Reviews (page 6 of 7)
Decent as background music - nothing too crazy though.
tedious aside from Back to Life which is a banger
Kinda dug the beats, mostly wasn't feeling it.
Vibey sure, great background music. Pretty boring tho man.
Hip hop ages worse than any other genre. This is so cheesy.
Dated. Not doing it for me. That being said if it came on in a supermarket I’d be groovin
++: Fairplay, Feel Free, Jazzie's Groove +: Holdin' On, Feeling Free, Happiness +-: Keep on Movin', African Dance, Dance -: Back to Life 5,2/10
Dated
Yeah man. The album had two iconic hit singles, bit the rest feels like one loooonngggg number. Jazzy’s Groove is a nice exception.
2.4 2x
Ehhhhhh
Het is niet lief om te zeggen maar dit soort muziek vind ik echt enorm nietszeggend. Een soort mengeling van 80s hiphop, vroege housemuziek en R&B (zonder de B) en dan echt precies de saaiste elementen van al die stijlen bij elkaar geraapt. Met zo'n vrouwtje die eigenlijk niet niet goed genoeg kan zingen voor serieuze muziek, die gekozen is omdat haar looks zo goed bij de act passen, maar die dan wel wil zingen als zo'n North Sea Jazz type. Bij de grote hit mocht ze dan ook alleen de bank warmhouden als ik het goed begrijp. En hetzelfde geldt voor de man: Zo'n type, eigenlijk meer producer dan artiest, die door de houseinvloeden net wel/net niet met z'n matige gerap wegkomt. Ook al duurt het album niet eens heel lang, zo voelt het wel. Ik verveel me gewoon de tering. Het hitje waar ik sowieso al weinig mee heb, maar waarvan er op dit album eigenlijk alleen een oersaaie grotendeels a capella variant is te vinden kan de boel niet redden. In een wereld waarin Astrud Gilberto de kans heeft gehad om muziek op te nemen is dit nog wel 2 sterren maar daar is het dan wel mee gezegd. Anderhalve ster eigenlijk.
2,5
Thanks for reminding me of that single from my childhood. I didn't need the rest of the album to come along with it.
Back To Life was ubiquitous in 1989, and it's still pretty good. And Keep On Moving is OK. But the rest of this does not hold up to time at all. Holdin' On is painful. Most of the rest is fairly bland. I also hate whatever Do'Reen is doing with her voice.
does nothing for me
Old school rap/ hip hop/ reggae. Good band, good music.
I can’t explain it but this feels like the musical equivalent of the fake video games that actors play in movies. Highlights: Dance
It was ok
Not into this. Also, what kind of club is this album for? The songs seemed to not be able to make up their minds between soul, R&B and dance (albeit very slow tempo dance) music. 2/5
Nah. This ain't it. I didn't care for this much at all. 1.5/5
Had this on cassette when it came up, but never upgraded to CD despite the song Back To Life. The album didn't age as well as 6th grade me would have thought. These lyrics were deep when i was 12
..
Just not my thing, honestly. Part of it is, it's just really dated sounding (the raps are that really simplistic 80's style which just have not aged well IMO), and partly I just don't really care for it. What really turned me off was the 6 minute long African Dance which was basically one beat the whole song with (an admittedly good) flute solo. But 6 minutes of it was way too much. Then they followed up with the track Dance, which had the same exact beat, just with a dude telling me I should move to the music and how great it is. Did not need 3 more minutes of that beat drilled into my head. Unfortunately put it down there. It gets the 2 because while it's not for me and I wouldn't in a million years go back to it, I can understand why someone would like it, and despite my complaints, it's competently made.
Not my favorite. Standout song Back to life.
Not sure if this was ever good, but if it was it certainly didn't age well.
Couldn't be fucked with over an hour of Soul II Soul on a Sunday.
Don’t promise me club classics and then give me that.
Not bad
Kinda repetitive.
It’s called “club classics” but I would be sad if a club was playing this.
Not my jam.
The most boring "club music" I've ever heard. This is like hotel lobby music. It is so bland. It like R&B mixed with electronica. Not great. Not noteworthy. Not necessary listening. Garbage. Favourite songs: Feeling Free, Holdin' On Least favourite songs: Back to Life, Feel Free, Jazzie's Groove 2/5
Boring
Not my genre.
fine
Sounds like someone kept pushing the demo button on the casio
I knew “Keep on Movin’”, and I think it’s gonna stay that way. Decent track, nothing huge or unique about it, and the rest of the album is unremarkable 1990’s filler.
