I don’t know how many of you remember, Goldie’s album “Timeless” came out in 1995, took d&b to a whole nother level & sounded futuristic as hell. It still sounds futuristic as hell. Amazing production quality of the beats. To this date I have still never heard anything as intricate and polished as tracks like “Timeless” and “Sea of tears”.
So… Skip forward to 1998. “Saturnzreturn” comes out. It’s decent, but doesn’t live up to the awesomeness of Timeless.
Around 1999 I read an interview of Goldie, stating that his upcoming album was going to have some more organic sounds & tribal drumming & stuff.
So finally … After checking the internet probably at least once every few months to see if this thing was ever gonna come out, it finally came out a month or so ago. I had a chance to listen to it, and well…
It sounds like it’s firmly stuck in the mid 90’s. Of course he’s changed producers several times, this one being produced by Tech itch. That’s not to say this album is bad, it’s just… not very good either. And where the hell’s the tribal drumming & stuff?
I think this proves that Timeless was just a fluke and at least 50% of the genius behind it was really Rob Playford and not Goldie himself
Oh well.
You can definitely call me disappointed on this one
sorry to hear that, he should probably go back to movies. he plays a good comedic gangster. he needs somethin were everyones tryin to get over on him. like a scifi gangster dark comedy.
mates- in england (aty least amongst my circle of friends) goldie has been considered a joke eversince timeless - yes it was good, yes everyone has a copy, yes he married bjork, yes he was in eastenders…
…but he’s a fucking idiot and is a long way off being a musician, producer, actor or anything creative like that - cabbie yes, dnb legend, NO.
btw my friends and i are massive junglists and have been since '94 - only the pricks liked goldie then and, i’m happy to say, no-one does now.
Yeah, I’m with nsound. I wrote a long reply but deleted it.
But I’m encouraged now and will rewrite parts of it i.e. what parallel drum & bass universe were you living in that made Goldie musically relevant in the golden era of jungle?
His contributions were his Metalheadz label, his club night (sunday sessions), and his high profile in the media. But musically, he wasn’t on point, and never was. He was a pioneer, but so many early contributers to Metalheadz put him to shame. Photek, Ed Rush, Hidden Agenda, Alex Reece, Source Direct, Adam F … that’s just people on Metalheadz. Come 1995 there were shitloads of crates on shitloads of labels that made Timeless not so. And Saturnzreturns was one of the worst albums of all time. Especially considering what it was up against, it was completely irrelevant to the genre. A big tune in 98 was WARHEAD, not self-indulgent violin concertos.
I guess living near Toronto in the 90’s i.e. London II, gave me a closer perspective to what was going on in the scene? Or at least jaded me to top 40 mainstream UK hits… Although I was a fan of Roni Size/Reprazent when they toured for New Forms, that’s some mainstream d&b I could get behind at the time. That was done proper.
Goldie? No. I guess some people are into it but not me.
Gimme a break. I live in North Carolina & wasn’t old enough to be going out to clubs until '99 although I listened to electronic music from about 1995 onward. Our d&b scene in 99 was nonexistant.
Anyway, Timeless will always be a classic to me
P.S. Conner, Goldie’s full length albums have never really been relevant on the dancefloor, have they? But that’s why I like him, he’s willing to do something a little different. More cerebral. And there is no way Saturnzreturn is the worst album of all time, it has a couple of incredible shining points like “dragonfly” and “digital”
Anyway … I’m not trying to change anybody’s opinion, just expressing my disappointment over this newest one from someone who has not really been in the scene and had huge expectations
Well, I haven’t heard the latest album, but I loved Timeless and the whole Mother thing. Really loved those tracks, along with Sea Of Tears and Dragonfly, but Rob Playfords influence made those tracks for me, when I hear stuff from moniker Ruftige Kru I just think “poorly made junk”. Calling Satunrzreturn worst album of all time seems a bit fueled by dislike of too much praise, though.
Must say, I loved Grooveriders fantastic Mysteries Of Funk way better, if we’re talking about great drum & bass, Rainbows Of Colour and Where’s Jack The Ripper stands really tall in my memory!
Not saying that I “know” the scene in any way, I’m just the odd listener loving random tracks and artists. These happen to be what I loved growing up.
A lot of people who liked “Timeless” hated “New Forms” but you have to remember that for over a decade there were thousands of tunes being produced and thousand of records being sold, this was before everyone was trading MP3 files and getting things the minute they were released.
Goldie was able to get into the HMV’s of the world. But at the same time there was an active scene that Goldie lost touch with. Furthermore, he kind of became crazy in a “punching people in the face and throwing them down the stairs for an unauthorized dubplate remix” kind of way. (no joke)
Metalheadz “Platinum Breaks” is where it was at for me. A compilation where Goldie was involved, but more along the lines of it was his label so he was running things. Everything splintered after that and became even more interesting IMHO. (Note to self, selectively forgetting the jumpstep fad, haha) Goldie was a huge figure in drum & bass, but I see him more as a facilitator. Not a producer.
So I guess it’s like sagosen is saying, i’m fueled by my dislike for too much praise when you see all the other options presented in context.
Hmmm, I discovered dnb too late to say anything in perspective (back in the day I was a metalhead, not a metalheadz) but I own a few mix cd’s by Goldie which I really like, so… at least he’s a decent DJ, right? Must say I never really liked his tracks. But then again, I never really liked stuff like New Forms either… the music seemed too ‘obvious’ or something. With exception of Center of the Storm, because Zack de la Rocha can make jumpstyle (there, I sayd it!) sound like gutripping ninjamusic. As a matter of fact, I never understood why people would listen to drum & bass and jungle if there was Atari Teenage Riot. Not until today anyway. Erhm… just thoughts of a guy who missed practically every golden age of the music he loves…
Wish I was born in the 1920’s… I would’ve been SO jazz…
saw Goldie DJ at melt festival in germany this year, where he staged a metalheadz stage. Apart from his set being irrelevant and stuck in the nineties. the most annoying thing was that when DJ Skream came and played on his stage, Goldie felt it was necessary to be a complete coked up dick head. kept stopping Skreams records, picking up the mic shouting " give it up for the Goldie" . all because his insecurity told him rightly so that people where much more into the dubstep then his shit. it was truly one of the most pathetic things i’d ever witnessed
Ohhwww… this brings me back in time… damn platinium breakz was good at the time… even the second volume with raven from ed rush wasn’t bad…ain’t no Bloodclot artattack but… …
Speaking of other popular d&b albums… Mysteries of Funk & New forms are good too… I think Adam F’s “Colors” stands up with them as well… “The tree knows everything”, mmmm that song gives me chills/good memories
There’s one or two transitions in the “INCredible sound of drum&bass” mix where he obviously trainwrecked, and he pretty much just throws the fader all the way over to the other side. Not really a smart move considering this is a professional mix and he could have just re-recorded it. It has always baffled me. Even for my little demo CD’s I would give out in my hometown, if I messed up the mix, I would stop and start all over.
It was for this reason, that I chose not to go see Goldie play in Durham in 1999 … I regret that decision now, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do
Hahaha! So Goldie’s just a self-proclaimed superstar of dnb.
Damn… I used to hear people call him ‘king of the jungle’…
but I guess that jungle’s been cut down and made into Ikea
furniture a long time ago
I live in North Carolina & wasn’t old enough to be going out to clubs until '99 although I listened to electronic music from about 1995 onward. Our d&b scene in 99 was nonexistant.
