Rhythm and Stealth [CD]

Ten tracks; not a long album, but still a more varied one than most dance CDs, and there's not a hint of filler. Leftfield mix pounding techno, edgy rapping and soulfull chill-out togethor passionately. Because the tempo of the album varies there are natural stand-out tracks. At times the album sounds like The Future Sound of London, at others it is more familiar to fans of The Prodigy.

The bassline of Phat Planet must stand-out as one of the most instantly recognisable musical pieces of the last ten years. Even today, people will recognise it instantly, despite the fact it's only claim to fame was a 30 second beer advert over five years ago. As break-beat driven techno goes, I struggle to think of another track that matches it.

The album's big single, Afrika Shox, guest-starring the legendary Afrika Bambaataa is space-age big-beat with some incredible vocals. The live rapping blends with an incredible vocoded voice. Dub Gusset, 6/8 War and Double Flash are all pounding dub techno that are best appreciated through a good pair of sub-woofers.

Away from this hard edged dance-floor filling music, there is another side to Leftfield that is, in its own way, just as powerful. The spaced-out singing of Swords, the warm strings of El Cid and the blissfull Rino's Prayer may not have cement-cracking basslines or awe-inspiring break-beats, but their musical strength is just as strong.

Overall, for fans of artists like FSOL, Prodigy and Underworld, Rhythmn & Stealth is an absolutely essential purchase.

Then, completely out of the blue, the other day I suddenly had '6/8 War' going round and round my head, and it stayed there until I finally got the record out and listened to it again. What a brilliant piece of work this is. I can't believe I haven't bothered with it for so long. The dark, dubby minimalism starts looking wildly before its time - this sounds like prototype Grime almost - and the record as a whole is dense and many-layered.

If you were disappointed when you bought it, try it again.

I can only presume that the bad reviews of this album are due to people expecting a leftism-style sequel. However, this album contains many tracks that make this well worthy of five stars in my opinion. Roots Manuva brilliantly opens the album with 'dusted' which is followed by arguably the albums greatest moment 'phat planet'. Used to help promote Guiness it is probably their best known track, however they have so much more to offer as this album illustrates.

'Chant of a poor man' continues in the similar style of the two songs previous but for me the album reaches its peak with the fantastic single 'Afrika Shox', made all the more brilliant with the great vocals provided by Afrika Bambaataa. Those looking for leftism-style material will probably appreciate the inclusion of 'swords', a chilled out track not too dissimilar to 'original' on leftism.

No Leftism 2 but worth the wait none the less!Shame about the split that followed the release of 'swords' as the last single but the standard has definately been set!

Slightly scary music from the duo, still worth buying though