Club Classics Vol. One is good in places but has an almighty amount of filler where it's just beats with minimal spoken words over them, and they're a waste of tine. A couple of decent singles or familiar tracks does not make a quality album, 2.
Arrogant album title without much to back it up. Back To Life and (to a lesser extent) Keep On Movin' are familiar, don't know the rest at all. To be fair, I was never much of a clubber (and definitely not in the mid nineties), but there's an awful lot of not very interesting repetition and far too little that grabs the attention. 2/5.
I had high hopes for this one but it really didn't deliver
I was vibing with this until the male singer came in and pretty much ruined the album. Doesn’t help that it feels quite dated. Best song: Keep On Movin’
I really hated this era of rnb, so it colours my review
I did not care for this one. Felt like I was in a Macy's.
I did not feel very engaged while listening to this. Seemed quite repetitive with the beats (and remixes of songs) and overall was pretty boring.
Super safe elevator music
Didn't start off to wonderfully but improved quite a bit in the middle and then died a death. The only recognisable track was back to life and that wasn't the way I remember it. Not a particular fan to start off with and it hasn't changed anything. Not for me 2
I just couldn’t get into this one. Maybe it was innovative when it came out but it sounds very generic to me and doesn’t stand out at all amongst other albums on this list.
Flash back to life, back to reality that this album is a one hit wonder ... a fun one but not enough to save a 2 star rating
Θα λεγα οτι ειναι μουσικη για να χορεψεις... σε αδειο μαγαζι. Οκ καποιες καλες λεπτομερειες στην παραγωγη εδω και εκει και 1 2 τρακς που αξιζουν αλλα αρκετα βαρετο. Βεβαια δεν αξιζει 1/5 οποτε 2 αστερια Rating: C-
It was, something
LOL, a one hit wonder London dance club group. Of course. The editors of 1001 are so clearly young boomer/older Gen X Brits. And what's up with a band naming their debut "Club Classics Vol. One"?? Talk about jinxing yourself guys.
Some one thought this was a good idea, worse of all they thought it belonged in this list. You know what, maybe it is great, but I just don't get it. It's the same song for an hour isn't it?
The odd cool moment, and it takes influences from a great diverse selection of genres and backgrounds. But on the whole, I did find this quite boring. Maybe this album would have sounded better if I listened to it in a night club instead of while doing my laundry.
Idc
Top
Soul and funk produced via a mid-90s bedroom DJ aesthetic. It's ok for what it is but I'm not blown away. 'Back to Life' is the clear highlight here but even there, you need to dive into the bonus tracks before you find the more iconic version of the song. Give me an album worth of that level music and we can talk. The rest is fine but a bit boring and dated.
2 out of 5. I like how chill this album is, and we all need one every now and then.
2 listen
There was one song here I liked, a big hit when I was in my 20’s and into the club scene, brought back memories, but they had the version that was the hit, then 3 or 4 different versions of the same song.
this one was a bit rough for me. ordinarily, my interest in dance music almost entirely hinges on the beat, and unfortunately here I felt like most of the beats and production were pretty middling. this meant that a lot of the songs for me hinged on the vocals, which unfortunately for the most part were not good. what saved this album for me was the final two tracks, ' back to life' into, 'jazzie's groove' which had the album's best vocals into the album's best production. but as a whole, sorry, really not a huge fan.
Must be some pretty dull clubs. Backhalf has sole decent moments that incorperate female vocals. But mostly it’s just vaporous.
Meh, could've been worse...
Around the time that I would have really started getting into music, showing an interest in the charts, watching TOTP etc. Found "Back to Life" pretty dull then, and it's still pretty dull now. There's nothing fundamentally bad here, laid-back beats and vocals, but doesn't do anything for me.
Early '90s R&B is one of those genres that I just. Really hate. Sry
Generic AF
This is not great. Kinda all over the place. Also, it didn't age well.
Albumi #64, 30.09.2024 Soul II Soul -kollektiivin debyyttialbumi vuodelta 1989. Vahvat 80-90-luvun taitteen brittivibat ja rutkasti nostalgiaa. Aikansa R&B/dub-klassikko mutta ei kuulu omiin suosikkeihin.
I knew one of these! Surprise surprise! The rest was blah.
Not sure why this is on the list. I remember one of these songs, but overall the album just didn't move me. I'll give it a 2 for the nostalgia aspect.
Whole lotta skips. Not terrible enough for a 1 star. But close.
When hip hop Lena’s towards R&B I don’t really like it. I wasn’t a fan of Soul II Soul back then and this hasn’t changed. I find it a bit boring. Rating: 2
Did not like it or hate it so 2 stars or D.
