Devil's Advocate - Dave Clarke

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it rate alongside the competition	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	-  -
Disadvantages:	-  -  -

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

He isn't called "The Baron" for nothing. Over the past years Dave Clarke has established himself as one of the very best DJs in the world. His ventures into production include this album "Devil's Advocate" and many of his now legendary remixes. He has done remixes for just about everyone from Depeche Mode, Chemical Brothers, Leftfield to Laurent Garnier. Dave Clarke is the man behind "Kernkraft400", a huge dancefloor hit that got very cheesy; but he was smart to go under the name of "Zombie Nation" for that production.

Dave's roots lay way back in the 1980s. He started off DJing in hiphop where he became a master of the decks and mixer; he still uses a hiphop style of mixing when DJing today. His use of the crossfader and scratching prove that. Then he moved on from that and started to DJ in Acid House and later Hardcore in the late 1980s. He started recording his own tracks then, under various names. The late 80s and early 90s was the real hayday of hardcore music. Then in the mid 90s, Dave moved on again, his style always evolving. He moved on to techno; it still had the roughness of hardcore but it still had a real Detroit style techno feel to it. More releases followed including the very successful "Red" series. The trilogy of releases all went down a storm in 95 to 96. The last of three gaining top 40 status. Nowadays these records are very sought after; so if you, like me, have the Red series on vinyl count yourself lucky! Dave marched on and on through the nineties with his tough brand of techno and house all mixed up with post punk vibes (he is known to drop the sex pistols into his sets) and a distinct hiphop vibe with his mixing vibe.

Ok so that's a quick summary of the man himself. I got into Dave Clarke by listening to one of his remixes. My brother bought one of Dave Clarke's remixes of Depeche Mode, I think the single was "I Feel Love". When I heard it, I didn't know what to think; he had taken the record and given it the biggest bassline ever; this was like nothing I had ever heard before and I was totally blown away. My curiousity about him grew as my brother told me of his legendary sets at Shine in Belfast and to hear this myself I bought one of his mix CD's "The World Service". And yet again I was blown away; it was amazing and this opened my eyes to a whole new genre of music I had never explored before. So here is his album "The Devil's Advocate", released in 2003 and still one of my favourite albums to date.

"Way of Life" kicks the album off; the big authrotive beat from the word go means it's going to be a pumping song. It would be classed as techno but with Dave it's never the simple, there are hints of genres creeping in. The vocals on the track are fantastic; not singing, more like a rap. The lyrics are infectious and go with the tune perfectly; DJ Rush is the guest on vocals and he does it oh so well. "Hey freaks in the club, here's your chance to dance, lets go lets go." The song lasts about six minutes but that is around average for a dance track. It's a fantastic track with big drum rolls at the end to round it all off. This song has a really strong message to it. Dave Clarke called it "a message of intent". He made this big, blasting, monster tune to vent all his anger at people trying to copy his style and doing rip-offs of the Red series. So basically he ripped himself off one more time by making this song which is similar in style to Red.

"What was her name?" is blended right in, there isn't a gap left as usual on albums. The beat to this track is a normal house 4x4, but there are electro sound effects done on a synth or a guitar. This song is very dark and it would fit perfectly into one of Dave's DJ sets. The vocals are done in a kind of punk style on this track. The vocals are performed by Chicks On Speed and they deliver them with such attitude and punch. This song is basically about a girl who goes to all the parties and really fashionable but she is very guarded and no-one really knows anything about her. "Her ambitions are a well kept secret, even her friends don't know what she intends."

"The Wiggle" is exaclty what it says; this tune is so funky and it will literally have you shaking your ass. The funky bass, the hints of trumpets all blend in perfectly to make this one fantastic tune. It doesn't build up or slow down; it just proceeds along at this great pace. After that funkiness we are given a hiphop treat. "Blue On Blue" has a real old school hiphop beat to it complete with bomb, bullets, warzone sound effects. Mr. Lif raps on this track and his rhymes are fantastic. The words have great depth and meaning to them; it's all based around war and the current climate of terrorism we live in. The words are heartfelt but full of angst as well. This track shows Dave Clarke going back to his past when he was a hiphop DJ and this proves he hasn't lost his touch at all. "Deo Gratis" takes another direction. This a pure electro track from start to finish; it the background strings are overlapped by the heavy, grainy electro sounds and then at the end of the track it all goes a bit spooky with a strange piece of organ playing. A short but great little tune that acts more as an interlude for the next song.

