Reviews (page 2 of 8)
I thought this would be awful. And it kind of is but in a charming way I actually like a lot.
Fun at first but far too long to really enjoy. 2.0/5.0
pretty decent but way too long
Pretty meh for me and very long.
Groovy record
I'd never heard of this group. If you like dance music that sounds somewhat 80s style, this is your jam. Not really sure it's an album that everyone should hear before they die, but I think most albums on this list are like that.
molones! musica de rave escocesa sin gaitas
Nice to hear they found a synthesizer. The whole time I listened to this, I saw visions of a dark place full of evil happenings.
Good dance-y album. Like the synths.
This is rounding up to 2, because 66 edit was somewhat enjoyable. But it might have been because I listened to repetitive noise for 35 minutes before getting to it.
I think house music is so important, but: a) house is from chicago b) I didn’t dig this album
This was a fun album reflecting the EDM evolution from pop to true EDM in the early 1990s. It was less commercial than Erasure or OMD, and it wasn’t entirely techno like Kraftwerk. I liked how songs like Make It Mine added in rap/hip hop elements, kind of like what C+C was doing but with more subtly. Then there were more meditational tracks like Oxygen. My key track was Lifespan, with the only complaint that it was too short. I got a lot of work done so I will probably throw this on again some time. It’s like audio Adderall!
Random thoughts: * Early techno/rave music. Started out pretty catchy but got a bot repetitive and annoying. * I listened to this while making dinner and was quite into the first 3 tracks. Then it started to fade for me. I had to drop out at "666 Edit" * I cam back and listened to the rest from "666 Edit" to the end while working and this music works much better for background work music than cooking music. * I appreciated the catchiness of "Move Any Mountain" and those first few tracks clocked in at a 3-star review * The later tracks were more 2-star review territory. * I'm going to grade on the hard curve here. Definite pioneers in the genre. But doesn't really hold up and isn't interesting enough to keep my modern attention.
This definitely sounds like it was released in 1990. Occasionally it sounds like 1990 in a good way, but usually sounds like 1990 in a corny way. This album did not age well. How many drugs would I have to take to enjoy this album?
A little more interesting than most other electronic music on the list. But not much.
Pleasant while I worked. Nothing I’m going to want to revisit.
26. avgust 2026. 15.53h onestli zvuči kao naši izvođači 90ih i 2000ih it was okej, it was boppy ali nešto mi je danas makar bilo naporno da ga slušam, ovaj zvuk/žanr uvijek ima twinge of sadness best: hyperreal orbit, 666 edit, make it minimal, lightspan soundwave
At times the listen was dated, with the electronic elements not achieving the euphoria it probably managed upon release, and without hearing anything this movement might have inspired. At other times, I do hear things that stick out and feel different, Kraftwerk vibes kind of. Like most of the electronic albums on this generator, I've felt it drag, and the remixes and echoing feels a bit like a chore of a listen that first time around. A second listen on some farther away speakers and wow that first song was really annoying. I don't have any problems with the genre or most of the songs individually, but the way this record is put together doesn't please me. 2.3/5
Techo nonsense.
Super super mid I don’t need to listen to this more than once Way too long for all the songs to sound the same 2/5 Favorite: progen 91
The review that said this feels like being at a rave with the lights on was right.
Electronic, not very interesting
1.4 i didnt like that much, wouldnt listen again. Didnt have anything for me tbh
Its cool. Sounds a bit dated but makes my head bop.
This is a time machine back to the 90s! Fun listen and this was a new band for me but I don't think I'll ever listen to it again.
Samples, drum machines, ambient sounds, club music leave me cold
Active listening: Worst thing I've ever heard. Passive listening: Not the worst thing I've ever heard. Ok beats to fold laundry to.
I accidentally just gave the amazing Isley brktners 3+3 album a 1 when I meant to give it a 13/5 as one of the best albums we’ve gotten. They should be considered one of the best American bands of all time. Listening to them cover a shitty doobie brothers song is like watching Michael Jordan play a retarded 8 year old in HORSE.
Not awful?!
Generic 90s dance pop that has aged like milk. Cringy pseudo philosophical lyrics for tracks that all sound the same and are too long.
very of its time (derogatory)
A little one-note as a whole but enjoyable enough Playlist add: "Hyperreal Selector"
Mostly just annoying and abrasive. Also, mildly annoying. No chance I'll listen to this again.
First Listen; 2; An album that could have been a single or condensed mix. There's fun loops and samples in here, but it drags on for far too long. As an album, it's repetitive and the lyrics aren't very good at all. At the same time, I still got some enjoyment out of it and certainly slots in if you're looking for a 90s rave style track. I could see how this would be more fun put together in a mix, but that's not what's here. Favorite Track: Move Any Mountain
I "enjoyed" this more than I expected. Definitely not my favourite genre (or a genre I'm familiar with). However, if for some highly unlikely reason, I ended up in a dance club, this would be actually ok. It is pretty varied and, for instance, I enjoyed "Move Any Mountain" or "Make It Mine" (with its guitar riff). This is between 2 and 3 stars for me. It may have reached 3 stars if it had been 20 min shorter, and/or if it had included a few more tracks with the guitar sound of "Make it Mine".
I have no idea. Is it British? Does it really belong on the list? Will I be happy or angry or somewhere else when I listen to it? Ha! British? Yes! Belong on the list? NO! Happy I heard this? Um… it felt like a parody that a YouTube creator would make of everything cringy from the period. So- I did laugh out loud. I scared my dogs. But, I think I lost intelligence… 2 Boolean: FALSE
I cannot endure 1 hour and 7 minutes of this. Please, algorithm, I beg of you: give me something enjoyable.
It’s not noise, but it’s quite boring and way too long. Favourite: Move Any Mountain
Fun dancy stuff...a bit repetitive by the end, though. 3.4
So 90s! Vocals remind me of EMF and I like it.
As a child of the 90s who went to raves this is awful. 2 stars as there were maybe 3 songs that were ok. But otherwise there is so much better electronic than this out there.
I thought I would hate it but wasn't that bad. Too electronic and repetitive but not horrible.
Listenable. Once. In the background.
