Customer Reviews

Saturnzreturn

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It came as a shock, only one person has reviewed this. What are the rest of the people doing? Maybe everybody is shocked by the length of his 'Mother'? Mmmm, attention span. Interesting! Talking about Goldie, he is an important figure in the music scene, he brought Drum and Bass music to mainstream, and together with Roni Size, they are the only 2 recognizable faces in the drum and bass world. Yeah, everybody might argue that they are not the best in terms of making drum and bass music. True, Amon Tobin and Photek have much fresher ideas than both Goldie and Roni Size. However, when this album came out, I realized the difference between Goldie and the rest of the Metalheadz. Yeah, I have to talk about 'Mother', an extremely long track, 60 minutes. Who is going to spend an hour to listen to a track that is full of ambient noise with little singing and drum 'n bass beats on it. The conventional music buyer will not even bother, neither will the drum 'n bass heads, there aren't much drum 'n bass here. So this track is bound to be accused of being pretentious and overly ambitious... It is a problem with attention span, who has the time and energy to consume such lengthy and hard-to-digest stuff in a time when everybody is busy making money? So without much digestion, the critics decided that this wasn't a great album because they were sure that this one would not sell as well as 'Timeless'. However, I have to say, after 2 year's repeated listening to this album, I realized why the track lasts 60 minutes, it is in fact totally essential. You may call it an amalgamate of ambient, classical, breatbeats, soundtrack music... if I categorize this track as soul, everybody is going to disagree. Yeah, apparently this sounds like neither Marvin Gaye nor Otis Redding, but you cannot deny the soulfulness in it, you parochial bunch! You really dunno how much emotion Goldie injected into it, it can be heard from his singing, yeah, HIS vocal, and the music itself, including the ambient noise which resembles the early collaboration between Brian Eno and David Bowie(who appeared here on the second track). This track is certainly the centrepiece of this album, and it alone deserves your time, patience and dedication. Put in some effort, try to communicate with the music, try to become part of it, the reward is grand. The second track 'Truth' is chilly, largely ambient, with the gorgeous vocal provided by David Bowie,makes this one of the best tracks on the album. 'Letter of Fate' on the second disc is in the same vein as 'Truth', it's just that the vocal is again done by Goldie, impresssive I gotta say. The second disc is much easier to get into and it is more diversified:'Digital' is some healthy dose of hip-hop, while 'Temper Temper' is the drum 'n bass answer to heavy metal,'Believe' is a track for you to chill-out track, 'Dragonfly' sounds even more flytronic than Air, 'Crystal Clear' mixes R&B and D&B, and it is certainly the most accessible track on this album. Just spend more time on the album, and you will find yourself in love with it soon

I have followed Goldie for quite some time. Drangonfly and Mother MAKE this 2 disc set worth your while. It is the last of this particular phase of Goldie. More rythmically complex than his first one, Goldie put his heart into this. David Bowie lends his voice to Mother and Drangonfly is a trip hop wonder. Excellent spin!

This is an album which has everything - Mellow, floaty tunes, such as dragonfly/believe, aggressive up-tempo beats such as Temper Temper/Chico, and emotional, powerful pieces such as Mother/Letter of fate. Fans of any musical genre should find at least one track to suit them. Personnaly, I prefer this album than the hugely hiped 'Timeless', which is also an excellent album, but lacks some of the emense variety that 'Saturn' has to offer. The album may have floped in the sales charts, but I praise the day it became a part of my music collection! Goldie - you rule!!!!!

First: All the reviews below are accurate.
Yes, the ones that hate it, and the ones that like it
Basically Goldie's fortes are drum'n'bass, experimentalism, exploring long tracks and sentimentality. There are probably few people in the world who share all these interests. Consequently there is something everyone will hate on this album.
The upside is that it is 2 and a half hours long. so somewhere on this album, if any of the above appeal to you, you will probably find something to really like.
However as a consequence its almost worthless writing anything about it. I thought "Mother" was wonderful - the one track that combines all his strengths in an ambitious, though perhaps not completely succesful mix. It was worth doing, and it is worth listening to. It is the best 'serious' combination of 'rock' and orchestra i've ever heard
On the negative side "truth" is a waste of David Bowie, "Temper, Temper" is a failure as noise rock because it lacks drive, or dosn't go far enough, Rapper KRS-1 tells us how wonderful he is but he is no Eric B, "Believe" is unadulterated sentimentality and dosn't work for me, but it clearly does for others.
On the positive side apart from "Mother" my favourite track is probably "Demonz" - kinda a feral tubular bells (if anyone can remember that), "Chico, death of a rock star" and "Dragonfly" are good, if not spectacular - and make nice use of variation, tonality and length - well worth listening to.

