Customer Reviews

Second Light

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

 

 

I first heard this music when I considered myself averse to the drones and bleeps of techno/electronica, but somehow Dreadzone seemed to offer a music with distinct, sometimes dreamy quality that has a very human core. This album contains some whimsy-filled highlights like the light hearted irish fiddle driven Captain Dread to the darker, heavier tracks. Little Britain bursts with bright-eyed optimism and celebrates the merger of Jamaican and British culture. Shining Path is great how it builds itself up and then takes off into a nice, steady groove. This music is appropriate to listen while driving, sitting at a bar with friends, or even lounging in the bath. While is not ambient in the strictest sense of the word, it has an energy that will get the pulse up.

This is a must if you are into electronic music. It's a bit mellow, with spacy, dub, ambient, electro, lush, groovey, reggae, celtic qualities to it. Yes, it's all that!!!! The CD keeps getting played in my car, and the tapes that I made for a few friends have gotten played so much that they've asked me to make new copies for them. ... Buy it now.

I've been into electronic music since the very beginning...as in Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. Then I went through my industrial phase (Ministry, Front242, Revco) right into the glorious rave era of the early 90's (Prodigy, Orbital, The Orb). That said, this CD was and remains very special to me. I can't recall exactly how I was turned on to it since it's been so long. But I've listened to it so many times now it's subtly pervaded my soul. The beats are hypnotic and mystical. I don't know...I could ramble on forever about how groovy it is but honestly, if you love electronic music, you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn't at least listen to some of the tracks. Then decide for yourself.

Oh wait...I remember now. I first heard them on the Saint soundtrack. I liked that song so much I tracked down some of the other stuff and ended up buying this CD. Their other CDs are good but this one is special.

Rediscovered this old friend in my mp3 collection recently and had forgotten what a great album it was. Somehow it's one of those fleeting albums that you might get tired of relatively quickly, but is something you'll want to keep coming back to year after year given enough time. Listening to it now it captures the trippy electronic sounds of the 90's merged with 'real music' dub / ambient.

Since I'm currently taking a lot of Vicodin and Dilaudid for nasty case of Sciatica this provides a perfect backdrop of my opiate laced state of mind :)

Explaining Dreadzone to people is really tricky. The second you tell them it's reggae, it's like the blinkers come on & whatever you say on the subject will be ignored as most people's impression of 'Reggae' is Sean Paul and 'Mr Lover-Lover'!

This is such a pity as I just wish they would understand how awesome Dreadzone can be and how broad the church of Reggae is (if it is Reggae at all...)

This album is a case in point as it is filled with excellent music which has survived the test of time. Like The Fat of the Land, Leftism or Jagged Little Pill, the content has lost none of its power and its influence seems to stretch throughout late 90's dance.

Furthermore, go to see them live (or listen to Dreadzone Live at Sunrise) and songs like Little Britain and Zion Youth are up there with the best of modern times. Curiously you will also discover that songs that sound cluttered and imperfect on here (e.g. Captain Dread) have been evolved to become polished perfection.

And yet this album isn't celebrated with the greatest, despite its abundance of diverse sounds (e.g. A Canterbury Tale), meaning that only a select few know about it.

Originally my attitude to this was that it was good to keep the secret. This is true, but given the lame state of music nowadays, I have a better idea:

With books, authors often print new editions to keep them up to date. My suggestion on this album is that Dreadzone should publish a second edition (including the re-recorded editions of all the songs), which will take the brilliance of this album, fuse it with the gradual improvements made through the live shows and then present the finished product to a whole new generation.

In this way, people could understand how amazing this album is & see great music with a fresh, unblinkered pair of eyes. If there is any justice in the charts, then songs like 'Little Britain', Shining Path and the evolved versions of 'Captain Dread' and Zion Youth (Dreadzone Mix) should wipe the floor with anything X factor provides and us loyal fans will have the pleasure of saying "I told you so!"

Sound a good idea? If it does, then make sure you ask Dreadzone at their next Gig and if we succeed, then it will be worth all the effort...

Alternatively, you could just buy this album & experience the brilliance of what this edition has to offer. Still, it'd be good if it did happen, wouldn't it?

A must if one is into techno, reggae and dance music. Awesome how Dreadzone blends music styles.

Heard this back in the UK 5 yrs ago and finally had to get it again. Great chill out music. Bought it thru some place in Fla though, and got it like 3 weeks later--too late to take with me on my trip to Jamaica! :(