This review will be based on the 1991 version released to the United States. The Shamen are certainly one of the interesting bands to include in the 1001 Books. They started as a psychedelia band out of Scotland in the 1980s, until frontman Colin Angus and bassist Will Sinnot got a taste of the London acid house movement. They met vocalist/keyboardist Richard West aka Mr. C and DJ "Evil" Eddie Richards, and they all worked together to transition the group into the rave scene. That transition would be made apparent with the release of En-Tact. This album really does feel like it only could have come out of the blossoming UK acid house scene in 1990. While there are traces of the band's earlier psychedelic sound, like with the occasional guitar line on "Human NRG (Massey)", the core of this sound is the four-on-the-floor drum machine beat, the squelching synthesizers, ambient textures, and Colin's effortless delivery opposite Mr. C's braggadocious faux-rapping and Plavka Lonich's sensual vocals. This style was certainly implemented well on a bouncing single like "Move Any Mountain", the lush Latin-infused guitar rollick amidst the tinging beats on "Possible Worlds", the pensive quiet storm with the prominent upward electronic keyboard line on "Omega Amigo", and the slightest sample of the record-scratch from Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" in the transitions on "Lightspan". All the while, the lyrics are largely abstract yet maintain a positive outlook, only ever overt with the sampling of an anti-apartheid speech on "Hear Me (O My People)". It certainly made for the kind of dance music I would imagine was going on in the UK underground clubs at the time, and I can vibe with that for a bit. But then came along "666 Edit", where I started hearing the familiar refrain of "Move Any Mountain", and I had a sinking feeling. As it turns out, the album ends with remixes of earlier songs. I wouldn't have minded it if these were bonus tracks, but there is nothing to indicate that they were. So by the time I got to the third rendition of "Move Any Mountain" with "Progen 91 [I.R.P. in the Land of Oz]", I was feeling admittedly fatigued from the repetition. Honestly, if this record ended with "Hear Me (O My People)", it would have been viewed in a better light. I will commend the inclusion of multiple electronic groups and DJs, including the likes of "Evil" Eddie, Orbital, Lenny Dee, and 808 State for providing their remixes, but at some point, we have to trim the fat. Overall, I get the vibe of a record like En-Tact. It's certainly a fun house record in the moment before the fatigue crept in, and I can applaud The Shamen for making the transition. Sadly, though, the group would split by the end of the decade, as members focused more on their solo projects. Still, they had made their impression at the right place and the right time.
Techno isn’t really my favorite kind of music, so I went into this one with low expectations. The first few tracks were actually entertaining and had some energy that kept me interested. After that the album started to feel repetitive and I lost focus pretty quickly. It settled into a pattern that became boring for me the longer it went on. I did notice what felt like some Kraftwerk influence in the electronic structures and the clean, mechanical side of the sound, though I’m not completely sure if that’s accurate or just my own impression. The production is typical of early rave and techno from that period. The Shamen handled most of it themselves, with various mixers and collaborators helping shape the final tracks. It has that early 90s electronic club energy, but the overall result didn’t hold my attention all the way through.
A berserk and brilliant rave in the morning sunshine, perfect with the windows down in the car, ideal in the gym, somehow it's still going when you're leaving and driving to work, somehow it's still going while you're trying to actually do something with your life, and the rave has long since ended. Less long than it feels, which isn't probably a quote they'd put on the posters.
I absolutely despised this lot at the time. Sure, I was a grunge and metal kid and I didn't like that - in my country at least - these guys and their ilk were getting a lot of air time beyond what my guys were getting, and sure I didn't like that these guys were being sung by the then and future flag-waving, Stop The Boats, Reform Will Save Us types (ironic guven the group's own political persuasions)... but beyond all that, the music was just a bit shit. Listening now, I don't hate it anymore. It's incredibly dated, but you can hear its influence. I certainly don't like it, but there's a limited fondness given I have sampled Move Any Mountain in my own monstrous anti-music destructions.
Ça sent le og
Vraiment fun j’aime trop le vieux electo
not for me
I like a lot of electronic music but I can’t stand this style.
Within seconds, my anti-electronica alarm paused as I got an Elastica vibe, one of my few exceptions to this genre. But it did not last. The songs grew on me, like a fungus. Not good. My apologies to those who appreciate this, I wish you the best.
Oh man here we go …cheesy AF start … 😬. No dude. 👎. Perhaps if it was just instrumental this would be OK but man the singing and lyrics are cringe. And too long.
It's actually crazy how lame this is.
This was just... sinfully boring. I can't be nice to these bad albums anymore
Not too bad. ★★★
Made to dance to and good for that.
Moving Mountains is a good track on its own. It's a good album, probably best listened to somewhere other than a desk though.
I'm not a big techno fan, but I dug this enough to get back around to it on occasion. Solid effort for a genre I am not a big fan of.
good 90s stuff 3.5/5
These guys must've wrote the book on early 90s EDM. Good stuff! 7/10
I mean, one or two of their tracks were kinda fun in 1990 when I was 16 and rave was just getting started. But as an album, listening in 2026, it's a blip of historical curiosity. How they got an hour long album out of this stuff was puzzling me. The answer: 95% filler. 1.5*, and a vote to remove it from the list.
boring
Not really my kind of electronica. I didn't feel much listening to this one. Favorite track: Move Any Mountain
Wasn’t familiar with them but really enjoyed this
While it’s not offensive, it’s just whatever, background music to me.
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 (rounded up because hey, I was vibing) I had no knowledge whatsoever of The Shamen (Shamen like shaman? Shamen like shame-men?) and went in with absolutely no expectations other than, as many reviews said, “gay bar” music. Well, I don’t think it was gay enough. Was sort of vibing with “Move any Mountain” until the halfassed rap started, which was the case for many of these. I think this had many endearing qualities, i.e. being deeply indebted to Depeche Mode, earnestly corny new millennium ahh lyrics, and dare I say a touch of 60s Brian Wilson-ness in the harmonies on “Omega Amigo,” which I might even revisit alongside “Evil is Even,” “Lightspan” and “Make it Mine.” That sounds like a lot of these songs were likable for a 2.5, but I dunno man, it just got to be violently repetitive after a while—not something I was down with for an hour. 1: Bad | 2: Okay, No Desire to Revisit | 3: Good, Conditionally (OR Inconsistent Mix of Qualities) | 4: Great (OR Technically amazing but missing the sauce emotionally) | 5: Amazing
If I'm being generous, this is on the cusp between 2 and 3. It's truthfully not that different from Massive Attack, which I gave a 3, but this just feels... dumber? I don't have a nicer way to say that. Yeah, pass.
My last experience with vocal electronic music was, ahem, not great. So I don't exactly have high hopes for this one. It turned out to literally just be mind-numbingly boring background music. Nothing particularly interesting is going on here. Lyrics aren't really of much interest to me, like the rest of the album. I do think the length is excessive, especially for an album that is mediocrity in sonic form. I will occasionally vibe to electronic music, but this doesn't feel like a particularly good example of the genre. It would get a 2, but it's way too long, so it's a 1. This album is the lowest ranked album of 1990 globally. Other 1990 albums rated by me: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm(2/22)-5 Heaven or Las Vegas(3/22)-4 Bossanova(4/22)-5 Fear of a Black Planet(5/22)-5 Shake Your Money Maker(6/22)-2 I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got(7/22)-4 The La's(12/22)-3
Thick heavy sounds! Okay the vocals are pretty dated and I guess there are plenty of small cues in the beats that feel pretty dated. But also this is some beastly electronic music from a time when electronic music production was clean and tight in a beautiful satisfying way. I don't know how I would have found this without this project but I'm glad I know it now.
