The White Room

Probably one of those instances of "you had to be there at the time to understand". That said, if really you need just *one* example of what a early nineties eurodance version of a rave party should sound like in this list of essential albums, *The White Room* is your best bet here--even if, more than eurodance, what we have here has layers of opportunistic cultural recycling that were actually very British, and so contrasting a lot with those other Italian or German cheesy dance acts around 1990. See the wealth of samples used here, with or without permission: so many winks to popular music of all stripes that it's easy to lose count, from that sample of MCS's "Kick Out The Jams" to this bassline nicked from the Twin Peaks title theme on trip-hop-like "Build A Fire". Here is a concern for richness, invention and callbacks to music history that low-brow outfits such as Technotronic, 2Unlimited or Snap! would never reach for even one second of their equally short career. So if you stick to what is usually expected from that often maligned genre of popular dance music from thirty years ago, there's no denying that The KLF were masters of their game. Every track on the first side may have all the clichés of that UK Dance Club thing, sure, yet they are so effective that you may feel inclined to bob your head to them, as "dated" as some of those shenanigans are. "What Time Is Love" and "3AM Eternal" are the most striking examples of such an effective way to rob the charts in 1991 and yet still manage to win hearts in 2023 (in a genre that supposedly never ages well, i.e. EDM). Too bad that the version of "Last Train To Trancentral" on the same first side is a more subdued remix compared to the equally slapping single version--as good as this remix is. Had this single version, filled with an orgy of vocoder-laden vocal parts, been included on this side, you'd have a perfect first part for this record. What will probably go over the head of most listeners is that Bill Drummond and James Cauty were also very sly foxes as artists and "high concept" creators. They first wrote a book about how to hit the charts from the underground *before* managing to do so for real with the singles from this album. Quite a feat that they held their promises against all odds...but it's not even the most interesting part of the picture. See for example what they did with all the money they earned after they hit those charts--it might be a huge surprise for you, either a pleasant or an unpleasant one, depending on your mileage. But before they burnt all those piles of dough to the ground--yes, you read that correctly--they also managed to: - create many fake bands to broadcast their music. - instill a very "situationist" brand of irony to "dance" music that acts like Gang Of Four could only dream of when they injected funk basslines to their post-punk agenda ten years before. - Record a classic electronic "chill-out" LP named... well, *Chill Out*--which actually inspired a lot of melodies and arrangements in *The White Room*. - Erase the lines between high art and blatant commercialism, or the ones between "good taste" and "bad taste". That last point is the most prophetic of their endeavors, foretelling the success of many later acts going from Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem to more recent strands of hyperpop such as Charli XCX, Sophie, 100 gecs or crazy pop-post-hardcore outfit The Armed. I have a feeling that this recent hyperpop craze, as weird and probably promised to failure as it is, is not so far from rehabilitating The KLF. Only time will tell. But if such rehabilitation happens, I reckon it's gonna happen very soon at least--before the wheel turns again, which is always sooner than later. All this is fine, but what really saves this album from all those tired tropes about music cycles and "turning wheels" is its far more ambient second side, with all its groovy, cinematic-yet-lvery-aidback cuts such as the title track or "No More Tears". Those songs are stellar, enough said. Subtly layered and subdued and sounding like nothing else, whether at the time or today. Concluding the proceedings, the mock-Las-Vegas-novelty cut "Justified and Ancient" returns to the layers of irony of the first side, but this time with an extra grain of salt. What if Drummond and Caulty were actually serious here? Us poor sheep will probably never know. All that"s left for us to do is to take that Trancentral Train to the promises of a future of dance music that never really occured--at least not in that exact shape--but one that could still occur yet, if you listen to this the right way. *The White Room* has always had a somewhat nostalgic feel to its rave party antics--a clearly melancholic subtext if you listen to its arrangements an flourishes--and such subtext made it age far better then many other supposed EDM highlights of the same day and age. Not so bad for a record whose sound is supposedly "dated", at least on first sight. 4/5 for the purposes of this list, translating to a 9/10 grade for more general purposes (5+4). Number of albums left to review: 419 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 269 (including this one). Albums from the list might* include in mine later on: 142 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 176

File under : generic electronic boops

Glenn Hoddle and the entire Chelsea first team and backroom staff jizzed all over my hair and back as I sang this record in the shower after every training session. Good memories.

