Customer Reviews

Incredible Sound of Drum N Bass

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

a fantastic idea...taking some of the best d n b tunes of the past couple years and putting them together on an extremely well rounded album. extremely well mixed, knowledgeable choices...'Your Sound', 'Unofficial Ghost' and 'Pulp Fiction' are just three examples of the many hard but melodic tunes to be found. Drum n Bass needed a strong compilation to showcase its wares, and here it is. a must have.

Predatory. The perfect word to descibe a compilation this good. this stuff is so seriously intense I dont think hardcore will ever top it off. A must have for any metalhead jungle fanatic! when you play this stuff in your car, youll find you have a much heavier foot! Always exciting and hard hitting stuff. Harsh agile beats and serious slaming bass so well mixed by goldie, this stuff has serious character. If this cd doesn't have what it takes to get you hyped up, go see a doctor!

If Kafka had been a DJ, the surreal sounds of Drum and Bass would surely have been his thing. Today, DnB is an incredibly diverse genre, attracting everyone from breakdancers to goths, and Goldie has done well in assembling a collection of tunes encompassing almost every phase of its development. Thus, in this compilation, earlier jungle sounds ('Terminator', 'Angels Fell') rub shoulders with claustrophobic ambient tracks ('Far Out', 'The Hidden Camera') and the more up-beat, almost hip-hop sounds of today (eg, 'Digital'). Goldie's own tracks are definite stand-outs - 'Kemistry' is just devastating.

This is a good introduction for anyone wanting to get into DnB, but buyer beware - true to its roots in grim, industrial England, the DnB experience smacks of urban decay and isolation, and can thus be cold and inaccessable at first.

A great compilation of old and new DnB stuff that Goldie spins togther in a way that really makes the whole thing seem like a party. I found I play the second disc more often than the first, but they're both very good discs. ONE of these is probably better than most of the DnB compilations out in the last couple of years, so at TWO discs it's an unpassable bargain and investment if you're a fan or DJ.

A fairly decent break-in point for those new to DnB music, but Goldie's actual albums ("Timeless" and "Saturnz Return", disc 2) are better.

Many of the tracks on this compilation album are classics of the genre. Doc Scott, Digital, J-Majik, Optical... it's an incredible line up.

But the mixing is terrible. I listened to unmixed versions of several of the songs. Turns out, Goldie "overmixes" -- the songs overlap to such a degree, that you can't get a good feel for each individual song.

If you want a much better introduction to drum and bass, compiled by Goldie actually, check out Platinum Breakz volume one. There you don't have to deal with the absurd mixes.

I really hate to do this, because Goldie made some great music ("Terminator" is stunning) and his Platinum Breakz albums are excellent. But I think it's important to let people know that the poor mixing spoils otherwise flawless songs.

i first heard this in Australia in 1999, and i was blown away. the mixing and track selection was superb, with over 30 tracks on each cd. When i moved to the states the next year, i picked up the US version, took it home to listen, and was quite underwhelmed. cd one sounds like it is cut short, and cd 2 is missing a huge chunk of tunes from the middle and attempted to be mixed together again. it sticks out like a sore thumb though. DEFINETLY BUY THE UK OR AUSTRALIAN VERSION of this cd if you can.

The UK version of this double CD set not only has more tracks on it (Including "Digital" with KRS-One which for some odd reason was left out of this version, along with some other choice cuts) but also comes with a booklet. I was looking to buy a replacement; unfortunately, the one for sale here is NOT the same as the import version.

These are some of the pivotal, classic pieces of early drum and bass from late 1992 - 1993!

Plus a bunch of other classics from the mid to late '90s.

The people who rate drum & bass but rate this 1 star really need to get to know the genre properly.

Oh yeah, some of the tracks sound different to what is getting played now. once you appreciate the fact some of the production is relatively lo-fi (a combination of the music being so, so underground and home-made back then, and the fact dance music production, especially with regards to sampling, is so much moree advanced and easy-to-use now), you will see that the ideas, the programming (especially in the beats and rhythms) and the raw vibe is original D&B at the fullest and most advanced. It's like 90% Irish Poteen, compared with a 4% Coors Light of today's scene. Weaker junglist stomachs may fold under pressure.

(Actually, I played 'Here Comes The Drumz' and 'Terminator' to an American girl at my uni in 1998 - alledgedly a d&b fan - telling her this was the roots of the sound and she flat out denied that they were d&b tracks at all! Also played her a JJ Frost mix from early '93 which got the same response. I gave up in the end, such was the force of her 'considered opinion'. Just goes to show, ha ha ha.)

The people who are rating this album as being 1 star are rating it years and years after it was released. I bought this album when it first came out - it's what made me get into drum'n'bass music, and having done that it significantly changed my musical tastes for the rest of my life.

It's old school drum'n'bass, not the fancier faster new tracks that you might be used to. Having said that, it's classic, classic dark drum'n'bass for those who want to see what d'n'b was like when it was on the verge of its surge in popularity.

Brilliant stuff! Goldie is just truly excellent at mixing stuff by other artists,even though he hasn't been releasing anything outstanding in a while! Disc 2 is probably more listener friendly,but Disc 1 is definitely at par with the former.They are both equally magnificient! This album will definitely stay in your stereo for a long time.I bought it last year,and I still love listening to it,frequently! Buy this album and do yourself a big favour,it definitely lives up to its name!