Sincere
Mj Cole
2000
Album Summary
Sincere is the debut studio album by English musician MJ Cole. It was released in December 2000 under the Talkin' Loud label. The album reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart in August 2001. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
WikipediaChoose Your Own Adventure! Just slot in "You Must Hear Before You Die" where applicable: 1001 Drum Presets 1001 Unlabeled Extended Dance Mixes 1001 Cut Big Fish Theory Beats 1001 Dreamcast Era Racing Game Menu Themes 1001 Guest Vocalists Maybe Too Willing to Lend a Hand 1001 Sped-Up Massive Attack Songs 1001 Miami Bass Tracks for Timid Whites 1001 British Albums That Charted Somewhere 1001 Alternate Takes from That One Röyksopp GEICO Caveman Commercial 1001 is a Way Bigger Number Than We Thought Key Tracks: I dunno, listen to one of the ones with the dude singing, one of the ones with the lady singing, and one of the ones with the patois guy and you'll have heard the whole album.
Boring, repetitive, and super long. Possesses about as much cultural importance as a cologne ad, which makes the album cover convenient. Best track: Radio Interlude
Almost offensively generic. It baffles me that anyone would invest time in making it listening to music this bland.
Booooring...I considered turning it off half way through the first song.
I could not get into this album. It was very repetitive early 2000s electronic with frustrating vocal performances. Not my thing.
I really don't enjoy electronic music and this was no exception. To make matters worse spotify onky has deluxe version of this album which is weird. Normally deluxe albums give you the album itself and then extra songs after those original ones but here they were mixed which made listening to it very annoying.
Not my cup of tea. The beats can be interesting but just not anything I would listen to
It’s a grime album. Not my go to scene. It’s good. But I’m not schooled in this genre at all.
Hella good. Nice beats with pretty good vocals all the way through. Super danceable which is always a plus. Overall, a pretty cool old-school UK garage album! 8/10
I know precisely zero about this prior to listening to it. Wow. Thinking "OK, this is some light and relatively unchallenging jazz" it turns out to actually be some UK garage. This is going to be a fun ride... OK, so this album is long. I managed to get through Oxygene by having it land on a day that I had a three hour drive. But I didn't have two hours to spare for this. Got about an hour through the first volume and there's some good stuff in here. I'd come back to it out of a sense of completeness, but I doubt it'll enter my regular play. What I can say about UK Garage is that at the time, it seemed world-changing. The direction was new, refreshing and exciting. With the eyes of time looking back at it, though, it seems tame. From UK garage's world-changing start we've seen the birth of dubstep and grime. As important and exciting as it was... It has been eclipsed by its progeny. I feel the same way about what I heard of Sincere as I do about The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. It's a good album, and one that exemplifies a sea-change in music. But they are, perhaps, the giants that other people are standing on the shoulders of.
I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. I expected an album of Sincere re-mixes and, let’s be honest, a lot of tracks sound like they could be just that - but there’s a nice mood throughout with some beautiful singing. This definitely taps into a nostalgia for a jungle sound which was briefly all you heard from car stereos and such in London. There are better jungle albums out there, though; and there are definitely 1,001 better albums than this. But it’s a nice enough listen for when you are feeling in the mood.
I'll take your Dubstep, I'll take your Grime but UK Garage is generally just a bit too polished, a little too bling for me. I mean look at that album cover. So this wouldn't have been my choice to go out gurning to in the Noughties but on this run through I did quite enjoy it as background music while I worked.
I admit I did not listen to the whole album, but it was so uninetresting. Melody was okay I guess.
Very average sounding EDM. British bias of the list showing here. If this had come out in say 1990 vs 2000 it would be a little more impressive but I still don't think I'd feel it either way.
Was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this. I didn’t think much of it at first since I just expected UK House and Dance, but Elizabeth Troy’s vocals won me over. Made me invested in the deluxe version of the album.