Did not enjoy, another British electronica album

Very unique.

Hard to get on streaming, but there's the odd serviceable playlist cobbling this together from the stuff they released back onto services a couple of years ago after a far too long absence. One of the most interesting stories of any band ever, surely. There is an absolutely essential John Higgs book about them and their influences (occult, dadaist, conspiracies - the story of how the popularised concept of the Illuminati as an all powerful shadowy organisation was essentially invented as a joke then took on a life of its own, is mad in itself). The fact they blew out of obscurity, topped the charts with apparent ease for a couple of years as a kind of joke/art project and then fucked off again, signing a pact to never use the name again and deleting all of their records. The music, I see plenty of baffled Americans here in the reviews. I guess you had to be there. It's commercial house. But at the time when it blew on the scene I just remember thinking, What Is That Noise And Where Can I Get More Of It? I still think last train, 4am eternal and what time is love are bangers. But the real star here is Justified Ancients. You must watch the video. An absolute classic tune. Just pure joy. Problem is I don't think the version I love is the one on the album. The single version is the one. Bring the beat back! That notwithstanding this is obviously getting a 5. These are two Scottish guys who convinced Tammy Wynette to appear on their record and sing the words "they're justified, and they're ancient, and they drive an ice cream van" on top of the pops.

Since the point of this list is albums you must hear, not necessarily the *best* albums, I have to give this five stars. Because The KLF is definitely worth knowing about. The album itself consists of hunks of tripe interspersed with tidbits of sweet genius. But dig deeper into the KLF story and you won't be disappointed. And for that I'm giving this s entry 5 stars...5 flaming stars... let's burn this mofo up!

I remember the name of this band but am pretty unfamiliar with them. I can remember a line like "KLF, uh-huh uh-huh". Electronica, probably UK. Hey lol they *are* from the UK. It's... boring. It feels like a sample bank with 808 beats underneath - which is what it is of course, but that's just not something very interesting. Especially not in 2023. 2/5.

it’s love from the first song!

Sweet sweet subversion

Absolutely brilliant stuff. Is it right to give it 5 stars, though, if the Directors' Cut version is even better?

Really good. Directors cut included a few more tracks, will definitely listen again

Best electronic album on here so far

idk

influential and banger after banger. 4.8

90s electronic music

Loved it! Super fun dancey album

Timelords Justified ancients of Mu my JAMMs KLF WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM Bought 1987 what the f*CK when it originally came out. Have loved the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu ever since. Great exploitation method.

This always leaves me with a grin on my face, on YouTube searching Timelords' Doctorin the Tardis... ...The KLF had a knack of hitting the spot and making it look like an accident.

Beautiful. The version of last train to transcentral wasn't as good as the version I remember, but it is a great album to listen to and vibe to.

The album itself consists of hunks of tripe interspersed with tidbits of sweet genius. But dig deeper into the KLF story and you won't be disappointed.

I’m definitely giving this one a five star rating, because I love this album. Unfortunately for all the people who are listening to this for the very first time, I totally get why you think this record would suck. It comes off as generic, samples that everyone else has used, and just very run of the mill hyped up eurodance. Well in order to understand this, you just had to be there at the time, and know what was going on with music at that point in time. The sampling, the hyped vibe of the album, and everything else that comes with this record, was literally the first of its kind. Although dance music was already around, these guys definitely progressed it forward in a lot of ways, and have definitely made their mark in electronic music history.

WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Not as good as I remembered from car rides with my dad.

Bill Drummond put Fondness on his exhibition’s playlist. But not to fuck the scoring I’ll give it 4.

Can't argue with the KLF

Really cool

Var litt funky hiphop til disco, og det hitta

Loved this album. Shame it’s not on Spotify

Some great electronic, and interestingly showed some roots of modern electronic I did not expect.

This was really excellently produced, it still sounded so fresh and interesting that you could have told me it would have came out last year and I would have believed you. At least, until we get to the absolutely DATED and ill-fitting vocals. If this was instrumental it would be an easy 5 for me, but with those vocals it is barely clinging to 4 stars.

