Propellerheads - Decksanddrumsandrockandroll

Ah the mighty Propellerheads . When I thought about doing this review I figured this album would definately be a 5/5. The album that brought "Spybreak!" and "Take California" has to be a 5. While the Propellerheads certianly helped bring big beat into the main stream, their debut (and pretty much only album) I discovered, is not quite as brilliant all the way through. Some of the songs could have used a bit more musical development and they feel a little cut and paste. Its not unusual for the genre but it becomes noticeable in some of the tracks.

But that is the only bad part about it. I award the Propellerheads the drum programming excellence award for 90's. This is one of the finest examples of groovy big beat music. That lobby scene in the Matrix just would not have been that same if it had been set to Kylie Monogue's "Locomotion".

Decksanddrumsandrockandroll was part of my DJ box for a long time, especially track 10, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". But since not all the tracks had the same playability on the dance floor, I didn't really listen to the album properly. Having gone through it now, it's nice to hear some of the slighty slower tracks and especially the inclusion of Shirley Bassey on track 6 "History Repeating".

This is a great album and definitely one to own if you were part of the late 90's pills-and-party scene.

(For those who care: Will White has been teaming up with the Merv Peppler of Eat Static fame, to form the Flexitones. But more on that when we get to that review.)