Can't imagine what club these songs are considered "classics" in... Boring ahh club.
Only listened to half. Was alright
Maybe the most boring album I've ever listened to.
That's the first time I'd found soul boring. There's one good thing though, thanks to this album, I've discovered similarities between soul and rap/hip hop.
Keep on moving, nothing to see here.
smooth II snooze
eh
No idea why this is on the list. Even for club music, it was repetitive.
Late 1980s, Soul/R&B/Dance Music - not for me.
This was fine but got boring and not my favorite genre.
Back to Life is a classic but this album wasn’t that great.
Correcto
Täydellisen bland blend
Not for me. A little to repetitive and mellow.
well this is an album that was straight up not made for me, its nothing like music i enjoy judging from the length of wiki article: NNN
Asian restaurant music in the mid 2000s
Did not like the voices
I was ready to jump to the defence of this one since it's lead singles are so influential on Trip-Hop. This and 'Raw Like Sushi' by Neneh Cherry preceded Massive Attack by a few years, and pioneered slower more soulful dance and rap music in the UK charts. Also Caron Wheeler's vocals on 'Keep on Moving' and 'Back to Life' are absolute benchmarks of UK soul. But it's a pretty shite album to be honest. A lot of the tracks are bland and it doesn't settle into the theme set by the songs I mention. Probably hard for people who weren't listening to the radio in the UK in the late 80s to appreciate how original this was, but yeah as an album it's not amazing.
Yeah quite entertaining to begin with but soon wore thin and I didn't care anymore. Samey
Pretty meh, just felt like a random clubby album but nothing special
This does nothing for me. I don't hate it, but I don't like it. It's just a bit above bad.
a bloated collection of singles
I wanna dance to me! I wanna dance to A. G.!! I don't wanna dance to Soul II Soul!!!
Eeehhhh
Disco Dancefloor .... 1001???
Meh Rating: 2.5
2.75 It got better as it went on, but it never got good enough for me to want to listen to it again
This doesn't go as hard as "club classics" by Charli XCX off her new record. It's not bad to listen to but it's pretty bland feeling. Maybe it really is "classics" because they were foundational to the creation of club music but I'd have to do more research cause to me, it's just a lot of standard beats and forgettable melodies on them. Actually Back to Life is pretty awesome. I feel like that is referenced in some song. Which is weird cause this song is referencing Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" it seems. Everything sampling
This seems like an influential R&B/dance record. Easy enough to listen to, but far from my favorite type of music.
Not my jam
However do you want me? However do you need me? - questions that define a generation. I can’t believe I had to wade through 13 mostly forgettable songs to get to the real Back to Life version which totally holds up. I also like the horns in Jazzies’s groove, sounded like a prime De La beat.
One key to having an album included in this book is to be British. That's the first barrier to entry, and then if you are British, then your album may be considered one of the best in that genre. I mean, this is fine music. I don't know why I would ever come back to it or what is so important, other than it had two popular singles. Does anyone say, "Oh yeah, the first Soul II Soul album changed my life." I am guessing not, unless there is a practical joke being played. Whitney Houston should have been British and maybe she could be considered as great as this band who had an album with similar beats, a song called "Feel Free," and a song called "Feeling Free" (did they forget to include "Free Feeling?) and two hits on it. This is late 80's club music and I don't see anything special here.
This shit is why record stores have the $1 bin.
In my 1-5 star rating system I use 2 stars for music that is not bad, but just not my thing. Therefore 2/5
2.5
Well this took me back...
Except for 2-3 songs... Boring
This is so late 80’s that I’m having flashbacks of Mikhail Gorbachev’s birthmark. But even if you give up early on this one, at least listen to the first minute or so of “Dance”, just to hear the delivery of this line: “Modern people tend to dahnce With this music, I’ll put you in a trahnce HA HA HA…now dahnce”
After second thought, I think there's too many albums form the 80s on this list. Exhibit One:
Yeah, I'm good. I'll take these instead: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Tvw2YNOLrcxATPGnFVTzz?si=09RUTmDTSBGLdNG_qxTyYQ
Let me know which club these classics are played in as I need to ensure I never go. 1.5*
Honnêtement de la misère à voir l'attrait de celui-là. De ce que j'ai pu comprendre une des chansons est supposément connue donc peut-être c'est l'effet one hit wonder qui l'amène ici. Gnéréalement très fade. 5/10
meh. 80s beats. nothing too remarkable.
