Faithless

Having been making music for over ten years (their first single, "Salva Mea," hit British airwaves in 1995), English club superstars Faithless celebrated their longevity by issuing Forever Faithless, a greatest-hits compilation that contains nearly all of their singles ("Take the Long Way Home," "Crazy English Summer," and "If Lovin' You Is Wrong" are missing) as well as one brand new track, "Reasons (Saturday Night)" (the U.K. version has two more that aren't on here). And while most of the songs fall easily into the house realm, there are a few -- "Don't Leave," "Mass Destruction" -- that venture into pop and trip-hop (or perhaps trip-pop) and show off the band's versatility, or at least ability to appeal to a wider swatch of people. There aren't really any surprises on Forever Faithless, and the selections are pretty much spread out between all four of the group's full-length releases -- meaning that if you already own them there's not much of a reason to get this album except for the new track, which is good but not exceptional -- but it makes for a very successful overview of the band nonetheless. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi