electronic music that walks a thin line in my head, in terms of inspired creative expression. For as automatically my brain becomes activated to a track when I hear a breakbeat in the background, I too disregard if it seems to be just another DnB track, with lazy samples over swelling, expected synths and the boldest steps into track identity seem to be adding a spattering of hyper-fast stutters to the samples. If I sound too harsh on DnB, know that it comes from a place of love, for there is something about this genre that satisfies this obtuse yin yang in my brain, where a track is simultaneously bursting with energy and calming enough to put me into a nap. Perhaps that's just my ADHD speaking. Goldie's Timeless, I'm happy to report, is a worthy DnB effort, an album that doesn't exceed my expectations of what DnB can mean, but it so consistent and expertly crafted that it creates a great listen. For a nearly two-hour piece of music, I never quite found myself getting tired of what was being played. Beyond the effective moments of repreive from serene chaos found in moments like the jazzy "Adrift", with it's spacey sax and smooth vocals running eschewed of drums all together, or the constant little flourishes to tracks to keep things interesting, like the breakbeat programmed to the 808 in "Still Life", there is an expert management of tension and flow, whether it be from track to track or within some of these mammoth sized tracks (the self-titled opener running at 21 minutes!). I think this is where the heart of the album lies, the idea that it isn't enough to create great tracks of DnB, but to find balance within the album experience, much like a DJ has to balance their set at a club to ensure the crowd stays engaged. It's why my method of listening was changing throughout, because whether I was completing some chores around the house (AirPods Max), readying for a task outside the house (EarPods), or just sitting back and letting the sounds wash over me (7.1 surround set-up), the album was ready for me, offering varying states of this balanced, controlled, serene chaos.

Great album to put on in the background. Timeless.

I liked the energy of this album! It was upbeat and motivating

It’s always so interesting listening to early DnB/Jungle/whatever you want to call it. Incredibly influential and a genuinely fun listen. There’s lots of variety, from quite challenging breakbeats to some melodic, jazz-influenced stuff. The effort that went into sourcing all these samples in a time before splice or YouTube to mp3 converters is actually quite amazing.

To me, who listens to the 1001 albums while working, this is the best kind of focus music. It keeps me on task while providing a beat that makes me bob my head. Definitely my style but I totally get the bad reviews. It's looooong.

440/1089 - I kinda like when it gets dissonant because of the planar harmony creating chord progressions which don't really interact with the longer lines, creating these minor ninths and out of key harmonies that eventually resolve. I'm guessing it wasn't intentional but it makes it a more intriguing listen for me. The tracks flow in a way where they remain interesting despite the length. I'd personally prefer some more distorted drum breaks and possibly some slower songs here and there to add even more variety and finesse.

Its the 2000s and i play ssx and hit a sick grind. The xbox logo pops up and the dopamine hits while need for speed boots up. Wow what a nostalga hit was this album.

I can't say I've thoughtfully listened to every minute of this record, but that is not really the point. I can imagine myself completely escaping the banality of life in a underground rave listening to this. Having said that, it is a little bit too slow and sometimes repetitive for me to truly dig. But is sounds fresh even though it is old. Solid record innit. 7.5/10

It is a cool album as it is the start of an entire genre. And I do like drum and bass every now and then. As an album it is alright I'd say. You can still hear some things that the genre will figure out later how to improve upon. Also 2 hours is very long, and I found myself kinda losing interest in the music after 30 minutes. Drum and bass also often works well cause it creates this soothing and focussing rythme, but in this album it could get distracting with the over use of stereo and certain sounds.

Very cool drum and bass! Definitely see this as ahead of its time.

Good album 4/5

So much later Db influence 3.7

Love the jungle drums all through this, and the vocals make the long opening track the quick first love. A lot to take in, I'll be back on repeat.

“This sounds like a drum and bass album” It makes you do this (proceeds to demonstrate someone looking like they have a brain injury)” “Is this still the same album?!?” - Kerri Personally I think it’s cool hearing some of the early days of drum and bass. Knowing that as a sub-genre it expanded into multiple other branches of EDM today. There was some familiar aspects that I think I only know because it’s mixed into some of those branches of music today.

Lucky for me, I'm a big Drum n Bass fan alongside Jungle. This was some tight Jungle DnB, have listened to many 1 hour playlists similar to this. Cool to hear one of the first jungle albums ever made. Cool jazz influence throughout, as well as some fun piano riffs here n there. Didn't realize how polarizing DnB is, this music just scratches an itch for me, especially if I'm getting some work done, or doing some animation. Picks up the pace of things, helps with focus and speed. 8/10 I will be returning to this for sure.

Never seen this album in the book before, though I kinda dig the cover. Early 3D renders have always been charming to me. The combination of heavy shadows and lustrous surfaces makes for a unique look. I feel like this album could be one of many things. Either a mid-90s alt rock album (likely grunge), nu metal, a dated electronic album or something which blindsides me completely. At the very least, I know it isn't hip-hop since I've cleared out all of those albums. I'm hedging my bets on an electronic album. It makes the most sense to me given that it's the most digital of the genres listed. Here goes. Two fucking hours. Fortunately, I'm into drum and bass music and I was correct in my prediction, so this album caught me in a good mood. This was pretty cool. A lot of good effects and electronic sounds are packed in here, both of which are very difficult for me to adequately describe. The drum breaks are snappy as always and are usually my favoured half of DnB, but I think the bass and backing instruments beat it out on this occasion. Like I said, there are plenty of cool effects and atmospheric embellishments in here which the album segues between pretty effectively. DnB is good for getting into a flow state, and as such I was never really disengaged while listening to this album. The title track is the crowning jewel of such an accomplishment. Its 20-minute runtime never once weighed down on me and it features much of the album's best material. If I had one major criticism, it would be that some of the production is a little dated. The MIDI-sounding keyboard on a handful of these tracks is perhaps the biggest tell of such, but it honestly has its own charm. It's reminiscent of the rave/DnB music that was present in a lot of racing games from the time. Disc two of the album also drops the heavy drum breaks and leans into a more atmospheric, electronic sound, which I didn't find to be as effective as the first half. Overall, yeah. I liked it. It's tragic that this album is insanely long and will likely never be something that I seek out on my own, but what's here is good. A rare bit of praise coming from a miserable, overly-critical freak such as myself. Book time. "Before Timeless, jungle or drum 'n' bass was the defiantly underground sound of the UK in the early 1990s." Goldie is a unique character, apparently. "Timeless was one of the first drum 'n' bass albums produced, and the first to be embraced by the mainstream." "Some of Timeless sounds dated today, but few dance producers have come close to realizing such an ambitious artistic vision. It is the sound of future jazz from a distant planet, set to the sharpest beats." Wikipedia verifies that this album was a frontrunner in DnB music and performed pretty well on the UK charts, with some modest success in Sweden and New Zealand. Yeah. I liked this, it's earned its stripes in music history and I don't recall coming across another DnB album prior to this one. I cosign this inclusion - good pick.

