Customer Reviews

It's All About the Stragglers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've had this album since the UK release over a year ago, and have loved it from day one. Mark Hill and Pete Devereux who made up Artful Dodger churned out some of the best and most successful garage to date. Sadly, the two split before the US release of their album. Mark will continue working under the name, but I fear we'll not hear anything as towering as this album from his solo ventures.

The Artful Dodger, one of the leading names in 2-step, has delivered a thoroughly listenable CD that otherwise brings nothing new to the genre's table. That's disappointing, for I expected these guys to come up with an album that would push UK garage to unseen territory. Instead, we get the same beats and basslines, along with a predictable lineup of vocalists, including Craig David who appears on a couple tracks. After a while, the disc threatens to get one dimensional, although the mellowed-out "Think About Me," the dreamy "Movin' Too Fast," and "Re-wind" aren't bad at all and give the disc some promise. But, ultimately, the verdict is this: pick up the Dodger's previous effort "Re-Wind," which is a more consistent and satisfying disc. While casual listeners should consider "It's All About the Stragglers," the more discriminating two-step guru is likely to gripe, "been there, heard that."

A lot of people criticise UK garage for being too tacky and plain, however, this is not the case with garage guru's Pete Devereux and Mark Hill who show no sign of tack in their album 'It's All About The Stragglers'. These are the people who started off the Craig David phenomenon with their first chart-topping hit 'Rewind'. Various highlights of the album include the sentimental 'Think About Me' (with Michelle Escoffey) which is a song about how you would feel after being dumped for another person, 'It Ain't Enough' which is a high energy collaboration with other UK superstars Dreem Teem, and 'Woman Trouble' which uses a great duet on vocals by Robbie Craig & Craig David. Overall this is a good album and cannot really be critisised for being underdone as every tune has a rhythm and although it is not my faivorite I can definately say life would be much worse without it.

Artful Dodger from England, which is some kind of dance group, like mixing the genre's like others, this album is mostly a mix of dance and R&B, pretty good stuff actually even if it's someow soft, they are also knows for always having guest artists singning the vocals, they however are the writers/creators and Dj's. Craig David was discoveded by these fellas back in 99 and appears on 3 songs "Re-Rewind" arguably best dance song of 99? "Women Trouble" which appears in the Bridget Jones movie and last "What Ya Gonna Do?" all good stuff. "Movin too fast" "Outragious" "Please don't turn me on" are good songs too, "Twentyfoursenven" with All Saint's singer Melanie Blatt is also notable. There's a cd with loads of songs, half of them are really good, some decent some forgettable. I think this is some kind of "best of" album cause i know that some of the songs appeared on a previuos album already. However it's original and not with remixes of every song, only 2 but the original tracks are also included. A good album, but there are many better dance oriented albums out there.

I love music!

I especially love surprizes.

A friend of mine introduced me to this cd last year when it was released across the pond. The US release, unfortunately, has the original version of "Twentyfourseven" but even so, this is absolutely one of the best recordings I have purchased. This will always remain in heavy rotation (it does come out of the player every and then). I don't understand those who knock it saying that it's soft 2Step, chart music. The vocal arrangements are sublime, production tighter than your girlfriend's weave and the cd flows beautifully. Trust me, whether you like 2Step/Garage or not, this album will have you frantically searching for recordings by every single featured artist in the mix.

This more than about Craig David as well, which was even more surprizing -this being my introduction to up to date British Garage. I wont even bother wrtiting down my favorite tracks: look at the track listing, that's my list!

I have heard re-mixes of most of the songs, many which are re-mixes anyway and they get better everytime. This is poised to be a classic dance album/complilation.

I would love a dj mixed set of this album.

Even my seven year old daughter is bugging me for this! My wife does not object to me playing this in the car!. Do you have any idea what that means!?!

Yours Truely

The Artful Dodger are great. They churn out hits like its nothing! Definitely at the top of the UK Garage scene and I only wish more people knew about them. Re-Rewind almost never gets boring, they have an infinite amount of remixes for that one song in particular!

It's All About the Stragglers
I'm an older gal and don't really listen to pop music anymore. I'm finding any new music I hear is often from mainstream movies. You can see where this is going. I LOVED "Bridget Jones Diary"Bridget Jones's Diary [VHS]--both the movie AND the music. When I couldn't find the song "Woman Trouble" on the movie soundtrack OR on iTunes I had to seek it out elsewhere and found this CD. I was introduced to some fantastic music! I have a couple favorite songs but I honestly love the entire work. It's really lively--great for car trips! And I love the complexity of each song--I am constantly hearing something new. Finally, the variety is brilliant--both in the subject of each song and the way each is presented (there are also a number of different artists creating this variety). Love the places where the voice is not singing words but instead used as another instrumental layer. I LOVE THIS CD--it's worth getting for any age!

The first song off the album that I heard was "Re-rewind". I must say that it was a refreshing change because, frankly, I had become absolutely bored with the same old, same old that has come to dominate American music. Britney Spears - Christina Aguilera, N'sync - Backstreet Boys? They're the same people singing the same songs in the same way. "It's All About The Stragglers" has a variety of vocalists and styles that keeps the album hopping from beginning to end. I love every song on the albums, except outrageous, and even that song is better than average. Among the best songs on this album are: "Think About Me", "Please Don't Turn Me On", "Woman Trouble", "I Can't Give It Up" and "Movin' Too Fast".

I live in Europe so for me this CD isn't exactly new, but I still love it! No matter if you're in your car, on the bus, chillin' with friends or dancing in a club, It's All About The Stragglers always fits perfectly. For anybody who wants a taste of 2Step, this is the right CD to start with. 5 out of 5, definitely!

Sorry, absolutely nothing on this record bears a second listen. I get the feeling that, once again, somebody's trying to superimpose jazz-age cool on dance music and ending up with the worst of both. The result is at best inoffensive and forgettable. At worst, (the track "Outrageous") it's annoying sampler abuse music fit only for the sports highlight reel. Overall, this record lacks any sort of joy, giddyness, or move-your-ass-edness.