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TSB's Friday Classic Album Thread
Transdimension… 17 Nov 23 09:30
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The first in a new series (if I ever remember)...

Simple, a classic album is selected for you to play, and review if you like, to take you into the weekend with some positive vibes.  

Today's selection - R.E.M. - 'Out Of Time' (1991)

'Out of Time is the seventh studio album by American alt-rock band R.E.M, released on March 12, 1991. With Out of Time, R.E.M.'s status grew from that of a cult band to a massive international act. The record topped the album sales charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, spending 109 weeks on U.S. album charts and enjoying two separate spells at the summit, and spending 183 weeks on the British charts and a single week at the top. The album has sold more than four and a half million copies in the United States and more than 18 million copies worldwide.

Singles:

  • "Losing My Religion"
    Released: February 19, 1991
  • " Shiny Happy People"
    Released: May 7, 1991
  • "Near Wild Heaven"
    Released: August 5, 1991
  • "Radio Song"
    Released: November 4, 1991
     

 

Looking forward to some strong, Patrick Bateman-esque takes.

 

Really good choice of classic album

But…..

I absolutely cannot stand shiny happy people. Have to skip it and iirc rem felt similarly about it…..

Always remember seeing them live and Michael stipe making the point that some bands grow weary of their biggest hits and resent them but for him it was always a privilege to be able to play losing my religion

Overall an underrated band and out of time and it’s successor automatic for the people should be in everyone’s playlist/collection. Often play both on a lazy Sunday morning…

30 years ago.  this is like old people in 1992 going mad for cliff richard and the shadows or On Stage with the George Mitchell Minstrels from the BLACK AND WHITE MINSTREL SHOW

 

Out Of Time, was recorded primarily at Bearsville Sound Studios in Woodstock, upper state New York. 

So, geographically at least, it probably escapes that.

It might be 30 years ago but it’s still an excellent record

It doesn’t sound old in anyway  

Country feedback is timeless  as is belong 

This thread is an excellent idea TSB

I can just tell someone is going to go tun plus with a needlessly contrary proposal of some vastly overrated nineties chancers

And I look  forward to it  

 

 

It was a landmark record for them in so many ways. They didn’t tour it. Was anyone here at the Bingo Hand Job gigs? Or MTV unplugged? Defined them as the anti rock band rock band in a brief period of barely 18 months before grunge really subsumed everything. SHP notwithstanding it’s a great record

 

Stuff like this is the one thing that causes very real despair in my life - we have sailed past the 20th anniversary editions of all my formative teenage albums and now we're into the 30s.

Experience was 30 last year ffs

Today's selection - The White Stripes - 'Elephant' (2003)

Elephant is the fourth studio album by the American rock duo The White Stripes. It was released on April 1, 2003, through V2, XL, and Third Man records. The majority of the album was recorded across two weeks and produced without the use of computers, instead utilizing an eight-track tape machine and various gear no more recent than 1963.

The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and topped the UK Album Charts. It has sold 4 million records worldwide, and earned several certifications including 2x Platinum from the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) and 3x Platinum from the Biritish Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Elephant received widespread critical acclaim, and it is often cited as the White Stripes' best work. In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 390th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and additionally ranked it the fifth-best album of the 2000s decade. Authors and reviewers have praised Elephant as one of the best albums of the 21st century.

Singles

  • "Seven Nation Army"
    Released: February 17, 2003
  • "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"
    Released: September 1, 2003
  • "The Hardest Button to Button"
    Released: November 17, 2003
  • "There's No Home For You Here"
    Released: March 15, 2004

 

Tedes may contend it isn't the best White Stripes record and they may even be right. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, their classic though. 

 

As for The White Stripes, in my opinion White Blood Cells is the better album although i like them both.

I've been listening to a lot of early B52's recently and love "Give me back my man" but my favourite song of their is "Topaz" from Cosmic Thing.  The layered vocals are just outstanding.

I had tickets to see The White Stripes on the tour they broke up. Managed to catch Jack White at Glastonbury a few years ago and he was great.

I do love the White Stripes and TSB's decription is probably fair, The White Stripes is my favourite album, Elephant probably their best. Would love to see them back together one day.

I lost respect for Jack White after "Steady as she goes" which was a shameless rip off of "Is she really going out with him"

Interesting. I had no idea about that, but after a quick listen it's hard to argue otherwise!

