Reviews (page 6 of 8)
one thing i notice about dance music when doing this list is that it is not really album compatible. i like DnB but this feels more like i should have listen to in a dim lounge and having a drink. Dance music is often very loopy especially earlier electronic dance music (but also some disco). It's not bad and nice to have in the background but it don't really grabs you and acts more as good Mood music (actually wished there were a bar near me with this kind of vibe)
not my vibe at all
Couldn’t get past 3 songs. All sounded the same
Songs went on too long but went to some interesting places. Better than Daft Punk for sure. Probably more like a 2.5/5
4.4
Not for me I’m afraid. Only got 1 song in but could tell it wasn’t for me. Springs no surprises
When I saw the nearly 140 minutes runtime on a drum and bass record, I had nothing but dread, and it's taken my 3 weeks to find the time and willingness to subject myself. It's honestly pretty enjoyable and pretty chill, just way way too long.
The only enjoyable part were the bass parts, nothing else
not for me
At first a bit anoying music. Every track sounds the same. It is very outdated music. But still It kind of grows on me the more i listen. I like it but I will rate It as a 2.
This was my first encounter with the Drums'N'Bass style of music and I very much enjoyed it. Restrictions breed creativity, and in this case the results are captivating; You can do a lot with just two instruments. Brown Papers Bags is when I really started paying attention. While the music itself isn't similar per say, the vibes remind me so much of Twin Peaks with it's ethereal repetitions and feeling of being pursued. It's hard to out into words exactly why I like this song so much. Another stand out song was Morse Code, it took everything I liked about Brown Paper Bag and turned it into a spy thriller. Like I'm being pursued down a series of backstreets. I was on the bus and fell asleep during the middle of disk one, and it added a certain spices to my dreams. Would recommend. Disk two ended up being background music while I cooked and cleaned the kitchen, and I found it filled the same niche as Lo-Fi music typically would for me. Even though we aren't usually supposed to listen to the extra material, because I had it on in the background while cooking I heard some of the lyrical remixes. Brown Paper Bag is also great with some lyrics, so I'm very glad I let it play Favs: Brown Papers Bag, Morse Code
Aaaaah, the UK Bias of this list strikes again. A Drum N Bass album that just overstays its welcome. The album starts off as a very solid DnB album, and I was kind of getting in to it, but it never really evolved further than what it did in track 1. This wouldn’t be a problem if the album wasn’t almost 80 minutes long. By the time the halfway point hits, I just wanted the album to end. I probably would have given it a higher score if it knew when to stop, but alas it doesn’t.
First of all why is it so freaking long? The beats are interesting in some places, but lacks catchy melody. It's a boring background music.
I acknowledge that there’s a time and place for drum & bass, and I did the album no favors by listening while not in a dance club or something. In the context in which I listened, though, this was a bit of a chore to get through. It could’ve been improved by making each track a minute or two shorter. I did like the title track, however.
Need to come back to this, it was over 2h xD
Every track sounds the same...
Actually quite enjoyed that. Has to be listened to in a particular mood, but very good when done so. Bit of a slog and often repetitious, but like a lot of early electronica on here it's pretty impressive stuff despite not aging perfectly. Can't see this doing too well with general populace on here but let's see if I'm proved wrong. 3.5*
This one is gonna be hard to rate . Drum & Bass is not a genre I'm all that familiar with. Now I do love me some 80s/90s House and Techno music. I’m not stranger to this style of music Per se. Anyways time to listen and rate it Stand Out Tracks Brown Paper Bag Heroes Watching Windows Destination Share The Fall It’s very hard to rate this. As with most Electronic music in this vain it’s all about “Feeling” and Grooves . It’s an either I like this track or this one isn’t as good On most of my days this would be a 2.5, but if I’m in the mood for this kind of music and for what it is I’d say it’s a 4 On that note I’ll meet it in the middle. Think the biggest deterrent is the almost 3 hours run time. The version I listened had a couple extra tracks and with songs ranging between 7 mins that’s a long time to commit to one album. This was a journey and a challenge but I came out the other side. Will listen again but definitely in snippets 3/5 1* - Not Good 2* - Has Merit 3* - Would Listen Again (Good) 4* - Like It/Love It 5* - LOVE IT AND IT IS A CLASSIC ALBUM
Not a fan. Felt very repetitive and uninteresting. The Matrix soundtrack at home.
I did not enjoy this but I guess I get why someone would
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I love this album. Drum n bass (or jungle as some people used to call it) is a genre that was just flooded by artists who all kind of sounded alike. It simple enough. Grab a sample of the famous 'Amen break', speed it up, and put some synths on top and you've got yourself a jungle track. It's simple, it works, but it gets a bit boring. The mid-90s saw a handful of artists who managed to do something a little more interesting with the genre. Goldie's 'Timeless' was heralded as a classic, but personally it leaves me very bored, despite many attempts to get into it. LTJ Bukem has some decent songs if you just want some chill background music. Photek is interesting, though he never really managed to create a strong full length album. A lot of this now sounds pretty dated. Goldie doesn't really seem so timeless any more. But for my money, the true heroes were always Roni Size and his group Reprazent. 'New Forms' is (for me), the one really impressive drum n bass album that actually survives the test of time, if only because it has more character than the others. It has the dynamics that are severely missing from Goldie, the urban landscapes missing from Bukem, and the variety missing from Photek. It's heavily influenced by hip hop, and lightly by jazz. It's rooted in an urban landscape but occasionally lifts you up into space before you plummet back down and hit the ground running. The vocalists aren't merely singing on these songs, but feel slightly chopped up, as though their words are trying to fit into the space in between the beats. 'New Forms' won the Mercury Prize when it was released and it's well deserved. My main complaint about 'New Forms' is that the 2 disc version starts to drag (never mind the anniversary edition with 4 discs!). Technically, this is the original, with the single disc version coming out later. The album only needs the first disc, no more and no less, and I treat the other one as bonus tracks.Aside from that, I think it deserves serious consideration as a classic from that era.
BootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAndBootsAndCatsAnd
Jut amazing album. Share The Fall and Watching Windows are still my fav dnb tracks
Drum and bass songs are a remix of the same tune
Halfway through the first song the influence this group has is apparent on drum and bass, dubstep, all of electronic music. It’s a little dated but obviously earns its place on this list.
Good band but not my favorite.
This is a jazz classic; heady Drum and Bass. I can understand that people nowadays may not get the hype behind it, but at the time it took things to a whole other level.
Listening to this gave me anxiety. Spotify served me up a 5 hour, 4 disc album set for this title. No chance I was going to make it through that without falling ear-first onto a fork. I listened to the first one and called it a day.
Drum and bass. Me ha gustado. Un 4.
Guay, pero un poco repetitivo.
I ended up liking some of this, especially the second disc which had a lot more ambient, jazzy vibes. But the audacity of putting a 2 and a half hour long drum n bass album on the list. Can't go higher than **, I think just disc 2 on its own would have been a *** or better.
This version wasn’t available in the States, so I listened to the 20th anniversary edition which was. Annoying. Gets a second star for the percussion.