Could not stop banging my head. This is a great album to code to. Great vibes, great beats, great melodies, but it wasn't anything that makes me go "10/10 album!". 4
One of my favorite new finds so far. Some really dynamic sampling and amazing vocal performances throughout.
I would never normally listen to this but it was exactly what I needed today. Weirdly it really helped me concentrate on work.
I enjoyed this relaxing soul electronic trip hop album. Love the hypnotic drumming beat with calm balanced voices that makes today autotuned albums seem pointless. Easy to listen and keeps you hooked during the whole album session. Definitely will give this another go. Probably more.Tip. The deluxe album more tracks (clubbing sounding remixes) . There are avoidable if you need the time.
I understand why it is called garage music. Is good to listen to though
Odma da komentiram da je cover čisto sranje, fucking 'ell. This albums fucks tho, mislim da kad bi se ovako pustio bilo gdje, pasao bi, pogotovo onak negdje u beach baru il šta ja znam, na otvorenom, lagano đuskanje. Sviđa mi se.
Digging this one actually. Been kinda into early 2000s/late 90s house music and this fits the bill.
This was Ok, pretty good even, but I did kind of find myself tuning it out into the background.
OG British garage /dub. Never knowingly heard any of this guys tracks before. Bandelero Desperado sounded like the birth of garage/jungle. Definitely paved the way for Chase & Status, even Dizzee Rascal and early grime etc. Actually really enjoyed it tbf. 3/5, cos it doesn't sound classic enough to be a 4
really enjoyed this! it was a tad repetitive but it’s clearly an influential album and i completely get the appeal. elisabeth troy murdered those vocals i loved every track she was on
Felt like going to the house party of someone outside your friend group.
-Some nice flows and catchiness in "Bandelero Desperado" -"Rough Out Here" is pretty solid. I like that it is pretty upbeat and not as repetitive, and the singing is great -"Free My Mind" is nice but also pretty repetitive
I would say I'm glad I hear this and liked the title track Sincere - but I wouldn't listen to a lot of it again. I respect it though!
This isn't completely classic in terms of British garage I feel... it's not exactly banger after banger but more sinks into the background. I guess there isn't really such a thing as great garage albums as people aren't creating garage for album purpose but more single bangers for the club. I actually still really enjoyed the whole album to work to as it does inspire focus and productivity haha, but it's not classic enough for a 4. I didn't find any tracks particularly exciting or special really.
This was an enjoyable album, with a housey-jazzy-R&B vibe. I gather from some of the reviews that this album prefigured a lot of UK garage music, but it feels a little dated to me, coming out all the way in 2000. I still like it for the most part. It would have been better had he just let the singers sing and done less chopping up of the vocal pieces. Fave Songs: You're Mine, Crazy Love, Rough Out Here
A nice enough album. It launched UK Garage apparently, though I don’t think UK Garage got played much in the clubs on this side of the pond, but what do I know, I’m 62. As I’m sure I’ve said before this type of music not well-suited for the LP format, it’s all about the singles, but I think you could say that about a lot of 60s albums as well.
Did not know this album in advance. It sounded quite dated, usually I am fine with that and also in this case.. ..it is certainly an album I would not mind listening to again (it sounds great, especially over headphones). On the other hand, it can easily be replaced by any other solid dance/house UK album from that period. So, hard to see why it is included on the list.
ENTER With the 2 step crew flibbi dibbi dibbi you know what to do not nigel on the 1 2s i should well be a garage MC. i was hoping for a guilty pleasure album but it was just a bit meh. however it was surprisingly easy to listen to.
Lekkere beat. Vooral mooi die combinatie met de piano, wat dan weer dat klassieke randje aan het geheel geeft. Ik houdt er wel van. Lekkere zang ook. ***
Eh, I didn't like UK garage at the time, and this hasn't converted me. At least it didn't actively piss me off, which some of the genre definitely did back in the day. Fave track - "Rough Out Here", but maybe that's cheating as it's a straight ahead soul track, not very garagey. "Slum King" sound amusingly like it could come from "People Just Do Nothing" 😆
Important: seek out the album proper and ignore the additional mixes tacked on the end of the collection after about track 16 (free my mind). Inoffensive and very well produced UK Garage. Quite mellow. Excellent singing by Elisabeth Troy. I am surprised to say i like this. Sincere (the song) is well known and a club classic. Definitely a 3, but although early UK Garage and influential, probably not a 4. Enjoyable enough.
