Reverence - Faithless > Reviews > A Favourite Thing

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money

Advantages:	Great music
Disadvantages:	Some duds

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Faithless are one of my favourite artists. In case you don’t know Faithless are made up of Maxi Jazz, Jamie Catto, Sister Bliss and Rollo. This foursome have had a huge amount of success, and still seem to have their feet on the ground. I am a huge fan so forgive me if I seem biased. Anyway this album starts brilliantly with the title track, and it is the deadpan tones of Maxi Jazz which make it work so well. My favourite lyrics have to be:

‘The mistake is to take without givin’, from within, so take a pace back, face facts- you don’t need eye’s to see you need vision’

Next comes ‘Don’t leave’ a very sickly love song, and I’m not at all sure about Catto’s vocals. This song doesn’t have the ‘Faithless’ touch (maybe it’s due to the fact that it is written without Maxi Jazz’s input?). Overall a very forgettable track.

Things perk up with ‘Salva Mea’, it begins with Dido’s haunting backing vocals, and the keyboards really kick in- the blood starts pumping. And Maxi Jazz takes over:

‘I wanna take a look at the world behind these eyes…’

This is an excellent track and definitely one of the best on the album. Unfortunately this album seems to have a ‘great track, bad track, great track, indifferent track’ order in the listing.

‘If Lovin' You Is Wrong’ is a bit on the sweet side, for the dark and thoughtful Jazz. But it’s not a track that I’d particularly hate.

Fifth track is ‘Angeline’ another weak track (and unsuprisingly written without Jazz and sung by Catto). On the positive side the song is very short and here comes the track we’ve been waiting for: ‘Insomnia’. This is without doubt one of the best songs by Faithless. It starts of with the Westminister chimes and the annoying ticking of clocks drifts in and out. Maxi Jazz and co have created a masterpiece here. Credit goes to Sister Bliss and Rollo for the slick production. I just love the lyrics:

‘I can’t sleep, something’s all over me. Greasy insomnia please release me and let me dream about making mad love on the heath, tearing off tights with my teeth but there’s no relief…I CAN’T GET NO SLEEP!’

There’s no doubt that the combination of Maxi Jazz and the wonderful keyboards is at it’s best here. The melody is so catchy, you’ll find yourself humming it hours after hearing it.

Unfortunately here’s the bad track ‘Dirty Ol’ Man’ – well maybe I’m a bit harsh. But ‘He’s a dirty ol’ man, a dirty ol’ man and a friend of mine’ please! It seems like a blasphemy for this track to follow the hypnotic ‘Insomnia’. Eighth track is ‘Flowerstand Man’ written by brother and sister Rollo and Dido (how sweet!). I am not one for romantic songs and although Dido has a fantastic voice, this is one I skip without hesitation.

The next track is ‘Baseball Cap’ which I do quite like, and at this point you are wishing for Maxi Jazz’s vocals to return and fast! I do feel the backing vocals by Catto, Sister Bliss and Dido don’t work that well with the song. It gives the song an almost Shampoo-like feel (remember the group who had the one hit called ‘Uh- oh we’re in trouble!).

Thankfully the album ends well with ‘Drifting away’ which is perfect for any chillout compilation that you may want to create (like there’s none around!). I do really like this track.

There is a ‘bonus CD’ with this album called ‘Irreverence’ where there’s mixes to all the songs on the album apart from ‘If Lovin’ you is wrong’ and ‘Dirty Ol’ Man’. There’s also a track called ‘Soundtrack Jam’ which is a slightly above average song. My favourite mixes on this CD are Salva Mea (Way Out West remix) and Insomnia (Moody Mix).

One thing that I must also give credit to is the personal touch added to the CD booklet of this album. Thee’s a lot of information about who wrote, programmed, produced (etc) on the tracks. The members of the group also have a page each about them, giving a little history. Here I discover that Maxi Jazz’s other great love apart from his faith and music is his Ford Escort Mk 2 RS 2000. Flash!
Other interesting facts are that Jamie Catto has been ‘arrested in nearly every European city for possession of cannabis’. Also Sister Bliss built a shrine to Jim Morrison out of onion peel and stale bread (?!). Let’s not forget Rollo who was expelled for the scouts (but it doesn’t say why!) and can write upside down.
‘Reverence’ is an album that will be in the CD collection of any die-hard Faithless fan. It has some great tracks but the weak one’s let the whole album down.

"Jill Murphy asked me to write about one of my favourite things to help her celebrate her fourth anniversary of cancer-free living and to remind ourselves of all the nice things in the world. It takes more muscles to make a frown than a smile you know. If you'd like to join in, whether you've only just joined ciao, or you've been here ages, you're more than welcome. Just write about one of YOUR favourite things, make your title "A Favourite Thing: [your choice]" and include this paragraph at the foot of your opinion. And post before Friday, 9th August."

p.s how many stupid things can one person do in one day? I have done many, spotted any?