Oh great! An album full of 7 minute + long songs that have the same 6 seconds on a loop. There are almost none of these on this list. UGH. How could this or any of the other electronic albums on this list ever be considered a must listen. Yet another 2 hours 20 mins of bullshit.
Maso
Electronic 1997. It has a lane, just not the one I need at the moment.
Not to my taste, though I do find myself intrigued. I do a lot better when it has no vocal. The wandering bass grabs me.
Firstly - I was angry back in 1997 when they won the mercury prize because it just seemed like the bigwig musos were voting for the least known, least interesting act but it would generate controversy. Which it did. And it’s not as if they’ve carved out a monumental career since. I really tried to be mature about this and see if I could connect with the album this time but about a minute into each song I was just terribly bored. I tried a bunch of times to start afresh but it wasn’t happening. I luckily accessed the original 16-track album but if I’d had to listen to the 53-track reissue I may have had to cause serious damage somewhere. Tedium beyond….
Incessant frenetic repetitive drum loops interspersed with repetitive vocal and bass clips reminiscent of the sound my car makes when someone forgets to put on their seatbelt. Sound like something you want to play on your stereo? Good for you. I choose no.
Wow, I really liked this and was not expecting to. This album was like looking at one of those Magic Eye images where you have to focus on it in just the right way to see the image. Once I did, I was magically transported, but if something distracted me, it took a few seconds to be able to get back into that trance state. At the best of times, this album gave me the same ethereal bliss I get from mid-70s Miles Davis. Some of the songs went on too long, but more often than not, it was constantly interesting.
I went back and forth on this but ultimately recognized that I was trying too hard to enjoy.
Ridiculous to call this essential with a straight face unless you are currently living through 1997 UK DJ culture.
Some tracks worked but this album is far too long and there's plenty of duds that hamper it.
I couldn't get through it. Just not my thing
3.5/5 Some jams on here but it is longer than it should be. If you make a sick beat, you don't have to play it for more than 5 minutes with little to no variation. Repetitive, with the same drums over and over again. It is 1997 and there are definite Daft Punk Homework vibes in the approach and execution of this album. That is also partially a compliment in the freshness of some of these songs which I will return to. Railing 3.5/5 Brown Paper Bag 2.5/5 New Forms 4/5 Let's Get It On 3.5/5 Digital 4.5/5 Matter Of Fact 2.5/5 Mad Cat 2/5 (LEAST FAV) Heroes 2.5/5 Share The Fall 3/5 Watching Windows 5/5 (FAV) Beatbox 3.5/5 Morse Code 4/5 Destination 3.5/5
реально новые формы 7.5/10
Phenomenal sound, but too long and samey
Boring robot music. Probably great live at a rave, not listening through headphones at work on a Wednesday. 4/10 (2/5)
ok writing this as I'm listening to song number 2 "brown paper bag" which is supposedly the big hit off this album...hm. I can't say I am enjoying this at all there is no chance I'm going to listen to 2 hours of it. It's both boring and stressful at the same time. sorryyyyy I am just not into this genre at all. I dislike "new forms" and "heroes" less I think because they have words so it's slightly less boring. obviously music doesn't need to have words in it to be good but I think it needs more than just drum machines and bass.
Somewhat techno with tracks all being very similar with beat. Too many songs on the album - 53!!!
Isoo peukkuu rumpubassolle. Tässä tuoksahtaa savuinen ysäri klubi. Loistavaa yöajelu musaa. Parhaat: Brown Paper Bag, New Forms,
Too long. (The album and the songs.) Most of the songs on New Forms have six beat electronic base lines with simple harmonies and very repetitive lyrics. (OK, that’s electronica). Share The Fall, Washing (sic) Windows, and Beatbox make for a tolerable threefer. My take aways: too long, very repetitive, but 1001 list worthy. Comes in at (2.4*s)
Please explain to me how this is considered an "essential" album, anywhere, anyway, anyhow? At first I was like "ok, sure, not my fave but let's go" but by the end it was so repetitive and draining (not to mention every song is 7 minutes too long). This isn't doing anything monumental, there's nothing interesting, there's no redeeming quality. I don't even hate drum n' bass but this had me hating. You Brits can keep Roni Size.
Another loooong drum and bass electronica album. I'm just not into this style...so repetitive."Watching Windows" broke the monotony and is best track. I did like it a little more than the Goldie album though. Maybe throw this on when you feel like spazzing out...1.8.
New Forms is a Too Long Album hall of fame entry. Even if a few of the initial songs were somewhat cool this was completely washed out by the fact that it is 2 hours of nearly the same thing over and over and over (and over again). Most of the songs are 6+ minutes long with a redundant beat and similar structure. If you were to take any of the singles in a vacuum they aren't bad I guess. Early on I was considering throwing one of the singles into my "Like Songs" list, but by the end I don't really want anything to do with this album. I'm not sure I mind drum & bass as a genre, but I'd rather stick to electronica, trance, dubstep, or any other EDM genre. Play 2 minutes of this in a club somewhere when trying to get some energy in a room then pull the ripcord and move on to something catchier. Or better yet just skip it altogether and play a crowd pleaser. I'm sure there is an application for this but I'm scratching my head as to when anyone would need 2 hours of this (not to mention the 5 hours Deluxe edition). Unfortunately I have to give this album a bad review because by the end of it I really was suffering through it. Cut this in half and its still too long. Give me a quarter of this album and I might have left a mediocre review because the overall music didn't bother me but otherwise this was basically a 140 minute slog. .45 stars
3.5
Late 90s bumping club music was an enjoyable composition of samples and sounds
One trick pony. This was pretty boring overall. I normally like electronica music, but this just didn't do it for me.
Drum and bass just gets painful to me after awhile. Just sounds like my anxiety.
New Painfully Linear Forms
How can a drum n bass album be so boring??
Man, that's what I call something endless. "Brown Paper Bag" was interesting, the other songs were not hurting but were not pleasant neither.
So random, so long…
I can get why this album is on the list, as I can see it was influential in the development of this type of music. That is a bit like recognising that the human experimentation carried by the Nazis and Japanese during WWII was vital in medical breakthroughs that came after as they carried out atrocities without consideration of ethics or humanity. The twentieth anniversary release of this shit is over 5 hours long. Fuck right off, you repetitive prick.
Dope. Brown Paper Bag is great
i don't know what a junglist really is, but its not for me
Genuinely didn’t get this one Can’t dance to this Is this the type of music they play at berghain? How am I supposed to enjoy this?
Sounds so great, classic. So far 3rd best DnB albums on this list, surprised there was even 1. I’m giving Goldie and LTJ Bukem a better score, although New Forms did have way more UK success.
FFS.
Torture
Boring drum and bass
Brown Paper Bag // New Forms //
Absolutely not.
Interesting chill music
yeah i get it but come on
It's fine and even enjoyable but I am not impressed or interested by it? All sounds the same to me which was fine but I will never listen again
This feels like a meme, something in a late 90s / early 2000s show would use to demonstrate "dangerous youth" at a bus-stop
That was something. But also, way too long. I couldn’t differentiate the songs from each other if I really had to.
