Customer Reviews

Leftism

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Next to Robert Mile's DREAMLAND, Leftfield's LEFTISM is one of the best dance albums to ever be created. You may not know it yet but when you listen to this album for the first time ever you are likely to have heard at least 3-4 of these songs before for most of these are national anthems when it comes to the dance and electronic field. To put this under one catagory, however, would be wrong, for this album is quite diversified. You've got your aggressive techno (Black Flute) as well as your dreamy trance beats (21st Century Poem, Melt) along with some african and reggae influences (Release The Pressure, Afro-Left) along with the occassional breakbeat (Storm 3000). The 3 most rememberable songs, however, would have to be "Original", which features the moody vocals of Toni Halliday from Curve, "Inspection (Check One)", which pulsates with the most addicting beatlines ever heard, along with their huge dance single, "Open Up", which features the ex-punk singer John Lydon from the Sex Pistols whom is electrifying here with the high-energy beatlines.

I don't know what else to say other than my prompt to persuade you to buy this, for this is the ultimate dance party all rolled up into a single CD.

This is HIGHLY recommended... ENJOY!

This in my opinion would have to be ranked as the best dance album of the entire 90's.Recorded between the years 1993-95 this c.d. would have the major influence in the direction dance music would go by the end of the decade.It's variety and different styles could be heard in so many groups(Prodigy,Orbital,Underworld and of course The Chemical Brothers to name but a few) towards the end of the decade.

There are so many good tracks on this c.d. that it is impossible to single out just one or two.Unlike many dance albums it didn't require long,repetitive drawn out beats.This goes from a reggae influenced opening,to African rhythms fused with techno in the second.Then we have the ambient style of tracks like Space Shanty.You can hear the early beginnings of trance in tracks like Song Of Life complete with it's Eastern style vocals.The aggressive dance/punk of the John Lydon sung Open Up.In fact there are plenty of excellent guest vocalists on this c.d.,including Curve's Toni Halliday on the almost trip-hop track Original.Fast,fat-beat techno in track 6 Black Flute-indivdual tracks on this c.d. were to create entirely new dance genres!The ragga feel of Danny Red's vocals on the heavy rumbling bass of Inspection.Basically this c.d. in my opinion has no flaws,no dud tracks,no "weakest links".The production is also magnificent.

From start to finish this c.d. is an audio feast.It is the best c.d. from Leftfield and one that may prove almost impossible to surpass.If you have any interest in dance music,this is an essential purchase.

This album combines exceptional, interesting, stylistically disparate tunes, luscious electronic orchestration, unrelenting drive and an uncanny sense of artistic unity. It is a "dance album" pretty much in a class by itself. Leftfield, before disbanding, also created a formidable body of EP releases and remixes. Their second album, Rhythm and Stealth, is also full of shimmeringly beautiful cuts - though without the unifying "comet ride" impulse of this album and the easy acceptance that often greets the familiar - in the case of Leftism, it's comfortable place in the dance bin.

To repeat: if you like hard-driving dance music and glorious electronica, this is a truly distinguished disk.

Don't just this album by the cover, it's actually very good. "Leftism" is Leftfields masterpiece in music, not only a exellent techno/electro album before it's time but it also lead the way for band/artists like The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Prodigy and Moby. "Leftism" was perhaps not as big commercially as the others but it's a original album with many good songs and influents, never cared for their other albums and eventually they split up in 2002 but this one is topclass. The sound is a mix of diffrent genre's, the best songs are however the slow beautiful ambient tracks like "Release the Pressure" and "Melt". Some of the songs also has other influents like african music and ragga. The album never get's boring and still wouldn't feel dated even if it's from 95. I remember it as it was yesterday. "Leftism" is class.

For danciness, melodicism, non-repetitiveness, and sheer excellence, there is no better techno album than Leftism. "Release the Pressure" is a great album-starter, while "Afro-Left"'s African influence makes for a unique techno romp. "Song of Life" is one of the most original techno songs I've ever heard, with the first half soothing and ambient before yielding to a pounding beat. "Original" is awesome trip-hop that must rank as one of the best vocal-oriented techno songs ever. "Black Flute/Space Shanty" is a teeny-tad more standard techno than the rest of this album, but it works perfectly. "Storm 3000" is excellent instrumental, and "Open Up" is great vocally. In this review, I just gave massive thumbs-up to 8 of the 11 songs on here - they're masterpieces that you can't miss. The songs are all fresh from beginning to end, and they don't grow stale - I've had this album for close to a year now and love it just as much as when I first got it. It's one of the top 10 CDs in my collection, period, but certainly my best dance album. Buy it!

... to describe.

this record is a well of differend music genres: dub, trance, electro and even ambient-like mixed at its best way. space shanty (i still can play it n-times and never get satisfied), original, afro left, release the pressure ... - actually all tracks are thoughtfully compiled and prepared. there are no other words to describe it. ZAJEBISTE! i recommend it for a great HIGH!

Going from dance to ambient, Leftfield's musical prowess is spread over many genres. These guys know what they're doing.

The two most outstanding tracks on this album are Afro-Left and Open Up. These songs, as well as several others, have a kind of reggae feel to them that is expounded upon in their later work, Rhythm and Stealth. I have to say that I prefer Leftism to their newer material.

I recommend this album to any music connoisseur. It will appeal to fans of all kinds of music.

One of the finest electronica albums of the '90's, Leftfield's Leftism combines techno, big beat, and ambience along with several guest vocalists including of all people, the Sex Pistols' John "Rotten" Lydon. All of the tracks are good but the standouts are Melt which has been used in commercials, Inspection (Check One) which has major bass to it, and the Lydon song, Open Up, which is the most aggressive track and my personal favorite. This album is very diverse for a techno/electronica album. Their follow-up, Rhythm and Stealth, was not nearly as good, but then again, it was hard to follow-up a near perfect album. One of the top dance albums of all-time and a masterpiece.

In my opinion, this is the best dance LP ever. Though the accolade of best dance single ever falls to Underworld for 'Born Slippy', 'Leftism' is an unprecedentedly strong collection of classic dance tracks with instantly recognisable grooves, often with excellent vocals in the mix as well. Tracks are taken off into stratospheric directions that seem unexpected, with styles and influences weaved into the mix. 'Open Up' is an absolute stunner in particular, featuring a furious vocal from John Lydon that actually tops all his Sex Pistols stuff by about 20 miles. 'Raise The Pressure', 'Afro-Left', 'Melt' and 'Song Of Life' are a stunning 1-2-3-4 opening, each inhabiting their own classic groove. But unlike so many dance LPs it doesnt fade into a sea of indentakit tracks that sound useless to listen to at home - the tracks continue to inspire and each has its own brilliance. 5 stars.

I bought this album on sale at Fopp in Edinburgh, Scotland for 5 pounds on a recommendation from a friend. I had never heard of Leftfield in my life and my taste for dance music was just developing, but my friend's exact words were, "no CD collection is complete without this album." I just couldn't walk away from that. Am I ever glad I didn't. This album has been a standard in my CD changer for over a year...it's amazing.