Was the only Raconteurs song I ever really liked too 😐

Big fan of this thread….

Less of a fan of the white stripes… they largely passed me by although I like their hits and could see why people were into them….

I look forward to next weeks suggestion 

I spent my Friday listening to talking heads…..

Bertha….

I’d be surprised if talking heads did anything again.  They’ve recently repackaged stop making sense which would explain why they were together. 

I can’t see David Byrne being persuaded to do it. He doesn’t need the money but he does thrive on confounding expectations 

money talks and I’d imagine the sums on offer are eye watering. 

They clock 9.5 million listens a month on Spotify so the demand is there…

Don't panic, we'll be back in comfy MOR territory next week, but for now a slight genre-hop for this week's selection:

DJ Shadow - 'Endtroducing'

'Endtroducing'... is the debut studio album by American music producer DJ Shadow, released on September 16, 1996, by Mo Wax. It is an instrumental hip hop work composed almost entirely of samples from vinyl records. DJ Shadow produced 'Endtroducing' over two years, using an Akai MPC60 and little other equipment. He edited and layered samples to create new tracks of varying moods and tempos.

'Endtroducing' frequently appears in critics' lists of the greatest albums. Publications such as Pitchfork, Q, Rolling Stone, Slant Magazine, and Spin have placed it on their lists of best albums of the 1990s. NPR listed 'Endtroducing' as one of the 300 most important American records of the 20th century, and Time selected the record as one of the "All-Time 100 Albums" in 2006.

In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked 'Endtroducing' number 329 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

Guinness World Records cited 'Endtroducing' as the first album created entirely from samples.

Singles from 'Entroducing'

  1. "Midnight In A Perfect World"
    Released: September 2, 1996
  2. "Stem"
    Released: October 28, 1996
  3. "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1)"
    Released: January 12, 1998
  4. "The Number Song" / "Painkiller"
    Released: February 23, 1998

Endtroducing is one of those albums that I liked at the time but have no real desire to stick it on and listen to it again. It feels like a lot of it was actually a bit boring.    

Automatic for the People was the album that got me into REM (I am pleasingly younger than Buzz it seems...) and so will always be their 'classic album' for me but will always love Out of Time for Country Feedback which is probably my favourite REM track outside of the 'obvious classics'. 

Ah, sorry, that will teach me to respond to the OP without reading the thread I am a week late!  What Goose said about Entroducing is very much my recollection. Also just trying that little bit too hard... Haven't listened to it for decades though I guess maybe I should give it another go... 
 

Midnight in a perfect world samples: David Axelrod - The Human Abstract (1969) (the piano at 1:17) Pekka Pohjola - The Madness Subsides (1975) (the synths at 0:08) Baraka - Sower of Seeds (1976) (the vocals at 0:40) Meredith Monk - Biography (1981) (that bass noise in the background at 1:10) Akinyele - Outta State (1993) (the guitar at 3:40) Organized Konfusion - Releasing Hypnotical Gas (1991) (the rapping that you hear at 0:00) Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music (1981) (sampled three times in this song, the vocals at 0:13, 1:17, and 2:11) Rotary Connection - Life Could (1968) (the drums at 0:26)

On the subject of samples and also a classic album De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising had so many samples  it caused a massive hold up to release of their music on Spotify as all the samples needed cleared for streaming, which is why it only made on this year.

It soundtracked a great number of late nights and early mornings, back in the day.

Some more samples used on 'Endtroducing':

Best Foot Forward 

Stanley Clarke – “Concerto For Jazz/Rock Orchestra Part II”
“hold up, hold up, before we get started”, Russel Rush & Jazzy Jay – “Cold Chillin’ In The Spot”
“guess who’s coming”, Sparky Dee – “He’s My DJ”
“it’s”, Jeru The Damaja – “You Can’t Stop The Prophet”
“shadow”, JVC Force – “?”
“back again”, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – “Poison”
“just your favorite DJ savior”, Masters of Ceremony – “Dynamite”
“using and confusing beats that you never heard”, Stezo – “It’s My Turn”
“since… 1990”, Lifer’s Group – “Real Deal”
“put a smile on your face like Ultra Bright..”, Divine Sounds – “Do Or Die Bed-Stuy”
“your just fessin…”, Beastie Boys – “The Party’s Getting Rough”

