Search - Goldie :: Saturnzreturn

An interesting attempt, but ultimately too self-indulgent an

Steward Willons | Illinois | 07/10/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of Goldie's music and a supporter of any electronic artist who works to break the boundaries of generic convention, I'm sad to be giving this CD a negative review. I wanted it to be great and I wanted to like it. I give Goldie props for a great effort, but it's ultimately unsuccessful.



The first disc is rather staggering - an hour long drum 'n bass "tribute" to his mother. The idea is great, but it makes a few assumptions. Number 1 - it assumes that approximately 30 minutes of vocal work by Goldie himself is a good idea. Goldie's vocals are barely sufficient for a track like "Temper Temper" and anything more is just inappropriate. Number 2 - it assumes that Goldie's personal journey is inherently interesting. The fact that he was abandoned by his mother at a young age is sad, but it's not enough to say "I was abandoned by my mother" and then make an hour-long track assuming some sort of emotional connection. It's a solid effort, but the whole thing still seems rather self-indulgent. Upon listening to "Mother", it seems like it was made more for Goldie's personal edification than anything else. Once the drums kick in, things improve considerably, but since it's sandwiched in between long, vaguely "orchestral" (in the most diluted sense of the word) arrangements, it's just not worth the effort.



The second disc is stronger, but it's still no "Timeless". Goldie has already proved he can work with extended tracks because "Timeless" was, well, a timeless album. I'm not sure why he abandoned his winning formula for this album, but he did. "Temper Temper" is sort of rocking and is an obvious standout track. "Dragonfly" also has some nice moments. Unfortunately, "Chico - Death of a Rockstar", clearly intended to be a substantial track, is just sort of bland. It's around 15-minutes long, but it cannot sustain interest. It actually feels a little bit polite, when it should be gritty and in-your-face.



I knew "SaturnzReturn" had mixed reviews when I bought it. I fully intended to find something the reviewers had missed, something to make me love the album. After living with the album for a while, I have come to the conclusion that it's just not that good. I'm sure the very idea of a track like "Mother" will be interesting to some. For that reason, I would recommend trying to find it used for a good price because it's just not worth the money. Goldie fans would do well to skip this in favor of the superior "Ring of Saturn". While it's technically a remix album, all the tracks that are revisited are also improved. That includes a heavily abbreviated mix of "Mother", which works really well as a hardcore, dark drum 'n bass track.



Here's the breakdown of my final rating. As always, I would give this 2.5 stars if I could.



Courage factor ***** (5 stars)

Effort ****** (4 stars)

Self-indulgance * (1 star)

Execution ** (2 stars)

Success * (1 star)



Overall **1/2 (2.5 stars)"