Timeless (Goldie album)

Timeless
Studio album by Goldie
Released	September 12, 1995
Recorded	England
Genre	Drum and bass, jungle
Length	105:07 [2xCD] 74:33 [CD]
Label	FFRR Records
Producer	Goldie and Rob Playford
Goldie chronology
Timeless (1995) Saturnz Return (1998)

Timeless is the 1995 debut album from Goldie and is a groundbreaking release in the history of drum and bass music. 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, creating a crossover hit. It is listed as one of the best albums of all time in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

History

Goldie was joined in the studio by engineer/producer Rob Playford (aka Timecode), founder of the renowned 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.

Released on Pete Tong's FFRR label, the album reached #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 U.S. 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

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(C+)

• Spin (12/95, p. 63) - Ranked #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 #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 #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 England'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 #10 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 - "...an astonishing...symphony of whizzing breakbeats, fluid soundscapes and mind-warping moodswings..."

Track listing

Double-disc album

Disc 1

1. "Timeless" – 21:01
   • i. Inner City Life
   • ii. Pressure
   • iii. Jah
2. "Saint Angel" – 7:14
3. "State of Mind" – 7:05
4. "This Is a Bad" – 5:56
5. "Sea of Tears" – 12:03
6. "Jah The Seventh Seal" – 6:36

Disc 2

1. "A Sense of Rage (Sensual VIP Mix)" – 7:05
2. "Still Life" – 10:50
3. "Angel" – 4:56
4. "Adrift" – 8:29
5. "Kemistry" – 6:48
6. "You and Me" – 7:04
7. "Inner City Life (Baby Boy's Edit)" – 3:34
   • Remix by Photek, U.S. bonus track
8. "Inner City Life (Rabbit's Short Attention Span Edit)" – 4:20
   • Remix by Rabbit in the Moon, U.S. bonus track

Single-disc album

1. "Timeless"
   • i. Inner City Life
   • ii. Pressure
   • iii. Jah
2. "Saint Angel"
3. "State of Mind"
4. "Sea of Tears"
5. "Angel"
6. "Sensual" – 8:13
7. "Kemistry"
8. "You and Me"

Double LP album

Side A

1. "Saint Angel"
2. "This is a bad"

Side B

1. "Kemistry (V.I.P. Mix)"
2. "You & Me"

Side C

1. "Still Life"
2. "Still Life - V.I.P. Mix (The Latino Dego in Me)"

Side D

1. "Jah the Seventh Seal"
2. "A Sense of Rage (Sensual V.I.P. Mix)

External links

• Timeless 2xCD at discogs.com
• Timeless CD at discogs.com