"Stay Out Of The Light" is a really dark song; of course there is Dave's customary blasting house beat but it's a lot deeper than that. The darkness comes from the gritty electro style effects in the background; done on a keyboard I think. The good old synth style noises make an entrance in the track and the tune twists and turns as if trying to stay away from the light. Halfway through the high pitched noises return except the beat behind it is more of a tribal style. All in all it's a long, drawn out track but again the production is flawless and it has been well crafted. If that song got a little too down tempo towards the end then you will be revived by the pure techno vibes of "Just Ride". The techno beat is quick and unrelenting with the typical techno hi-hat noise. Dave Clarke is well reknowned for his real jack-hammer, blasting style and this song sums it up. This is one that again wouldn't be out of place in a club; the MC on this track does a great job and his hiphop style makes this track diverse. An immense piece of music from start to finish.

"Dirtbox" is quite an experimental track, the beats are dubbed at start but then it blends into a techno style. This song has a real mix of everything from hints of tribal drums and sample of old vocals that blast out of the speaker shouting "wow". The rock edge comes out ever so slightly with the slightest airing of a guitar rift before descending into pure tribal madness at the end. "Disgraceland" picks up the earlier vibe of "What Was Her Name?" and Chicks on Speed at that real punk/rock edge to it. Their vocals are packed with attitude and they just speak their mind the whole way through this track. "Johnny Rotten is a nobody..what's it all about..it's all about..Disgraceland!" The tune produced by Dave Clarke is rather funky with the hints of guitar rifts and it reminds me slightly of "The Wiggle". The tune is house but with a rock edge given by the drums and the guitar. I love this track.

"The Wolf" takes us back into what he is best known for: techno and house. This is a savage techno beat, quick and furious with hints of bongos and tribal elements. The trumpets make this track a real funky but credible club track. It fades away in parts and he dubs out the beat and it sounds as if in the background. Then the tune builds with the trumpets and acid-house effects signal the entrance of the beat again. This pattern repeats itself a couple of times throughout the track and it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride. When this came out the techno and house DJs were all playing this and it's easy to see why. "Addendum" is the last track on the album. It's an electro track that last around six minutes. Even though the beat starts straight away it takes a while for the tune to come in. It's a lot more slower than the previous songs. It's eerie and creepy in parts due to the way the synth has been played and the sound effects that were added. This song reminds me of a machine and some of the effect almost sound like the steam coming out of a machine, strange but that's the only way I can dscribe the vibe of this track.

So the album come to an end and what do I think? Well I am a big Dave Clarke fan and I love this album; it brings together all his skills as a remixer and as a DJ. This album manages to capture all the different sides to his music. The album incorporates everything from techno, house, hiphop, electro, tribal to rock and punk. Everything on this album really suggests that he put everything into making this, every track has been produced with care and attention to detail. But amongst all that the distinct Dave Clarke feel is never lost.

I know that lots of people will leave the comment "not really my style" but you really have to give this album a chance. Yes, it may be somewhat different to people's usual pop, metal, indie artists but I know lots of people who love metal and rock and hiphop but also love Dave Clarke because of his skills and the way he packs in so many different styles. And if you are a fan of dance music then this album is a must have. However don't be expecting something chirpy and happy; this album is deep and dark.

The album will be found in the dance section of HMV and Virgin and is readily available; there should be no problems getting it. It's quite unassuming in it's black cover with gothic style lettering but the cover isn't of great importance in my opinion.

It can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for around £11.99

Check out these useful websites for more information:
www.daveclarke.com
www.skint.net ~ Dave Clarke's record label which is also home to XPress2, FC Kahuna, Fatboy Slim, Freq Nasty and Midfield General.
www.djhell.de
www.chicksonspeed.com