Enjoyed this. Old school style dance music. I can taste the ecstacy. Listening in very hot Italy and it suits the blistering surroundings.
This was a groove, though it did drag at some points
Had some fun production stuff after the first half of the album. Hear me and Make It Minimal had some cool moments and were the songs that stood out to me the most. Pretty decent album
Midrate 90s electronic music. It is the era and sound I hate the most.
I enjoyed what I heard. I would love to hear the original album but I heard enough to know that I still like 90s dance music and The Shamen were a short-lived but good part of that scene. 'Move Any Mountain' may well be a classic Shamen dance track but it's not on the original album you Spotify dip-shits so why is it the opening track on your stream? If I select an album on your wank streaming platform I want to hear that album - not what you fuckers think I 'should' hear. Thank you.
The most techno bullshit to ever techno bullshit. This is just some pure nonsense going nowhere and it's a damn shame someone thought this crucial to put on the list.
Some decent stuff, but I feel like the vocals took a lot from the project overall.
I can see the potential but this could not be less for me. Im very picky with lots of dance or edm type music. I love love love certain things and alot of stuff I cant stand. This maybe isnt that bad but im never searching this out. Im sure it influenced stuff i actually like but I just dont see the hype personally. Its kinda repetitive and annoying. Im not into the vocals though im glad it has them otherwise id fine it more repetitive and annoying without. I just got almost nothing out of this. I was waiting for the end which couldnt come soon enough. And hour is too much for a thing I dont really like. Just not for me
Fine stuff
See the way this started it seemed like a Black Box album and I got psyched. Then it just nosedived into straight beepin' and boopin' trash garbage.
Awful, the equivalent of being sober at a party of people on mushrooms. Just shut up my man
dont like.
Life's too short; skip this rave-bait.
En-Tact The Shamen 1990 Genres: Electronica Styles: Techno, Ambient, Acid House, Synth Pop, Ambient House 1. Move Any Mountain (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Un himno de la cultura rave sobre superar límites personales, creer en el potencial humano y alcanzar un estado de liberación colectiva a través de la música, la unión y la energía compartida. 2. Human NRG (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Celebra la energía vital de las personas y el poder casi espiritual que surge cuando una multitud conecta en una pista de baile. La repetición funciona como un mantra de exaltación. 3. Possible Worlds (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Reflexiona sobre la existencia de múltiples realidades y la capacidad de la mente para imaginar universos alternativos, mezclando ciencia, filosofía y psicodelia. 4. Omega Amigo (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Una pieza contemplativa que transmite un viaje interior de calma, introspección y expansión de la conciencia, con muy pocas palabras y gran protagonismo de la atmósfera. 5. Evil Is Even (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Explora la dualidad entre el bien y el mal, sugiriendo que ambos forman parte del equilibrio de la naturaleza humana y de la experiencia cotidiana. 6. Hyperreal Orbit (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Inspirada en el concepto de la hiperrealidad, describe un estado donde la tecnología, la percepción, la música y la conciencia alterada terminan mezclándose hasta borrar la frontera con la realidad. 7. Lightspan (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Evoca una expansión mental mediante imágenes de luz, sonido y espacio, buscando transmitir sensaciones más que contar una historia concreta. 8. Make It Mine (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Habla de apropiarse del propio destino, convertir los deseos en acciones y tomar el control de la propia vida con una actitud positiva. 9. Oxygen Restriction (★★☆☆☆) -Contexto: Usa la metáfora de la falta de oxígeno para representar estados alterados de conciencia, transformación física y cambios en la percepción. 10. Hear Me (★⯨☆☆☆) -Contexto: Una invitación a escuchar un mensaje de unión, empatía y apertura mental, con un tono casi ceremonial que recuerda a un llamado colectivo. 11. 666 Edit (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Reinterpretación más oscura de "Move Any Mountain", utilizando el simbolismo del número 666 como recurso provocador y estético, sin desarrollar un mensaje religioso o satánico. 12. Make It Minimal (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Reduce la composición a sus elementos esenciales para enfatizar el ritmo hipnótico y la repetición, reforzando la idea del trance electrónico. 13. Hyperreal Selector (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Variante orientada al club de "Hyperreal", enfocada en la inmersión, la intensidad del baile y la sensación de perderse dentro del sonido. 14. Lightspan Soundwave (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Expande las ideas de "Lightspan" en una experiencia más ambiental, donde las texturas sonoras importan más que la narrativa. 15. Progen 91 (I.R.P. In The Land Of Oz) (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Uno de los grandes himnos del acid house británico. Presenta un viaje psicodélico inspirado en la expansión de la conciencia y en la sensación de descubrir un mundo nuevo, usando "Oz" como metáfora de ese estado mental. -TOTAL = ★★⯨☆☆ (2,80)
I swear they only chose the corniest mid-ass electronic music for this list. DNF
Really plain boring dance music. Disappointed as I'd heard a bit of praise for these before - but this is just so generic.
Review - what a pile of wank. Hate this early '90s psychedelic big beat shite. Jez off Peep Show tier music, yuck. Score - 3/10 Need to listen? NO
This just missed the mark for me unfortunately.
5++
The three singles are great but there is so much filler on this. A lot of the tracks are just reworkings of these three songs plus some less interesting stuff. Average at best
Sounds of its time a bit repetitive - low 3
It was decent but nothing special about it for me
no thank you
Rave music. The percussion drew me in, the electronics are catchy. I didn't dislike this. It was 2 or 3 stars.
Just some proper early 90s dance music
I really wish I had been listening to this somewhere cool and genre appropriate vs outside in the sun
So much stuff I recognize from later, but not quite my jam.
"Move Any Mountain" is the only song I know off of this. And because I was a teenager in 1990, I still remember most of the words. I've never listened to the whole album before and overall it was fine. "666 Edit" and "Make It Minimal" were kinda annoying, but other than that it was good background music. Not something I need to revisit.
This is a new one to me. I think I've heard some of these tracks in mixtapes and such, but I haven't heard of this group. This kind of early/proto rave music is really fun, so I'm glad to know about this one now. Its really got that early 90s rave positivity. Some of the vocal tracks overstay their welcome. I enjoyed "Evil is Even" into "Hyperreal Orbit". Very fun stuff. The album does what it needs to, and I can tell it was influential. I did get a little bored though. This must have been a blast when listened to in a tape deck, driving around in the UK. Three stars
At first I did not like this that much. I thought the instrument choices, loops, and vocals were super dated and tired. But as the album went on I started to appreciate it more. I thought they ditched the more obvious choices in the front half for more interesting and eclectic ones in the back half. I think the album is at its best on 666 Edit. Realistically this is a 3.5 imo, but I’m gonna round up because they really turned me into a believer after solidly disliking the opening couple tracks.