Keep On Movin’ // Back To Life // 2.5/5
A few of the opener songs had a strong rhythm and we're fun to listen to, but the vocals were weak. The songs with the guy singing were less than stellar. Back to Life was a great song, but it seems like it was recorded by a different band at a different time. Big departure from the rest of this album.
1989 was an incredible year for music but I wouldn’t have associated this album with that time. Back to Life was a popular radio jam but the rest of the album was boring.
Hyödyntää kaikenlaista kivan tuttua ja toimii - siis taustalla.
Late 80’s club music. Meh!
I listen to a lot of electronic/dance stuff and this is a snooze, though it was probably more impactful in the 80s or early 90s. There's nothing terrible about most of these, just boring as an album. On the plus side I got to find out where some prominent Girl Talk samples came from.
Just not my thing
Mid electronic shit
Not bad but pretty generic. The grooves here are solid for the most part. The issue is a lack of excitement and repetitiveness in the music that give it an easy-listening vibe. Back To Life is a classic banger but I don't think it's strong enough to lift this album to the status of something I need to listen to before I die.
While I could see this as a somewhat fun album in very specific scenarios, it mostly comes off as repetitive, aged, and almost a parody of itself. It uses the exact same drums for the back-beat on multiple tracks, or at least so similar that its hard to discern, and none of the songs leave a lasting impression due to their stripped back production and just general "old school" vibe. I'm 100% sure in 1989 this felt like the birth of a new era, because this album sounds like the 90s, but thirty-five years later it feels goofy and hardly as soulful as the R7B acts of the prior decades, nor as dance-able as the house acts of the following. It's just kind of sitting there now, perhaps influential at one time, but now only remembered as a product of its era. The dude's voice also reminds me of Jermaine Clement, and I cannot decide if that's a positive or a negative, but it certainly doesn't help my "parody of itself" mindset.
This is a solid R&B record, and an easy listen. Just not a lot of variation here, as genre limitations dictate. Boring eventually
It’s fine, it doesn’t offend (except for Dance, which has some terrible lyrics). But it’s also pretty unremarkable. I’ll give it 2 stars for Back to Life
Mostly percussion grooves
I was somewhat liking the first song, but the more I listened I really did not like this album.
Inte min genre det här och tycker inte att det har åldrats särskilt väl heller.
I just could not.
Having an album called "Club Classics Vol. One" waiting for me fills me with dread. Club, as in: bland late 80s/early 90s Dance music?!? Will it contain Hip Hop? And is there, god forbid, a Volume Two?!? Turns out the answer to all of these questions is a resounding 'YES'. 1.5/5
Boring
One-trick pony.
I'm staying with my sister, explained the generator and asked to put this on the speakers as we'd be out all day. The whole family voted to turn it off about halfway
Местами есть четенькие песни, но в целом это то, что на радио 80-х затерялось
Head bobbing, beat driven, driving music.
Musak
Hated everything about this except African Dance. This did not age well. That extra star is for the one banger on the album.
Not my jam
Nothing too exciting
Boring, generic album. If this band wasn't UK based they'd never get on this list.
pretty boring for an album called CLUB classics
Very unoffensive, middle of the road, adult contemporary dance music.
Average Club Sound.
Inte superbra och då ska detta ändå vara topp hits 😬
Not the worst, not the best. 2/5.
not the worst, surprisingly similar to dance that was popular 15ish years later, really drags in the middle music: hated. (⌐■_■)
For a 1995 British album called Club Classics Vol One, this wasn’t what I expected (in a good way).
A couple good tracks but otherwise just background music
Reminds me of buying funky waistcoats in River Island
Didn’t click 2/5
Generic as generic comes. Basic bitch of 89
soul, r&b, hiphop/rap, club sound, 1989 -> 2
This is very dull. Back to Life is such a major bop, it feels almost out of place or a weird fluke compared to the rest of this lame and forgettable album.
A fan of this era of music, very nostalgic. But something makes me feel there's a reason I don't listen as much to this era of music anymore and just like to revisit it from time to time.
This just isn't for me. It's fine, has some nice grooves. It just isn't really doing much.
I didn't like it very much
My.word this has not aged well. And his voice is awful. No club classics here
Soul music with no soul
Not my kind of techno. It kinda tends to drag on for a little bit. Feels less like house music and more like music you'd hear in a new age spa, or in an elevator at the mall. 2/5
Breskt níundatugar sálar hiphop, einn smellur sem maður man eftir að hafa heyrt. Restin er ekki merkileg við fyrstu hlustun, og ég nenni ekki aftur.
Points for the ballsiness of the title of the album. Great marketing ploy but the album wise was meh and forgettable.
Fine background music. Nothing special.
This album's biggest sin was being boring, I'm sure it was influential at the time but now it kind of puts me to sleep. Best song: Jazzie's Groove - Piano Version Worst song: I like back to life but by the 3rd time i was dreading it
This is very dated. And the male vocals were a struggle. Back To Life is annoyingly catchy though, and redeems it slightly.
You got "Keep On Movin'" and "Back to Life" and a shit ton of absolute surplus filler, a classic example of when an LP should definitely be an EP...
felt lengthy. Keep on movin with 6mins was smooth and very good. Made it feel much shorter than 6mins but african dance felt way longer than 6mins. few good or mid songs but i expected more tbh
Weinig te beleven hier.
Mozeskriebel, wat was dat saaaaaaaai 🥱
I listened to this twice while traveling and feel asleep both times. Wasn't a bad sounding album though. I was pleasantly surprised to recognize that Feeling Free was sampled on a song that I listen to sometimes.
The Hits are timeless. The stuff in between is mid at best (for me).
Not my bag.
Emblematic of the 'don't really need to hear before you die'-ness of this list.
I just can't get past Jazzie B's voice - he just sounds bored. There are a couple of good tunes on here (the singles) but if fond this sounded dated in general. I understand their place in the evolution of UK dance music, I just didn't find this a particularly engaging listen.
# 125 : Can listen but its, not real good, it hasn't aged well, pretty average for what it is. Like some one else said, Sounds like what you would here in a hotel lobby. Nothing of note on this.
not my style ma ben fatto
I bought this a long while back and had the same experience then than now when listening to it. A lazy, half hearted album with one of the best songs rendered acapella and lots of beats with random talking over. A great shame because when they made songs they really sounded great.
i don't really like soul :D
me aburrió, honestamente
I think it was ok, I can barely rememeber
Not for me.
It’s ok. May have been a ground breaker but it wasn’t a ground shaker for me.
Jaja
This brings me way back to the early 90s. While I was listening to Nirvana, this stuff also existed. It’s fine. It all blends together. Feeling Free (Rap) is the best song because it’s Rap and not dance but that’s about it
Another alright background album. Not what I'm looking for though. Will I listen to again: 0%
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i dont know man that sounds kinda lame, not a big fan of hip hop beats. this sounds like marvin gaye's what's going with bad musicians, mainly the rythm session. i get why people would like this, just not really my thing.
I liked Keep on Moving, it was a strong start, but quickly the album fell apart into bad vocals and repetitive tracks. Not for me.
Back to Life is a banger.
this is like eating a very sweet donut, the first few bites are pretty good, but then you realize there’s not much substance here and you’re still hungry for something more filling when you’re done. Lots of remixes and re-treads of the same ideas here. But I’ll bump it up one extra star for nostalgic reasons.
I couldn't....
Just boring. Nothing of any substance other a few tracks I could see being sample by rappers. More like Elevator Classics than Club Classics.
This album is not really my thing. Favorite was the first track.
Most of this album was boring or not great. The last bit of the album was better, but it was too little too late.
Album 190 of 1001 Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol. One Rating : 3 / 5 I enjoyed it. Was good music as I drove around. Had listened on the playlist a couple of weeks ago. There isn't anything to really complain about but there wasn't any one thing that stood out more than the other.
não ruim per si, mas meio eterno? chatinho?
The thing about this album is that it has some really good iconic songs…. which aren’t on the main track listing. “Back To Life” as on the album is a drab, a capella boring draft version of their actual hit, which was only included on the 10th anniversary edition bonus tracks. Which is perplexing to me but is reflected by both Spotify and Wikipedia’s information. I usually never consider bonus tracks in an album review, but in this case that is taking away their biggest hit from this album. So I’m confused. Anyway there are three good songs on this album (if we consider the popular version of Back To Life to be the “real” version): Back To Life (However Do You Want Me), Keep On Movin’, and Jazzie’s Groove. The rest is dull filler.
It's okay. Nellee Hooper's production is great, but Jazzie B is not much cop as a rapper, and the songs, while often good, tend to outstay their welcome. It clearly set a template that was improved upon by later artists though, so I get why it's here.
44/100
This seems like something I'd like on paper, but in reality I didn't care for it. The original album didn't even include the good version of "Back to Life," although it looks like subsequent releases have included it. Smart move. Rounding up from 1.5.
Some decent songs, but a lot just seemed to blend together. Found myself tapping my foot, pretty groovy stuff (when heard)
This is ok, just ok. And by that, I mean it's ok as background music only. It doesn't really have much substance. It has that kind of 'nothing' feeling to it that a lot of 80's music does. It's not offensive.
