''Timeless'' is the debut studio album by British electronic musician

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...

. It was released on 31 July 1995 and is universally regarded as a groundbreaking release in the history of

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

music. The album blended the complex, chopped and layered

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

s and deep basslines of

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

and

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 Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms ...

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 Diane Charlemagne (22 February 1964 – 28 October 2015) was a British jazz, soul, funk and electronic dance music singer and songwriter. Biography Charlemagne was lead singer with 1980s funk band 52nd Street, having replaced previous lead voc ...

contributed the bulk of the vocals. Its title track includes what has become the most recognisable and crossover hit from the album, " Inner City Life". Tracks such as "

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

", "You & Me" and "Kemistry" (dedicated to

DJ Kemistry Valerie Olukemi A "Kemi" Olusanya (13 October 1963 – 25 April 1999), commonly known by her stage name Kemistry, was a leading English drum and bass DJ of the early 1990s, half of duo Kemistry & Storm, and co-founder of the Metalheadz rec ...

) appeared in remastered form from their original 1992/93 versions. Released on

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...

FFRR FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label previously run and founded by English DJ Pete Tong. Originally the dance music label of London Records, FFRR is currently a sublabel of Parlophon ...

label, the album reached no. 7 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. ''Timeless'' was simultaneously released as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

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

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es.

Reception

It is listed as one of the best albums of all time in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. *''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' (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 Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' (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 ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' (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 ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' (2/20/96) – Ranked No. 23 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. *''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' (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 ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' (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..." *''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' – Described the release of the album as one of the "50 key events in the history of dance music" in 2011.

Track listing

2×CD edition CD/cassette edition The cassette release is identical to the single CD release, with three songs on the first side and five on the second side. 2×LP/vinyl edition

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1995 debut albums Goldie albums