Listened to this one on a night drive through Dallas. Loved it. Such a cool record.
had never heard of this group before. I enjoyed the acid house and psych elements to it. a lot of the tracks I found intriguing and had at least 1 or 2 odd/compelling elements, but afterwards didn't really stick with me. cool to hear some of the distorted guitar mixed with dance music that would appear to greater effect later in 1990 with Happy Mondays. certainly of its time, and there were a couple tracks at the beginning and towards the end that I was into and would put on again. 75% of the album tho I just felt like was better than average, but there are stronger options for this kind of music at our fingertips.
This sounds like menu music for one of those demo cds that came with the PlayStation 1. One of those albums where I check the run time three songs in and despair. Pretty repetitive and dated.
This really grew on me, after the 1st couple of trax, I thought, no, but I continued my journey and really enjoyed all the trax- even downloaded a couple
Note: I listened to the original UK release not the US version. OK so it hasn’t aged particularly well in terms of its production but these guys along with 808 State, Orbital and NJoi were the first to prove that you could do dance music as a live band not just DJing, and I don’t think The Shamen get anything like the credit they should (the Synergy live show was groundbreaking). Their ‘peace love and unity’ message was seen as new-age hippy druggy bullshit, but honestly I’d rather listen to uplifting positivity than yet another West Coast rapper bang on about guns money and hoes. The Shamen were way ahead of their time, Progen, Hyperreal and Make It Mine are all time classics.
The Good: This hasn’t been touched! The Bad: We were dupped by shamens… it has been touched… The Ugly: All the touchy feely on this album… Electronica isn’t my thing… but it serves a purpose every now and again… like, during walks when you need to think about nothing… Did I enjoy it? No. Did it help with the walk? Yes. Shall we shoot down the middle on this one? 3*
This was good, much better than expected! I usually like italo disco, eurodance, stuff that tends to exist as singles rather than full albums. But this was a good consistent listen even as just an album! Interesting to see this, in 1990, as a blueprint for the 90s electronic music scene. Favorites: 'Hyperreal Orbit' 'Hear Me'
Favorite track was Human NRG. I still think there's too much electronic music on this list. This one was fairly fun, but got a little drone-y for me toward the end. Maybe a lil too long.
House, dance, rave... not really the type of music that I can deeply analyze so let's just leave this at... it was fine.
It's an okay album. I'm not too big on House music. It's one of the earlier House albums. It has some good songs on there, but I'm just not a huge fan. I would probably give it a 3.5 if I were able to because I don't dislike it to the point where it's a 3 for me, but I don't like it to the point where it's a 4. It's a pretty decent album, I guess.
Maybe a nice opener for a rave event
Generic 90s electro with a little bit of GameCube water graphics mixed with some trendy clothing store vibes.
Top album? Really?
Liked it more than I expected I would. I found the stuttery, skipping in “666 Edit” annoying but it grew on me. Progen 91 was the stand out for me.
I thought shamans were all about nature spiritsor something like that, but apparently they mostly deal in empty platitudes. You learn something new every day.
Tämä oli sitä europop aikaa. En kuitenkaan ollut tähän aiemmin tutustunut.
It is not awful by any means but there is no world where this album could be considered essential. I have heard much lower lows in other albums but I am not seeing any worthy high. 6/10 [DROP]
Feels simultaneously ahead of its time and dated. But dated in a way that takes me back. A bit bummed out to see the overall negative reaction to this one. It's not absolutely amazing, and there's some stuff in the middle that's a bit too repetitive. But for the most part, it has me fondly thinking about those ads telling me that I wouldn't download a car.
Listening to this makes me think that there's a psychic trying to explode my brain. Favourite Track(s): 666 Edit, Human NRG Least Favourite Track(s): Hear Me, Lightspan Lightwave
Closer to something like LFO or 808 State than their latter pop-house hits might lead you to expect. Wasn't familiar with this particular album but fans of squelchy acid house should get plenty out of this. Somewhat derided as a band for being a bit of a novelty act while also being quite seriously underrated for their crossover innovation. Pretty cool really, even if sitting more towards the Cheesy Quaver end of the spectrum.
Not my cup of tea.
While I do like the later more straightforward rave version of The Shamen as prefigured by "Move Any Mountain" here, I don't think they're a particularly essential band. I guess an argument can be made that they mainstreamed House music in the UK, but if you want to include House in your list of albums to hear before you die, I think several performers of colour based around Chicago have a much better claim than a bunch of white guys from Scotland.
You have to be in a certain mood for music like this and I tried to find a reason why I should hear this before I died but I failed to find one. Not for me but if you're into this type of music maybe it could be.
Normally, I can tolerate a bit of dance but honestly, I end up skipping most tracks cause it just annoyed me
nah
I would describe this as night club dance music. It was somewhat energizing while I was cleaning out my fridge, but it can get kind of repetitive if you're focusing too hard on it.
This project really seems focused on convincing everyone that 90s UK club music is the most significant music created by humans. I wonder when the authors happened to be 22 years old lol.
Pretty bad
It was OK, but rather annoying.
I feel like it had promise as a funky synth 90s-vibe jam, but a lot of the songs were just meh.
This feels like I am in a movie about arcade games from the 80s.
I'd only heard Ebenezer Goode before this popped up in the list. This electronic dance music is OK as far as it goes, but it really pales through 69 minutes. I suspect you need to be on the right 'medication' to find this unstoppable dance music.
I expected more - this was fine but I thought I would recognise more of the tracks.
mid mid mid skip skip...
yeah ok
hyped asf for this. didn’t really end up fucking with it. sad. i kind of just found it annoying.
This is just so dated and too long.
I’m not gonna claim En-Tact is the greatest album of the 90s. I’m not even gonna claim it’s the best dance music album of 1990! I will however say that the reason for the terrible score it has from 1001 reviewers is disappointing. Practically every 1* review I have read screams laziness. “Agh electronic music…pure shit…I switched it off before the first song ended…why are we being forced to listen to crap like this?” Etc. etc. No one is forcing you to listen to anything, and why bother doing this 1001 thing if you’re gonna tune out the moment the generator throws you something outside of your comfort zone? The Shamen paid some dues and embraced a new sound and made sure they weren’t releasing a substandard version of the style because they were from a rock background. They go all in on En-Tact and though it might sound dated, it is technology based music made at the birth of a genre, of course it’s going to sound dated. Personally, having listened to them since a couple of albums before they embraced dance so thoroughly, I think En-Tact might just capture them at their peak. The follow-up ‘Boss Drum’ probably embraced the cheese a little too much, but on this album there are a lot of bangers and little cheese. They had dropped the political lyrics and settled on a new age positivity vibe and it suited the music and the drugs of the time. Like I said at the start, it’s no classic and it trails off a bit in the second half (and tbh I don’t really think it belongs in the 1001) but I enjoy it every time I give it a spin. I think The Shamen deserved the success they eventually gained having successfully reinvented themselves from unlikely outside contenders to unlikely full-scale pop stars.