I was ready to give this 1 star, but it's not truly terrible. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd probably give it a 5. The big hit, "Back to Life" is not as bad as I recall. Converting to a 5-star scale gives me 2.5, and I'm rounding down.
2 stars for the hits... the rest has dated, even if it was ahead of it's time back then.
Not made for my brain I would say, probably good but I just think it's a bit boring gn Favorite Tracks: Fairplay, Feeling Free, Ambition (Rap)
Not really feeling this one too much. African Dance is the first song that really got me going. There are some pretty cool beats and rhythms in here, especially Happiness. The beat in Back to Life was definitely a headbopper. Not necessarily bad, but not quite my taste and a bit boring. There are a couple good patches, but I would not want to be in a club that was playing these classics for very long.
Few songs in and this is really not my jam. I can get behind some of the instrumentals. Only some. I honestly hate some of them. I have it on in the background whilst working so might not be the best representation but still not my jam and that's OK. I dig tf out of the flute and looping in African Dance though.
A few catchy tracks. Empty Spaces without direction,
Funky club / disco music, with some hip hop moments, and maybe some African vibes?
The beats were very repetitive after a while but there were some interesting moments here and there - the flute lead of African Dance and the skittering kick drum of Feel Free were both highlights. Never got into Keep On Movin, and the only truly great song is a bonus track (the a capella version of Back To Life is not that good guys)
Wasn't hugely impressed with this, but I guess it introduced RnB to clubs. Keep on Movin' is OK.
Best of lists are so funny. In 2004, British music magazine Q placed “Club Classics Vol. One” at number 28 in its list of the 50 Greatest British Albums Ever, but two years later, the magazine put it at number 34 in its list of 40 Best Albums of the 1980s. Number 28 all-time for British albums is hilarious to begin with, but the editorial opinion of the magazine must have changed quite a bit in the next two years. Or the lists were put together by completely different people. Because everyone has wildly different opinions about what the greatest albums are. For instance, I wouldn’t put this on the 1001. It’s fairly commonplace late 80s/early 90s R&B, which while probably underrepresented on the list this doesn’t feel like the album to remedy that. Then Soul II Soul mix in some very underwhelming hip-hop, an “African Dance” interlude, and some world music-influenced dance tracks, and “Club Classics Vol. One” never finds an identity. “Back to Reality” is the most interesting thing on the album, and feels familiar either from a bit of American radio play or from one of the many songs that sampled it. But it’s not enough to save this mediocre album.
Canciones conocidas como Back To Life. Pero menudo rollazo.
Here's an album that completely failed the test of time. Not that it ever managed to achieve mediocrity.
Actually own a cd copy of this album and its successor, but hardly listen to it. It is all done very tastefully but it is also quite boring music.
Back to Life was and is still a good song, and is the only reason I'm not giving this a one star rating.
Not much here that is of interest. And Back to Life is unfortunately less appealing than the single version.
Feels like background music. I heard quite a few samples used in other songs. As a part in learning where music was going it might be interesting but as an album it was kind of boring.
Two amazing songs and a lot of filler. I think I would have felt cheated if I'd bought this at the time. This format doesn't really work for singles bands.
Has aged ok
Vond het een beetje saai om naar te luisteren
Alright, I can see why this was included in the list. Arguably, it does deserve to be here. I love dance music but I didn't particularly enjoy this outside of "Back to Life." I preferred the male singer over the female. Kinda boring overall, though.
Lots of this hasn't endured. Sounds of its time, not always in a good way. There are a handful of tracks that have tho... I understand why it's on this list. If it had any kind of nostalgic quality for me it would probably rate higher
Remember this well. Don’t really enjoy listening to it but appreciate how important it was to the UK black music scene at the time.
I guess, everyone, somewhere in their life must've heard these songs. Far from great songs, I'm not even sure why this album is in the book to be frank.. The hits have a nice vibe, but the rest is just, there and filling the album. I could've done without this one and wouldn't be bothered if there was another better album in place. Key tracks: Keep On Movin', Fairplay, Back To Life, Jazzie's Groove, Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) 4 of 10
Back to Life and Keep On Movin were staples of my mid 90s pop adolescence. They were on the hit KISS FM station in my city. The rest of the album leaves a little bit to be desired.
Eh.
