Customer Reviews

Return to V

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

 

 

I have to say I was losing some faith in Roni Size after the dissapointing "Touching Down" release. That album was full of raw, simplistic, all-instrumental beats, with hardly any of the qualities (save a couple dancefloor burners like Snapshots or Sound Advice) that made me love Roni in the first place. Roni put himself on the map by adding extrememly well done vocals, and an extremely well done, bonafied live show to drum and bass/electronic music. In fact, I would be hard pressed to say anyone has been as successful in adding these tradtional elements to electronic music since.

"Return to V" has Roni Size re-incorporating all of these elements that made him so great in the first place. The vocalists on the album are well chosen, with a range of hip hop and dancehall MC's mixed up with some very lovely soul vocalists. Tracks like "Groove On/Come and Play" kick off with huge basslines, and sing-along choruses. The dancehallflavored "Rise Up" is another full force favorite of mine, with it's ragga call to arms. Then, the more soulful cuts like "Sing" and "No More" really round out the album. You'll find hints of R&B in these songs, but don't let that scare you if you usually don't like soul/R&B, as all of these tracks are done with the kind of quality that has universal appeal. In fact, that's always been the great thing about Roni- he does make credible drum & bass that all the headz can feel, but his music appeals to music lovers across the board as well.

Without a doubt, "Return to V" is a massive return to form.

The fresh Roni Size album "Return To V" is something I was expecting for a long time. The Reprazent album "New Forms" and later "In The Mode" were all highlights of their time and the latest album is no way weaker. The Bristol drum&bass king is back with a slammer.
"Return To V" features collaborations with Sweetpea, Die, Hollie G, Wilks, Viktor Duplaix, Faye, Dynamite MC, Tali, Blaze, Sweet Irie, Darrison, Joe Roberts, Rodney P, Beverly Knight, Stamina MC, Jocelyn Brown, Razhel, Fallacy and MC Navigator. What a list and they all play their part well.
"Return To V" is a mix-album, yet it stands way aove all the other mix albums. It's pure energy all they way and it has Roni Size written all over it.
There are storming tracks here but also some more downbeat, yet full of breaks works like Time and Problems.

There are total of 18 tracks on the CD which kinda tells about the seriousness of the album - it never get's boring and even the more "laid-back" tunes are not that easy going.
Top tunes for me:
Pull Up (with Viktor Duplaix)
No More (with Beverly Knight and Dynamite MC)
Bump'n'Grind (with Sweetpea)
Out of Breath (with Razhel)
Give Me A Reason (with MC Navigator)

Defenetly 5 out of 5.

Roni Size is the man who brought drum and bass to the fore. New Forms was a classic album. But Roni Size is the product of the early 1990s hiphop scene in Bristol. The Full Cycle records started coming out at that time and it was underground club music, pretty much ignored by the press. The explosion of drum and bass in 1996-97 into clubs was a small revolution. Even though Roni Size Reprazent was one of the top live acts of the late 1990s, drum and bass disappeared from the popular sphere. Reprazent came together in 2001 for the In The Mode album, which some people think was even better. Many side projects took over in the past five years. In that time, new music by The Streets and Dizzee Rascal took over. All the while Roni Size was still creating. Return To V is much like the early white label stuff. It's free and updates us on what he has been doing the past few years. Drum and bass is due for a comeback. We can start with this record.

Another great release by Roni Size... for the most part. The beats on this CD are incredible, some I've heard before on other CD's, some fresh out the box. Same as the sounds. Some are new and hot, some are old and (in my opinion) overused. I'm a big fan of vocals in DNB, but this CD maybe could have had some instrumental songs. The melodies are (for the most part) good, but I'm not crazy about the lyrics; very pop-ish at times. I was very disappointed when I heard the single "Out of Breath" featuring Rahzel, the godfather of noise. I'm a big fan of Rahzel and was excited to hear another song alongside Size, but it's basically a remix of the Rahzel track on "In The Mode".

Enough of the negatives because there are plenty of positives to talk about. This CD has MAD ENERGY. It's a non-stop rush from beginning to end (with occasional breaks). Speaking of breaks, the beats are incredible. Although I've heard Size use some of them before, they are still amazing. I definitely like the USE of vocals and melodies throughout the CD. It's good to hear more actual singing sprout out of a not-so-melodic genre.

To sum it all up:

Great beats, very high energy, some excellent new ideas, strong vocals with weak lyrics. A must have? Not necessarily, but you definitely should have it if you are building your Roni Size collection.

Peace.

Roni has done it again with an amazing album. When I had first heard that Return To V was coming out, I preordered it right on the spot. This is one of his best albums since New Forms. It has some of the best vocal quality, I have ever heard. Especially track 10, Want Your Body, featuring Joe Roberts who sounds exactly like the legendary Marvin Gaye. Anyone who rates this album lower than five stars is muically challenged. If you are looking for an album with excellent vocals and superb beats, Return To V is the one.

this will definatly set in the excitement. careful not to speed TOO much if you're driving because you really will want to. otherwise, great for just jumpimg around. also, great dancehall influenced tracks.

If I remember a review that was written on the sticker of this album...."Roni Size Gives DnB a 'Human' touch".

What the heck does that mean?
He got some MCs? He did a few "down-tempo" tracks? None of the tracks sound like the track that made him known (you know which one)?
Is it the simple fact that this album sounds nothing like his previous style? Is it the fact that when someone does an album with more familiar melodies,tempos and Vocals that an album becomes more human? Is he now a HipHop pro all of a sudden?
Are the earlier days of DnB considered inhuman?
And Lasstly, is it a fact that to bring an "outsider" genre of music to the commercial forefront, you need either a cool video or some rapping and more coherent rhythms?
Roni pulls off some bangin' tracks here, but it's not a return to V Recordings (if the average customer even knows what that 'V'means).

This album is way better than New Forms. I bought New Forms when it came out because I was looking for the D&B that actually came on this album. New Forms is more drawn out and "underground", but Return to V has shorter tracks, tighter compositions and more BASS to get yourself moving. This album has a couple of weak spots but only 2 or 3. The album runs as one whole track, with all the tracks blending in with each other. I would pump this at a party anyday, minus a couple songs. Track 5 is my favorite, I have never heard any bass like it and probably won't for some time. If you want a tight album with more bass than most people can handle, definitely pick this up. It is the only album I listen to in my car that I have to be cautious of blowing the speakers out. It has more bass depth and frequency than any other album I own (I own over 700 albums) and I don't even have to check. And the best part of all is that you don't have to be a junglist to dig it, very listener friendly.

The title of this Roni Size release might confuse you. Size released many vinyls under the V recordings label in the mid 90's and one might think that this release is musically similar to the tracks released back then. However, the only return here is to the record label. This new mix is a departure from anything else done in the drum and bass world (especially from the mid 90's V recording tracks).

This CD proves that Size is still the pioneer when it comes to new forms of DNB. It takes a few listens to really get this; the first time one might not even like it at all. However, when playing it more the rich and futuristic sampling and the both raw and melodic lyrical styles start to make sense.
After the release of Return to V, Size gathered a group of eight including a drummer, a bass player, keyboards, male and female vocalists, and himself in the samples, and started touring and throwing concerts of the best live drum and bass ever played. Luckily for his followers, one of these live concerts was video-taped by the number one DNB site in the world: Drum and Bass Arena. After watching and listening to this live set one realizes what Return to V is about: explosive samples and lyrics that (similar to New Forms and In the Mode) are perfect for live drum and bass.