A great album I had never listened to in full before - the point of doing this! I really enjoyed it, although it lagged a bit towards the end and was so influential that it now sounds a wee bit dated.
Unavailable
Why so long?
I think this was the album that introduced me to drum and bass or it was the most impactful for me at the time. I saw the video for Brown Paper Bag late one night on MTV and got the album the next day. Not a bad album to start on considering it’s now revered as one of the best of all time. I still throw it on from time to time all though I don’t usually make it through the whole thing. Taking this album on is a pretty big commitment unless it’s a background thing. Like most songs in the electronic world from this time there’s a lot of repetition through out the lengthy tracks, at times that’s the one thing that sets this album back a bit unless you’re looking for something meditative. Roni Size gets a lot of credit on this album but I feel like DJ Krust is a pretty major contributor too, earning production credits as part of Reprazent. I stumbled upon Krust’s music not long after discovering this album and I loved that he had a similar sound but really pushed his songs further with a more cinematic approach. Aside from having a stellar collective of producers, there’s also some talented vocalists, rappers and musicians featured through out as well. You can tell this collective really poured everything into this album without it feeling overstuffed, it still holds up and I was happy to revisit it.
I am not a drum and bass, or jungle, fan overall, but there are a few DJ's that I like. AK1200, Dieselboy, Photek (my favorite), and Roni Size. They do it right. Drum and Bass is too repetitive for me. Other than Brown Paper Bag (I like the shorter radio version better), I always enjoyed Share the Fall on this album.
Electronic music and rave culture colonized my world in college as unwelcome guests, but I tried to get along with them as best I could. I even tried the food and didn't hate it entirely. Generally I found it overly repetitive and unemotional. Looking back, this music seems like the early stepping stones that led us to infuse better drum programming, stem chopping, and looping into more popular music, like Madonna's "Ray Of Light" at the time, Radiohead's "Kid A" and "Amnesiac," or Taylor Swift's "1989" decades later. I recall BT and Roni Size were the Christopher Columbuses of the time, hailed for forcing this new adventure upon the indigenous peoples and handing out blankets that would infect the world forevermore. I attempt to listen anew, but even as I type, I'm in a repetitive drum and bass groove that goes on for **checks notes** 9 minutes. Oh, there are two more songs approaching the 9 minute mark. Let's hold out hope there will be some variety in those. I can appreciate tracks where someone is rapping/scatting/talking over them which adds variety and changes in the rhyme patterns. It's a bit more like spoken word to a beat at that point. The frantic pulse adds momentum to any environment. Play this at a work, and your day goes by faster without distracting you with melody or purpose. Turn down the TV and put anything on, and the beat lines up and adds anticipation to whatever is going to happen next. Play this at a funeral, and the mourners can't help but bob their heads while collectively blowing their noses in random syncopation. And that's what this is to me: background music that gets one through the day and doesn't draw you in by having you sing along or contemplate the meaning too hard. It's also a breakbeat sampler. "You like DJing? Grab this hot mess and mix and match anywhere in your set!!" Most likely, this a showcase as to what this producer can do. Much like Skrillex went on to produce Justin Beiber's "Where Are Ü Now", perhaps Roni was showing his chops in hopes to eventually sell them to or collaborate with others. I kept my mind open this entire journey, but even with more education on the genre I will--in a nod to the stylings of New Forms--repeat everything I've already said ad nausea since the beginning: this is repetitive and unemotional, a foundation waiting for more to flesh it out.
This one took me back. I was a heavy drum and bass listener in the late 90s and early 2000s. For me it's music that kind of let's your mind switch off and be on autopilot a bit. I really like what's going on with this one. Seems like bebop and jazz layered on drum and bass beats with some really nice atmospheric sounds going on in the background on some of the tracks. I've listened to this album before but it's been quite awhile. I usually go for more atmospheric sounding drum and bass like LTJ Bukem and Klute so this was in my wheelhouse. Some standouts were Destination and Digital.
I was not prepared for a 5+ hour album and it took me multiple days to finish. I enjoyed the cohesiveness of the sound throughout, though, many times I wouldn’t have known I was on a new song without checking. I definitely enjoyed the change ups to slower beats since many of the songs tended to use a very similar, repetitive beat. I’m sure I’d listen again in a rotation but not sure I’d download the full albums.
This is so cool, I really dig the sound. I guess maybe I need to explore more drum and bass. The vocal tracks I could take or leave, but instrumental tracks like Brown Paper Bag are so good.
Easy listening background music, with Standouts in Railing, Brown Paper Bag, and New Forms.
DnB can be exciting to listen to when driving, dancing, gaming, et cetera. It's a cornerstone dance genre and a good cultural export for the UK. Put it on for the background of a chatty party when you don't want any singalongs. It is a little strange (and less exciting) to sit down and actively listen for over an hour (over two hours if you listen to the second disc.) I respect the craft, but won't be on this journey again. If you give a shit about DJing you might get a big kick out of this. The more interesting stuff is on the second disc, which is a shame because it means fighting through an hour of often indistinguishable break beats to get to it. Highlights: New Forms, Hi-Potent, Trust Me
2/5
This was OK but I found most of it pretty average and forgettable.
A conglomerate of different noises on each track, some ok, some pleasant, (to me) most were annoying. An ok album
An hour of early drum and bass music almost feels like I’m being punished for something.
Though the forms no longer sound new, I can certainly acknowledge this album's impact on electronic music and how it helped establish drum and bass as a respected genre beyond the club scene.
Boring and generic drum and bass. 2/5
My hot take for electronic music is that the harder it is to reproduce, the better it is. This is music for a movie heist scene, and the reason it works in a heist scene is because the scene generally ends within 5 minutes or so.
This album was pretty cool overall.
Not my style, too long, but I liked parts of it.
Rubbish. Repetative and dull.
Good ideas on there. Would listen to that on a hot summer day while drinking in a bar if it's in the background but not on purpose.
Ok
Roni size Another English electronic album from the late 90’s. Hard to keep my attention with electronic music. The grooves are cool but hard to dig an entire album of this. I liked some Squarepusher and Aphex Twin albums that are more I teresti g compositionally. Prefer songs with vocals like heroes.
Why
This was an insane thing to listen to.
5 hours is too much of the same
Lots of loops. I feel like every song on this album is one loop. Not really for me, but I don't think this is bad.
Toonami
Nice for the nostalgia. Not sure I’ll keep it in rotation. Not my favorite but I can actually see why it’s on the list, so that’s maybe a first.
Remember this being a towering influence at the time, a true drum n bass classic. And at times it scales those heights still today. At times it also sticks around longer than necessary and feels very dated but in fairness, it wasn’t written to be listened to while unwinding in my lounge after work.