Genre: 2-Step 3/5 Well, go figure, another white DJ trying his best to insert himself into the culture a la David Holmes. This time, though, it's done with a bit more class, and a lot better production and songwriting. 2-Step, somewhat of a continuation of the UK garage and house music fads that swept the 90s, is part-techno, part-hip hop/neo soul. Plenty of talented vocalists, all lesser known in the broad world of music, lay down some decent performances over what are essentially more ambient, more thought-out breakbeat tracks. The title track, Sincere, was a moody, sensual track with some neat vocal sampling and good arrangements and production. Attitude was another interesting song early in the setlist that piqued my interest, but lasted a little longer than necessary. A lot of the tracks on here, enough to run for a 67-minute span, are somewhat stale representations of a genre that sounds like it has ample room for experimentation. Others are just blatant trip-hop ripoffs that sound stolen from old Massive Attack projects. A bit stale as a whole, but not bad, fairly inoffensive, and easy to listen to.
First 4 tracks I was "WTF?" but it really kicked in after that. Brave move putting out a 2 hour album, but it worked.
This genre is right up my street usually. Unfortunately a bit distracted to take it in fully. Some good tracks but still only worthy of 3*
way tooo long as an album with repeated songs. sounded like something from the late 90s and I was almost right
Very cool drum n bass rnb record. I enjoyed it. Production was fresh (for a 22 year old album), performances were cool. Hard to try to break it down and understand what was done "in the box" and what wasn't but maybe that's more fun to not know what was sampled and what wasn't. I think drum n bass deserves some spots on this list but I question whether this is one of the best ever. 3/5 for me!
Fun, appealing dance music. I’m not sure I’d be able to pick MJ Cole’s style out of a lineup of other DJs / producers but this is solid music for dancing or working out. The back half gets a little more eclectic. There’s some moody, atmospheric numbers and the disco-soul of “Rough Out Here” was a pleasant surprise.
Some decent tracks. I've never been a big fan of UK garage/UK-style house, and even if this is a landmark record of the genre, it still doesn't really resonate with me.
Some fun edm, it definitely has its moments although an hour of it is a bit much
This was actually a bit better than I was expecting. Not amazing, but better than a lot of the other electronica albums I have listened to. The songs actually manage to be interesting and aren't way too long. My favourite songs were Rough Out Here, Hold On To Me, and Free My Mind.
I don't like house music or whatever this is. Not my bag. There were one or two songs that I liked, but for the most part this was a tough listen.
Mediocre British dancehall music from the early 2000s. The only thing that is saving this from literally 1 star is "Bandelero Desperado", which is a 5 star track that, as the kids say, slaps.
It was fine, but nowhere close to my favorite. Decent background music but I probably wouldn’t choose to listen to it again.
Theres some really good songs, and i can tell this is good, but Im still trying to get used to house music. This was a good album to keep getting an ear for it
I don't know why this is so long, I don't know why there's like almost no cohesion to the album. It sounds like the sampler disc at a fucking j.crew in 2000. The guy who got the album added to the book only did it because it reminds him of the time he got to cop a titty grab off a girl on the verge of an ecstasy coma at an EDM festival and he's probably named Gareth or Willem.
Very long album and its not my vibe at all. I think it was just before my time and just a little below interesting enough for me to be able to climb on board.
Just a bunch of repetitive beats and hooks. Not very creative or interesting at all. There was one song (Rough Out Here I think? Can't even remember, that's how interchangeable these songs are) that had a moment or two that I liked, but this was just pointless all the way through. Could see some of these songs being appropriate at a crappy rave somewhere but that's the only thing that saves it from 1 star.