****a good instrumental with few vocals.

Dnb with interesting layers.

Those digital synths absolutely do it for me. Absolute time capsule, even if it's not that good.

Massive BANGER!

This is Timeless. It’s a State of Mind.

i wish i was on shrooms listening to this. it also sounds like their songs would be in the powerpuff girls show

7/10

Candidly, I was expecting to hate this. I have very little familiarity with the genre, and after being introduced to it via the DJ Shadow record on this very list I was not optimistic going in. But it ended up being a pleasant surprise, with even the very long tunes like the title track managing to create a trance-like vibe. The record is overly long, and I suspect it works better as a series of individual pieces rather than collected as an album. But the combination of hypnotic grooves, jazzy melodies, and trip-hop adjacent vocals all work for me. Highlight for me is "Sea of Tears"

We should all be so lucky to experience a song like “Timeless”. What an opus! It’s so sharp and eerie. For Goldie to make something with such a delicate touch, something that evolves in so many intricate ways — WOW. Jungle/DnB in the mid 90’s was exploding, but with the genre’s explosion came a lot of repetition & stale sounds which quickly became dated; that’s not the case for “Timeless”. Genuinely one of the best songs I’ll hear on this entire list. The way Goldie upends the idea of music made for raving with this one song will forever floor me. As for the rest of the album? It’s impossible to live up to the astronomical standard the opener set. But there’s still lots of quality material. Your patience will frequently be rewarded, that stays true through most of this long journey. Some of it is more intentionally disruptive, frenetic, and ravey for lack of a better term. Some of it is a bit likes to takes it’s time with the ambient passages that front most of the songs. A downtempo mixup here in “State Of Mind”, a few different more positive sounding cuts there (“Sea Of Tears” is a personal favorite for the ocean shore sounds). If you’re looking for the most traditional tripping in the warehouse song, I’d say “Kemistry” has all the markings of traditional jungle. There’s the wobbly sub-bass, lots of hi-hat tics, and some hazy synth pads to boot. “You & Me” closes the originals out with those eternal piano chord stabs that turn into a more bright companion to “Timeless”, imo. I’m a huge fan of the pulsing 4-on-the-floor take for “Inner City Life”, but wouldn’t be bothered of the final two songs on this current release iteration were left to their own remix EP. If the genre or length of most songs is a nonstarter for you, I’m not sure I can change your mind. I agree that there’s some excess on this record, “Jah The Seventh Seal” is just a stripped down version of most every other song on here, and it’s somehow less meditative. And by the time you get to about “Still Life” in the tracklisting, you kinda know what you’re gonna get for the whole of this project. But please go on a walk or drive at night and play the opening track as loud as you can. That’s the least you can do to experience this one at its best. A loving 4/5 on this one. Goldie is a fascinating guy and a great interview. I highly recommend this video on the story of “Inner City Life”. https://youtu.be/-CkRvpZijaw?si=b8optcOar-4hTz5L

Cool beats

I hate the art for this record. It makes sense though: it's 1995, a pretty exotic electronic genre called jungle is being pushed to a futuristic sound we're gonna be recognizing as drum and bass. We portray this as metals in fancy colors out together by early wonky versions of Adobe Illustrator. Add a skull and we're talking bad boy goes steampunk. The record itself is wonderful. It's like a sativa, you're accelerated but it's a peaceful trip. This one has some quality stereo mixing that works beautifully in the comfort of your headphones, but I felt myself appreciating it more through a good set of speakers. You need to feel how the bass interacts with your body on a physical plane before you can really judge this. It's not gonna be my favorite release the genre has, I'm partial to Pendulum's Hold Your Colour for emotional reasons, but it's definitely getting replayed. All this texture of sound from a graffiti artist, it has a time and a place but this is the good stuff. As a visual artist, I'm inspired. Brand new Goldie fan. 4/5

I will not include the bonus edits of "Inner City Life" in this review. I can't say I've heard of Goldie before. From what I gather, he started as a graffiti artist until his girlfriend at the time introduced him to British breakbeat music. From there, he began DJing himself, going on to become a pioneer in the jungle, drum-and-bass, and breakbeat hardcore genres. His debut record, Timeless, took the breakbeats and basslines common in jungle music with orchestral textures and the vocal delivery of soul singer Diane Charlemagne. As a result, it's an album that is equal parts sprawling and hypnotic. Take, for example, the opening title track, a 21-minute epic of three movements seemingly blended into one, complete with whirling breakbeats, airy swells of strings and flutes, and Diane's sultry vocals. It's the type of easy-listening, atmospheric piece that reveals more layers over time and maintains listener engagement. Similar sentiments can be made for other tracks like the buzzing synths and rhythm shuffling of "Saint Angel", the piano-driven sway of "State of Mind", the soft guitar line over the fast-paced breakbeats and seagull call sampling on "Sea of Tears" that felt evocative of a trip to the beach, and the more introspective cascade of electronic hisses on "Still Life". It's the sort of record that would have worked in the club or as a thoughtful listen while sitting down. That said, I do not consider Timeless to be a perfect record. It is a long one, clocking in at over an hour and 40 minutes. There is an alternate version of this record as a single-disc, removing some of the lesser-quality tracks like "This is a Bad" and "Jah the Seventh Seal", but I reckon it was the standard two-disc version that got all the notoriety. Also, the album title is admittedly ironic, considering how weirdly some of the experimentation has aged. While I imagine Goldie was trying to be forward-thinking with combining jungle with orchestral textures, the former genre is largely relegated to the early 1990s, with very few notable acts reintroducing it in underground scenes. Still, I had a good time listening to Timeless, and can recognize Goldie's thinking in bringing ambience and atmosphere to a sound rooted in energy and dance.

Nice deep R&Bish

This sounds nothing like I imagined it would... and is honestly kind of rad?

Kinda long but still good

i love drum and bass music!! this gets a bit tiring as a full album play but there’s some cool stuff in here!!

Beautiful, sounds like cyberpunk racing games for the N64 / PS1, it stays varied enough that it's easy to take even as an album but almost all the tracks are great individually I think.

Its all familiar and maybe feels like its been copied so much that it's generic but i did enjoy it. Didn't get all the wya through because it is vv long!

An absolute textbook for classic Drum n Bass / Jungle.