Roni Size repartiendo breaks en tono Jungle y Drum and Bass durante más de dos horas en un disco aclamado y que funcionó muy bien. Los temas más conocidos fureon todos con la participación de Onallee (que coescribió algunas de estas y otras del disco) en la parte vocal: "Brown Paper Bag", "Heroes", "Share the Fall" y "Watching Windows". En mi opinión las mejores canciones son aquellas en las que hay parte vocal y baja un poco las revoluciones fusionadose con un toque Funk-Soul que a día de hoy sigue funcionando como el primer día: New Forms y los comentados Heroes, Share the fall y Watching windows. El resto del álbum, si eres fan de este estilo pues perfecto, sino se hace algo largo. Otros discos de un impresionante 1997: Radiohead: OK Computer, Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen We’re Floating In Space, The Prodigy: The fat of the land, The Verve: Urban Hymns, Cornershop: When I Was Born For The 7th Time, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: The Boatman’s Call, Erykah Badu: Baduizm, Wilco: Being There, Portishead: Portishead, Primal Scream: Vanishing Point, Tindersticks: Curtains, Björk: Homogenic, Bob Dylan: Time Out Of Mind, Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One, The Chemical Brothers: Dig Your Own Hole, Belle And Sebastian: If You’re Feeling Sinister, Teenage Fanclub: Songs From Northern Britain, Mogwai: Young Team, Daft Punk: Homework, Stereolab: Doots And Loops The Make-Up: Sound Verite, Eels: Beautiful Freak, Erykah Badu: Baduizm, Echo & The Bunnymen: Evergreen, Prefab Sprout: Andromeda heights, Dinoasaur Jr.: Hand It Over, Blur: Blur, Buenavista Social Club: Buenavista Social Club, Elliott Smith: Either, Or, Janet Jackson: The velvet rope, Smog; Red apple falls, Built to Spill: Perfecto from now on, The Jayhwaks: Sound of lies, Kent: Isola, Ocean Colour Scene: Marchin' already, Paul Weller: Heavy soul, Cotton Maher: Kontiki, Luna: Pup Tent, Foo Fighters: The colour and the shape... y también: Spice Girls: Spiceworld, U2: Pop, Aqua: aquarium...
Very out there and interesting album. Apple only had some 50 track version so I listened to the first disc. A lot of this reminded me of Jet Set Radio Future which was a plus!
This one was very cool, a nice electronic departure. A bit longer than it needed to be, but some solid grooves on here. Also, yet another song featuring the same sample that was in our recent Primal Scream album, which was also sampled by Kanye West on the beat for Pusha T's "Lunch Money," I feel like I'm going insane. Favorite tracks: Brown Paper Bag, Matter of Fact, Beatbox, Morse Code. Album art: Not much of anything going on here, not sure what I'm looking at. Minimal in nature, some mild digital art, the color scheme reminds me of dishwasher pods. 3.5/5
I wanted to like this more than I did. Just too long, man. The problem with digital technology in music production and reproduction is that what used to be a creative constraint, being the amount of material the artist could reasonably add to an album. Because tape was EXPENSIVE, took specialized knowledge to work with effectively, had a finite physical capacity, and took up physical space among other things. The artist and producer needed to be super selective about what they committed to tape and by extension the record they made. You had to rehearse as studio time was also expensive and in limited supply. A lot of effort had to go into song selection, recording method, it all adds up. Only the best performances make the cut from a purely practical and financial perspective. But with digital all that went away. On the positive side, now anyone truly can make professional sounding work, and make recordings anywhere (dorm room, backyard shed, etc.). Digital distribution has further democratized the industry, and most barriers to creating, publishing, and marketing music are gone. Additionally, recordings can be ANY LENGTH without constraint. This lack of constraints allows artists (who are in love with their own work as if it were more important than their own offspring) the ability to publish everything they make, regardless of quality of the performance, whether it's a unique or novel expression, or any other reason to prune. This lack of constraints is especially detrimental in electronic music, where an artists ability to play a musical instrument is another constraint that no longer matters. Just sample something, loop it, add some beats, boom - done. Now there's too much. This Roni Size album has some good stuff on it! But too much. Too much of every song contains recycled elements of the last, and the next. Pop clearly eats itself here, but not in a self-referential post-modern way (like Boards of Canada). An example of the post-vinyl digital abundance and ego stroking that is now de rigeur.
Repetitive beats, nothing noteworthy.
3/5. Gives Prodigy and Fatboy Slim vibes. Maybe a little Beastie Boys. Lots of heavy snare drum.
viel drums, nicht soviel base .. und wenn alles gleich tönt (wie bei dylan 😉) dann fehlen hier die texte teilweise komplett. mir gefallen tracks wie Heroes, weil es gesang und elemente von jazz hat.
Nein, Drum&Bass verstehe ich nicht.
Told myself I was going to listen to every album on this list in full, and this one really tested my patience. Painfully boring and painfully long.
An hour and 20 of drum and bass is too much for me. Fun tracks, but this isn’t my idea of a good time.
For the first couple of tracks I was thinking ‘as far as background music goes, I don’t mind this’. But over the next hour my patience wore thin, and I struggle to square the idea that, even within the drum & bass game (admittedly not my forte, though I do like it sometimes), it was particularly revolutionary or at least the best example of its genre. Maybe I’m wrong? The list of nominees it beat to the Mercury Prize is hilariously impressive. 1.5
It was a bit of a slog to get through but not an unpleasant one. Brown Paer Bag and Hi-Potent were great.
Clearly a very strong album, and it was teetering on three stars for me. I'm just not that into drum and bass.
This about did me in. So long. So very long. So much repetition. The thing is that I would enjoy this quite nicely in smaller doses or in the background of a boutique hotel lobby bar sipping a cosmopolitan circa 2003.
The repetitive loops and rhythm were perfect to send me off to sleep on my plane ride. When I awoke, I thought that I was on the same track as when I fell asleep. But no, a different track, and not even half way through the whole album.
Good lord that took forever. I did not like it at first as accompaniment to dinner-making. But later with headphones on doing some work at the computer, it made for some decent background sound. There's just so much!
Music for my retro-themed turn-of-the-century boutique hotel lobby. It was ok in the background but I didn’t need 2 hours of it.
It was fine as background music. But a lot of the songs sounded the same. It's not really a genre that does anything for me. I typically give a 2 to stuff I don't like. It feels harsh here. I'm not sure that this music was really created to be judged as an album, in the same way that Abbey Road or Dark Side of the Moon were. But that's what this rating system compares. So on that scale it was long and boring.
Look, it wasn't *bad*, but it was LONG af. 20 songs at 6 minutes a piece that all sounded the same. Like, I genuinely couldn't tell you one song that stood out from the rest, so much so that I imagine this was a 2-hour glimpse into what purgatory must be like. Oh, and to top it all off, the album cover was giving me serious "90's business suite software that you need a 300 page manual to start using" vibes. The one "plus" of this album was that it wasn't terrible to listen to as work background music, sort of like lofi. Maybe if there was a Lofi Girl equivalent for Drums and Bass I'd find this album more endearing.
it's a pretty nice little package. brown paper bag is top tier dnb, and watching these songs played live is pretty great. drags on a bit cause it's a 90s edm album.
According to the wiki, the original album was over 2 hours long but the only options I had were an hour long or 5 hours long. Unfortunately I could barely even stomach the hour long short version. I’d say that I don’t like drum and bass that much but I swear I’ve reacted positively to this type of electronica before—even the radio after the album wasn’t bad. This one just happened to suck balls and was incredibly annoying to me despite being considered the opus of the subgenre apparently. Very low two
Super long and boring. Not finishing.
