Music Matters

Having never gotten the chance to see Faithless live and the fact that they’re now officially broken up, does not bode well with me.  How I got to be such a big Faithless fan rather surprises me, since their hit Insomnia took off in the late 90s, I’d bought album after album and enjoyed just about every one of them!  A nice added perk to Faithless is Dido’s involvement with the band as she’s Rollo’s sister, so she is always featured on at least one song and he’s been known to produce her albums as well.

Reverence  starts things off quite nicely, the hooks are developed, the sound groovy and chill.  Insomnia is of course the biggest track here “I can’t get no sleep” … Maxi Jazz’s rhymes so smooth like butter on a song.  You just get lost in their music so easily.  Don’t Leave, Salva Mea, If Lovin You Is Wrong, are all also standout tracks on this record.  Very nice way to start off their collection!  I’m proud to have been a follower of Faithless from the beginning, and Reverence started me off the way a Faithless fan should.

Sunday 8 PM is another Faithless classic.  The cover is also amazing, that of Faithless venue/gig entrance.  First released in 1998, Sunday 8 PM includes an incredible instrumental to start things off right, The Garden.  While Why Go? Is an incredible track, God Is A DJ is perhaps their biggest hit here.  Bring My Family Back is also classic Faithless.  It may not have as classic Faithless tracks as their debut got, but Sunday 8 PM was definitely a step in the right direction!

Outrospective was released three years later in 2001, which contains probably my favorite Faithless track ever, We Come 1.  To see that live would have been insane.  One Step Too Far was a nice addition with Dido on the vocals as well.  Tarantula is classic Faithless.  Muhammad Ali always struck me as a little odd for Faithless, being more reggae sounding, but it still holds its own on this album.  Maybe not my favorite Faithless album, but it’s still Faithless, and still kicks ass.

Before The Dance came out, No Roots was my all time favorite Faithless CD. Released in 2004, it includes I Want More, Miss U Less See U More, Everything Will Be All Right Tomorrow, and No Roots.  As usual, Dido makes an appearance.  The thing that struck me as genius about this album is the fact that they developed it to be more lyrical in the beginning and turning into more instrumental towards the end, and it works wonderfully.

Unfortunately in 2006, Faithless released the worst album in their career, To All New Arrivals. Perhaps this was the sign of an end to come soon, and it seemed as an afterthought after just having released a best of disc as well.  The only good track worth mentioning is Music Matters.  It was sad but true, Faithless had hit their rut, and hard, such a bad CD I couldn’t even listen to the whole thing and to this day I don’t think I ever will.  I’m glad they have a saving grace on this CD though, Music Matters is indeed a great track if nothing else.  It’s also where the lyrics come from that are featured on my blog page. :)

When Faithless released The Dance in 2010, it was a masterpiece.  I wasn’t too upset to hear that they were splitting up after hearing The Dance.  Yeah, it sucks I won’t get to see them live (I guess there’s always Faithless Soundsystem, what’s left of Faithless touring now), but The Dance is absolutely perfect in every way.  Starting off with Not Going Home, and Feel Me being my favorite track, then the reggae sounding Crazy Bal’Heads.  Tweak Your Nipple is classic Faithless, North Star features Dido again, and Sun To Me closes it out perfectly.  I’m glad to have followed Faithless from the beginning, and I’m proud to own The Dance, having special ordered it online all the way from across the waters since it was only available in the UK.

You can’t go wrong with Faithless, but if there’s one CD I suggest you start out with…. Do yourself a favor and check out The Dance.  Then backtrack and check out everything else.

It’s okay that you’re a Yankees fan Maxi Jazz…. I still love ya!

After all,

You told me that music matters.

P.S. It was cool chatting with Sister Bliss online the day you randomly held a contest online to see who would ask the most intriguing question.  I think the question ended up being “which song makes you cry” or something of the sort, but the reward was for festival tickets in the UK anyway.  Ah, good times!

- Dan Golden, June 2011 (email any comments to [email protected])