"Boss, you're alive! I'm so glad to see you!" "Me too" *shoots*

This gets an extra star from me just because I like drum and bass. This is probably an important work in that genre zone, I don't know if it would be a fit on a list of music to hear before one dies in general.

This has been my favorite of the electronic albums so far. It’s truly cinematic, with lots of sweeping movement and soundscapes. That said, it was still a relief when it was over, not because I didn’t enjoy it but because I drove from LA to San Diego and still didn’t finish it and I can only take so much!

They didn't have to put the same track twice as album closer. Still I enjoyed this alot as the meditative work music this is supposed to be. 1001 album generator listeners just can't enjoy albums >67 mins.

No me lo escuché entero, la verdad, pero bastante guay. Un dnb atmosférico bastante guapo del 95. Me mola bastante el liquid así que me ha molado escucharme esto como papá del liquid. Eso sí, temas muy largos y el disco muy largo en general, de ahí que en el día de hoy no me lo haya terminado. Pero bueno buena mierda y ya le daré más estos días cuando le encuentre un uso más adecuado que me pida dnb. Feliz Navidad

So far this one sounds soft and majestic with great ambience. I appreciate the harmonic movements and the great singing. Some interesting electronic sounds here. I’m digging the ominous vibes and experimental sounds. I think I’m listening to the 2cd version and I’m starting to find it a bit long and exhausting to listen to in one sitting. This is a great discovery nonetheless because of how creatively experimental it is.

truly the drums and bass of all time

I don’t know if this was the first album to really nail fluid, atmospheric drum and bass, but it’s definitely one of the defining albums of the genre. I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever listened to it straight through from front to back, but almost every track on here feels familiar from years of being around the rave and club scene. Listening to this album took me straight back to my teenage years when in the mid 90s, when I used to hang out at underground, independent clothing stores in downtown Denver that sold DJ mixtapes, and sometimes vinyl for DJs. I remember hearing music like this playing in the background and asking the owners what style of techno it was, back when I was still learning all the different genres. Because of that, this album carries a heavy sense of nostalgia for me, and these tracks will always feel like comfort music whenever I hear them.

Enjoyed working to this, put me in the zone

idt i can rate d&b but i thoroughly enjoyed it

Trance-inducing and atmospheric. Great beats interleaved with powerful vocals. I also find it cold and a bit sterile. Here's some English electronic music from 1995. I think it's probably good and you should listen to it. I wanted to stop at several points, though. It feels like my anxious, compulsive mind getting stuck on a few bars of music and cycling for hours. 3.5/5

precursore al drum and bass, ma più chill

73/100. An album that definitely takes you on a journey. Has that classic 90s sound of deep, dark underground electronic music, with heavy drum and bass textures. It manages to feel both intense and calming at the same time. The runtime might be a bit much, but the quality make it worth sticking with.

metalheadZ!!

Odd for something to sound so futuristic yet nostalgic at the same time. Drum' N bass mixed with smooth R&B vocals is so sick, it's music for people with awful attention spans. Now, the album being almost 2 hours long does make this a bit of a drag to listen to and does bring down the experience, but I got lost in some of these 10-minute-long songs. This sounds like I'm watching Adult Swim and Toonami as a kid again, and for that I'll give it a 3.5/5. (Also, INNER CITY LIFE was from this album! I've heard this song since I was a kid and never knew who TF made it till hearing this album finally, for that alone I'll bump it to a 4)

I like the drum and bass genre in general, but a fair amount of can be somewhat annoying. This I quite liked, although I can’t quite put my finger on why. Longer than it needed to be. 3.5 rounded up.

Music to chill to. I liked it.

Timeless — дебютный студийный альбом британского электронного музыканта Goldie. Он был выпущен 7 августа 1995 года на лейбле FFRR Records. Альбом считается революционным в истории драм-н-бэйс. Тот альбом, который определённо нужно слушать целиком, а не треки по отдельности. Электронно, слегка кислотно. Выделяется на фоне остальных прослушанных здесь альбомов, которые в основном в жанре рок. Очень нравится, но это альбом не для ежедневного прослушивания, а именно что для впечатлений.

You know what? I do like it. It's way too long and there's way too much of this sort of thing on this list, but Goldie gets a thumbs up from me.

Execution of a Chump Beyond Comprehension Check The Technique Here Today, Gone Tomorrow What You Want This Time? As I Read My S-A

BALLS to Britpop. The real soundtrack for the summer of '95.

Eerder noemde ik de D&B van eind jaren ‘90’s uitwisselbaar. Ik word nu wat op mijn plaats gezet. De schijf van Goldie doet zijn best om het wat interessanter te maken. En het is zelfs wat ouder dan het eerder voorgeschotelde Roni Size of het door mij aangehaalde Aphrodity. Het album start met het nummer Timeless wat een soort mix van nummers is gedreven op de hit Inner City Life. De D&B klanken van het begin worden versterkt door een zangeres. Het geeft het nummer mede door de lange lettergrepen een Eurodance-achtige klank. De lage langzame bassdrums op de achtergrond versterkt ook de snelle drums. Bij elkaar is het geheel sterker dan de optelsom van de losse delen. Hierna volgt een kaler (deel van het) nummer, waarin ook de korte stilte als muzikaal element wordt meegenomen. Dit eerste nummer van 20 nummer geeft een duidelijk beeld van de rest van het album. Het zoekt steeds wat voor die tijd vernieuwende elementen. Over het algemeen geldt dat op verschillende manieren rust en snelheid mooi samengebracht worden. Af en toe is er een uitstapje. Zo biedt het tweede nummer rave-achtige geluiden. En zijn de beatloze toeters met het ge-lalala van Adrift een belachelijk intermezzo op een rare plek op het album. Ik kom er wel overheen. Wel skip ik een paar van dit soort dingen als ik het een tweede keer opzet. Maar dat ik een dubbelalbum gelijk nog eens aanzet, geeft wel aan dat ik dit prima kan waarderen.

Una odisea electrónica con Drum&Bass voces soul jungle y todo lo que se quiera llamar pero tanto este como el posterior Saturnz Return son excelentes influyentes y disfritables. Aquí destacan la titular y sobre todo State of mind. Sea of tears te da un breve respiro hacia Jah the seventh seal que es d&b del bueno. Angel es otro buen tema, como Kesmistry, pero Adrift es aun mucho mejor. De lo mejorcito del lote. Esta e Inner life pueden ser las que mejor reflejen el sentimiento del álbum

Loved this, super flowy and smooth. Got me through a work day. Also love seeing lots of irate boomer reviews for this one.

Wasn’t going to listen to this, but glad I did, really liked it.

