Goldie Saturnzreturn Rar
Debut album established him as the king of jungle. Spanning two discs and boasting the epic, 20-plus minute 'Timeless,' was filled with ambition and invention, and it bristled with the thrill of the new - it sounded as if the music was being invented as you heard it. The debut was so astonishing that it, in many ways, painted into a corner for his follow-up,.
Not only had to equal its consistency, but he had to offer fresh dimensions to the now-familiar drum'n'bass rhythms. Superficially, at least delivers in terms of scale and ambition. Running a little over two and a half hours and including a mini-symphony as its first track, the double-disc set is bursting with promise. Unfortunately, it fails to reach the dizzying heights of its predecessor, and its very ambitions feel like burdens.
Goldie Saturnz Return Torrent
'Mother,' the amorphous hour-long pseudo-symphony that comprises the first disc, collapses before the drums are even heard. After 20 minutes of atmosphere, a surge of intriguing rhythms wash up, only to fade away after another 20 minutes to reveal a simplistic, simple-minded symphonic theme that is never developed. If the second disc had been a masterpiece, it would have been easy to forgive the excesses of 'Mother,' but it suffers from a near-crippling schizophrenia. Divided between harrowing, dark aural journeys and slick, club-ready R&B, the disc never develops a consistent mood and often is sunk by overlong, misguided tracks. With its waves of processed guitars and garbled vocals, 'Temper Temper' never quite hits as hard as it should, and it never has the impact of the gutsy collaboration, 'Digital.' Those two vocal tracks are hardly the closest comes to accessiblity - 'Believe' and 'I'll Be There for You' have slick soul textures, with layered keyboards, wah guitars and wailing divas. These soul excursions last too long, and are intercut with dark jungle explorations that have scary rhythmic structures, but no sense of purpose.
Goldie Saturnz Return Torrent
There are some very provocative textures scattered throughout these ten tracks, and skill for hyperactive drum programming can be astonishing, but that astonishment fades quickly since the music never goes anywhere - it just meanders forever, as the drums slowly lose their power and turn into a tinny din of noise. As a result, sounds confused, as if he wants to push forward but doesn't know how. With some serious editing, would have been a powerful record, but as it stands, its bloated running time and pretentious, formless songs only obscure considerable talent.