Ok. I think anyone interested in ambitious music should listen to this, they probably won't like it all, but you have to admire someone who can do all of this, and I look forward to the next album.

So it seems that everyone likes 'Timeless' better than this one, but I'm not sure why. I'm sure everyone will disagree with my review, but I don't really care. Goldie conquers new ground with this extremely brave release. 'Mother' is superb, although I must admit...I seldom find myself in the mood for a 60 minute track. However...I'm always in the mood for 'Chico', 'I'll be there..' and 'Demonz'. 'Timeless' was great when it was released, but it is already sounding a bit dated, and I find it a bit dull. My only complaint with this album is that the Grooverider remix of 'Temper' is a hell of a lot better, and so are the remixes of 'Digital'. Although that was probably intentional to sell the singles...regardless, this is dope.

Over the CD is a masterpiece, though it tends to ramble on more than it should.

Mother is epic. If you're in the mood the whole 60 minutes of it is great. If not, the middle 20 minutes is enough. The track starts out with some ambient noise for about 7 minutes, then some drifting vocals and strings for another 13, slowly with some cymbals and stuff fading in. The middle twenty is where the whole buildup finally planes out, and it feels great. Then the beat goes away, and the song just goes on and on and on with some strings. As I said.. rambling.. the last part could be much shorter.

As for the second CD.. temper is soso, but feels too long. Dragonfly is great, beats that flit along and some nice flute and bass melodies; again, woulda been good to end it at 10 instead of 15. Letter of Faith is a great ambient soundscape , but you dnb people will hate the total lack of beats. KRS One is pretty good, although the track doesn't personally click.

Most everything else just doesn't seem to work. It's obvious Goldie was trying to expand the nature of his work. I only hope in his next album he realizes where his strong points are.

LTJ Bukem, Roni Size, and other vinyl happy DJs were unfamiliar to me until 1996 when I began to really like Goldie. He had remixed several tracks for people, including Björk, and I loved it. It wasn't until February of this year that I fully encountered Goldie. With 'Saturnzreturn' I was impressed. I felt as thought this is going to be the norm for the music of the future.

My curiosity for this album stemmed from learning that there was a 60-minute work of mammoth proportions. I'm a classically trained musician (pianist) and I'm used to hearing works of 1 hour or even 2 hours. I had to satisfy my curiosity. When I heard "Mother" for the first time I was astonished. Here's a NON-trained musician tackling a work that would give Mozart or even Beethoven a run for their money. 60 minutes of soaring strings, a crashing and booming introduction, Diane Charlamagne with her beautiful pipes, as well as Goldie having a go at singing (not too bad), and a mid-section that even the most diehard raver would enjoy - all of these made me love "Mother". Sure, it's not the kind of piece you want to play at an underground rave, so sit back, read a book, write a letter to Congress, create blueprints for a space station, whatever - just let the music speak to you. It did for me.

The second disc, however, was lacking. Not that the songs are bad (albeit, Temper Temper is a bit weak), but they don't possess the quality or the groove that "Timeless" had. "Digital", with KRS-One is pretty good. You can tell that KRS is trying his best to freestyle, and it works, occasionally. However, the most underrated song on disc 2 is "Believe". This song is a smooth-as-silk groove fest that could be played on your favourite jazz station (just not after a Kenny G "song") along the likes of Pat Metheny or Bob James. "Dragonfly" and at whopping 16 minutes is a testiment to Goldie's ability to blend different styles together. The happy sounding flute in the beginning, with the jungle beat, and the whiny sounding guitar make this song really fine.

The rest of the songs are pretty decent, but they don't stand out as well as his gems from "Timeless". "Chico-Death of a Rock Star" is o.k. "Demonz" is cool only because of a looped breaking of glass sound that Goldie uses for the breakbeat. Aside from the negatives, Goldie does know how to tackle an in-your-face large work like "Mother" with great success. If Saturn is to return, I think we all will be ready.

Goldie goes deep w/this fun, but intelligent 2-CD set. You'll be happy to see "Saturnzreturn".