The Good: We can listen to this anytime… The Bad: Finding out it is EDM… The Ugly: The looks I get when calling this EDM, as it seems to be D&B… I hate EDM, most electronical music, and gangsta rap… It seems that I don’t hate Goldie, go figure. It was an enjoyable listen, it serves great as background music when you are trying to get shit done… I don’t have too much else to say, except that I will give this a 4*...

Cool electronic beats

I really like this. It blends drum & bass breakbeats with generous helpings of soulful vocals, ambient atmospheres and jazz guitar, lending it a kind of sci-fi feel. You can dance to it, but it also has an after-hours vibe, and it’s chill enough to put you in a frame of mind to bear down and focus on work. Full of drama, tension and release, it’s proof that music made with electronic machines can absolutely be expressive and human.

Deep and soulful vocal + breakbeats is a winning combination for me, every time. 4.5 stars TBH.

If this list has taught me anything, it's that I really should put more thought into trying LSD or Ecstasy at some point. It's very clear that I'm not the target demographic for a lot of the albums on this list because I've been sober for 19 of the 19 years I've been alive. That being said, it's a pretty good album. The parts that deviate from the DnB/Jungle kind of style especially stand out. The actual DnB songs are pretty good, too. I like the really high energy that the style brings, and I especially like what the singer does with it. To reference my favorite review I've seen on this website so far, this album is full of tippy tappy plinky plonky noises that go round and round for 113 minutes, and it's great.

Bueno igual, me gustó.

angel is such a good song

If you're a fan of Jungle and break, this will by far be your favorite album on this entire list. A behemoth of an album, spanning nearly two hours, it's practically non-stop with possibly the best Drums and Bass you can ask for. Being a run time of almost 2 hours however has its consequences. Some songs may feel like they run on for way too long without really developing into something worthwhile, like A Sense of Rage, which ends up dampening the experience quite a bit. This is an album you've gotta listen in multiple segments to truly appreciate. Going through it all is like a marathon that will absolutely leave you high and dry. In fact, while the flow is absolutely incredible between songs, this album arguably works better if you listen to each song individually rather than a collective group. The title track is a work of art with how atmospheric it can be, and it may be the big reason why I'll be revisiting this album far more in the near future. You & Me is probably my current favorite if you don't include the Bonus Tracks, in which case Inner City Life (Baby Boy's Edit) may be my favorite. They're both far more digestible to my mind, which is something I believe makes it stand out in an album full of jaw dropping songs.

A pretty good album, I liked the two versions of Inner City Life the most.

Really good music to listen to while working! It was my first time hearing of either this artist or album, so a pleasant surprise! Despite its length, it didn't feel too bloated to me, and I can hear how this album might have been influential to other artists/genres that I listen to.

Protobreakcore. Pretty fun and good electronica.

good good good but why so long

different

So this is the beginning of drum and bass. It's a pretty sonically suave album that doesn't really have some of the hard edge that a lot of this genre later came to adopt. The fast drum beats are kind of subdued for the most part, just playing background to the atmospheric samples and keyboard work that dominates most of the sound here. It's a very listenable album--although I remember hearing some of these tracks back in the day at raves or clubs, I'd never sat down to get through the whole album. 4/5, and would likely be higher if I was more of a D&B fanboy.

Better than Coldplay

Really good

What a wild ride this was.

This was cool as hell and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Neat to see something that essentially started a genre. The only reason I’m docking points is because no normal album needs to be nearly 2 hours long.

7/10

Dude, this is interesting! I'd never heard of this. But it's like 90's drum and bass. Digging it! I like it it is very ethereal, the cover art fits the vibe of the music perfectly. I'm not a huge drum and bass guy. But I did like the 90s feel. I'll give this 3 stars. Okay 4

Drum n Bass stalwart.

"Timeless" is a perfect description for the album, it encapsulates a particular style of music and would be the go to example for anyone interested or wasn't familiar with drum and bass. I think I'll need to revisit to fully appreciate, but overall a good listen.

Another one from the CD collection - double jewel case - purchased the week it was released.... Have to admit it was a bit dusty as not listened to it for along time. Its a great CD to put on and work to although does sound a little dated and lacking real stand out moments.

Нормальный днб, который в целом звучит как вся музыка жанра второй половины нулевых и далее. Судя по всему, именно этот альбом и популяризировал жанр изначально. Важный. Лучшая песня - Inner City Life.

Vraiment cool. Du rock un peu expérimental qui m’a fait ressentir des choses. À réécouter ! 4,5/5

Junglist massive!

Cool stuff

Loved!! Great OG drum and bass

cool but holy smokes this is long, and I kinda prefer more modern dnb but timeless is... timeless

I'm only 30 seconds in and I love this.

I think it’s great. It’s a bit dated, but there’s a lot of nostalgia in this for me. I went through a club kid phase in the mid 90s, and I listened to a lot of Goldie. I grew up a bit sheltered, so finding black artists in genres other than hip hop and r&b was always a real thrill for me at the time. Musically, I still think the album is so creative and interesting. I’m always a fan of melding genres, and this album does that so well. It’s electronica, it’s dance music, but it’s softer, somehow, more languid. Its Drum & Bass, but dreamy. Again, I do think it’s slightly dated, but that may be because I can’t help but think of myself listening to it 30 years ago. Conversely, it’s so unique that it almost has a timeless quality to it that would allow anyone to throw it on for mood music and get the same atmospheric vibe as the first day it was released. I’m giving it a half star nostalgia bump.

