Goldie

He's known more for his production expertise and musical vision than his skills behind the turntables, but Goldie has been a DJ almost as long as he's been a producer. And despite the fact that it's not his specialty, INCredible Sound of Drum'n'Bass is a solid album. Though his mixing isn't up there with the best (Grooverider, Fabio, Bukem), Goldie's track selection is excellent. Almost half of the tracks either originally appeared on Goldie's Metalheadz label or were produced by close compatriots. The nepotism is hardly a problem, however, since Metalheadz released a raft of crucial singles -- "Pulp Fiction" by Alex Reece, "The Angels Fell" by Dillinja, "To Shape the Future" by Optical, "The Warning" by Grooverider's Codename John project, "Here Come the Drumz" by Doc Scott, "Your Sound" by J. Majik -- that can only help any collection they're on. The second disc also includes two of Goldie's earliest productions, "Manslaughter" and "Terminator." Goldie usually plays out most of the songs before moving on to the next, but drops in plenty of twists to keep listeners into it. True, a better mix album by a less popular name would never sell in the numbers this one has, but Goldie proves with INCredible Sounds of Drum'n'Bass that his status as jungle superstar number one is untouched. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide