Gateway to the good stuff

It's somewhere near the end of 1992, I have just turned 15 and despite the notion of attending a rave being a million miles away from me - due to a combination of age and my upbringing not allowing me anywhere near these illegally run events - I had fully entrenched myself in the music that had been driven from the underground and into the mainstream.

Some of you may fondly remember Energy Rush: a compilation album series first launched in 1992 offering the non-rave attending listener a selection of rave/dance tunes that had crept into the top 40 - some would label them 'one hit wonders' and many of them were.

Struggling as I was at this time to get on board with any of the guitar based music my peers were enjoying I had turned to compilations as a way of accessing more Electronic music after my introduction to techno lords The Prodigy and "Experience"...still to this day a wonderful listen and lesson in how you could cross over from raves to the mainstream, and win.

You only have to look at the covers of Energy Rush and Energy Rush II (the latter of which was my first purchase) to see the names that appear there are significant.

Yes, there are the throwaway tracks and some downright cringe worthy efforts among this, no doubt in an attempt to ensure broader appeal, but the bulk of it was fantastic.

What hooked me in was The Shamen, Orbital, Liquid, Altern 8, Bizarre Inc and Dr Alban.

I freely admit this was for different reasons. Dr Alban's "It's My Life" had featured on a Tampax advert in the early 90's to the backdrop of a girl roller-blading. A vivid memory indeed. The Shamen's "Ebeneezer Goode" was everywhere on the radio and in Golddiggers nightclub in Chippenham - more of that later - and was catchy as hell. I credit my friend Luke for introducing me to Boss Drum, The Shamen's sophomore effort as an Electronic outfit and an expansive acid house/techno crossover. As it turned out "E's are good" was just a way of slipping drugs into lyrics. Who knew at 15? I just thought it was catchy.

What can I say about "Sweet Harmony"? Liquid had totally nailed this and despite being an XL Recordings act (and definite poorer cousins of The Prodigy in that regard) the track was everywhere and you just sang and danced along. The piano intro still makes me shiver...

Bizarre Inc. had a knack of writing really punchy acid house/pop tunes with "I'm Gonna Get You" and "Playing With Knives" being the best examples.

Altern 8 were The Prodigy that might have been. Picking up their only album release "Full On...Mask Hysteria" whilst on a German exchange trip - the UK release slipped into the background quickly - I immediately became hooked on Mark Archer and Chris Peat's infectious heavy bass rave tunes. Had I known that about 3 months after I got into them they'd been performing live at Golddiggers I would've snapped off an arm to go!

Others during this era deserve honorable mentions as they were significant to me: The Scientist, 2 Unlimited, Cappella, Haddaway, SL2, Josh Wink, Urban Cookie Collective, Culture Beat, Opus, The Real McCoy, Atlantic Ocean.

Many of these were pure Euro Techno/Dance cheese, and cannot compare to the genius of those who went on to become 'stayers' in the industry, but tell that to 15/16 year old Neil at the roller disco/ice rink on a Saturday evening; my only way of experiencing this music outside of my bedroom. Amazing. Uplifting. Like being at a rave without drugs because I WAS, and that may explain why I never needed chemical stimulants to enjoy this music.

I came to the party without it so why bother?

That brings me on to Orbital. Energy Rush gave me a brief exposure to the Hartnoll brothers with "Halcyon", a swirling and ethereal ambient techno track that seemed to get better with every listen.

Q Magazine published their Albums Of The Year in 1994 and by that point - as well as my Energy Rush compilations - I had The Prodigy, The Shamen, The Grid (thanks Matt), Altern 8, Josh Wink, Capella and a few others to my album collection.

But I didn't have Orbital.

"Snivilisation" was my first exposure to an Orbital full length album, despite it being their third after "Orbital I" and "Orbital II". I later was played "The Earth Is Burning" by my friend Matt who informed me it had been part of a now legendary live Glastonbury set, and I can see why, I KNOW they are good live, despite having never seen them....yet.

The whole vibe of "Snivilisation" is just incredible. Its eclectic mixture of sounds, textures, styles and samples just works as a complete listen, and it was the first (and still finest) example of an artist using samples/words over music as a way of creating mood or enhancing the importance of the track...in Orbital's case it swayed from the whimsical freak show introductions on "I Wish That I Had Duck Feet" to questioning our very roots of existence on the 20+ minute drum & bass influenced "Are We Here?". During this album you also get to enjoy some thrash on the catchy "Quality Seconds" and beautiful use of sampling and mixing on "Kein Trink Wasser" as multiple piano tracks are overlaid to create a swirling sound.

This was my true gateway album, and really started me wanting to hear and experience more unconventionally created music.

It was at this point in my life I realised I was a true completist: once I heard something I liked I needed every conceivable piece of that artist's output.

More of that to come courtesy of Liam, Maxim, Keith and Leeroy aka The Prodigy :)