This list has ruined my enjoyment of discovering new bands from my teenage years that I've never heard of. It's always something that was only popular in the UK, and of dubious quality. This is way beyond my worst expectations. It's boring, bland, repetitive crap. I'm not sure what drug was popular in the UK back then, but you need to be on it to enjoy this.
i truly expected to absolutely hate this, and while I didn't, i did also go out of ny way to make sure i listened to the album as originally released (not the one disc version the spotify link here leads to) and good lord there is no album that can justify a 2 hour and 20 minute length, and certainly not when that album is entirely drum and bass. I'll toss it an extra star for not making me 100% bonkers which is an achievement, but if I'm grading this as an album listening experience than holy shit you will never ever catch me putting this on again
When I saw that the 20th Anniversary album was FIVE HOURS LONG, I instantly had a 'ain't nobody got time for that' moment. I decided to listen to Disc 1 before going back to the rest of my backlog (which is currently full of bangers, a nice juxtaposition to what I've listened to lately). The initial drum and bass combo on Railing and Brown Paper Bag really work quite well, but from there the tracks are entirely too long and too repetitive, and this would have benefited from some level of restraint or curation. As is, it was even hard to zone out to. That said, acknowledging that this was a first of its kind and really paved the way for drum and bass music, it's spot here makes some sense. But given how niche it is, did I really need to listen to most of this before I die? Probably not.
The first few tracks I actually kinda liked, then it got boring and repetitive like most of the rest of the stuff in this genre.
The backing is great. Other than that it is pretty standard for now, but considering the time it could have been cool. Sadly, it doesn't compare to modern music of the same sort.
5:15 — maybe for very long rides in a car
Not for me
can't make up my mind about this one. i sorta like it!
Ganz ok und ganz schön lang
This album is so bipolar. Half of it is lovely raucous and rambunctious drum and bass and the other half you can imagine the artists passing around a blunt in the studio and repeating the word “Deep” with meaningful emphasis.
Good for background noise
Too long and boring, but I guess it functions ok as background music.
Bloody hell that's awful, I'm almost at a lost for words, abysmal.
really enjoyed the first 3 songs of the album but it becomes quite repetitive after that and starts dragging without ever picking back up. it's pretty decent background music for work though
The version of this album that comes up on Amazon Music is the 20th Anniversary Edition and it’s 53 songs and five hours and 14 minutes long. And so I thought to myself, “wow it must have taken them forever to make that much music” but then on listening to it, I realized they could have knocked this out in an afternoon. “Uncha uncha uncha uncha”. Track one done. “Bloop bloop uncha uncha bloop bloop”. There’s track two. Have we got someone who has no understanding of what rapping is supposed to sound like to “rap”? Great, add that to track two and the sound of a dial-up internet connection and there’s track three. Rinse and repeat until you’ve got a super long and super shitty album. I’m embarrassed this album (1) made this list, (2) won a mercury prize, (3) is remembered by anyone almost thirty years later, (3) is something to which I have now listened, (4) exists. There is no more value to this collection of drum machine beats and electronic noises than there is to ones generated at random. The worst part was thinking, “man, that has got to be the 50th time they repeated that bit” and then seeing that I’m only three something minutes into a six something-minute-long song. And I can look and see how long the song has been playing and how long it has left because I’m listening to this shit in my car on my way to work, and not in a warehouse at 3am in late-90’s London while high on ecstasy, which I imagine is the only time this music would sound good. The fact that whether music sounds good to you is so dependent on context - including place and time and activity you’re engaging in and substances you’ve consumed - really makes me feel like doing this project of listening to the albums on this list is pointless. Or maybe it’s just that listening to this album makes me feel life itself is pointless.
Anstrengend hektischer Drum and Bass on four CDs.
It was okay
Yet another one that, for fuck’s sake, you’d never expect to see on a list of essential ‘must-listen-before-you-die’ albums :-(
Holy cow this thing is long. Okay listened to the first disc and had to call it quits
Not music just random sounds
What's worse than finding a new electronic assignment? Finding out that it's a double album! >:-| I actually didn't hate the first track when it started. The guitar break down in the middle was cool, and the jazzy bass at the end was too. I stupidly got my hopes up. And the beat kind of reminded me of the Blade soundtrack — which should've been my first clue, because the reason the music works in that movie is because they only use a 40-second clip of an 8-minute song. This is elevator music for people who think they're cool. Is "Digital" the most annoying thing ever recorded? Maybe. No, I stand corrected. “Morse Code” is worse. This isn't even enjoyable as background music, because every time you get in the zone they introduce some new annoying klaxon or droning sound that can drive you insane. 2/5 because at least it has vocals. It’s not the worst electronic album I’ve gotten, but I still hate it.
A memorable album from the late 90s
I think a lot of the songs would be great if they were half as long, New Forms is a great example of this, it's a good beat and the vocals are solid but I think it just goes on a little past its welcome. Some would be fine if they were half as long, and instead are almost just bad, like Let's Get It On which follows right after New Forms. And then there's some I don't think I could get behind at any length, like Digital which follows right after those two and is even longer than either. That being said, this is the listening experience sitting and listening to it relatively focused in an office, I highly suspect that wasn't the intended place to listen to it. In a club it seems like (the ones that are at least fine, definitely not Digital) great music to shout over, something to keep up the energy in the background while you step away for a drink. Overall, I appreciate the beats they lay down for the most part, the actual physical stringed bass on it is great pretty much everywhere it's used, I would never listen to it in its entirety for fun but I can appreciate a few of the songs.
Surprisingly nostalgic feeling, was old Ronald. It's quite repetitive and at times pretty irritating, but at other times there's quite a bit going on, and the female vocalist who pops up every now and then adds a lot of value.
Hm. No.
Mind-numbing tripe
Some interesting sounds being created here although I’d trim a lot of the songs because they get too repetitive. I understand that’s kind of a trademark of the genre though. Not the kind of music I tend to go for.
This is so 90's hahahahaha. The same drum line used in every song. The quieter moments remind me of music used at a salon that's trying to be upscale.
Not a fan
Not as bad as I thought it would be after the first song. But not my style, never liked electronic music
My jungle days have passed me by
2nd disc is better, a lot of stuff is almost what i like but really just not quite good to me
Ignore the detractors, New Forms was ground breaking, bringing d&b to a mainstream audience whilst losing none of its authenticity. It just slaps.
Afro funk psychedelia electronic dance grooves. Not for me but also not too bad.
I like it a lot more than I thought it would. I sort feel like there’s a story being told by the music, with changing environments and random characters added in. It would be a good background to a video game, sort of reminding me of Ratchet and Clank. But it is wayyy too long. Even if it was a normal length, I’m not sure I could have finished it but in reality I made it about 7 songs in and decided I didn’t want that noise in my life all day.