Sure, if you don’t like drum & bass, jungle, or even electronic music in general, 2 hours of a pretty stylistically limited genre is going to feel like a slog. Fucking duh. Your ears are already closed off from the opening track’s 21-minute runtime, which is honestly a great filter to determine if you’re going to enjoy Timeless or not. And if you still stick with it to the end after hating that, you’re just going to act like it “all sounded the same,” because you’re ears aren’t tuned into the ✨point✨ of this subgenre. But, if you DO like drum & bass, jungle, or even electronic music in general, you’re probably going to enjoy Timeless. Despite the limitations of the subgenre– and trust me, I do think it’s a fairly limited style compared to it’s cousin genres– Goldie is able to do a lot of sonic exploration within this sound palette. If you’re not a nerd who listens to a lot of DJ sets or Bandcamp remixes, it might not be obvious, but you can see it in the jazz elements of “Sea of Tears,” the horns on “Adrift,” and just the general ambient textures throughout this record that counterbalance the hard breakbeats. I am unfortunately a nerd, *and* I recently decided to learn how to DJ myself, so not only did I enjoy Timeless on a base level as a fan of electronic music, but I also was fascinated by it from a historical context. Literally, this is a starting point. Maybe it didn’t birth the subgenre(s), but it perfected a lot of jungle, ambient house, and DnB, and I can personally hear a ton of “real” dubstep and glitch on here, too. It made these sounds artful, and Goldie is really exploratory with the limitations. I also think that if you can get into an abstract mindset, the ✨storytelling✨ of moving from the inner city outwards and back again does fit the sonic progression of this record. Timeless is important and influential, but it’s also well done, and a fun listen that I personally never felt bored with, because if you’re a fan of these genres, listening to a 2-hour set isn’t really a crazy heavy lift. That said, I do think Timeless is unfortunately not fully timeless. My biggest gripe here is the synth pads, which feel very dated, screaming, “Circa 1993-1995!” They’re just very compressed in a way where I can almost hear their bit rates, if that makes sense. I think I have a problem with dated digital instrumentation in general, but it’s particularly annoying because the drums, while very, very, very MPC-ish in the way they groove and glitch, sound fucking fantastic. I also think, like many great club records, there’s more value to Timeless when it’s broken down into pieces. Again, as a whole experience, I think it’s very successful even today, but the energy it takes to press “Play” on a 2 hour record and not stop can be a bit of a lift. Whereas if you handed me “A Sense of Rage,” “Angel,” or “Saint Angel” on their own, I’d be so much more likely to listen to those tracks independently. Hell, even “Inner City Life/Timeless” is less daunting when digested in isolation. Again, the full album play-through wasn’t a boring or even difficult experience for me, but it is a weighty one. Bit by bit, though, it’s consistently great. The only tracks I really still found myself disliking even on their own were “Still Life,” because the synths sound the most dated here, and “Adrift,” which is doing a free jazz/ambient electronic thing that I just find silly and unsuccessful, even if I understand the point intellectually (i.e. the music sounds like it’s literally lost at sea). I think the fact that I still overall really loved Timeless, appreciated getting the chance to hear it for the first time, and would still defend its spot on this list tells me how different I am from the general user of this generator, but that’s also totally fine by me. Of all the 90’s electronic albums here, this is maybe the toughest to find the magic in, but I think most fans of DnB will find the magic. But also, as I’ve said before, I just enjoy music that would play during the character select screen on a PS2 game, and that is very much the vibe here.

I like the music but the album is too long.

The hundreds, if not thousands, of people that are regularly reading my review notes will already be aware that this album was originally released during my drug-addled peak years. It's a classic. It was one of the first of it's kind and spawned a lot of copies.

Groovy electronic/light guitar/ studio beats

Great sountrack for trail running.

Great DnB album, though it is really carried by the opening track. This list needs more genres other than Rock.

D&B legend, great album

Dnf

I really liked the album. First song was a bit long but overall the vibe of the album was great. I am a huge fan of liquid dnb so it was cool to see that music like this has been around since 1995. Would listen to it again.

I thought I was really far into the album and when I went to see what tra k I was on it was still the first track.

Świetny album. Trzydzieści lat na karku, a brzmi naprawdę świeżo. W wielu miejscach czuję, jak bardzo inspirujący musiał być dla wielu twórców. Słyszę jakieś znajome elementy, które wiem, że gdzieś już słyszałem, a był to album, który jako jeden z pierwszych eksplorował brzmienie drum&bass (z tego co czytałem współcześni rozpatrywali ten album jako element nurtu jungle). Słuchając, myślałem momentami o Massive Attack, czasami o amerykańskich ulicznych perkusistach, grających na wiadrach, miskach i kawałkach blachy. Czasami wracałem myślami do "Endtroducing" DJ Shadowa. Tytułowe "Timeless" trwa 21min, a mimo to nie dłuży się. Płynie po wielu płaszczyznach, przemierza kolejne dźwiękowe krajobrazy. Zresztą wiele jest utworów, które trwają dużo dłużej, niż typowe radiowe kawałki, sam album (w wersji, której słuchałem) trwa prawie dwie godziny, a mimo to ani przez chwilę nie czułem się znużony (a kilkakrotnie narzekałem na tych łamach na albumy trwające dłużej, niż godzinę). Wydaje mi się, że jest to album, który wymaga naprawdę dobrych głośników/słuchawek, żeby poczuć jego głębię i zakres. Ja niestety słuchałem tego z telewizora, więc pewnie mogłem wyciągnąć więcej z tego doświadczenia. Bardzo mocne 4.

Was this album timel... Shut up, the joke today is ketamine. Shoutout to the track 'Kemistry'. I felt like I'm playing some cool 90s' game and I just kinda forgot I listened to this the next day. Working as intended.

A D&B album under two hours! Hooray! -SEA OF TEARS SAMPLES My Life in the Bush of Ghosts- which I only know from starting this website -listened to the whole thing on my computer speakers, but hearing select tracks on headphones is a much trippier experience -Maybe I was just in a bad mood when it came to Roni Size; the other drum and bass offerings have been more enjoyable than I expected. The high pitched alarm sound in “Jah the Seventh Seal” was probably my least favourite thing about the album, but I don’t even mind the rest of that track. HL: title track, "This is a Bad", "Still Life" February 17, 2025

Good album to have on in the background. Cool sounds and textures. Love a little D'n'B here and there.

Very good!

Música electrónica con voz de vez en cuando. Me ha gustado, pero disco larguísimo. Un 4.

4 maybe 5

trippy break-beat record. a welcome break from the usual genres!

