The White Room

Didn't realize everyone can see the notes. Hi everyone, if you're reading this. ok this one is 44 minutes; not bad. What is this techno? it's ok so far. It's good to throw on and focus on work. Kind of just alright. Wouldn't listen to it again, but nothing terrible. Not memorable.

Hum... je crois que c'est le premier album de house que j'ai depuis le début de la liste ? Bon ben c'est plutôt sympathique. Pas de quoi se relever la nuit, mais c'est bien dans son jus, c'est agréable à écouter et puis ça change des sempiternels albums de rock pas franchement indispensables dont Robert Dimery est si fan.

First track: BANGER. Rest: not my cup of tea…

It was ok, but all just passed me by and there was not a lot to demand my attention.

I had low expectations going into this but I liked it more than I thought I would. I'm a sucker for house stuff anyway. I'm not going to say its a super important album but I feel like it is a part of my life.

Not my jam. Less repetitive and bit more melodic than a few others in the extended house genre, but ultimately a better dance club than album listening experience. The three singles are all generally strong. The album tracks don't hold up.

That was some of the corniest electronic music I've listened to. 2/5 Favorite Song: Build A Fire

Electronic crap

perfect 90s trance

Thought this was pretty cool actually. Early nineties as fuck but got a bit of joy out of this listen

The first few songs really locked me in a groove, but it just became passable as the album went on.

Interesting listen, not really for me but was different and enjoyed. However, the song "No More Tears" dragged on. 3/5

This was pretty good, albeit a little repetitive sounding from track to track. Also, we get it. Your name is KLF. Favourite Track(s): Justified and Ancient Least Favourite Track(s): No More Tears

A challenge finding this on line! Of its time

It’s very of its time but it’s a solid album all around

Extra star for the story 4/5

Cornier than a field in Nebraska. Just relentlessly boring. I think I might hate house.

you know what is really awesome? being recommended an album that isn't available on spotify.

"Over and out, Lost in the Mu Mu land!" Hooks a plenty. Great fun. 1 "Justified and Ancient" (Excerpt) (4/5) 2 "What Time Is Love? (Live at Trancentral)" (Album Version) (5/5) 3 "Make It Rain" (4/5) 4 "3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)" (Radio Edit) (5/5) 5 "Church of the KLF" (3/5) 6 "Last Train to Trancentral (Live from the Lost Continent)" (Album Version) (5/5) 7 "Build a Fire" (4/5) 8 "The White Room" (4/5) 9 "No More Tears" (3/5) 10 "Justified and Ancient" (4/5) Total - 41 Average - 4.1 446/1001 236/446 albums reviewed were new to me.

Good grief, what a terrible little album. Bland techno pop junk.

I remember that one song by The KLF....it wasn't on this album. Interesting, not much to get excited about on this album.

Boring and completely uninteresting. Not sure why this is on the list.

Fun time.

I still can't get my head around the fact that these guys burned a million quid...

Another album I had to piece together outside Spotify trying to keep it as close to the original release as I could. Bummer because I enjoyed this one quite a bit and I wont be able to add it to my highlights playlist. Fun time with some electronics mixed with a kind of hip hop-ish energy that encourages hitting a dance floor. Its got funky vibes, its got slow tempo emotional downturns and its got head bopping beats.

i’ve had a very long week at work and this was my last straw.

would have enjoyed accompanied with drugs probably. can see how in the 90's this was a banger, but not for me

I liked it

It is kind of crazy the same group that made Chill Out also made this very unapologetically early 90s House project. They operate on two polar ends of the same spectrum but this time the music is a lot more engaging and groovy rather than Ambient. With that being said this is a very early House project before the genre became so fleshed out into so many different subgenres, so unfortunately it does come off quite dated. With that being said though this album is very enjoyable, while also being incredible simple and straightforward. It is a nice break from some of the more sophisticated and extreme albums on this list, but isn't one I will remember after this.

What a wild story there is behind this band and a really interesting album to match. We go through a few different genres, with the whole “jock jams” sound being the predominant one for most of the album. It’s like being at an NBA game in the 90s, until they start throwing hints of rock, synth, and even twangy country into the mix. Not always my cup of tea but I can respect what they were going for.

Kind of nothing really. Not painful though. So not 1 star.

Я так и не понял какая версия является оригинальной, поэтому послушал ту, что была на YouTube. Как я понял, такая неразбериха очень в духе этой группы, и мне это нравится. Первая половина альбома была обалденной, кислотной, вторая немного помягче и скучнее. Не думаю, что смог бы это слушать постоянно, но ознакомится с этим было интересно. А ещё более интересно было ознакомиться с лором коллектива. Лучшая песня: What Time Is Live?

Some groovy dance beats and kinda nonsense lyrics. Certainly not bad, and even got my feet moving here and there. Probably won't go looking for it again.