How can someone like Nellee Hooper produce wonders such as Massive Attack's *Blue Lines* or Björk's *Post* and then have the same role for such a bland record? Beats me. Obviously this album has not aged well at all, minus one or two... well, "moments"--like the acappella version of "Back To Life", for instance, far more elegant than the single version. Plus, that male singer's vocals are jarring, especially compared to the women on the record, "technically" flawless, and saving those "Club Classics Vol, One" from a minimum grade To put it in a nutshell, it's a very, very MIXED bag. I don't think I've heard of "Club Classics *Vol. TWO*". Probably good news for all of us. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: less than 700, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: approximately a half so far Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter (including this one)
All over the place, hast some catchy (and known) hooks but generally too diverse in the Genre for my taste
II stars
Started well, then faded and faded and faded.. right I'm bored now.
Not really into this. Weird club/soul music that is pretty boring.
This collection of so-called "club classics" proved to be perfect ambience for a long session of graphic design work. The repetitive structure of the songs served as a fine frame for my focus. Nevertheless, I didn't love any bit of it.
Erg saai maar daarom fijn om op te werken.
Aw fuck no. This was gross. Dated, flash over feel, and corny as FUCK.
Bar Muzak from the 90s - not sure this is essential?
Oh que j’étais pas sûr avec les premières pièces (le conga est tellement pas cool dans la 2e pièce). Finalement à partir de Feeling Free, ça se place, mais ce n’est pas égal comme album. La vibe de African Dance est bien, mais c’est bizarre de tout de suite enchaîner avec la même pièce avec paroles. C’est également étrange d’entendre la version de Back to life a capella avant la version plus connue. On connaît tellement plus la version Back to life (however do you want me). Pour ceux qui reprochent le manque de profondeur dans les paroles, on s’en fou un peu dans le style ici. Le but est de faire bouger notre popotin (utilisation du mot « popotin » Check) et ça fonctionne. Ce n’est pas mon bag habituel et oui certaines sonorités ont mal vieillis, mais c’est moins pire que je pensais.
Sounds very dated now
Meh. A bit of a misc album for me. Neither nout nor something. If this is your cuppa tea I think you’d love it, but apart from the mad flute and the Back to Life remix, it did nothing for me.
Not really my thing at all. Started off incredibly blandly. Was going to give one star, but enjoyed the flute solo on African Dance, and Back to Life is a club banger. Two will do!
Was just waiting for the album to end. Couldn’t really enjoy or get into a single track. The whole thing felt offbeat and disjointed. The lyrics were subpar and even the beats became repetitive by the halfway point. Probably good for it’s time in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but does not hold up. 2/5
The instrumental bits were pretty cool, why do you feel the need to talk over it?
2.5
Simply put, not for me. Dated production, struggle to see what this brought even for its time. The string sample from Chic is pretty great but the best track wasn’t even released on the original LP so I won’t be counting it.
Vraiment pas mon genre
I liked the first track. It sounded like something that could be released today. The charm wears off very quicky, though. The rest of the album is unfortunately pretty boring.
It’s ok. I remember one of the songs from back in the 90s that got a lot of airplay. I’m not a dance music fan though.
Eipä oikeastaan yksikään biisi kolahtanut ja edes taustamusana ei oikein meinannut toimia. Joutava levy ja olisin voinut kuolla kuulematta tätä.
Ihan chilli albumi. Toki paljon parempia saman genren levyjä löytyy, joten ei kovin erottunu
Je pense qu'un nom de scène plus approprié pour ce gloubi-boulga musical aurait été Soul te saoûl. J'expliquerai ce jeu de mot brillant ainsi que la signification du mot gloubi-boulga pour mes lecteurs américains dans un prochain review, restez connectés.
Yaaaaawn, booooring
Danstónlist sem á ekki endilega við heimachill
Not as good as I expected based on my limited previous exposure to the band. Two OK tracks both of which I knew prior to listening. The acapella version of Back to Life was mildly interesting.
The tracks that are bangers make this album worthwhile, but overall it’s pretty lackluster and sounds a bit dated. Keep On Movin’, Back To Life, and Jazzie’s Groove are decent though!
Meritable barreja de soul, reggae i r&b amb ritmes de club. Més com a banda sonora de nit o de fons que per escoltar i fruir. No em va impressionar al seu moment, i no ho ha fet ara
Interesting...most of the songs sounded way to similar though. 1.5/5
Compilation? Ok funky stuff, but very much the same song repeated many times. So not that excited after all
Eh, it's just generic club beats.
The epitome of 90's shabby albums underpinning a couple of club bangers. 2 club classics, everything else is dreck - it was better owning the 12 inch, or CD single with the best tunes and a couple of remixes
Didn’t really listen to it all the way through because a Uni friend played it constantly when it came out. Middle of the road, easily listening soul in my opinion. Not something I want to listen to.