 

Building Steam With a Grain of Salt

Jeremy Storch – “I Feel A New Shadow”
H.P. Riot – “I Need You”
Lexia – “I Worship You”
“from listening to records I just knew what to do..” from “Music Makers – Percussion” (a record from 1974 that was provided to schools as a public service by Chevron/Standard Oil Company of California.)
“what makes cancer tenacious..”, Signs Of The Zodiac: Cancer – “Planetary Motivations”

The Number Song

Metallica – “Orion”
Tony Alvon & The Belairs – “Sexy Coffee Pot”
Pearly Queen – “Quit Jivin”
Pink Floyd – “On The Run” (movie version from at Pompeii)
Jimmy Smith – “8 Counts For Rita” (drums)
New Fast Automatic Daffodils – “?”
The first “1, 2, 3, 4, 5”, T La Rock – “Breakdown”
“what is this”, A Tribe Called Quest – “Can I Kick It? (Spirit Mix)”
“listen to this, just..listen to this, just..listen” & “we want y’all to understand…one, two,
three, and..”, Grandmaster Flash – “Flash It To The Beat”
“who got the number, guess what, I got the number”, Pigmeat Markham/B.Y. and the Turnettes – “Who Got The Number”
“won’t you please let me, rock your mind”, Grandmaster Flash – “Freelance”
The “louder” countdown near the end, from the movie “Wild Style” – Fantastic Freaks @ The Dixie
“the party’s already started…”, The Troubleneck Brothers – “Back To The Hip Hop”

 

Changeling

Tangerine Dream – “Invisible Limits”
The Meters – “Here Comes the Metermen”
Kay Gardner – “Touching Souls”
Kay Gardner – “Inner Mood I”
Motherlode – “Hard Life”
Embryo – “Klondyke Netti” (bassline)
“he cried, he cried, and he cried … rained 40 nights … played lots of chess … made lots of friends .. and he wept every time it would rain”, Loudon Wainwright III – “The Man Who Couldn’t Cry”

 

Transmission 1

“this is not a dream…”, from John Carpenter’s film, “Prince of Darkness”

 

What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)

Flying Island – “The Vision and the Voice Part 1 – The Vision”
“talk to me.. c’mon old boy.. lose that!..”, from the movie “Deep Calm”

 

Untitled (Track 6)

Human Race – “Grey Boy”

 

STEM

Nirvana – “Love Suite”
“..I tell ya children I could lay right down..”, The Mystic Number National Bank – “Blues So Bad”

 

Long Stem

Giorgio – “Tears”
Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. – “Oleo Strut”
“Parking tickets, you’re crazy.. so they take me in on a chain to long beach.. I am scared”, Murray Roman – “Freedom”

 

Transmission 2

Pekka Pohjola – “The Madness Subsides”
David Axelrod – “The Human Abstract”
“..latitude..”, from the movie “Silent Running”
“this is not a dream…”, from John Carpenter’s film, “Prince of Darkness”

 

Mutual Slump

Bjork – “Possibly Maybe”
Motherlode – “Soft Shell”
Pugh – “Love, Love, Love”
Roger Waters and Ron Geesin – “Seven Dwarves In Penis Land”

 

Organ Donor

“..playing a funky solo”, Samson And Delilah – “There’s A D.J. In Your Town”
Giorgio – “Tears”
Bill & Tim – “PM Or Later”

 

Midnight In A Perfect World

“insight, forsight, more sight…”, Organized Konfusion – “Releasing Hypnotic Gases”
Rotary Connection – “Life Could”
Meredith Monk – “Dolmen Music”
David Axelrod – “The Human Abstract”
Pekka Pohjola – “The Madness Subsides”
Baraka – “Sower Of Seads” (bass line)
“the midnight rush”, Akinyele – “Outta State”

 

Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain

“well hello there little buddy. come on in. what ya got there with ya? is that your dog?” from the movie “The Aurora Encounter”
Joann Garrett – “Walk On By”
Fantastic Epics – “Fun & Funk Part 2”
Charles Bernstein – “Moment of Truth”
Tyrannosaurus Rex – “Pon A Hill”
Daly-Wilson Bigband – “My Goodness” (guitar)
Billy Cobham – “Funky Kind Of Thing” (drum roll)
“testify”, The Original Soul Senders – “Soul Brothers Testify”
“napalm, when the bombs activated…”, BQ In Full Effect – “Let the Homicides Begin”