Caveat, I only listened to the director's cut in Spotify but I had never heard them before being put off by their antics. I expected it to be unlistenable noise terrorism but it was like New Order and even Pet Shop Boys and Bronski Beat in parts. Good stuff

8/10. This album was actually a lot of fun! Usually predisposed to dislike the albums that make me leave spotify, but well worth it in this case.

Música electrónica, acid house. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

I listened to the Spotify version and thought it got off to a good start, but I really couldn't see what all the excitement was about. After reading the the Wiki overview it appears that the two lead singles on the LP were not included on the Spotify version. That makes a big difference! They're great tracks that capture the late 80s club sound.

- imagine this bumping in a European club - appropriate song lengths - really enjoyed the vibes here

Interesting given the time period. I would have placed this later in time if I didn't see the release date. The face it was from 2 years earlier is interesting.

Honestly i love this early nineties UK Rave music its so dope. Hearted a song, dug it. The dog hated it...

This album appeared on my list on the EXACT day I picked up a copy of The Illuminatus Trilogy at my local op shop. I think the Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu are trying to let me know they're still alive. It is so hard rating this album on just the music. There's the book that came out before this album (The Manual) explaining how to write a top selling album, there's the whole Discordian/Illuminatus Trilogy myths, there's the burning of a million dollars as statement, there's the invention of stadium house, there's the whole act. Music wise, the hits were absolute bangers, and I like most of the 12'' better than the album versions, but the low-beat versions soothe the soul as well. It's 3,5* fr the album, but 5* for the KLF. I'll stick to 4.

Gosh, I heard that early 90s trance/ hip-hop drum line and I wanted to dance. I always got The KLF and KRS-One mixed up as a kid. Mainly because they keep repeating their name in their songs. One of the best albums not found on Spotify.

I've got a lot of time for The KLF - disruptive pioneers making art electronica, inspired by the Illuminatus! Trilogy and Ken Campbell, making art, making money, burning money, making art. Is the album that appears on itunes even the version we should listen to before we die? Who knows? Let's just rate, then, the KLF's career - for all the nonsense and high art and chart success.

I got this on Christmas Day so didn’t really get to the time to listen properly. There’s obviously a lot more going on than a ‘normal’ early 90s dance album but I can’t really comment from what I heard. Will try and listen properly and read up on all the weird mythology that they invent around this album when I get some spare time.

Excellent album, I love the story behind this music and the fact it was all deleted but the sounds and beats are good

Jai aime, cetait vraiment parfait sans le style. Surprenanment jai couru en lecoutant et ca fittait tres bien. Pas trop de parole et un bon son electro. 4

Head to Youtube for the original mix of the album and the three monster singles. KLF were only ever about hits, Top of the Pops, 12" remixes, the Brits and all that really important stuff. Albums less so, as why would you throw away good stuff that won't get played on MTV/Radio One. 3 stars for the backups, 5 stars for the singles. 4 it is.

If the released singles versions of ‘What Time Is Love?’, ‘Last Train To Trancentral’ and the Tammy Wynette version of ‘Justified And Ancient’ were on ‘The White Room’ instead of the versions they went with, then this would’ve been a 5/5.

Very well done dance/disco sound. Could listen to for a few songs or as a change while driving or at a party.

KLF following Happy Mondays is alright by me

Sounds like German techno. From the era of art of noise.

This was a welcome change when compared with other contemporary electronic albums from this time. The KLF were a duo of made up of a former record executive and a musician who embraced experimental music and made interesting pieces. This album sits on the transition of acid house and rave music and features engaging beats and a pop sensibility that makes the album accessible while still benefiting from a close listen.

They told us they were gonna do it with Build a Fire. It was right there the whole time! The LP tracks are better than I remember.

Had no clue what to expect, but ended up loving the album.