Kind of fun music at times but some of the electronic parts get to repetitive for me. Even the best songs were middle of the road and not something I would search up to listen to when I feel like I have heard much better in the genre before.
Many years ago, when I was about to listen to Screamadelica for the first time, someone told me it sounded like acid house meets psychedelic rock. That was a lie. This is acid house meets psychedelic rock, and while my expectations were thoroughly met here, I feel like this would be a full 5 if I was dancing to this in an English field at midnight.
Oh joy, another electronic album. :-/ If I were listening to this in a dark, smoky club at 3am in 1994... well, I won't say I would ENJOY it, but it would make more sense than listening to it in my office on a Tuesday morning in 2026.
90s Indie/electronic - good beats, not annoying
My God this album is tedious. Just the same beats or tempo with very little variation for over an hour. I had my hopes up with the first song, "Move Mountains," which is kind of Charlatans UK/Stone Roses shoegaze-like but then it just descended into a boring rave of sameness. By the end I had tuned it out completely. I get what they were trying to do and appreciate the fusion they were going for...but mix it up a little.
Would probably be a 3 stars for me if it weren't so long and samey. I appreciate that these guys are into more of a fusion, mixing in elements of rock and rap into electronic, but the rap is straight up cringe, and it sounds very dated today. Some good songs, even sound a little like Depeche Mode on a few tracks. This would be a 2.5 for me if possible, but closer to a 2 than 3, started to grate around the 45 min mark
Move any mountain is a good old school rave banger. Rest of the album was surprisingly laidback - orbital lite. Was expecting something a bit more in your face/ heavier - but this was very nice to work to in the heatwave. Apart from the opener nothing jumped out but could happily had it on in the background for hours.
En-tact * The only version on streaming was the US and later UK issue, so I listened to that as I couldn’t be fucked to recreate the original track listing as a playlist I Can Move Any Mountain was on a compilation album I had back in ‘91 and it’s still a fun track, a nice bit of rave-pop. It is by far the strongest thing on here, although that’s not to say the rest of it is bad, it’s more that there isn’t enough musical variety or songwriting craft to sustain 15 tracks (1 hour 10 minutes!) of pop-edged rave and dance, it noticeably starts to drag after Hypereal Orbit, and the ecstasy-hippiness of the lyrics does feel rather naive and vaguely silly 35 years on. Still there are some fun tracks alongside Move Any Mountain. I like the dubby bass and feel of Evil is Even, Hypereal Orbit is a good track, Hear Me has a nice groove, Make It Minimal gives the back half a nice shot of energy and Lightspan Soundwave has some nice 80s synths to it. Realistically however I doubt I’ll listen to this again despite liking some of it, but I do appreciate it representing that early 90s period where rave sounds crossed over into the charts. But altogether and with its excessive length there’s not really enough to push it to a 3, so I’ll stick with a 2. 💊💊 Playlist submission: Move Any Mountain
This has less punch than the Chemical Brothers, less soul than Screamadelica, less tunes than KLF, and yet somehow remains highly enjoyable. In fact, I enjoyed it way more than I probably should have. That's notwithstanding the fact they play their strongest card first with the bona fide rave classic 'Move Any Mountain'. Sure the rap is like a drunk Uncle and a bit clunky; but overall a superb track. Surprisingly it holds up across the album. 'Human NRG' sounds a bit like XTC set to beats, with great bass and synth hooks and pleasant harmonies. 'Possible Worlds' has all these elements again. It does tail off towards the end (listening to the UK version), with weaker tracks to finish; and the vocals can sometimes smack of someone trying to jump on the rap bandwagon. But overall, I was raving about it.
- Not my thing, troppo dance, mal riuscito per giunta, uscito nei 90 ma (debolmente) anni 80-sulla via del tramonto :/ - Move any mountian ok, se proprio devo sceglierne una. Un album ripetitivo. Non lo riascolterei per niente al mondo. - Non so che aggiungere questo sound o lo balli in discoteca (forse) dopo essere entrato in una macchina del tempo, oppure non so, io mi stufo di ascoltarlo dopo poco… effetto nausea!
oh but it was boring. It all sounded the same and went on forever.
Is this is PS1 demo disc? It was probably ahead of its time in fairness, but we're on PS5 now and demo discs have long ceased to exist. Has not stood the test of time. I was expecting something more intense for rave. This would even be quite naff on 90s dance pills honestly. Es are good, this isn't.
Oh no this is bad
Very 90s sounding electronic dance music. I found this to be a bit of a mixed bag. It’s nearly 70 minutes long, so I felt a lot could have been cut. There are some really interesting moments on this, and some straight bangers like Omega Amigo, but also a lot I felt indifferent about.
Boring, generic 90's dance. Nope for me.
An interesting but slightly bloated piece of early 90s electronica. It would be interesting to hear the original LP version rather what id now on streaming services. Move Any Mountain was defenitely a classic of its time.
Pretty good. Nostalgic, but not amazing.
Please help me understand.
The beats were great! Not a huge fan of the vocals, kind of cheesey, but the beats were awesome!
Fun listen but not enough to get over that 3 star jump.
No thank you.
meh
Honestly, it's a bit hard for me to distinguish albums that are heavily electronic-based, but there are some tasty hooks and melodies here.
Didn't hate it but can't really say I liked it. I am just lost with these older electronica albums. With most of the popular genres I can fit the records into a story of subcultures and influences that helps me appreciate them even if they aren't exactly my thing. But to me this just sounds like an alternate fan soundtrack to the Matrix. Yes I know the Matrix hadn't come out yet, no I don't care. I didn't dislike listening to it so it isn't a 1, but I can't rate it a 3 because I don't think I can make a coherent statement about any of the tracks, except there was something about mountains...
This might be the most egregious electronic music album pick of them all. This might be a favorite of a very specific subgroup of a subgroup of a bygone demographic of listeners who have hopefully aged out of the circumstances that made them think this was the peak of dance music. Euro-centric shallow spiritualism mixed with harsh, on-the-nose production. It’s an Orbital album, but bad, with the mystic qualities of a Shpongle album, but bad. Shpongle, by the way, is made to sound like tactful geniuses of experimental electronic spiritual music in the face of this project. How corny do you have to be to make Shpongle seem subtle and “tasteful”. “Evil Is Even” shows one minute of promise but then seems content to not do anything else at all for the rest of its runtime, almost rending its status as a noteable track null. 90’s electronic music albums that use similar sounds but are way more worth your time: LP - Antiloop Anything by The Prodigy Furious Angels - Rob Dougan The Gathering - Infected Mushroom Anything by Aphex Twin Aforementioned Orbital. 1/5, the music is what it is but it’s the idea of including this album in such a list is what draws my ire. Album art is way cooler than any of its musical substance
Is this crap? Yes. Do I kinda like it as background noise while working? Also yes. 3/5
Too long.
God as my witness I tried. But just couldn't. This was like unironic Flight Of The Concords.
Here’s what I’ll say about this: it ain’t good.