Although I've been a fan of dance music for years, I haven't heard such good stuff in a very long time. Don't get me wrong, this isn't groundbreaking music. However, "Saturnzreturn" is one of a few excellent albums to introduce someone who is new to the Drum'n Bass scene (like myself) w/particular tastes. For a decisive intro kit, Goldie fits in such company w/Roni Size's "Lifeforms", Adam F's "Colours" or even Prodigy's "Fat of The Land".

If you like noise,frenetic beats and all out mayhem, this lush CD set is probably not for you. Although I'm not in high school anymore, I can still appreciate a good track you can get bow your head to. If you like cool beats w/interesting (though not spectacular)vocals and "mature" sonic enviroments, Goldie's good to go.

Make no mistake, there is a lot of garbage out there, something a fellow reviewer commented on this complilation. I didn't like every track on this double disc (ie - couldn't sit or sleep through the "Mother" cd). However, Goldie's tracks on this piece of plastic is something that doesn't need to be recycled.

Pure ratings Gold(ie)buster!

As a fan of Goldie's music and a supporter of any electronic artist who works to break the boundaries of generic convention, I'm sad to be giving this CD a negative review. I wanted it to be great and I wanted to like it. I give Goldie props for a great effort, but it's ultimately unsuccessful.

The first disc is rather staggering - an hour long drum 'n bass "tribute" to his mother. The idea is great, but it makes a few assumptions. Number 1 - it assumes that approximately 30 minutes of vocal work by Goldie himself is a good idea. Goldie's vocals are barely sufficient for a track like "Temper Temper" and anything more is just inappropriate. Number 2 - it assumes that Goldie's personal journey is inherently interesting. The fact that he was abandoned by his mother at a young age is sad, but it's not enough to say "I was abandoned by my mother" and then make an hour-long track assuming some sort of emotional connection. It's a solid effort, but the whole thing still seems rather self-indulgent. Upon listening to "Mother", it seems like it was made more for Goldie's personal edification than anything else. Once the drums kick in, things improve considerably, but since it's sandwiched in between long, vaguely "orchestral" (in the most diluted sense of the word) arrangements, it's just not worth the effort.

The second disc is stronger, but it's still no "Timeless". Goldie has already proved he can work with extended tracks because "Timeless" was, well, a timeless album. I'm not sure why he abandoned his winning formula for this album, but he did. "Temper Temper" is sort of rocking and is an obvious standout track. "Dragonfly" also has some nice moments. Unfortunately, "Chico - Death of a Rockstar", clearly intended to be a substantial track, is just sort of bland. It's around 15-minutes long, but it cannot sustain interest. It actually feels a little bit polite, when it should be gritty and in-your-face.

I knew "SaturnzReturn" had mixed reviews when I bought it. I fully intended to find something the reviewers had missed, something to make me love the album. After living with the album for a while, I have come to the conclusion that it's just not that good. I'm sure the very idea of a track like "Mother" will be interesting to some. For that reason, I would recommend trying to find it used for a good price because it's just not worth the money. Goldie fans would do well to skip this in favor of the superior "Ring of Saturn". While it's technically a remix album, all the tracks that are revisited are also improved. That includes a heavily abbreviated mix of "Mother", which works really well as a hardcore, dark drum 'n bass track.

Here's the breakdown of my final rating. As always, I would give this 2.5 stars if I could.

Courage factor ***** (5 stars)
Effort ****** (4 stars)
Self-indulgance * (1 star)
Execution ** (2 stars)
Success * (1 star)

Overall **1/2 (2.5 stars)

Nulla da dire contro Goldie. Sicuramente. Non è da tutti fondere musica classica con la Jungle più cattiva(mother)per rendere noto agli altri i propri sentimenti vissuti durante l'infanzia, la crescita, e la consapevolezza da adulto. Non è da tutti fondere RnB con quasi un ritmo Elettro(believe), l'Hip-Hop con la Jungle(Digital), e poi ancora altre contaminazioni con Ambient,rock ecc. Ok è vero si è ispirato a Grooverider ma non li si può togliere nulla. Ha reinventato la Jungle, o meglio la Drum&Bass, con Timeless e anche ora è capace di rifarlo. Mette a nudo le sue Emozioni, devi solo essere pronto a coglierle: un calice di acqua fresca (believe); rabbia pura (temper temper, demonz); solitudine, frustazione e rinascita (Mother); il viaggio (dragonfly) e chissa quant'altro. Grande Album, difficile da capire, ma bisogna essere pronti a farlo!!