Uhhh wtf is this. Was not prepared for that opening song while driving home from work this morning trying not to fall asleep, it def kept me awake, so it had that going for it? I guess some of them were essentially just lo fi beats so that was ok but I hated the “talking” going on. This album really painted a picture for me of a sleazy underground British club with a bunch of sweaty pale British dudes, tea sloshing around everywhere. Not about that life. If Tom waits is the bar for a one then I can’t really put this that low but man it was close.
Too long. I was feeling it the first few songs, but I didn’t feel like there was enough variety to keep it going. I am fine with albums being consistent in their sound, but this album felt way too bland. If it were 20 mins it would be different. This is just too long. I think I would still like drum and bass though in general. You know what you’re gonna get with the drums, this album just didn’t have the accompaniment I would have liked. Shoutout toonami!
It’s any old 90s afternoon. I’ve got my Bagel Bites, a blue Kool-Aid jammer, and some Dunkaroos. Everything is lining up to be great except I walk into the den at my grandma’s and my brother already has the tv on Cartoon Network. That means I’ll either have to start a channel changing battle without the remote, or I’ll have to watch Toonami instead of Nickelodeon. To make matters worse, Sailor Moon hasn’t even ended yet and there’s still a half hour after that until Dragonball Z comes on. That’s what listening to this album is like. Some good, some bad, but ultimately it’s not really what you wanted.
This album wasn't necessarily a struggle to get through. More so it just blended into my subconscious while it played in the background. This is a new genre that I only heard about when someone asked if there was a D&B album on the 1001 list. I thought the nature of the genre would lead to a bunch of artists sampling songs off of here, but that really wasn't the case (at least from what I could find). I think it's best use is how it was first shown to me as the Toonami background music while Anime clips played over it.
D Railing 2 Brown Paper Bag 1 New Forms 2 Lets Get It On 2 Digital 2 Matter Of Fact 1 Mad Cat 1 Heroes 2 Share The Fall (Full Vocal Mix) 2 Watching Windows 2 Beatbox 1 Morse Code 1 Destination 1 Intro 1 Hi-potent 1 Trust Me 1 Change My Life 1 Share The Fall 1 Down 1 Jazz 1 Hot Stuff 1 Ballet Dance 2 This isn't music.
Meh...
I joined to hear new music. Not my jam but this was worth my while to listen too.
Slower tracks are okayish. The faster the beat, the more annoyed I got. I've listened to several British electronica albums from this list (maker of this list has some weird relationship with this genre) and sometimes I just think Brits should leave electro music to the French.
Good in parts, but overlong
I believe that in retrospect this album and its genre were a bit less important than many people in the British and Dutch press made me believe at the time. Brown Paper Bag is still an absolute diamond though, what an incredible song.
An hour and eighteen minutes of dum and bass feels like punishment. This is good music, I just need WAY less of it.
I was dreading this. Coming off of another hour long album from the day before, and already behind my pace of actually doing an album a day, I really did not want to listen to this. But I actually ended up liking it. I think there’s a longer version of this album that puts it over the two hour mark…yeah I wasn’t seeking that out. I went with what Spotify gave me. Drum and bass has always seemed like such a niche genre. Like I couldn’t have named you any drum and bass artists or told you the tenets of the genre outside of…well the drums and the bass. But I was surprised by how much someone could do with some tape loops, some vocals, and a synthesizer on hand. Really unique stuff. Great to have on while trying to focus. I’ll definitely add this to my study/focus mix. Good stuff. 4 stars. Too long to justify 4.5 or 5, plus I didn’t like it THAT much. But it was good. Standout tracks: Railing, Matter of Fact, Mad Cat, Beatbox, Morse Code, Destination
Robot rap. Not for me 3/10
I love this genre but man this was waaaaay to long and not varied enough. Felt like one really long song that just kept repeating. For someone who doesn’t like this music I am sure this is pure hell. 6/10
Liked much of the sounds but it couldn’t pull me in.
i dont enjoy this
Put this on and go to sleep.
Stoked this made it on here, such a fun album. Banging, clean production throughout, still sounds so fresh. Loses a bitta steam in the back half but still solid throughout. Strong 3.5 Fav track: Digital
Great to see some drum n bass on here. This seems like a good pick too - feels emblematic but also inventive, has a nice full album feel. I had a great time. Fave track: Brown Paper Bag
Jungle is massive!
interesting but not my type
Not my style but still somewhat chill to listen to
english
Another pretty boring lounge electronic music. It has a quite original and unique style, but unfortunately it's not enough to deem it worthy of a listen. I've been to hotels with much better music, although it nailed one specific feature of this genre - it's really forgettable.
I tried, but I can't listen to this!
Sparce and stylised although it's a bit of a hard listen in places. I'll need to come back to this perhaps.
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: New forms, Heroes, Watching windows
2.5 stars. Was more like generic background techno than standalone hit tracks. Wasn't bad, but was a bit boring.
This is a truly great album. Borrowing from countless genres, yet unmistakably electronic, Roni Size samples and incorporates so many sounds, beats and rhythms to make this album sound like nothing else. Not quite jungle, and far from your standard bootsandhats techno, I don't know how exactly to categorize it, but I love it.
Drums and bass all sounds the same to me and this struck me as no better or worse than the rest.
Verrrrry interesting. Kinda dug it. Relentless drums.
This sounded very 1997. That said, not bad. Listened to it at work and it was good background music. It is too long and I prefer trip hop and big bet over drum n bass but this was listenable overall. Heroes was a standout track.
title track is alright
If I only rated this by how much I enjoyed listening to it, it would definitely be a 1. But I dunno, doesn’t feel right. I just don’t Get it, I have no reference point for drum and bass. Is it good? Maybe. Is it influential? I could imagine so, if not hear it. I don’t know. Giving it a 2, considering it an Abstain.
Liked the start, didn't care too much towards the end 7/10
DnB. Looooong DnB. Two CDs worth of DnB. I need to be on Molly to enjoy this.
I listened to the two hour and nineteen minute run time of this album with my headphones on while working at my computer. It wasn't the worst album I've had from the list but next time I'm sticking with chill hop lofi for my background vibe.
You’re telling me this wasn’t the background music for oceans 11/12/13. Wow that would’ve made it slightly redeeming. Oh well another electronic album that gets the British nod but is still relatively boring and lame. 2.8/10
I realise I'm not a drum & bass fan, that same incessant beat drives you crazy after a while.
This is entirely too long. No one needs a two disc album over 2 hours long of Electronica, drums and base music. Songs were skipped and didn't really finish it. Is some of it decent? Yes. Does each song need to be 10 minutes long? Absolutely not. Did it influence other music, who cares. Do you need to listen to it, nope. It is better than other 1albums on this list but everything drones on and is way too long.
Drum and Bass does nothing for me, but while I was writing some code this is was in the background, and I never been so productive before.
Couldn't finish this slow burn garbage fire
This may be the single worst album I've ever heard. Maybe if it was a 20 minute sample of each 4 bar loop, but almost 3 hours of the same repetitive drum beat? Legitimately embarrassing that this was released, much less got a 20th anniversary edition. Even more appalling that it's in this list
Jungle!
good but SO LONG
Nope
Not my thing but I liked it.