Fun time at the club
very house! i think environment matters when listening to this. would be much more fun in a club and not sitting in my bed listening off of my laptop.
After 4 attempts of turning the album on and then switching it off to listen to something else I think I'm calling it about halfway through this hour+ album. It's dated. It's boring. The vocals are forgettable at best. The beats are uninteresting to say the least. Just one big nothingburger.
15 songs Holy slop. This is the sort of shit that your 40 year old coworker who goes to 3 daytime raves a year would blast at work and then would swear to god that this music was THE SHIT back in the 90s and you don't get it because you simply weren't there. Hope you enjoy the line "I can move move move any mountain" (it sure does seem like they were quite proud of it), BECAUSE YOU WILL HEAR THAT SHIT ON 3 DIFFERENT SONGS. FUCK YOU!!! The scots used to give us lads like William Wallace and Robert the Bruce! Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Also, 666 Edit can suck me a fat one.
It’s dance music that I can’t imagine dancing to. There are some fun moments, and some really annoying moments which are unfortunately exacerbated by the album’s length. Not a fan.
czym dalej tym gorzej doslownie jakbym caly czas slucgala tego samego
Slot this in there with the Pet Shop Boys and Erasure. This is the type of music I imagine would be playing in a gay bar. And that’s fine I’m just letting someone reading this know that I suffered through enough of it that they don’t have to.
Awful. I hate house music so much. The soundtrack to a vapid club where you can’t hear anything including the people around you and are way drunker than you want to be and it smells like beer rotting the floor and cologne and it’s already way too late and you know your mind isn’t going to be right for the next 2-3 days just based on how late it is
Yep that sure is an early 90"s dance album. Basically sounds like every ministry of sound released over a 15 year period. The first song "move any mountain" is the one with a 7 figure play count but the second one "Human NRG" is a better track. So are the next few tracks, actually. The deeper I get the more I think the biggest track is the weakest one. This album is sweet as fuck! I also feel like I have heard a few of these tracks sampled plenty of times. Clear influential. Album is well.produced, the songs flow into each other effortlessly, which I suppose is necessary for the genre.
This is exactly the kind of music I associate with doing Jump Rope for Heart in elementary school in the early 2000s, because our school hadn’t received anything new since at least that far back. There’s a lot of interesting sampling going on and the musical value is very clear, but in 2026 it’s very hard to connect with the kind of human optimism that motivated this album. I think my failure to really enjoy this is a “me” problem nevertheless. I have no real critique that isn’t predicated on my individual experience. Good album, i’m just a grouch lol.
Pretty good, honestly. Not anything super captivating, but I can appreciate what the lads were up to with this one.
Very indicative of early 90's Euro-Electronic
This makes me want to punch something. 2
(18/100)
super fun to listen to at first; reminded me of the stuff i used to download on napster and blast in my room as a teenager. gets old & repetitive pretty quickly though. good to put a song or two in a nostalgia playlist (even though i don't think i actually knew any of the specific songs), but i'm probably not going to listen to the entire thing again
#954. Good techno is already tiresome, bad techno is literally torture. 2/5: it sucks
This was like if Happy Monday, Pet Shop Boys, and Daft Punk had a threesome on acid and MDMA. Felt a bit dated but some songs had a serious groove to them. The album was too top heavy, but I was interested throughout despite its length.
This album is a lot of fun, and it was really nice to do my job while listening to it. That said, who names a song "Omega Amigo". Basically a stupid fun album, but I'm glad I found it. It sort of lost its charm by the end; too repetitive.
listening to this at 7:45 while stone cold sober maybe not the best way to properly enjoy their music
So 90s! How have I never heard of them?
Do you get bonus points in the list for being Scottish? What makes these guys so memorable must be diluted by the passing of time. I do remember their biggest hit that was massive at the time "Ebeneezer Goode" but it's not on this album. Second biggest hit "Move any Mountain" is here and I also remember that, but it doesn’t seem that noteworthy, perhaps bagpipes? The rest of the album doesn't stand out for me but decent enough rave music? The Move any mountain refrain keeps coming back through the album which makes it all seem like variations on the same theme. Undecided 2/3.
Fine but just too long.
Not bad but not really my thing. 3
When we say that something is average, we mean that it is consistent. And this album is consistently bad, that is, it's average. 2 stars.
im so tired of it
fine, good electronic music
Middle of the road electronic music, which is generally a genre I enjoy more than most. But this was kinda meh
I like when they don't sing.
Never listened. Expectations: None - Verdict: Good - This album sounds very much of its time. I don't think that is always a bad thing and although I was at first slightly underwhelmed, the album grew on me during the listen. By the end I found that I had enjoyed it quite a bit. I can see this being an easy album to throw on when I'm unsure what I want to listen to. Good stuff.
Maybe this album sounded good whilst high on a Friday night in a club in 1990. It didn’t sound good whilst eating my Weetabix on a Wednesday morning in the kitchen in 2026.
As with most electronic stuff, this wasn’t for me. It was fine as background music, but was too samey and repetitive to be engaging. They clearly realised that album opener ‘Move Any Mountain’ was the best track, as they essentially repeat it (albeit at greater length) for the closer. In general, however, I preferred the instrumental tracks as the vocals and lyrics were poor. I enjoyed the guitar parts on ‘Possible Worlds’ and ‘Make It Mine’. Apart from that, I’m really struggling to think of anything else that stood out at all. Nice to know they were against apartheid, though.
I like to watch pro wrestling and I’m generally unashamed. But every once in a while I’m watching and there’s something going on that makes me think “I would be embarrassed if someone walked in and I had to explain what I’m watching”. That’s how I felt the entire time I listened to En-Tact by the Shamen
It's not horrible, but it sounds very, very dated..
Very techno and repetitive. But not horrible.
It can be quite good without the lyrics and vocals, its just jarring every few songs. 2.9/5
Dreadful. If this was hold music, I'd hang up.
kinda boring maybe just hasn't aged well
Sadly, I know I listened to it, but it just didn't leave a big impression. Again, didn't hate it, just didn't grab my attention.
A bit cheesy-pie, innit?
Nostalgic sound but nothing to make it a must listen
really grew on me had a good time with this. Aberdeen grass fed techno
Wanted to give it a 1 just due to the pure uselessness of it being on this list. Especially when another track of theirs that autoplayed was better than anything from this album. But, there were a few tracks in the second half that were decent enough.
Best of breed of the genre, but this is a fairly boring genre in my view. Thumpy bass dance tracks beginning to end. Music to do chores to.
Funky
Cool!
It's OK, some of the tracks go on a bit too long. Wouldn't be my choice of something to listen to generally.
Not really my style, and there’s a lot of it.