Didn’t rate

Listened to the original version off of Youtube, obviously. It's weird how I have no recollection of ever hearing about this group before, but that just might be due to their thoroughly forgettable name that I've just never registered them being discussed. Anyway, this is actually quite nice. Very nostalgic, despite, as far as I know, my first time listening to this. Reading about the background of the group and their publicity stunts or whatever you want to call them, I'd say they seem pretty interesting. Really the kind of stuff that could only happen in the 90s. I might have to read more about them. The album itself, well, can't give it a full five stars just yet, but I'll probably give it another listen later on.

I am not even sure I listened to the right album honestly, due to the Spotify/Youtube variations. The YouTube version (one of them anyway) was quite good, blending Reggae, electronica, R&B and other genres into a beautiful cacophony of music. I didn’t think that I heard this album but Jusitied and Ancient, and the opening track What a Time Is It I had heard before. Now, is it a “classic?” I am not sure. I enjoyed listening to it. I definitely hear the influence in later House/EDM artists. However, it felt like the album lost its momentum half way through. It was a good listen once, and I would buffet songs but overall, this not something I would put on repeatedly, and I even like EDM.

Random thoughts: * I'm not sure I've seen a messier discography on Spotify than The KLF. Clearly there are lots of the songs but none of them seem to match the track list exactly of the album we are supposed to listen to. * I found a playlist that is close to the 1991 album release. * Who could forget the bangers of 3am Eternal and Justified and Ancient?!? "KLF is gonna rock you!" * There is a direct line from from Tammy Wynette on Justified and Ancient to "Old Town Road". Genius collaboration and breakthrough. * I'm not sure how to properly place this music into the history of music and whether it was a fun popular one off or a defining pioneering moment. * Fun fact: KLF stand for Kopyright Liberation Front - The name was deliberately spelled with a K as a nod to the idea of “copyright liberation”—the duo's philosophy of sampling, remixing, appropriating, and reworking existing music. * Regardless, fun early EDM and nostalgia blast.

This pleases me. 3.5 stars which I shall round up

This doesn't do much for me, but it was fine to have on in the background during chores. Rating: 2.5

I think the reason British dance music had aged so much worse than euro dance is it’s not even ironically funny.

This reminds me a lot of being about 10 years old when I'd listen to my older brother's dance/rave music that he taped off the radio or his friends' cassettes. It's clearly a bit dated to its time and place, and a bit all over the place. 3 AM Eternal is still a banger, but Last Train to Trancentral not the same as the single version? Anyway, I can't give this less than 3.

gibt mir irgendwie gaar nichts, musik nicht half as interessant wie deren spotify bio

This is #day781 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... here's to some more drugged-out acid electronica from the heyday of rave. The sucky part is the album isn't available on Spotify, so I had to look it up on YouTube, and that's always annoying. I guess I listened to the original version, at least the artwork matched. Why are there different versions of it anyway? Can I remember anything after hearing this record? I'm not sure. It was kind of all and nothing at the same time. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day782.

Dear The KLF, do I listen to the one authorized track on Spotify (Build a Fire, not too bad but honestly a little slow to build...it left me sort of cold), or do I listen to The Director's Cut version on Apple Music which is shorter (but revised and not at all the album that earned its place in the book)? Do I hunt down the longer version that you are (one could assume) less interested in people having access to than your own revisionist history or, more cynically, you're not licensed to advantage? I don't know anything about the approach to cultural production in the scene from which it came but the original version I've hunted down has so far proved to be injected with more fire than either the remixed version or the single song on Spotify. It seems like both of those doors into this room are more sedate and want me to feel the chill. But track one of the original record is aggressively late 80s/early 90s in production and sound. There's that slightly cringe bombastic rap over the track that lets me know I'm meant to get hype (even if I'm typing these words into a little box while sitting in a darkened room at 5:35 AM) and it works. Yet again, this is an example of the entry in the book being connected to the artifact of its time. None of these remixes or dipping in to a single track to stream reveals the merits of the music, or gives you something to adequately index on. The original album is the right kind of rollercoaster; its a ride of mixed emotion and adrenaline. Ultimately nothing I'm going to slot into my personal pantheon but I can respect The White Room for what it is more than what it has become.

Good until the drugs wear off (middle aged version). I was jamming out to this as my pre-workout was kicking in on the way to the gym, but it just didn't hit the same on the way home.

The antics of the KLF are far more interesting than this album. I can't tell, based on the stories of what thy've done for promotion or rebellion, if there should be some kind of joke or underlying meaning to this record that I'm not in on. Or if leaving me wondering is the joke. I like that. The actual listening experience was mid. I'm not into house and I didn't find many hooks to sounds that excited me. Sadly, the only song of KLF that I know is Doctorin' The Tardis. I just learned that it was intended to be a "lowest common denominator" "deliberate effort to write a number one hit single." I wasn't in on the joke then either, but I like that song.