interesting

Yes, of course, "jungle" went out of fashion only a few years after this release, which is why I can understand *some* of the criticisms addressed to this double-CD album. I know a guy around 1995 who had sold his relatively impressive indie-rock record collection to buy loads of expensive drum and bass white label vinyls. He then moonlit as a DJ in that style in my small hometown. You could sense he really thought this was the music of the future. Oh, the irony. That bloke left town around the time the chips fell, and no one ever saw him again. I wonder what became of him.... Not that he was *totally* wrong to feel this enthused, however. Drum and bass sounds may have aged to an obvious extent (most electronic subgenres do), yet that idea of using sped-up hip hop breakbeats to make dancers lose their shit is still very influential today. See the nascent footwork subgenre, or how drum and bass patterns themselves resurface in the works of artists of all stripes, at least once in a while... So maybe you shouldn't heed the folks in this app section when they fail to reckon how pivotal this album is for electronic music at large. The three-part title track alone (especially its opening section "Inner City Life") exemplifies everything that can be labelled as "iconic" in Goldie's music, beyond the typically hectic rhythm patterns themselves. You've got the ominous synthetic layerings, the soulful vocals of Diane Charlemagne (RIP), and the crushing descending basslines blasting out of your speakers. And after that epic 20-minute-opener, whose length is perfectly justified to either convey a cinematic mood (this type of music can be *very* cinematic), or to convey the feeling of what's going on on a dancefloor during a wild night out, Goldie then switches and rearranges.all the different pieces of that initial puzzle in various manners, mostly to good or great effects. Apart for an all-too-safe trip-hop-adjacent "State Of Mind" (supposed to be a breather in the tracklist, but actually a lengthy snoozefest), everything indeed sounds pitch-perfect on the first disc. "Saint Angel" and "This Is A Bad" most specifically slap hard. The second disc starts strong with "A Sense Of Rage", but then the album loses its way and its momentum a little, unfortunately. When Charlemagne's vocals reappear for some cuts, the whole thing sounds less imaginative overall, more like on an automatic pilot mode. Most of the compositions on the second part are actually older tracks and singles Goldie had written and recorded in the years leading to the album. It's still pretty impressive that, in that early work (a lesser one that yet turned him into a household name for specialized British dancefloors), the sound of the album was already fully-formed. Those cuts are not re-recordings, they were just remastered along with the subsequent tracks directly written for the album. And sonically speaking, you can't notice any difference between the two sorts of tracks. Of course, keeping the best material on a single CD would have created a stronger offering. But it's a reproach you can basically address to all double-albums out there. Now, decades after the fact, it feels nice to have all those early singles documented on the second disc. And honestly, if only disc one existed, *Timeless* would still be an apt candidate for this lis anyway 4/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 9/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4) Number of albums left to review: around a hundred, as I've gone over the 1000 line and this generator is including albums from all editions of the book Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 440 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 260 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 319

Zoned out. This one last a long time. Trancey

Good to listen to during work

Love drum and bass, but this album is too long. I dont even mind the 20 minute song much, it's pretty good actually. But half of the songs couldve been cut easily and the album wouldve improved immensely. Sad. I was happy to see another DnB album on this list (a little diversity after a shitload of britpop or obscure american bands from the 60s) but Ive got to be honest and say that this album just doesn't hit the 5 star level.

Wondering how different this would have been in the world in 1995. Different in my world.

2 disc version is a bit long, but I see the appeal.

Played this a lot when it came out, and it's not quite as good as I remembered.

While the music may be Timeless, the album art surely is not.

Oh this is such a cool album, incredible to vibe out to!! Dare I say…… an enduring album. Immune to time.. etc…

Loved this! Very sleek and futuristic. Took me a while to get through because of its length but I find the repetition and ambiance quite intriguing.

Music for the right mood

I kinda liked it. Definitely experimental & doesnt fit in with the niche of people that use this - hence why its ratings are so bad. I’ll bet if this was released by Radiohead everyone would be saying how inspired it is

This was cool. There were few moments that I didn't like very much. My favourites were the title track and State of Mind.

Long but cool

drivg

Really 4.5 stars. Timeless is a great title for this album, it created a new genre and then ensured it would be...timeless.

I think my productivity at work was 14% higher while listening to this album. Can’t say I’d go seek this one out again to put on, but it was cool for what it was. 4/5

Gave this a couple of listens over a couple of weeks. Good to see this music presented on here. I think this album hasn't aged amazingly (album cover especially so!), but you can really see something here. At the time I'd have loved it I reckon. Elements of other stuff I like in here - early Squarepusher etc. Arguably drags on too long but if you go into knowing itll be a bit of a slog it negates the taxing element. 3.5*

Thought I'd be raving about this, it's got some of my favourite tracks on it. But the more I listened and thought about it, this isn't really an album. The stories behind much of its inception are the stories of someone starting their career and giving birth to a new genre of music. That's exciting, and there's some great music to show for it, but this album just circles around the same ideas over an over again. Timeless is clearly an EP in one track and has been padded out with more additional material, but because it was all quite new nobody knew where to cut it off and be done. That's my impression anyway, loosely based on some accounts from interviews I've heard over the years.

Really good when no one's singing.

A great, varied DnB album. Probably too much on the light and vocal stuff for my tastes, but it didn't feel as long as it's 2 discs should, and that's a great sign!

Quite apt to listen to this again deprived of sleep. Reminds me of first time I heard this album. Top 90s chilled d&b. Album is a bit long but a great album to lose yourself 7.5/10

I was upset with this album when I first started listening to it because it took about 15 seconds for there to be music and then, the first track didn’t grab me. I stopped listening at that point and was chatting with Nikole and thought that I would probably rate this about a 2. I dove back in later in the day and it was magical. I was driving and stuck in traffic so I wasn’t sure if I really liked it or it was just the circumstances, but then I got home and continued listening to the album while taking a walk and it was still great. So, this album has gone from my 2 to 4 all in the span of 10 hours.

I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this. I waited until the evening to listen as it just didn’t feel like the daytime would appreciate it. But it was pretty great. All felt very similar, and way too long, but definitely a case of finding a winning formula and just rolling with it. 4.4/5

8.5/10

I enjoyed it, but it was a bit ...long.

Psychedelic funk

I've come across this before on another chart- it's a good representative of the genre. Easy to listen to and chill.

Even though I'm not a fan of electronic music, I enjoyed this.

Another prefect example of this list. Had not listened to this ever. Am glad that I did.

Très cool. Matrix/sci-fi 00s. Flow

Great to program to.

Every 1 rating at the top of the reviews section is by elitist dickheads who think hating on anything sufficiently 'low-brow' constitutes a personality. This site is rife with them and it is exhausting seeing their boorish opinions every weekday. Be cool and embrace finding the joy in things. Anyway, this is decent stuff. There's a weird dichotomy with good drum and bass, with good jungle, where you know it's both music ideal for heaving masses of bodies moving with the beat, breathlessly, often chaotically, and also music you can totally chill out to, laid out in the sun, absorbing energy like a particularly cool lizard. I don't know if it's the smooth brass, the dolphin chatter, or the smooth vocals that sneak in here and there, but this fills the latter slot perfectly. Like if you ever want to vibe for two hours, this is the record. That said, two hours. You could have just had twenty minute opener Timeless, twelve minute tune Sea of Tears, and close out with eight and a half minutes of Adrift and it'd be plenty. A perfect record, even. Two hours is the textbook definition of outstaying its welcome, and I'd forgive people for not having the patience for it. For me, though? Banger, four stars. .... maybe I'd keep You and Me on it, as well.

This was a weird listen, drum and bass in broad daylight while sitting at my desk in my office. It was good, and it's music I genuinely love. Couldn't contain the head bopping when the beats kicked in. But the length and the long ambient interludes weren't really working for me. 3.5, rounded up for breakbeats.