One of a few albums that changed Pop music in the UK. Brought dance music into the main stream. This album is great, a couple of hits that everyone knows, which aren't their best tracks. In truth this album was so much 'Of it's time" that it sometimes sounds a bit dated and a little contrived nowadays. It's a great piece of musical history, with some awesome tracks. The KLF's crown jewel is, in my opinion, their "Chill Out" album. It's a masterpiece. There are not many circumstances where the chill out album is what you want to hear, but if you are in a certain headspace, it is absolutely sublime and beautiful. Listen to this, then go listen to that.

Electronica, acid, house, rave.

Música electrónica, acid house. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

The White Room is a great electronic/house album, and not really what I expected. The sound is quite enthralling and encompassing, and really good in a pair of headphones. It's a real shame to find out that this was a movie soundtrack until the movie got axed, I want to see the type of movie this would have soundtracked. Best: 3 a.m. Eternal Worst: Build a Fire Note: The album was not available to listen to on Spotify. It was listened to on YouTube Music

Really fun electronic album. Very 90s. Very fun.

Nice old school electronica. Brought me back to the early 90s.

album is all over the place but I kinda vibed with it somehow

Really cool dance record, but the last two songs kinda dropped the ball

Unavailable on Spotify but found on YouTube, wish streaming accessibility was better. Enjoyable listen, although I was working on other things so nothing specifically stands out. Somewhat generic electronic pop sounds, but still holds up today. 3.5/5

Electronica, acid, house, rave.

Electronica, acid, house, rave.

Something could be said that sounds a lot like \"you had to be there\" and it would, unlike with some previous Electronica albums that seem to have found their way onto this list because of chart hits, actually make a strong argument, but even today, I'm enjoying this much more than I expected to. Which was - I knew there's more to The KLF than meets the eye (or ear), but still - highbrow eurodance. It kind of is that but... maybe because I'm clicking through The KLF's discography (the album on Spotify isn't quite \"The White Room\" anyways) I'd agree that this indeed is MusicYMHBYD.

The wikipedia about this group was fantastic : dead sheep, burning piles of money, the illuminati, pranks, releasing a book about how to make a number 1 single, legal battles with ABBA, building pyramids out of human ashes, the list goes on. Apparently they were huge and the lore is deep but I had never heard of them ('90s kid from America, wrong time wrong place) This was also a great listen, weirdo indie pop-house, I cleaned my house on the first listen and chilled with my dog on the second while i read the wiki. I'm super curious about this group now and feel like I may have to dig into their catalogue/history just based on what a blast I had listening to and reading about them.

Listened to about half of it. Never heard of this band or album before seeing it here. Not exactly my thing but not bad.

Jeugdsentiment.

Moest er wat moeite voor doen om dit te luisteren en ik vond het boven verwachting. Hier zit toch wel meer in dan het top 40 imago wat ze voor mij hadden.

Not my type of music.

considering how much the guardian bum these as if they're some forward thinking enigmas i expected more from this album.

Okay, so this album feels very dated. It's still great and all, but the KLF always felt like five star ideas with less than five star execution. I could read the Manual or Illuminati MuMu craziness forever, but the albums are almost a side concern!

An earthquake of chill.

Solid

I was reluctantly preparing for another terrible British electronica album but I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. Disclaimer: I listened to the director's cut version of it because it was the only version available on spotify, so I'm assuming it's the version the KLF wanted everyone to hear. I was wondering what made this one so different from all the other Eurotrash that I've heard (even though this is still pretty eurotrashy) and I realized that this is basically the unironic version of the Planet of the Bass song that took over twitter for like a week. The best tracks like build a fire and no more tears have boring whatever male vocals and a standard dance sound until some female comes in (Biljiana Electronica) and makes it really catchy and fun by belting out some vague thing about unity. "they're gonna build a fire" might as well be "all of the dream, how does it mean?" and it completely justified this album being good for me.

Un album très intéressant. J'ai trouvé que c'est vraiment parti en force mais vers la fin c'était un peu trop doux à mon goût. Mais généralement un album electronic très bien construit et rafraichissant. 7/10

Build a Fire!

Very fine and not terrible and not remarkable at all

I bought this album when it came out - only because of Justified & The Ancient which was a massive hit being played everywhere. I never made it through the whole album then, and this listen through some 20+ years later was no different. Once again, the author(s) put region over importance with this list and it feels like every new day is a 50/50 gamble over whether I'll hit with another 90s UK pop or electronic album that barely registered on its release. 2.5/5.