 

What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 – Blue Sky Revisit)

Alan Parsons Project – “Nucleus”
Heath Bros. – “The Voice Of The Saxophone”
Shawn Philips – “All Our Love”
David Young – “Joe Spilivigates” (drums)

 

Transmission 3

“this is not a dream…”, from John Carpenter’s film, “Prince of Darkness”
“it is happening again…”, episode 15 of “Twin Peaks”

 

Midnight In A Perfect World (Extended Version)

Meredith Monk – “Dolmen Music (Overture)”
Rotary Connection – “Life Could”
Meredith Monk – “Dolmen Music”
David Axelrod – “The Human Abstract”
Pekka Pohjola – “The Madness Subsides”
Funkadelic – “Wars of Armageddon”
Baraka – “Sower Of Seads” (bass line)
“the midnight rush”, Akinyele – “Outta State”
“what happened.. what happened that night?”, from the movie “Jacob’s Ladder”

 

I like this thread

Good choice. Not an album I owned but one that various mates played to death at the time so a good choice of classic. 

Will stream extensively over the weekend… despite vowing to use less Spotify in a protest at the increasingly creepy wrapped thing…

For today, it could've been any one of 3 by Nirvana, but for the sake of your delicate, middle-aged ears, my personal pick won out in the end (and it's probably the most palatable): 

It's also my all-time favourite album.

Nirvana : 'Unplugged in New York'

MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 1, 1994. It features an acoustic performance recorded at  Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.

The show was aired on the cable television network MTV on December 16, 1993. In a break with MTV Unplugged tradition, Nirvana played mainly lesser-known material and covers of songs by the Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly and Meat Puppets. Unlike prior MTV Unplugged performances, which were entirely acoustic, Nirvana used electric amplification and guitar effects during the set. They were joined by rhythm guitarist Pat Smear and cellist Lori Goldston, alongside Meat Puppets members Cris and Curt Kirkwood for some songs.

          Singles from Unplugged In New York:

             1. "About A Girl"
             Released: October 24, 1994

MTV Unplugged in New York was released on November 1, 1994. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 310,500 copies, the highest first-week sales of Nirvana's career. By March 1995, the album had outsold In Utero with 6.8 million copies sold.

According to Acclaimed Music, MTV Unplugged in New York is the 309th most ranked record on critics' all-time lists. In 2012, it was placed at number 313 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The 2020 edition of the list placed it at number 279. Rolling Stone also named it the 95th best album of the 1990s. The readers rated it the 8th best live album of all time. NME placed MTV Unplugged in New York at number 1 on their list of the "50 Greatest Live Albums".
 

 

this version of "About a girl" was the song that drew me in to Nirvana.  I am an ultra fan and have absolutely every recording of the band that exists, every single bootleg and "leaked" demo.

This album introduced me to Leadbelly, The Vaselines, The Meat Puppets and indirectly, Mudhoney.

Superb choice for this week and for me it would have been very hard to beat In Utero

Also, Pat Smear was at this point about to become a full time member of Nirvana but Kurt went and topped himself before that happened.  Check out the recent interviews with Grohl and Novoselic with Conan O'Brien.

I believe there was a lot of friction on set but from my point of view, that just increased the intensity.  

I'd read that they needed to quieten Grohls style of playing so gave him the brushes, he'd never used them before so just banged harder lol.

I'd never heard the Meat Puppets before and Plateau had a lyric that blew me away..

"nothing at the top but a bucket and a mop and an illustrated book about birds"

I had given my dad a book for christmas several years earlier called "The Illustrated book of British and Irish Birds" so this just rang with me...

Ok, my last piece on this (did I mention I was a fan?)

Upon rediscovering this album in 2001, I hadn't played my guitar for years so got it out and played along until I'd figured out every single note on every single song.  Heart Shaped Box was tricky as I didn't realise that he'd detuned the top E string down to D.

Today, whenever I try a new guitar in a guitar shop, one of the first songs I play is "About a girl".

