Timeless (Goldie album)

Timeless
Studio album by Goldie
Released 12 September 1995
Recorded England
Genre
Length 105:47 (2xCD)
75:04 (CD/cassette)
54:46 (2xLP)
Label FFRR Records
Producer Goldie, Rob Playford
Goldie chronology
Timeless
(1995)		 Saturnz Return
(1998)Saturnz Return1998

Timeless is the 1995 debut album by British electronic musician Goldie and universally regarded as a groundbreaking release in the history of drum and bass music.[1] The album blended the complex, chopped and layered breakbeats and deep basslines of jungle and drum and bass with expansive, symphonic strings and atmospherics, and female vocals.

History

Goldie was joined in the studio by engineer/producer Rob Playford (founder of the Moving Shadow label), who did most of the programming and production, with Goldie generating the musical ideas, rhythms and arrangements. Additional engineering and production came from Dego and Marc Mac of 4hero. Diane Charlemagne contributed the bulk of the vocals. It's title track includes what has become the most recognisable and crossover hit from the album, Inner City Life. Tracks such as Angel, You & Me and Kemistry (dedicated to DJ Kemistry) appeared in remastered form from their original 1992/93 versions.

Released on Pete Tong's FFRR label, the album reached no. 7 in the charts. Timeless was simultaneously released as a double album and single album. The single album removed four tracks and featured the original mix of "Sensual". The US release of the double album appended two bonus remixes. At the time Goldie was an active graffiti artist and his paintings are featured in the album's artwork.

Reception

It is listed as one of the best albums of all time in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
The Guardian[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Muzik5/5[6]
NME9/10[7]
Spin9/10[8]
  • Spin (12/95, p. 63) – Ranked No. 17 on Spin's list of the `20 Best Albums Of '95.'
  • Spin (12/95, p.81) – 9 – Near Perfect – "...a fall of light into the urban endzone...Goldie has taken jungle to a more expansive level here, fusing its ominous bad-boy polyrhythms with gorgeous diva vocals, rich piano playing, and upbeat jazzy chords that dissolve into ambient clouds...brings jungle to a new level of cross-fertilization..."
  • Alternative Press (1/96, p.80) – "Starting with the increasingly familiar...palette of jungle/drum and bass music, Goldie and his Metalheadz sculpt expansive sonic constructions that elude the linear confines of descriptive language."
  • Melody Maker (12/23-30/95, pp. 66–67) – Ranked No. 8 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's 'Albums of the Year' – "The jungle underground's figurehead...Massive and jaw-droppingly ambitious."
  • Village Voice (2/20/96) – Ranked No. 23 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
  • New York Times (1/6/96, p. C16) – Included in Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums of `95 – "...the frenetic break beats of Great Britain's jungle dance-music rub against lush ambient music, live instruments and a technology-addled sense of soul..."
  • NME (12/23–30/95, pp. 22–23) – Ranked No. 10 in NME's `Top 50 Albums of the Year' for 1995 – "...an astonishing...symphony of whizzing breakbeats, fluid soundscapes and mind-warping moodswings..."[9]
  • The Guardian – Described the release of the album as one of the "50 key events in the history of dance music" in 2011. [10]

Track listing

2xCD edition

All tracks written by Goldie, except where noted.

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah" (Goldie, Diane Charlemagne, Rob Playford)21:01
2."Saint Angel"7:14
3."State of Mind" (Goldie, Playford)7:05
4."This Is a Bad"5:56
5."Sea of Tears" (Goldie, Playford)12:03
6."Jah the Seventh Seal" (Goldie, Playford)6:36
Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."A Sense of Rage (Sensual V.I.P mix)" (Goldie, Playford)7:05
2."Still Life"10:50
3."Angel"4:56
4."Adrift" (Goldie, Justina Curtis)8:29
5."Kemistry"6:48
6."You & Me"7:04
7."Inner City Life (Baby Boy's edit)" (US bonus track; remix by Photek)3:34
8."Inner City Life (Rabbit's Short Attention Span edit)" (US bonus track; remix by Rabbit in the Moon)4:20
CD/cassette edition
No.TitleLength
1."Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah" (Goldie, Diane Charlemagne, Rob Playford)21:01
2."Saint Angel"7:14
3."State of Mind" (Goldie, Playford)7:05
4."Sea of Tears" (Goldie, Playford)12:03
5."Angel"4:56
6."Sensual"8:13
7."Kemistry"6:48
8."You & Me"7:04

The cassette release is identical to the single CD release, with three songs on the first side and five on the second side.

2xLP/vinyl edition
Sides A/B
No.TitleLength
1."Saint Angel"7:14
2."This Is a Bad"5:56
3."Kemistry (V.I.P mix)"5:35
4."You & Me"7:04
Sides C/D
No.TitleLength
5."Still Life"10:50
6."Still Life (V.I.P mix) (The Latino Dego in Me)"5:26
7."Jah the Seventh Seal" (Goldie, Playford)6:36
8."A Sense of Rage (Sensual V.I.P mix)" (Goldie, Playford)7:05

References

  1. 1 2 Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  2. ↑ Bush, John. "Timeless – Goldie". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  4. ↑ Smith, Andrew (4 August 1995). "Goldie: Timeless (ffrr)". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ Romero, Dennis (3 December 1995). "Goldie 'Timeless' (FFRR)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2016. (Subscription required (help)).
  6. ↑ Howe, Rupert (August 1995). "Midas Rush". Muzik (3): 67.
  7. ↑ Fadele, Dele (5 August 1995). "Goldie – Timeless". NME. Archived from the original on 14 October 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Davis, Erik (January 1996). "Goldie: Timeless". Spin. 11 (10): 81. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Goldie – Timeless CD Album". Cduniverse.com. 13 January 2008. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  10. ↑ Richard Vine. "Goldie releases Timeless | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
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