Having read the reviews, I was a bit worried. Ultimately, this grew on me. It is repetitive, but part of me feels like that's just the nature of the genre. Regardless, some tracks are really smooth and I'd put them on, not just for background music/study but also to relax. But for the most part, I was very "aware" of the fact that I was listening. I don't always get lost in an album, of course, but I usually don't have the opposite experience of being hyper-aware that I'm listening to an album intentionally. It felt weird. Anyway, this gets a 2. There were moments where I thought it would get a 3, but it's not quite there yet.
the instrumentals are basically just a drum loop with some sound effects. Combine this with the fact that most of the vocals are just ad libs that are heavily editted its kind of a soulless album
First album that I truly have never heard any songs from. It was fine.
I had liked the drums but they basically used the same patterns with some variations for a lot of the songs. I’m sure it’s better in da club, but as an album it’s lacking.
I guess that it was decent, I thought a few of the songs were stand outs but overall this album didn't do it for me, 2.5/5
Garage just isn't for me really. I get the appeal and it was a relatively enjoyable listen, though a bit on the long side, but just not my jam
Hvað þessi plata er að gera þarna á listanum veit ég ekki. Ekki beint leiðinlegt en frekar einhæft. Danny Vicious sínu leiðinlegri í rappinu en Elizabeth Troy í söngnum, en allt fer þetta inn um annað út um hitt.
Again not the sort of music I listen to normally but it’s fine. The 2 big singles stand out maybe due to familiarity, but not so,etching I’d chose to listen to
I can imagine enjoying this if played very loud while in a substance induced state of cheerfulness that, to the naked eye, appeared to be melancholy. Since I'm never in that state, I have to consider my actual enjoyment level and it is far lower than my hypothetical enjoyment level. The reality is that the high pitched vocals stay in that lane for too long and make me worry that actual melancholy might occur if I don't turn the darn thing off. The dub stuff is fun though
Perfectly serviceable 2-step garage background music. Not particularly remarkable or worth a place on this list, more suited to a 2000s wine bar that was trying to be hip. Full disclosure: I didn't feel like I needed to listen to disc two. If something amazing happened on that, please can someone let me know?
Might deserve a three, but there is over two hours of this?I got through about 35 seconds total on four different songs. Had enough. Once again, who the fuck put this on the list???
My, my what do we have here? Makes me feel like a virgin princess being aggressively gang raped in the shower. Each song rips me open just a little bit more. The scars will never heal. The tears will never dry.
This is not my style, so the number of stars has nothing to do with the quality but has everything to do with how much this album resonated with me.
EDM album out of the UK Garage scene. Beats are uniquely jittery and almost erratic, creating an interesting foundation for the smooth padded synths and jazzy samples. This is all layered over some lovely vocals, many of which are lent by Elizabeth Troy. I am not a fan of the UK Garage scene. I find it to be clunky and somewhat abrasive in how it handles the beats, which is usually the crux of the genre.
Ça s’écoute bien en travaillant. Intéressant, mais trop long. Il y a de belles trouvailles, mais il y a aussi une genre de recette qui rend les tounes prévisibles.
Yeah nah. Background music for people who don't really care about music.
It had it's moments, but it didn't capture my attention. With the little that I know about electronic music, this seemed a tad boring and generic sounding. Really not much for me to enjoy, move on...
This does not hit a boring bland generic electronic album that was not worth my time 🙄
Not my type of music and I sort of thought it was all over the place. That 2000 era beat was driving me crazy.
Tja. Ich kann mir vorstellen, warum sich Leute das gerade anhören. Ich kann‘s mir allerdings größtenteils nicht anhören. Grundsätzlich ist gegen eine derartig heterogene Platte nichts einzuwenden, für mich sind daher aber nur sehr wenige Lichtblicke darauf.