Re Unplugged, there is either a documentary on it, or a significant bit of one of the many nirvana docs that deals with it that confirms the stuff up there about Dave having to use brushes for the first time, and MTV not being entirely happy with the set list, which was a bit of a fvck you to MTV but also a chance for Kurt to showcase some of his m8s.

It's gr8. Some, including chambo of this parish IIRC, believe their version of man who sold the world is better than the original. They're wrong, but it's close.

Whilst I understand your love of the original, I have listened to them both back to back and for some reason it just feels really personal to Kurt, that may be because it's very hard to interpret the song and the vaguery is easy to read into, knowing what happened shortly after the recording.

I'm one of those that interprets In Utero as a suicide note but according to Grohl and Novoselic, Kurt wasn't really being that deep.

It's very hard to hear "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" and not think that Kurts end was inevitable.

I love you for what I am not
I do not want what I have got
A blanket acne'd with cigarette burns
Speak at once while taking turns
 

What is wrong with me?
What is wrong with me?
What is what I need?

 

 

hm I might have to give this a listen. I was big into Nivana (and Sub Pop generally) early on but I had moved on by 1993 and don’t think I have ever listened to it all the way through

Out of curiosity Merkz, after your Sub Pop phase, what direction did you go in?  Can I assume Britpop?

Personally, around that time I got seriously into Radiohead "Pablo Honey"

hm I might have to give this a listen. I was big into Nivana (and Sub Pop generally) early on but I had moved on by 1993 and don’t think I have ever listened to it all the way through

I'm actually a bit jealous. Like when people say they're going to watch The Wire for the first time.

oh TSB, I fully know what you mean.  I remember when I got AC/DC Powerage and heard it for the first time and loved each track so much I just couldn't wait to hear the next one.  I think I was about 12 and I still love that album so much... I haven't felt that excitement for many albums, including In Utero which I'd heard most of on the radio before I bought it.

Eddie - pretty much - I moved to Manchester in the autumn of ‘89 and did more Manchester/Britpop type stuff - by the time I moved back to London I was working and spending more free time in watching football than bands 

In ‘89 though I saw Mudhoney and Soundgarden at SOAS and Nirvana and Tad in Manchester on separate (I think) Sub Pop tours

"of this parish"

now I have to watch Great Expectations again... "There sir, Philip Pirrip late of this parish".. the David Lean version.. I watch it 2 or 3 times a year so it's overdue.

I was supposed to go see Nirvana in Sir Henry's in 90 or 91 but didn't go because I hadn't heard of them so had other things to do.. when the "With the lights out" boxset came out, many of the pictures were from that gig...

Admittedly, bit late, but the selection for last Friday: (and another that will forever nestle somewhere in my top 5 albums of all-time)

Portishead - 'Dummy'

Dummy is the debut studio album by English electronic music band Portishead, released on 22 August 1994 by Go! Beat Records.

The album received critical acclaim and won the 1995 Mercury Music Prize. It is often credited with popularising the trip hop genre, and is frequently cited in lists of the best albums of the 1990s. Dummy was certified triple platinum in the UK in February 2019, and had sold 920,000 copies in the United Kingdom as of September 2020. Worldwide, the album had sold 3.6 million copies by 2008.

The production of the album uses a number of hip-hop techniques, such as sampling, scratching, and loop-making. The album was not recorded digitally. They sampled music from other records, but they also recorded their own original music, which was then recorded onto vinyl records before manipulating them on record decks to sample. In order to create a vintage sound, Barrow said that they distressed the vinyl records they had recorded by "putting them on the studio floor and walking across them and using them like skateboards", and they also recorded the sound through a broken amplifier.

Singles from Dummy:

      1. "Numb"
      Released: 6 June 199

      2."Sour Times"
      Released: 1 August 1994

      3. "Glory Box"
      Released: 3 January 1995
 

This was featured briefly in the crown last week. Obvs cred grab as I can’t believe W or K were into trip hop at school. Plus wrong time. 

Great lp. It was EVERYWHERE. Sent a load of people off into Isaac Hayes who didn’t know which side their soul was buttered. Paved the way for a sort of heroin chic in her vocal. Wisely they didn’t milk it afterwards but nobody would have blamed them. 