Пісня - клубний бенгер, пісня - флоп. І так +- весь альбом. Загалом враження скоріше приємні.

Знов мені важко оцінити важливість цього конкретного альбому і його місце в цьому списку. Я не знаю як автор підходив до електронної музики і часто його вибір здається мені дефолтним. White Room загалом доволі приємний, але деякі пісні сильно гірші за інші, та і в цілому мені здалось що це радше альбом на один раз.

I love pretty much everything about the KLF. They were transformative and utterly batshit. I was just a bit too young to get the album the first time round but I remember the singles very fondly. I didn't realise how different they were to the album versions but that shouldn't surprise me really. I found a nice youtube of the vinyl here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC4NLyblkHY&list=RDgC4NLyblkHY&start_radio=1 Great stuff.

I had to seek this album on Youtube, that was more effort than it was worth. I don't know if it's dance or electronic, but neither genre works for me.

fantastic and dance-y. immediately put me in a great mood!

nice background music

Me parece un buen album de electronica para su epoca, me gusto mucho the lovers side

Fine EDM, not anything to write home about.

Liked What Time Is Love?, and The White Room.

Entirely outdated, but if you can move past that, you'll have a really good time. Favourite track: What Time Is Love?

Guess you had to be there

Album #203: The KLF – The White Room ⭐⭐⭐⭐ If I was off my face at the afters, I’d be all over this. As it stands, I’m sober, doing monotonous work here in the morning, and I still really enjoyed it. It kept me totally tuned into what I was doing, and I bopped along throughout. I don’t know a huge amount about the nomenclature of electronic music like this, but this is acid house and Eurodance or something like that, and it’s just really great. It’s got a kind of lovely ambient flow underneath it, which keeps it quite relaxing, but you could definitely dance your arse off to it in places as well. I just kind of wish I was of age during this rave culture. I think I would have been all over this personally at the time. But for the few experiences I’ve had with this type of music in the right settings, I’ve loved it, and I really, really enjoyed this one. Mad story as well about the dude burning a million quid on Wikipedia. Well worth a read if anyone comes across this album.

not for me but didn't hate it

Probably as good as a British electronic band is going to be. Two stars.

This album rules, and the incredible history of the band only makes it better. Truly an album that needs to be listened to at length rather than just the singles. You can almost picture the early 90's UK club scene here. I can hear so many things here that influenced what came after. This is a hidden gem for sure.

6.5/10

It's alright. Not sure why it's on the list like most of the albums but it's harmless

Boring. Time listening to this is wasted time.

This kind of electronic does not age well

Like being in a techno club minus all the fun parts

I made the minor effort to find the original album on YouTube. 5 stars for that. An amazing pisstake of the industry and very listenable, too! The director's cut is a completely different album really. Still not too bad.

Only one song is available on Spotify and I didn't particularly enjoy it that much.

3.3/5 - Grew up with relatives playing a lot of "electronic beats + talking at random intervals in the song" kind of music very similar to this album's first track. Not exactly my kind of vibe, and nor was this album. Somewhat repetitive for some songs, and although the electronic sounds were interesting I wasn't a fan of the vocal samples.

Only one song was available on Spotify and it was decent so I'll go with that for now.

Kann ich leider nicht anhören. Es gibt aber diverse Playlisten mit der Musik. Ist aber nicht mein Geschmack.

Not very interesting

Excellent.

Jag vet inte vad som hände, det var inte så illa men inte så bra. 3/5.

Ebismusik 🤢 inte så illa som jag trodde dock.

Rätt härligt men mest OK

I genuinely can’t tell if this is meant to be comedically shit.

It stinks that this got booted off Spotify, because these tracks are extremely hot. Smoking, in fact. Very dance-worthy.