I really really liked the sound of this! It was exciting, it made me feel productive, it reminded me a lot of music that I listen to outside of this project. Unfortunately every song went on for at least double the length it needed to be, which made everything feel super repetitive. There was no need for this album to be an hour and 53 minutes. It could've been less than an hour and still fit everything in, and I think it would've been a stronger album with less repetition! Today I learned I like drum and bass music.

I liked the drummy jungle/dnb parts and the airy female vocals more than I did the cymbal-y parts and the breathing sounds

love me some DnB

I liked it. I’m not very knowledgeable on drum and bass music and I’d never heard of Goldie, but I found it pretty captivating at times. The rhythms are great as one would hope in a drum and bass record, but it’s also very melodic and musically diverse at times as well. The tracks are long and it’s a style that will probably turn off many, but I love listening to this kind of music while doing things like running, working, or cooking. Quite enjoyable.

It’s a five in the genre but I found it a little long for the type of music. Almost still gave it a five but…. It’s probably a 4.5.

Timeless a little too long, but good

This was like a good brisket with an enormous fat cap you have to trim before you get to enjoy the meat of it. That opening long track was more endless than timeless. And I was ready to dismiss it. But the good non-experimental stuff was really enjoyable. I’d come back to everything except that stuff at the beginning.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. I knew Timeless and Inner City Life but I've never gone out of my way to listen to Goldie. Really enjoyed it as chilled background music. Think it might be a bit too pedestrian for me to want to listen to it as more than background music but a pleasant surprise.

So sleepy now

Timeless is the debut album by British electronic musician Goldie. It was a groundbreaking release for drum and bass music because the album achieved a high amount of popularity. The album released at the height of the UK rave scene during the 90's and featured jungle music, which is EDM characterized by breakbeats, percussive loops & basslines, and sound samples from pop culture. This is a wonderful album containing pre-golden age EDM. It's fun to listen to and features great backing tracks for any occasion.

Trance - electronica

Really interesting use of D&B in a larger sonic landscape.

Great for "thinking" music where you need to focus but want good beats and sound going on in the background.

Pairs well with European MDMA. Wildly ambitious and a bit pretentious. Well executed overall. 8/10 Some very nice breaks

Is this the birth of drum and bass? then despite the indredibly dated covre art, this may indeed be timeless. But turns out it was a little boring.

Nowadays we all know Goldie best for racing Brian Blessed down Rainbow Road on Hoovers whilst huffing white cider (google it), or being hilariously bad in Bond films. It's easy to forget then that he popularised drum n bass and he was actually pretty good for a bit. There's a reason he entered the popular culture and it's not entirely down to his teeth. Didn't really know any of his stuff, but recognise the first track and yep, that's bang on for me, 20 minutes of developing beats around a strong hook, count me in. Dunno if this is what Flight of the Conchords are lampooning with Inner City Pressure but that's another fun tick. Like many people with ears in the late 90s, I went through a huge dance phase around that time, and a housemate was constantly playing some really great psychedelic trance and drum n bass. I was also well into my Northern Exposure etc. So stuff like Sea of Tears while it may be dated (it's nearly 30 years old - eek), harks back to those times and is welcome. Adding a few of these to my Working/Flow playlist as they're the shit for that. No way I've got time for 2 hour long album today, I've got to go out and look at a massive Lego exhibition, but this has done enough in the first half to earn a decent score.

I like this a lot, though I am a sucker for DnB.

Timeless

timeless indeed

Lots of iconic drum loops. Seems to be the forefront of sampling. Not necessarily my style. Gets tiring after a while of the same repetitiveness. But I hear a lot of the electronic iconic stuff within this album. Makes me think of the Freestylers. This makes me want to be in my car with the sub.

Drum n bass

This a great drum and bass album. But being a drum and bass album limits it a little. It could be the greatest drum and bass album ever (and it's probably at least top 10), and it would still struggle to get 5 stars. 4 stars. Also, as good as the title track is, 21 minutes is too long. I'm not looking for a short track, but it would be better at 12-15 minutes. It drags a little 2/3rds of the way in.

Very good

Goed geheel, moeilijk om te zeggen of het heel vernieuwend was, paar slechte nummers, veel goede.

Guðdómleg plata, lagið Sea of Tears var sérstaklega dásamlegt. Eina sem þessi plata vantaði var fleiri fuglahljóð.

Really enjoyed

I love this kind of music when I need to focus

Too. Long.

Gotta love a bit of the junglist stuff. Loved D'n'B in the 90s

I like it.

Welcome to the jungle

Good drill n bass. Feels like a precursor to Aphex Twin

alright

"Timeless" is the debut studio album by British electronic musician Goldie. The genres are jungle (dance music with rapid backbeats) and drum and bass (similar description to jungle). It is considered a groundbreaking release in the history of drum and bass music. The album incorporated lots of sampling (I think it would have taken me a week to find all the samples). The production was by Goldie and Rob Playford who also did the programming. Commercially, the album reached #7 in the UK. The 21- minute "Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah" opens the album. Dreamy and ambient synths and a soothing women's voice begin the journey. Multiple rapid beats kick in (Ah, this must be the jungle and drum and bass). Random synth noises come in. The song goes back to ambiance and back and forth with the rapid beats. Remember they've got 21 minutes. Quite epic and never boring. "Saint Angel" takes it straight to industrial with heavy guitar samples. More rapid drum beats throughout. A sample of the Commodores "Kiss the Sky." Hmmm, never thought a Commodore sample and industrial would work but it does. "Sea of Tears" starts off with ambient synths and a jazzy guitar. Similar to a few of the previous songs, the rapid beats are added. Given the song title, why not add wave and seagull sounds. More soothing female vocals. By the way, "Sea of Joy" is my favorite Blind Faith song...no similarities here though. "A Sense of of Rage" begins the second half. A combination of ambient and more ominous-sounding synths. Sci-fi noises which I started to hear at the end of the first half. The drum beats are heavy, deeper, bassier. I like the change of pace. Ambient synths and light bird noises begin "Angel." Dual and layered female vocals. The rapid drumbeat is more dance. The song switches between the ambiance and dance. And they bring in the sci-fi syth midway through. Ah, things are coming together. The album ends with two edited versions of "Inner City Life." The "Baby Boy's" edit has slower beat and more bass. The "Rabbit's Short Attention Span" edit is more aggressive with the beat and random noises. The beat almost Caribbean. Both have the female vocals and ambient vibe. There are three different versions of this album: 2CD's , casetter/CD and vinyl. I listened to the 2CD version clocking in at nearly two hours. A long listen but worth it. They threw in a lot of variety with jazz, ambient, industrial, soothing female vocals and various synth sounds. It is a creative mixture of musical styles and sampling along with the rapid beats either in the background or forefront. I don't know anything about the jungle or drum and bass genres but if this is a prime example, I'm a fan.