About as good as electronic music got. Unfortunately, this spawned way too many imitators who sound watered down in comparison. But hey, if you can cut and paste from various streaming platforms, you can listen to most of this. I ended up enjoying most of it, but I can't swear to the fact that all of the songs I listened to were from the album in question. Seems appropriate.

Truth be told, I like the artist's story more than the music. It's good, it just all sounds dated in that way that anyone who even looked at a keyboard between 1988-1992 does. Has lulls, and also that dated way of "rapping" a lot of artists in this genre would use, but it's fine overall. Favorite track: "Last Train to Trancentral"

surprisingly melodic

Not on Spotify so listened on YouTube, enjoyed this good dance album

Teringvet! Heb een paar nummers opgeslagen ook. Echt heel lekker en zijn accent is echt top

Electronic music is the genre I know the least about as far as the history of it, so I can't really tell if this was ahead of it's time or anything like that. There's some fun songs on here overall, kind of falls off towards the end though especially with the 10 minute song that didn't need to be half that length. Was pleasant enough of a listen, but I doubt i'll be going back to it anytime soon.

It’s never a great sign when there are multiple conflicting tracklists for an album… Anyway. I tried out what seemed to be the two main singles from the Solid State Logik 1 live recording (What Time is Love? and 3am Eternal) - didn’t care for the first one so much but the latter was pretty fun I then listened through to the directors cut of The White Room and, while it’s not really my thing, I cannot deny the production was incredible throughout. I also enjoyed the spoken-word passages in a lovely Scottish accent, though I also feel I have to call out the shameless appropriation of the Twin Peaks theme on the otherwise quite nice Build a Fire

Scentless optimism is par for the course. There's something else to the White Room experience, not discordant nor even unsettling but uncentering. Sound thrown outward, without frills but with some level of interior. The palette's easily harvested; The original remains nourishing.

Listening to this at 9 AM probably isn't the ideal why to do so. I'll retry at 3 AM in a crowded club some years from now. 3/5

oontz PLUS/ 3 stars.

Feels like Prodigy, but worse. All the siren loops, too much cowbell, like if the Matrix was made 10 years earlier. Shitty 90s electronica. If I had some speed or E maybe. Gets better further in but only made it through half.

not on Spotify

It’s fine. That’s about it.

The beginning of this kind of made me feel like I was having a panic attack, but I kind of liked it anyway? Then it got less chaotic and more chill and became a bit boring in comparison to how it started.

Surprisingly decent

why isn’t it online (penisville)

Yet another mid album. I’m not sure if I listened to the right one because there a sixty different track lists for this album. I listened to the Director’s Cut. I liked “No More Tears” and “Justified and Ancient”

Again, Apple are unable to give me the original album and I must listen to the Director's Cut whatever that is. Regardless, I do understand the cultural significance KLF have made and for sure they are more creative and less basic than 80% of the music industry. That said, I never really bought into their music as something to take seriously, because for me, frivolity has no place in music for some reason. So maybe I'm still reeling from the novelty abomination that is 'Doctorin' The Tardis' and probably have completely missed a point somewhere but even a relisten just now, has not further endeared their music to me

Ni una sola canción disponible en Spotify. No se puede opinar.

This is a fun album with a diverse sound that is in many ways very much of its time. Stylistically a bit of a hodgepodge, but that pedal steel in "Build a Fire" was a nice surprise. In fact, the album has a number of lovely little surprises like that. As someone whose main awareness of KLF was by way of "3 a.m. Eternal," this was not at all what I expected, and really enjoyable. Fave Songs: Build a Fire, Last Train to Trancentral, The White Room, No More Tears, 3 a.m. Eternal

Always good for me to listen to some electronic music because I pretty much never listen to it on my own. This has some interesting and well-executed elements to it. Some lovely instrumental work and really good vocals, too. Nice stuff.

Heard of them and I know the a couple of the songs. But first time hearing the album. Standouts: 3 a.m. Eternal, What Time if Love? Justified and Ancient, Last Train to Trancentral 3/5