yeah I guess

Had to listen to the “Directors Cut” version.. wasn’t great

Apparently these guys burned a million quid in the back of some boathouse as an artistic statement about how wealth controls people more than people control wealth. That's a million pounds that could've gone to any charity. Sure, it's not as bad as anything the billionaires are doing, but it's still pretty damn morally objectionable. As for the music... it's pretty bad. There's a reason people say EDM aged poorly – today's audiences want intense, complex, catchy material – though frankly I can't even understand what the appeal back in the 90s was. There's extremely little to absorb in each song, hardly any chord progressions or melodies of interest, hooks that technically exist on paper but are just bland and annoying in practice, close to zero musicianship, weak lyricism... Be honest, would you want to go to a KLF concert? Or perform a cover of a KLF song? Yeah, figured. I can't imagine these are very fun songs to perform as a musician. My attempt at a track-by-track breakdown, as you'll see below, was kind of futile, because the tracks sounded pretty similar. The Spotify version is missing most tracks, so I listened to the 1991 North American release on YouTube instead. That's the one that starts with a Justified And Ancient excerpt, a somewhat lacklustre electronic dance piece that shifts directly into the similarly uninteresting What Time is Love?. That's about all the duo has going in terms of intrigue and originality: song transitions. You can tell this was intended to be played as a cohesive piece of art. Another solid transition brings us into Make It Rain, where we at least get a melodic instrument other than the weak club-shouty vocals. It's a sax. Decent, although only nominally, because something about its recording makes it sound... inorganic. Almost synth-like. After the completely forgettable 3 AM Eternal, we get some nice high synths in both Church of The KLF and Last Train to Trancentral. The latter definitely gets a shoutout, for having the first instance of ear-catching lyrics and some legitimately pretty cool synth SFX. Then Build A Fire gives us some actual physical instruments to work with. You're telling me these guys have heard of lead guitar, bass, and drums? I wouldn't have guessed. This is the first song I'd actually be willing to listen to again without compensation. Though The White Room drops most of the better, more human-like textures, it still has a decent groove. Solid vocal line in the chorus especially, and those low bass synths also contribute a lot to the song's danceability. (Man, could side 2 really rescue this record from the fiery depths?) No More Tears finds a reasonable, if ridiculously clichéd, chord progression. Coupled with the bass and (mixed down) guitar rhythm, plus the free, happy vocals, it sounds kind of like electronic reggae. I enjoy the piano instrumental in the latter half too. Justified And Ancient – the full version – sends us off on a decent but cheesy note. I like the line "They don't want to upset the apple tart". (Looking it up, it's actually "cart", but I like my version better.) Still, that first side of music is so horrendous that I can't give this more than a 2. 2/5 Key tracks: Last Train to Trancentral, Build A Fire, No More Tears

Electronic dance music: it’s no better than what it is. It definitely could be worse.

1991 release of euro dance house music. The songs are shorter, less repetitous and with more typical structure than house. Which is good. The female and male singers can also sing. However, the music sounds dated. I didn't dislike any of the songs but didn't like any either. 

Assuming I listened to the correct cut of this album... yeah, not feeling this. Really boring, sterile, milquetoast EDM. It's got a Donkey Kong Country vibe to it sometimes, but whereas David Wise is a goddamn genius, this album is just putting me to sleep. I wouldn't be surprised to hear he was influenced by The KLF, but where they fail for me, David Wise improved on the ideas massively.

I get the idea.

Not really my variety of house. Still, nice to have the list diversity. RYM: N Saved a song: N

Kinda cool kinda cheesy

thoroughly enjoyed this. kinda trippy but also very pared down somehow?

I appreciated listening to this as the music of a specific time, but it was pretty boring. An album can be influential without being actually that good

Didn't know about this album/band, very interesting

Oh wow - that brought back some interesting memories Great to hear again Not a stone-cold classic in my books, but it really was a lot of fun at the time Thanks for the great times!

Não sei dizer por que gostei, talvez pela nostalgia, é um som marcadamente do fim dos 80, inicio dos 90. Não sou fça do gênero, mas me peguei escutando o disco na íntegra.

Maybe you had to be there. I don't get it.

Can definitely understand this group’s place in electronic and dance music. A fun listen, but not something I’m likely to otherwise put on.

Despite YouTube being the only place to find original release, I enjoyed it for an electronic album.

There version of this album available on Spotify was missing all the original hits. So it’s mostly a late 80s (i.e. dated) mix of synth heavy house with cheesy vocals and rap. But if the hits were here, they would elevate the whole thing. So am judging it on what I know it’s supposed to be more than what this version is.

That was a cool listen and quite unexpected in places. The singles are just huge.

Blinky house that immediately screams early 90's. Getting hold of the album was tricky because The KLF preferred to make statements rather than music and I remember them more for their publicity stunts than the now sounding generic house music.

It's okay. I don't hate it but didn't rise to three stars

Which of these 3 versions of the album am I supposed to listen to? Spotify is of little to no help. They have one song of the original album & the Director's Cut. (fancy) They all appear to have different tracks. Wikipedia & You Tube are slightly more helpful. They tell me there are 3 versions!?! Which one am I supposed to listen to before I die? Is there a version that doesn't sound like it's from 1991? The two good songs are the Train song & Build a Fire. So the notable song by KLF is Justified & Ancient with Tammy Wyanette on vocals. With the MuMuLand chant. (I do remember the song, that part) That version ain't on any of these versions of the album. It's frustrating. The editors can't be bothered to include a notable album with said notable song. I listened to the 91 version & the DC. The DC is slightly more mellow. This band's history is gonzo. Deleted their back catalog. 2