Highlights: Progen (Land of Oz), Omega Amigo, Lightspan, Make It Mine V2.5
Good
It’s fine
Awesome music! loved to listen this masterpiece!
stfu & dance
good background music
No idea! Scottish psychedelic rock: Primed to love. Though I think it may be too dancey for me. Certainly for a crammed af flight to Austin. Perhaps I wait. HA are they rapping too? I should really probably wait but this is cute. Somehow I’m writing a ptsd evaluation on a packed flight while listening to this album and I don’t hate it. And yet I didn’t like it?
I was not previously familiar with the artist or album. This is an electronic dance album. It doesn't really do much for me, and I would not listen again.
AI will probably eventually destroy all art, but this came out over 35 years ago and is just as creative. I guess it set the stage for people becoming ok with soulless music that sounds like it was made by a robot. I don't know if this broke new ground. Maybe this was the first dance album to use a certain synth patch. Maybe it was the first one to start the trend of meaningless new-agey repetitions lyrics in club music. But this is basically the Dick and Jane primer of electronic music. It is trite, it is uninteresting, it is wildly dated, nothing happens, and I presume it was created for belabored learners. There's a lot of bad music out there, but this is just so unforgivably boring. 1*
boring
I didn't mind it. Can't tell if these guys are on here because they're in some way influential, but to my electronica-averse ears I didn't hear much of anything unique.
Great early electronica effort that was notably recorded by every eventually famous British electronica engineer. The last track is rather weak due to the dated cringy rap. Otherwise, brilliant.
OK, It's a bit dated but it's dark, atmospheric and loaded with dirty, dirty bass. Not as long or repetitive as the worst of the acid house and its highs are right up there with the likes of KLF, Primal Scream and Stereo MCs etc. Maybe it helps that I was listening to this kind of stuff in the early-90s but this one is new to me and I'm on board.
Tremendoooo me pareció super buenas vibras.
The whole new agey techno-hippie vibe is decidedly not for me, but despite lacking depth and complexity to my ear, this slowly won me over a bit as some decent trippy background music. Not something that'd hold my attention for very long; but tbf I don't think that's the intended way to listen to this anyway.
I can almost see the flashing lights and frenetic energy of the dancers as well as smell the conflated reek of sweat, cologne, perfume and spilled drinks in a club I only want to get the hell out of.
Dance club electronica with vocals. Maybe it was groundbreaking at some point? But now it sounds somple and stereotypical. A 2.
You can practically smell the dry ice being pumped around the Top of the Pops stage. I mean, this is as 1990s as you can get. I hear this and I’m seven years old again. Zig and Zag are teeing up shows like James Bond Jr. and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles on the other channel, and I’m eating a luminous yellow “Roy of the Rovers” bar (which I'm guessing has since been taken out of circulation for health reasons). It may be incredibly dated, but I have to admit that “Move Any Mountain” is an enjoyable tune. The rest of the album went by me in a haze, and I don’t mean the same type of haze that afflicted the ravers of the 90s. I can hear what The Shamen were trying to do, and at times there were a few interesting moments, like the dark minimalist guitar tones in “Evil is Even”. It just feels completely stuck in 1990, and mostly sounds like the menu music in an old Namco arcade game.
Pretty crazy, but good
Another day wasted at a local Aeropostale waiting for someone trying on clothes.
Quickly moved down to annoying, made worse due to the three different releases with different tracks, length, and order. What does that say about their belief in their product?
Scottish
Nah
good lock-in album
Other than the opening track, which is a great single, there isn't much that stands out on this album. A fairly decent 90s dance album, but not exactly something that I feel is an essential album to listen to.
Remarkably boring club music.
The 90s were such a mistake, man
Techno
Super vibey
Elektronisch, Langweilig
Boring.
This list has more than it's fair share of garbage. In a big pile of garbage, this gets put into the garbage pile of the garbage. I have come to the conclusion that the author of the book is deaf. Looked up a list of albums and wrote a book as a spoof to see how many people would try it. Well congrats on a successful psychological operation on the masses. 0.00 The only worthwhile use of this I can think of is to torture spies into giving up information.
Mi(n)d-lessly repetitive dance instead of being psychedelic and hypnotic. This kind of dance definitely didn't age well. It was quite underwhelming like they were repeating the same motifs and beats from one song, and calling that an album?? Go guys give us nothing 👏 (2.5)
Bit of a long sit-through. I can understand why this has such a low average rating, but I liked it. It was a bit boring at times, but there were a number of nice and groovy songs on here that I actually enjoyed. You can't really hear the Psychedelic influence they started with on here anymore. Such a trailblazer too, kind of hard to imagine this came out in 1990.
2026.04.27
I like to think that when I see a low score there is a 99% chance that I'm going to like the band. I mean when I look at the 20 Lowest Rated Albums 12 of them have gotten or will get a five star rating because I know the bands and I love their music. This, is not that this is a low score because it's shit. I normally like electro music, one of my favorite bands is Kraftwerk, but this is like some idiots found a drum machine turned it on and said the same things over and over and over again. Noped out after the 2nd song which I knew was going to be bad when I realized that Human NRG was Human Energy. I was trying to figure out what acronym NRG was. I'm now going to go listen to Converge to purge this from my ears.
I was wondering how we got from Kraftwerk to 90's electronic music and bet it was The Shamen. The album was all sorts of 90's cheesy, but that's the beauty of it. This was like the Sonic Youth of electronic. Had some good sounds but no super bangers.
It sounds like rave music for people that don't like going to raves.... Like rave lite. That being said, several moments here can be pointed to as jumping off pointers for songs that later became standards in certain corners edm community. Not overly great, but just good enough not to be absolutely terrible.
Not my thing. It isn’t objectively bad, it’s just not for me. It sounds like cheesy club music from the 90’s, and it is… but if that’s your thing you’ll love this.
This is aight
There are a few decent tracks on here, but it should not be over an hour. If they released this as 6-8 of the best tracks, it might have crossed over into the US and become a classic. At times, they're pretty good at imitating the best US producers of the time, but some other songs are quite corny and the "rapping" is downright bad. Yet again, I need to point out that this list is packed with second rate UK copies of pioneering Black contemporaries in Chicago, Detroit, and New York. Take this off the list and add in the real artists who originated, innovated, and elevated dance music in the 80s/90s.
generøs 2'er. Tog en evighed at komme igennem
Måske lidt et stretch at absolut skulle høre den her før man dør, men synes det var ret charmerende! Altid sjovt at høre tidlig elektronisk musik
Felt very long. Sounded like its time. 90s soft electro techno thing
fun 3/5
Argh, kinda torn, this is one where I wish there was a 10 point scale. It’s not worth a 4 but it’s better than a 3. May be mostly a nostalgia vote though because I have memories of listening to this on my Walkman lol. It definitely is very much of its time, maybe you had to be there
I was prepared to pan this based on the review, but I didn't find much to hate. The lyrics are quite vapid, but the music upbeat and quite fun. Reminds me a bit of Cut Copy. Don't know if I'll return, but didn't hate it
Well, that was something.
