Goldie
Saturnzreturn
(ffrr/London)
This is one entertainer whose life story reads like the plot to some strange movie. He has been everything from a breakdancer to a graffiti artist and at one point was engaged to Icelandic pixie Bjork. As if that weren’t enough, he’s remixed artists like Bush and is even being talked about on the cast lists of a couple upcoming movies.
While his debut album, Timeless, was a lot more cohesive and well-constructed, his new release is definitely showing signs of his short attention span. If nothing else, one has to give it to Goldie that he’s an ambitious fellow. His new album spans two-CDs and the first track "Mother" (the only one on the first disc) spans over 60 minutes. It’s an epic attempt, but one that falls short. Although there are some highlights (enough for a 15 minute song maximum), the rest of the track wallows along in repetitiveness and tired sounds.
Fortunately, he hits his stride a little better on the second disc of the album. Although one could stand not hearing the hokey line, "UK drum and bass up in your face," his collaboration with rapper KRS-One works well decently on the song "Digital." Teaming up with Noel Gallagher on the song "Temper" works as well with an excellent beat structure underlying some hopped-up guitar riffs. "Letter Of Fate" captures a nice essence with its juxtaposition of electronic and orchestral harmonics.
Overall, the album falls a bit short of expectations coming from the self-proclaimed, "King Of Jungle." While there are some highlights on Saturnzreturn, they fall too far and few between over the span of two CD’s and two hours of music. When he gets focused, he can click it nicely, but unfortunately his mind seems to be on too many other things.
Rating: 5