Boring
One of the albums that made DnB mainstream in the late 90s. How did it do this? With a very modern production sound, it incorporates R&B pop to make the songs fun to dance to. You can get behind the groove of each track. I think DnB has its limits, and this album is no exception. Nearly every song is based around some gimmick that is built on a theme (from the track title), which is associated with an identifying sample and mood. What this means is that every track has something unique to offer, which is impressive for a record over 2 hours. However, I find this to be too gimmicky. "Western" is distinguished by the surf rock sample but has nothing to offer. "Down" inserts some psychedelic elements with the bright ethereal synths (like chimes or waterfalls), but it feels too disjoint and out-of-place from the beat. A lot of tracks suffer from this. There are plenty of strong tracks on here, but also many forgettable ones that rely on a gimmick but are far too simple or repetitive. And when these tracks are 6-9 minutes, that's the last thing you want. "Heroes" is the only track that tries too hard to be pop, but the rest are fine. I did find the 1st disc to be more creative and expressive overall, and that's not just because that's where all the pop tracks are. The length, repetition, and weak tracks weigh it down a lot. But I also feel disappointed even the highs are as good as the genre can typically get. I feel DnB is more limited than other forms of electronica. From what I've seen in Goldie and LTJ, it seems a perfect DnB would have to incorporate other genres like techno or ambient, or become something really different like some Big Beat albums I've given perfect scores too. Disc 1 Favorites: Brown Paper Bag, New Forms, Mad Cat, Watching Windows Disc 2 Favorites: Hi-Potent, Share the Fall, Ballet Dance, Electricks
I have literally watched more than 1,500 feature length films with a shorter runtime than New Forms. I preferred all of them to this. Now, it's not really trash, but just how much of a megalomaniac do you have to be in order to think that a +2 hour runtime was the best option here?
There are some obvious things to like about New Forms. Unfortunately there’s also one truly unforgivable thing wrong with New Forms. How did anyone ever agree to release it as one album? It’s unlistenable in its entirety. Even the things I like gets lost in the 87 (I think?) 6+ minutes track. I could’ve learned a valuable skill in the time it took me to get through this.
Not unlistenable as far as d&b goes, but not my thing either. Some interesting elements here & there. I much prefer a trip-hop or dub vibe to these frenetic beats though. Bottom line: my rating is based on personal enjoyment over talent or innovation, which in this case I don't dispute.
I've listened to drum & bass, jungle and breakcore that I've enjoyed quite a bit so I'm disappointed that I didn't get into this more considering the influence it had on fans of the genre. Tracks drag on for too long without much variation, and I felt that the samples often didn't mesh particularly well. You can see the jazz and hip hop inspiration. The brief acapella track was a fun idea. I just wish I found it more engaging.
good
This album was hard to get through. It's a double album that's way too long. Songs seemed to run into others, I had no idea where I was on the album at times.
Outstanding. Railing really sets the scene and just as you think this song is getting even better you're already a minute into Brown Paper Bag which in itself is exceptional. New Forms, Let's Get It On, and Digital keep the ball rolling. Heroes is a fun track and Watching Windows has been a favourite of mine for a long time.
A stone cold classic - lots of nostalgia for this - I'm cheerfully listening to the full 4cd reissue version and it doesn't feel like too much of a good thing. Re-listened to it recently, actually, as there was a minor kerfuffle in my friend group when we discovered that the version we'd all been familiar with (on a single CD) isn't even the whole album!? There were a bunch of extra tracks we'd never heard of, and looking at discogs most of the versions were on 2 CDs or 4 LPs - I guess we were all poor students back then, so bought the presumably cheapest option... Fave track - could be quite a few of them, but I have to side with "Railing" for a line of lyrics that's lived rent free in my head for decades now: Do you think that you can hang tough, when the rhythm gets rough and the DJ says "I think you've had enough"? 😎
I can see how this is an example of a certain ideal, but I'm just not into Drum&Bass enough to be into it for 139 minutes. This would be good BGM for chill activity. The version available on youtube music is the expanded version over 5 hours. I found out where the original endpoint was and finished there.
Brown Paper Bag was a good single, favourite track is New Forms, I really like the almost spoken, close vocals. Bit samey elsewhere.
Was this even multiple songs? Because I could swear it's just one long, boring, song. I didn't even realize when the album started over.
Ik wil dit heel graag goed / mooi vinden maar bij elke luistersessie dringt de kwalificatie 'zenuwenmuziek' zich op. Niet mijn ding I guess.
Going into bat for ‘New Forms’. It’s an awesome record. This and ‘Timeless’ by Goldie are the two great drum and bass records from the era and in my opinion haven’t been bettered. ‘New Forms’ blew my small teenage mind as I tried to understand what the hell a break beat was, and why it wasn’t four on the floor. Its sound was expansive, and it was full of jazzy licks, but it also had songs with vocals. And I loved it. It was accessible to the masses and that’s why it was so universally acclaimed and popular upon its release winning the 1997 Mercury Prize and going platinum in the UK. Yes, it’s long at over two hours, and I’ll admit the second disc is probably not quite as strong as the first, but man this still slays. Equally at home on the dancefloor, or at home while you nod your head and stroke your chin to its hypnotic rhythms, ‘New Forms’ is one of the very best electronic dance music records of all time.
It’s like twirky background music. Not a fan.
I wasn't into techno, jungle, d&b in the 90s. I'm much less into it now.
A drum and bass album. I for it to be justified to make the list, I really hope this is the very first drum and bass album or the very best. After listening to it, I am quite certain that it's not the latter, and after taking a look at the release date, I am also quite certain that it isn't the former either. So...
pleasantly surprised
Ratteling Drum & Bass. Actually for an ald codger I quite enjoyed this
I just could not get through it. It was not in my musical taste group and I found boring and repetitive. I'm sure it has its place (perhaps as background music or a dance club) but did not interest me in the least.
No, i did not like it. Will not listen again
👀 Pega pero no es para todos los públicos
Nice classic jungle. A little bit more ambient than expected. Wanted some harder drum and base.
oh, how obsessed we were with this in school. I had a cd so i was asked to bring it to every house party. masterpiece!
zzzzzzzzzzzzz..... første album på listen jeg oprigtig talt har haft svært ved at komme igennem. DnB fans er sikkert glade for at den er på listen men jeg behøvede den ikke!!
Ja klart, den havde ikke behøvet at være 2½ timer lang, men jeg er også ked af at erklærer at it slapped. Synes musikken var fed, blev faktisk ikke rigtig træt af det.
Har svært ved at se/høre hvordan det her er et essentielt album.. Jeg tror ikke at der er mange andre end dem der var fyldt med Ecstasy, da det her kom ud, som synes at den er vigtigt.
Not bad. Some great beats and voices. Unfortunately the production doesn’t hold up to today’s standard. 2 stars
I didn’t love this the first time I listened, but I really don’t remember it at all so it’s basically like listening to something new. Speaking of albums that are too long, this is over 2 hrs and gets old fairly quickly. I wish the album was more drum&bass than trance, it’s at its best when the drums are constant and rapid and the bass is booming, but unfortunately that tends not to be the case on most of the album. “Matter of Fact” was a highlight to me.
the next boring noise album. I'm concerned about the health of the 1001 author.