Boldly if not preposterously titled, this is nothing if not the sound of 1989. Think I'll stick with the singles, to be honest.
They're definitely club classics, just not ones I know! Interesting beats abound, not my thing though.
Started strong, took a bad turn
Not my thing. I don't enjoy the genre too much and the album is quite tedious. Feels very repetitive and quite soulless.
A bit boring. Impressive if some of the samples are original though.
This was... not very good. Holdin' On was out of tune. Some of these were palatable, but I mostly did not enjoy.
This one wasn’t quite for me, I might have liked a couple of the songs when I was a teenager in the early 90s but not so much now.
Nothing special.
Ci sono canzoni belle tipo 'Keep on Movin' e canzoni un po' più noiose, un bel mood comunque. Mi piacciono le due feat. Caron Wheeler. Salvano l'album.
this type of music has just never been something interesting to me. i liked maybe one or two songs but other than that it just dragged on and was background noise.
Dance music is most definitely not my thing but overall... this is pretty good. At its best it's soulful with great production especially for the 80s - I mean...you know it's the 80s but also kind of not? :P I remember "Back to Life" being the big hit and I like it far better now than in my mullet days. Other highlights for me are "Fairplay" - smooth yet with a fantastic groove - and the instrumental "African Dance" with flute solo throughout works even if the electronic percussion does get repetitive. But the parts of this album that I don't love aren't necessarily bad by any means (e.g. "Holdin' On") they're just more of a standard club/dance beat that don't hold my interest as songs and that's my overall feel here... Overall it's not really something I feel like is or would be an "active listen" for me; good party music perhaps. My rating is totally a personal thing - if you're more into dance/r&b this is probably like a 9/10 4 or 5 star. 5/10 2 stars
DIdn't age well, and wasn't that great to start of with.
Não chega a ser envolvente para ser lembrado.
Nothing too special to my liking with this one. Some of the songs are catchy and upbeat but it doesn’t really grow past that. It felt mainly like background noise as I was listening. 3.7/10
Okay but really feels a bit like hotel music on more than a couple of tracks
Not a fan. The songs were rather boring.
I didn’t enjoy this. Didn’t hate it but it’s just not doing anything for me.
Yep, sounds like the 90s
5/10
Not my cup of tea
Expecting worse given the album art fairly inoffensive music. Just dull
Didn’t expect to enjoy this - and I was right for the most part. Super not distinguishable from any other early 90’s techno-pop acts. The layout of the album confused the crap out of me as well as it bounced around between different versions of the same songs. The best song on the album is the single - but why they went with a mostly acapella version before the more pop friendly remix later on the album I’ll never understand. That song saved it from being a one star. (Also odd that the acapella version is called “Back to Life” when that lyric wasn’t added until the full version - which ironically then tags on the sub title “However Do You Want Me” which was all over the first version. Hurts my brain. Favourite track: “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me”
Nada relevante
5th October 2021 Listened during the day in Spain. Not too bad, definitely a vibe but didn't grab me.
The guy's voice kind of reminded me of Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords. This was okay, but didn't love it. 2 stars.
Um álbum que têm uma linha condutor e as canções giram a volta desta linha nos mais diversos géneros, tendo músicas de soul, rap até a eletrónica. Isto a certo ponto torna-se uma desvantagem para alguém que não goste de um gênero em específico. No geral um bom album para os interessados e que gostem destes generos, infelizmente eu não sou o público alvo. Nota: 3/10
Calling this album "Club Classics" feels like a bold move; I couldn't see myself enjoying most of these songs in a club context. Shoutout to African Dance though.
It was ok, I guess. A lot of the songs started to sound the same after a while. “Jazzie’s Groove” I could not stand. A song or two of this style would be good to hear as a palate cleanser. But a whole album? Pass.
One of the good things about researching an album before you listen to it is you that know what the bonus tracks are so that you can skip them. There is a lot of good dance music out there. This just isn't part of that. Not a lot of ideas going on here.
Ehhh, not really my thing. I liked "African Dance" and "Feel Free" (plus "Ambition" which was a bonus track) but the rest didn't do much for me. "Dance" which was basically "African Dance" with a spoken vocal sounded almost like a parody. I wanted some Flight of the Conchords type lyrics. Oh, well.
Not my thing.
two absolute bangers. but the rest is soooo slow.
Not my cup of tea
Album had leuke momenten maar ik vond het wel echt lang en wat tegenvallen met momenten
A couple of gems buried in drivel.
No.
Album okay aber nichts für mich vom Musik Stil
All over the place. Wasn’t my jam for the most part.