I like the idea, but i could not connect with this. There's a lot of effort that goes into creating music like this, I get that, but this ends up grating to me. Repetitive and mostly the vocals are ... not good at all. actually I think I'd probably have boosted this a full star if it were all instrumental.... (although some of the repetition is jarring). I just don't like it and wouldn't listen again. 3/10 2 stars
the voice was just incredibly obnoxious and there was potential but it didn’t reach it…
A bit inconsistent and yet redundant at the same time. Songs are all over the place. Not a must listen, but I guess it's ok as a UK garage token album. Best tracks: Rough Out Here and Slum King
Garage that's neither too dumb nor too smart, and more than hooky enough. Female voices add texture. Much of a muchnes but in the most pleasant way.
I genuinely find this album's inclusion on this list baffling. This album seems like super standard 90s techno released after the 90s had finally shuffled off. After reading a bit more about UK Garage techno, I understand a little bit more, but continue to be confused. This is one of the few albums on this list that I won't make it even close to the whole way through. It's just uninspired and uninspiring. 2/5
"Sincere" is the debut album from English Garage DJ MJ Cole. English Garage is a genre of dance music originating from England in the early to mid90's talking elements from R&B, jungle, dance pop and also encorporating gospel piano riffs and female vocals. Considered more soulful than Chicago House also big at the time. MJ Cole worked as a tape operator and sound engineer in that musical area before making his own album using a sampler and Atari ST. Truthfully, I had trouble getting into this. Almost all the songs had beats similar to Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison." It also kind of reminded currently of Disclosure. Some songs of note here. "Crazy Love" features Elisabeth Troy on vocals with her soulful voice. Nice keyboard intro and progression. Got that good beat. "Sincere" was the biggest single and features Nova Casper & Jay Dee on vocals. It has a cascading keyboard melody and creates almost a more chill/jazzy atmosphere. Maybe it was the repetitiveness of the songs or the genre itself but I had trouble focusing on this. It is not bad sounding by any times but just grab me. If you're more into the 90's house-type music, this might for you.
I could get into some of the tracks, but they were few and far between.
Two UK techno albums in a row, boy am I lucky! This one more PS1 racing game soundtrack type garbage. Went for an eternity, too. 2/5.
Just not for me, the songs are too same-y and get a little annoying pretty quickly.
Supermarket friendly UK Garage. The beats are desperate to be good, glitchy & bass heavy but the cheesy R&B vocals ruin it - and I mean really ruin it. It's like a kid who wants to be daring but then runs back to his mum. Not bad, just really really really dull. Best Tracks: Introduction; Bandelero Desperado; Strung Out
Well, I didn't actively hate it so I can't give it one star... but I DID actively DISLIKE it so it's not getting more than two from me. The main problem is that it seems willfully lacking in self-awareness. It feels as though Mr. Cole is purposefully looking away from his influences and is unwilling to acknowledge the boundaries that he's trampling on. Everything he puts out here he presents with a totally straight face. He wants this taken seriously which is a problem because much of it is really very cheesy and silly. And it seems that even the listening public agreed as it only reached #14 in the UK. Why THIS, of all the UK Garage albums, merits inclusion in the list is beyond me.
Utterly antiseptic and more synthetic than sincere.. Will age about as well as cubic zirconia, though one suspects some stylish people in stylish capitals found this a stylish auditory accessory for at least a season. (Note: from the review linked on the official site: “Many will argue that 2-Step/UK Garage is a shallow, one-dimensional genre that will fade like overchewed gum. However, albums like “Sincere” go to prove that UK Garage is more than a fad.” Editors seemed to go with “fad” [one thinks “shallow and one-dimensional” to be more on point descriptively] as it’s been pulled from the official list and is now “ex.”)
There is scant web info on this album and just a bit about MJ himself. He bested Dr. Dre to win 2001 Best Producer for this album at the MOGO (Music of Black Origin) Awards. That’s impressive although I had to read the date several times because I said 1991 in my head more than once. Thats the sound I hear. One that was 10 years behind its time. I skipped next before the end of almost every track.