Experimental, a lot of tracks remind me of the trance era of eletronic music
Very tiresome
2 out of 5. Some nice beats/rhythms but still kinda boring for me.
I owned this album in the early 90's as I was a bit of an EDM fan. I remember giving it exactly one listen back then. During this listen, I remembered why...it's lifeless. The singing sounds so disinterested, and so much of the album plods along at a medium pace.
Demasiado ácido house para mi
A bit duller than I expected, but more electronica should be featured on the list as it is the least present genre. Too much acoustic folk indie dream pop shoegaze shit as it stands that I'm giving out inflated scores to other genres simply because they are here at all.
Eh ok. Don’t hate, don’t love.
Oh no, this it shit. Track 1, yeah nah, 1 hour and 7 minutes of this is gonna be tough. Track 2 amplified this feeling, shitty 80s/90's dance music with shitty beats and shitty synths.
I liked this! And no one is more surprised than me based on others' reviews and the fact that this is never going to be my favorite type of music. Catchy and fun.
I just can’t with these mediocre house albums anymore
2 more days to go and I'm done with this list. After it all, I can really say that the worst stuff here really is are the House albums. Must be an european thing, but to think that these are still relevant today makes no sense to me. This list really needs quite the update and they should hire somebody else to do it while they're at it.
Another album to just zone-out your mind and waiting for it to finish.
Very very 90s.
I don't think I'll ever put this on again but the snapshot of a burgeoning sound/scene was interesting to listen to. There were some genuinely good tracks, but overall it did feel pretty dated.
my first proper foray into acid house music (at least that i can remember) and whilst it is pretty good for what it is and made good background music as i did my assessment task, i don't think i will ever return to it again outside of maybe 2 songs. Fav Song: Possible Worlds: Deep PSI Least Fav: Evil is Even
2 Inoffensive, boring though
Worst album I've had yet, although I'm yet to get any of the real bad ones. It just keeps dragging on. Do not listen to this if you're not doing something else at the same time.
Never heard of The Shamen and understand why, it's by no way in my taste. The shitty electronic sound of the 80's is so prevalent that I would enjoy a trip at the dentist 10_000 times more than listening to this album. Hopefully the second part of the album redeems it a bit. Favorite songs: Possible Worlds: Deep Psi
Going from Aphex Twin to this is a drastic shift in quality. I just didn’t like this. I think my favorite song here was 666 Edit because of the sharp synth tones. Probably would not revisit this. Could have been worse. At least it was only a hour.
Very boring electronic stuff, maybe like 3 catchy songs and the rest just falls in the background extremely easily.
What a waste of time. Rating: 1.3
unreal.
I used to be scared of the staticy rave stations that came through on the radio on Saturday nights. The music was insistent, directionless, and repetitive and the effect was like that of a number station: a broadcast to activate or deactivate Manchurian candidates. Even if Move Every Mountain now sets off a nostalgic quadrant in my brain, my overwhelming feeling of an entity searching for something in me that isn't there. 1.5 There are people who have been taken enough with EDM/House that they have written books on the genre. These days I have trouble enough getting through books about things I am interested in, so I shall not bother with the likes of Sean Bibber‘s ‚Pump Up the Volume: A History of House Music‘ or Matthew Collin and John Godfrey‘s ‚Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House‘. I am curious, all the same, how these authors write about the music itself when it comes to it; what sort of observations can identify and differentiate the work of a given House artist? I find I haven’t an honest analytical word to say about this tk-a-tk-a-tk-a-tk-a BoomBoomBoomBoom shit. I dare say you had to be there. Even if you were, it might still be an absurdity to be sitting in your living room listening, sober and inquiring, to this stuff in 2026. 1/5
This album started off pretty strong. For a dance record from the early 90's, the instrumentation and quality was fairly high. However, as the album goes on, it becomes more repetitive and cookie-cutter, and ultimately just kind of boring.
Franchement, je voulais l'aimer, cet album. Vraiment. J'ai vu que c'était un album d'électronique, j'étais content. Je me suis dit que ça changeait un petit peu. Malheureusement, à l'écoute, j'ai un peu déchanté. C'était pas affreux, bien au contraire, il y avait pas mal de passages sympathique. Le gros défaut, c'est qu'il n'y a pas beaucoup de dynamique, c'est plutôt plat du début à la fin. Et ça dure une heure ! Alors forcément, la lassitude finit par s'installer. J'ai longuement hésité à mettre 3, mais je me suis quand même un peu trop ennuyé pour ça, alors ça sera un 2.
I'm starting to like this genre and I don't like it
Fairly decent, listenable electronic tunes, although very 90’s
Really nice beats, reminds me of the soundtrack of C&C - Red Alert 2 !
I know it's April Fools Day but still. Band had one shitty single that was popular in Manchester clubs for about 8 minutes on an album two years after this. I tried to listen to as much as I could, but even for its time this is a very sub-average album. I assume the follow up will be on this list as well then as it has that one song on it some people once knew. So I guess I have that to look forward to.
My review after 2 seconds: Ah, fuck. This is gonna be a long day. I made it about halfway through before I had to turn it off. I honestly have no idea if this is good house/dance/electronica music or not; I'm simply not capable of enjoying this album. Pretty much every jazz album on this list gets a lower rating from me than it deserves for the same reason. It's not you; it's me. (But also you get one star because that's the rule for albums I don't finish. Sorry.)
It's a rare piece of electronic music that I vibe with. This just isn't my jam at all. It was inoffensive, clearly well done, and I did rather enjoy the bit where the sudden bursts of silence functioned almost as percussion.
It’s not shit, but it is very unenjoyable. Unless you’re gurning your tits off on about 8 doves, I suspect.
This is my second techno album in three days. Never been a fan of the art. Been to a bunch of raves but that was mostly for something to do I suppose? It was the mid-90's and all my friends were going. Devoid of the atmosphere I usually find that stuff lacking but this was pretty good. Nicely varied and the tracks were defined and not overlong.
<checks notes> shite.wlrst album on the list so far... And I've had that German industrial thing
This is #day598 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… did you know the term "rave" was used as far back as the '50s in London to describe local wild bohemian parties? I find it fun to know. This record is very much a product of its time, taking you back to the late '80s-early '90s rave parties, the Second Summer of Love, with a bit of New Beat along the way. If you're into music history, like I am, you can hear a thread running through this and albums like Screamadelica, Pills 'n' Thrills..., Technique, the Hacienda scene… Psychedelic, spaced-out electronics, the kind that makes you wish those mornings never come. I'm giving it a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day599.
Bouncy, dialed a notch or two above ambient, but still pretty chilled out, great synths, energetic beats - a few tracks are full acid house ala Happy Mondays - but it's mostly loungey wallpaper stuff. Good fun though.
Repetitive electronic music. Most of the lyrics are whispered. Hard to keep myself interested towards the end. 2/5 Won't listen again
Some good tracks and cool ideas on here Some songs kind of drift past but Move Any Mountain is a banger