Well I’m not sure what I'm going to do for this, but I know I need to do something, and something big! It was a ground braking album of its time, and one that had a profound effect on my musical journey. Released in September 1995 it is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year, I can’t let this occasion go by without marking some sort of artistic gesture to the album. It has been a constant in my music fabric for the last twenty years, I think that is when you know there is something great about an album. like Kind of Blue, Sgt. Pepper's, Catch a fire and so on, you just know when something surmounts it’s musical genre to stick it's head above the pile. I remember hearing Timeless for the first time, it stopped me dead in my tracks! I have always searched music for something different, whether trawling through history or looking to the future. When I first heard Timeless I thought, this is what I’m looking for! This is it! What the hell is it? I remember rushing up to one of the guys behind the counter at Way Ahead Records, and saying, ‘what is this playing, I need it now!’. This was the same guy who let me have Saturnz Return a day before it’s release three years later! (good lad)
I wrote a blog on painting to INcredible Sound of Drum ’n’ Bass mix by Goldie. That was a great painting for me, but now I feel ready to do something to Timeless, In my eyes it is one of the best D&B albums of all time.
Timeless is a complex album, amazingly sophisticated layers of beats intertwine with chest shaking bass, clever samples of light and dark, sublime strings, beautiful atmospheres and some amazing female vocals all merge to give a blend of attitudes. It takes you on a journey and like a rollercoaster, one minute you are soaring majestically high, enjoying the view, then you are plunging into a sonic free-fall. It’s like stroking fluffy clouds one minute, and chewing on broken glass the next! How the album manages to pull all this together cohesively is the real secret to its success for me.
I will keep you inform when I decide on a fitting tribute!
Timeless
Release date September 1995
Disk one (limited edition)
Inner City Life
Pressure
Jah
Disk 2
Saint Angel
State Of Mind
Drums [Live] – Mel Gaynor
Keyboards – Justina Curtis
Vocals – Lorna Harris
This Is A Bad
Drums – Mel Gaynor
Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Justina Curtis
Sea Of Tears
Bass Guitar – Tim Philbert
Drums – Mel Gaynor
Keyboards – Goldie, Justina Curtis
Lead Guitar – Adam Salkeld
Vocals – Lorna Harris
Vocals [Guest] – Caroline Butler, Jamie Goldikus Jr.
Jah The Seventh Seal
Engineer [Originally Engineered By] – R. Playford*
Remix, Producer [Additional Production By] – Dillinja
Vocals – Goldie
A Sense Of Rage (Sensual V.I.P. Mix)
Vocals – Goldie, Justina Curtis
Still Life
Co-producer – Dego
Angel
Co-producer – Dego, Mark Mac*
Adrift
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Howard Bernstein*
Keyboards – Justina Curtis
Percussion – Louis Jardin*
Producer – R. Playford*
Saxophone [Saxaphone] – Steve Williamson
Vocals – Cleveland Watkiss
Written-By – Justina Curtis
Kemistry
Engineer [Original Engineering] – Mark Rutherford
Vocals – D. Charlemagne*
You & Me
Engineer [Additional Engineered By] – R. Playford*
Engineer [Original Engineering] – Dego
Vocals – Lorna Harris