Great voice. Could barely get thru the first hour so I’m assuming the second hour was like the first.
Un bel exemple de coiffeur house nous est offert ici. Une charmante jeune femme vient nous proposer un shampoing pour lancer les hostilités, avant de nous aposer un tablier autout du cou. C'est alors que le coiffeur principal vient faire son entrée, prodiguant de savants coups de ciseaux, tout en nous demandant comment ça va. Nous repartons malheureusement en trouvant que la coupe est trop courte (au contraire de l'album).
90s bloat never gets better. "Let me see if I can fill this cd with music" is an atrocity, even if the music is passable.
I have no idea how this is a "must listen to" album. It is very average at best. Never heard of this group, never heard of any of the songs. Maybe it gets better with time, but for me, it has to be a 1/5 for now.
Thought it might reach the minimum of good mindless music to program to. It didn't. No bright spots. Didn't know when to end in the middle of the deluxe, but i had enough.
It's a very rare occurrence for me to turn off albums early. Usually only happens with double albums that I need to adjust to. When I really need to prevent myself from going crazy, I come back to it later that day to give it another go. But I still just wanted to shut this off after just a few tracks. The tracks are so repetitive and boring. There are some sound effects I think are unique and are of some interest, but nothing significant and just shows the potential they could put in a decent album. It's just filler club music. Some things I like, such as the trippiness of "Bandelero Desperado" for some 30 second span in the middle and the catchiness of "Crazy Love" (which distracts from its repetition). It feels like a high schooler messing around with some electronic noises to sound cool, bringing in some guest singers to avoid people from focusing on the drawn-out sequences. The only reason I'd come back to this album is if I was desperate to steal generic club tracks. I would never want to listen to the whole thing from start to finish again. 2-Step/UK Garage is a shallow, one-dimensional genre that faded like overchewed gum, with this album proving that UK Garage is nothing more than a fad.
I think my hatred of this album goes back to me not liking dance clubs. And probably even further back to high school dances. Either way, I think I would need drugs to enjoy it. File it in the trash bin. Highlight Track: "I see".
Really don't understand what this is doing here. Because it's British?
Sounds like somebody had a demo version of Frooty Loops and went crazy with all the preloaded samples. Very boring
Take a music style I'm not that interested in in the first place (electronic) and cross it with 90s era sounds R&B which I also don't like. And then make it worse, for most songs only record 30 seconds and then just loop it for 5 minutes. It's bullshit.
Sunday afternoon R&B for people who don’t want to listen to anything outside their comfort zone. Hypocritical perhaps, but meh!
This is elevator music hell. Do people actually like this crap? It's boring enough to put you to sleep, but just irritating enough to keep you awake. This actually scores zero stars.
Another album that really makes me wonder what drugs the Authors of 1001 were on when they included this Yeah I get that it ushered in the Brit Garage genre, but thank Gawd that execrable genre had a relatively short life. This is a boring album.
Dance and electric that is NOT for me. Usually I can ignore this stuff or put it on in the background and somewhat enjoy, but something hit me weird with this and it put me on edge. Nope.
Ughh This wasn't good at all.. Crazy love was the only song I made it all the way through.
05/05/2022 lmao, what? Over 2 hours of repetitive noise. Absolutely not for me.
Je connais maintenant le UK garage. La pochette ne m’inspirait pas du tout. C’est finalement moins pire que je pensais. Il y a certains bons éléments, certains bons beats, mais à part une musique de fond, ce n’est pas vraiment mon bag. Et c’est vraiment trop long.
Perfect for fans of vanilla ice cream, How I Met Your Mother, generic drugs, well liquor, and overall boredom in general.
My first failure. I may return to be a completionist but I can't suffer through 2 hours of the same house beat in one sitting. So redundant.
Not really my thing. I'm going to be a little bit harsh and give it a 1 just because I don't do that very often.
There are albums that shine forever in my personal music realm. Not this one.
helt värdelöst. det är som att svärfar tar dig som ett jävla pendeltåg