Briefly led to interest in furthest reaches of Bristol otherwise untouched by mankind. 

glad that this thread continues

This is probably the best of the albums suggested so far. 

When it came out, I totally mistrusted the hype and it was over a year before I got a copy. Played it to death. Still go back to it now

Never got round to seeing them live which I regret but it is an absolute masterpiece 

I wasn't a fan but have to admit I did like the singles.  Particularly liked the guitar hook in Glory Box which had an angry bluesy sound and I'll confess, I have often jammed along to it.

Her vocals were superb.

Great thread, thanks TSB - please keep it up.

 

Dummy was one of those rare albums that seemed into every corner of the media (*) and influenced the feel of so many songs for a long time after its release. It was a side of one of the few tapes that accompanied me around the world in 1995.

 

((*) a bit like wot Moby's Play did in 1999, only without the compulsion to punch whatever it was that was playing the music)

The Ike sample from Glory Box being in Tricky's Hell is Round the Corner, of course. 

Dummy beat Maxinquaye for the Mercury Music Prize that year too, as well as PJ Harvey and Oasis' debut.  

About as contemporary as it'll get on this thread, today's selection:

 

Michael Kiwanuka - 'Kiwanuka'

Kiwanuka is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter  Michael Kiwanuka. It was released on 1 November 2019 through Polydor and Interscope Records. The album won the 2020 Mercury Prize and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards. 

On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Kiwanuka has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Dave Simpson of The Guardian hailed Kiwanuka as a "bold, expansive, heartfelt, sublime album" and one of the best of the decade, while Dorian Lynskey of Q called it a "compassionate, career-defining masterpiece". In her review for NME, Elizabeth Aubrey highlighted the personal nature of its lyrics, commending it as "a daring leap of self-affirmation."

 

Singles from Kiwanuka:

     1."You Ain't the Problem"
     Released: 13 August 2019

     2. "Hero"
     Released: 10 October 2019

     3. "Piano Joint (This Kind of Love)"
     Released: 16 October 2019

     4. "Light"
     Released: 19 June 2020

     5. "Rolling"
     Released: 2020 

 

2 for 1 this week as nobody much about for the last one.

This week: Leftfield - 'Leftism'

 

Leftism is the debut studio album by English  electronic music duo Leftfield, released in 1995 on Columbia Records. It contained a mixture of new tracks along with reworked versions of previous Leftfield singles. The album contains guest spots from musicians not associated with dance music at the time such as John Lydon from Public Image Ltd. (and formerly of Sex Pistols) and Toni Halliday from Curve. 

On its release, the album was well received from the British press with positive reviews from the NME and Q. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1995 but lost to Portishead's Dummy. Leftism sold well and was released months later in the United States.

Later reviews of the album were generally positive. In 2000, Q gave a re-issue of the album four stars out of five, opining that "It's hard to overestimate the significance of Leftism, roundly acknowledged upon its release in 1995 as the first truly complete album experience to be created by house musicians and the first quintessentially British one." Q specifically praised the song "Open Up", describing it as having a "revolutionary fervour that once gripped dance, and that's missing from pretty much all pop music at the moment." In 2010, Clash praised the album, finding that it "remains a landmark in dance music. Perhaps the first successful, fully formed album from the genre, which remains a classic of the era and inspiration for many who followed." Exclaim! referred to the album positively in 1999, stating that Leftism is "regarded as a classic and highly influential dance album, its gleeful risk-taking and lovingly honed production certainly setting a standard for electronic music producers to aim for"

 

Singles from Leftfield
  1. "Song Of Life"
    Released: 30 November 1992
  2. "Open Up"
    Released: 1 November 1993
  3. "Original"
    Released: 13 March 1995
  4. "Afro-Left"
    Released: 24 July 1995
  5. "Release The Pressure"
    Released: 8 January 1996

Love this album, still listen to it regularly. I remember the anticipation waiting for it to come out after Open Up had been a banger for 12 months. Original and Open Up are the best tracks, Space Shanty the most underrated.

It was the first grown up dance album that wasn't a bit novelty (as the Prodigy still were then) and really stacks up to this day, to me, possibly because I am old, it doesn't sound dated in any way.

Rhythm and Stealth was a bit crap though. The newest one with him off of The Fontaines DC on was pretty good but tbh I only listened a couple of times.

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