It's more than 2 fucking hours long!!!
Meh
Remember all the buzz about this when it came out. Honestly didn't get it then, still don't get it now
These long albums are killing me but I really liked this one
In small doses quite good. Listening to 2+ hours of drum and bass is just so tedious. I'd never listen to this unless I needed to focus for 2 hours. I'm tired after listening to the hour initial release. I'd never make it through the 5 hour extended cut
Sprawling drum'n'bass album that grinds its own groove. Accessible but I can see how some people find it a bit indigestible.
Interesting music for the background but not something I’m terribly interested in.
Could not finish...
Another one that makes me wish this site wasn't created by a Brit who came of age in the 90s.
non capisco
Straight out of 'People just do nothing' but missing some Chabuddy G sauce
Notable tracks: Brown Paper Bag, New Forms, Heroes
Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive Repetitive
Unts unts unts unts
Solid dance album, still sounding fresh
Fuuuuuuuckin dull. Each track sounds like it isn't finished and is just the same repetitive "bsst ta bsst ta tick tack tick ah tick ah tack" over and over again, with lack luster base and the shite synthesis usually found in a year 7 class room. 1 out of 5, would recommend to a teen with ADHD on speed, driving his lowered to its arse Corsa.
Epilepsy for the ears.
Not a huge fan of electronica but it was a decent album, some of the songs were a bit long no memorable lyrics. I'm sure in 1997 it was new and different but all my brain could equate was that I was listening to a very boring (lyrically) Prodigy album.
Didn’t like this at first, but it makes decent background music.
Frenetic jazzish
A bit humorous how many long dnb albums are on this list, but this is one of the best of the bunch! Jazzy basslines, atmospheric synths and drums that are engaging to follow. Great!
För långt
Wow this isn't for me. Struggled to get through
This is not an album I'd ever expect to appear on this list. I knew nothing of the history going in but love some good drum n bass music/breakbeat footwerk style electronica and apparently this is one of the pioneering artists/album collaborations under "Jungle" which was the first wave of this style. Very cool jazzy style instrumentals. The bass being very prevalent for understandable reasons. There is a lot of variety. Bahamadia's feature is cool. She reminds me a bit of little simz with her rapping voice. There is a lot to digest on this album as the track lengths get long and, to a casual listener, it can slightly blur together. Regardless, pretty cool album.
Pas ma tasse de teh
I can't do it. I know this kind of music has it's fans, but this is just not for me. I'm not really sure why you would listen to this outside of just having it on in the background or at a dance club. I listened to the first 7 tracks. Each track started and I'd think "ok, this is a cool groove, there's some cool samples and sounds and things going on." and then it would repeat over and over and over for 4+ minutes, without enough being introduced or changing throughout the song to keep it interesting. Brown Paper Bag is over 9 minutes long and it's more or less the same thing through the whole song. Oh, and there's 24 tracks on this thing for some reason. 7 was more than enough. No thanks.
Demasiado, no lo escuche entero
D&B und dann klanglich eher schlecht, habe durchgehalten aber war musikalisch nicht das Wahre
Proper jungle album, lots of inspo from all over!
Not my jam...
after looking it up, this album was his debut album from Roni Size & Reprazent and it won the Mercury Award for best album of the year in the UK. It went five times platinum and was one of the most commercially successful jungle albums of the 90s. I can see why - this album is unbelievably creative and uses unbelievable sound design and creativity in the creation of each and every track.
This has the real late 90's cyberpunk industrial house feel to it. Good background music for coding.
This shit gives me anxiety. 1/5
Not bad at all. Seemed to be primarily electronic/synth vibes with very little vocals. Enjoyed overall but the album was over 5 hours long, so I didnt listen to the entire thing.
Too repetitive and non melodic for me!
not my style of music
I was very unenthusiastic when I saw what today's album was. Something to do with the words 'Drum and Bass', I think! However, I was pleasantly surprised! Despite being another overlong album, it was fairly enthralling at times, and actually, without the trademark drum break rythmn holding it together, it wouldn't have worked so well. Reminded me a bit of the Mahavishnu Orchestra actually, for some unexplainable reason. Would I search it out to play again in my busy schedule? Probably not, hence the rating, but definitely worth a listen.
Nope
Decent for focus work
This was a pretty solid album, but it didn't have a clear direction to me. Is it instrumental? Is it a lyrical album? It was good for working, but entirely too long.
I think this album is clearly really important in the history of 90s British music. But its just not for me. I didn't really enjoy it, i wouldn't ever listen to it again and was just waiting for it to end it wasn't actively bad, it was okay, just not my thing, and far far far far far far far too long. Sometimes with albums like this, or the Goldie album on the list, i think why the need to make the songs last 9 mins, when there arent massive changes in the songs throughout. Just seems like hearing the same thing over and over and over and over. tidy it up, 5 mins a song and bingo bango, we are in for something great instead it just keeps going and going high 1 for this
Not a bad background album, but probably won’t listen again. Didn’t hear anything in this that genre defining. 2/5
There was both drum and bass, so I can't complain too much.
Repetitive but not bad
Someone say Tuesday rinse up?
Korrupt FM bangers
No way I was going to listen to over two hours of this.
Cool old drum and bass, did enjoy. Probably won't listen again though, the songs are all way too long and a bit repetitive. Would make a great background album for doing work or something
I like the blends of future and instrument
I'm going to be a bit snobby about this one. I've always thought it's a bit overrated. 'Brown Paper Bag' is a tune, no doubt ... but the rest is a bit meh. That's the nature of the beast. 1993-97ish was amazing in the way that hardcore rave rapidly and continually reinvented itself time and time again. There was creativity all over the place, going in so many sonic directions. Contantly pushing the avaialble tech beyond it's limits into crazy sounds that still sound awesome. This album showcased a fraction of that sound to a mainstream audience. It's great that it got the attention, it's great that it shone a spotlight on the scene ... but I've never been convinced it's actually any good. It suffers from he classic issue of DJ dance music producers by having long intros, and then equally not knowing how to finish tracks. So everything feels long and drawn out. There's nothing really explosive. That jazz infused 'intelligent' sound had been around for a while and had been done better. It's fine ... but yeah, never loved it.
This was my style in the early 2000's
Not really for me even though I like a decent amount of DnB and electronic stuff. 2.5/5
quite an exhausting listen that i nodded appreciatively over in the late 90s
I get that it was genre defining, I understand there's a thing. But this is over two hours of one idea over and over again. Someone now could make this with Logic Pro loops. It's of almost no musical merit. But it's not impossible to listen to so it doesn't hit the floor vote.
not hugely into drumnbass or jungle, so slick as this is, it hasn't grabbed me and there is no way I am sitting through 53 tracks! Okay, if you like that sort of thing
5 Stunden / 4 CDs (inkl. vieler Remixes). Eine Art frühes Drum & Bass, sehr experimentell-repetitiv. Kaum zu glauben, dass es \"Brown Paper Bag\" (9 Minuten lang) Ende der 90er in der UK-Charts geschafft hat.
it's a classic d+b album, but just not for me.