Classic release of the jungle genre, so this 100% deserves to be here. It does occasionally feel a bit dated but most of it still hits as hard now as ever.

L I Q U I D

Ehh. Some good drum and bass - for a genre album it’s really good - but it feels dated - and over long at many points - more than it needs to be. But it’s still a good Drum and Bass album. It’s niche saves it.

Solid double album--lots of great tracks. Love the drum & bass.

25 years on and I still have no idea.

Are the sudden endings a signature or symbol of some formal structure? The former's suggested by the ending of the album, where bonus tracks function as that while punctuating the second half. A less varied second half, mind you, which somehow picks up the pace of the interminable. DnB has a very particular function, and here artistry coexists with a deliberate antipathy for those who leave the path. Works as long as one can maintain sponge roleplay.

It took a while, but 1001 finally sent us a second Drum & Bass LP. It would have been nice if we received only two LPs in the Grunge category. :) I remember Goldie as being more jungle/hardcore and less melodic than Ronnie Size, the other D&B guy we were sent, and therefore, wasn't looking forward to the 21-minute opener. But it turns out the back and forth between the symphonic bits, Diane Charlemagne’s beautiful vocals and the percussion works well. “Songs like Angel” & “Inner City Life” (again with Charlemagne on vocals) are very nice.

very good electronic album, very creative and distinctive.

Great chilled music to have onin the background, yet with enough interesting changes to hold my attention. Impressive.

Enjoyed getting back into this one. Has aged well I reckon!

20min biisillä alkaa...hyvä...mutta liian nopea. yhtäkkiä jotain rumpuilemaan.. drum and bass heh tätä odotellut...40min biisi olisi sopivampi..hyvä albumiu..varmaan vitun paska keskiratinki en jaksa edes katsoa masentuu vaan:( ok katoin oli 2.5 :( ja one-liner yksitähtinen ekana :( timeles...still sounds like its from the nineties.....beautiful.. tuntiviiskyt on kyllä liikavenyttämisen puolella mutta noh... ROHKEATA... sea of tears

better than i thought it would be.

Þetta drum'n'bass dæmi úr mið-níunni er eitthvað svo déskoti gott! Er samt með hausverk eftir svona langan drumbeat-concert á tennurnar á mér.

Really interesting album - some excellent sounds.

Not Timeless at all, however an important album in moving Jungle/DnB to the mainstream. Again scoring based on how much I actually enjoyed listening to this album right now and that surprisingly was quite a bit - almost more of a Pink Floyd album than a DnB mix with beautiful vocals against some sounds taking you on a trip.

8/10 there’s some really good stuff here but it starts to feel a bit repetitive considering this album is 2 hours I would definitely consider myself a fan of DnB but I prefer more modern examples of the genre like sewerslvt

Greatness

Pas mal, mais pas écouté au complet.

So, it is a DnB album, which means it is gonna have bloat. But honestly? Some of the stuff in here was unique enough to actually push it to a high 4 with me, especially Sea of Tears.

Liian vähän tulee kuunneltua tämmöstä melodista elektro-settiä. Hyvä levy! 4/5

About 20 minutes of filler keeps this from getting all five stars.

This felt like a trip, a good one

College me would have really loved this if I had known about it.

Drum and bass, honestly pretty enjoyable with nice production

I love how dated this sounds. Adds to the charm of an already awesome record.

It's not just all about the bass, it's all about the drum and bass. It is also a great sonic landscape and if you like a an intense breakbeats with synth overlays with more conventional R&B and jazz elements, this will work for you. I can't listen to this "genre" all of the time, but when I want to, this is one of the few I reach for.

This album is a mini-symphony of hardcore techno that uses breakbeats to construct atmospheric music. (7/10) FT: Timeless

dnb fever. soundscapes. vox. when the filter sweeps across the drums \<.<\

It's good but probably could've been a little shorter than it was

Need more time to digest.

Enjoyed this more than I'd expected to

Música electrónica con voz de vez en cuando. Me ha gustado, pero disco larguísimo.

I like it! Now I'm wishing I would have been a raver in the mid 90s...

Att lyssna på DnB i två timmar i sträck är inte njutning i min bok. Trots det kommer jag på mig själv med att bli både lite nyfiken och imponerad vad jag hör. En och förmodligen den enda fördelen med riktigt långa låtar är att de kan berätta en historia på ett sätt som en 2 min popdänga inte riktigt mäktar med. Fastnade framförallt för Sea of Tears. Första 1.5 min målas ett dystopiskt &metalliskt ljudlandskap upp. Efter det ngt oinspirerande introt slängs trummorna på och efter hand även ngn jazzig gitarrslinga, vi lyssnar nu på klassisk DnB. Jag är på inget sätt imponerad, men ngt har satts i rörelse och jag vill veta vart vi är på väg. Så händer det. 4,5 min in i låten fadar trummor och ljud ut och ersätts av skriet från en fiskmås, vågskvalp och en kvinnoröst som viskar ordet tears. Från den här punkten har låten mig totalt hypnotiserad och det är inte först 7,5min senare när låten är över som jag väcks ur min trans och inser att det kändes som att jag färdats till en annan dimension och tillbaka. Vet inte vad som hände men jag vet att jag behöver mer av Sea of Tears

Reminds me of the music they play in british tv shows for when they are clubbing. It's an early drum and base album.

Enkel femma

Love it.

Better than anticipated.

Feels very spacey in a good way. Easy to listen to while relaxing or working.

Important album for drum and bass music. Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah and Angel are great songs. I attend a concert of his at the time as support act for Björk.

Electronic and very space age.

Smooth beats from a real pioneer

Ambience. Je moet er maar in de stemming voor zijn maar dit is geen slecht begin van het genre

challenging listen, but very diverse and enigmatic

It grew on me as it went on.

1001 and similar lists give short shrift to electronic music and then when they do include a few albums people trash them. So I really want to go against the grain, but this album definitely suffers from the same problem MOST double albums do of being really padded out. I think it’s just more noticeable because of the genre. I suspect this is also another one of those albums that is on the list due to being influential, but has long been outshined by what came after it.

A Sense Of Rage - Sensual Vip Mix

90s techno will save us.

same as all the other music like this so that's fine. i enjoyed it but nothing special to me -- not sure I can tell the different in what's innovative among all these electronic albums. Fav Tracks: State of Mind

Generally it was ok. Some decent music, however, there were beats that were obnoxious after a bit.

RATING: 6.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: Timeless LOWLIGHT: Kemistry

Rajua.