Leftfield - Rhythm And Stealth

Label: Hard Hands
Cat No: HANDCD4
Format: CD
Date: 1999
Style: Techno/ Electronic Dub
Rating: 6/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

There’s nothing like the curse of having your first album labelled a classic. It’s happened to so many bands. The questions are what do you do and where do you go with the follow up album? Every pundit and reviewer has said your debut album is one of the most ground breaking, life affirming and miraculous recordings ever put on wax. So you’ve not only got to prove that your debut wasn’t a fluke but that it’s successor has to be so much more. Welcome then to the difficult second album scenario. A classic case of having the world on your shoulders and everyone waiting for you to slip up. A situation where most bands do indeed slip up and produce an album no where near the fabled status of their debut. So it’s hello Leftfield and welcome to the disappointing second album scenario.

The weight of history is always there like a ball and chain, inescapable and omnipresent, also there to say “ooh it’s not as good as the first one is it?”. The problem is Leftfield released the classic Leftism and then waited a good five years to follow it up. In that time Leftism had almost become a sacred relic. Everybody talked about in revered tones, it was cited as the classic dance album of the 90’s, a smorgasbord of all that was right with crossover music, something that appealed to the weekend raver, the dance puritan, the Indie kid and the causal record buyer. Leftfield could never live up this weight of history and with Rhythm and Stealth they joined so many others in failing the difficult second album trial by fire.

The thing is Rhythm and Stealth isn’t a bad album. If it had been released by any other band it may have been hailed as something special. However it’s not Leftism 2 as so many people wanted. In fact if anything it’s a step forward as well as a step backwards for Leftfield. Rhythm and Stealth is sometimes outstanding and other times as a big a disappointment as finding out that Santa is really your dad wearing a white wig and drunk on cheap sherry.

Rhythm and Stealth begins in fine style with the track ‘Dusted‘. All dubbed out space fxs and keyboards, sleek techno beats and a planet devouring bass line. Add the icy cool vocals of Roots Manuva to the mix and simmer until your brain is slowly crushed by the slow gravitational pull of the track. ‘Dusted’ is as equally strong as the majority of tracks on Leftism and clearly shows the production skills of Barnes and Daley. An impressive track, which would probably worked better had it been later on in the album.

Is that drums I hear? Oh yes baby, it’s drums alright. Track two ‘Phat Planet’ (or that song from the Guinness advert featuring the surfers and Moby Dick) is an awesome avalanche of drums. Slamming metallic beats meet a surging bass line in a simply constructed track which has the destructive power of a 747 laden with TNT crashing into the Empire State building. ‘Phat Planet’ sounds like a massive tribal drum session at the end of time, the beats threatening to raise the dead from the grave for one last triumphant dance. ‘Phat Planet’ is also perhaps the best dance floor choon to come out of the UK in a good few years. It’s those drums man.

After the sure pummelling of ‘Phat Planet’, Leftfield decide to calm things down with the chilled dub of “Chant of a Poor man’ a companion piece to the more downbeat tracks from Leftism. The track features the smooth Rasta tones of MC Cheshire Cat and manages to combine the charm of old school dub with the more modern digi-dub styling of the On-U sound system. My only criticism is that it sounds like it could have easily come from any early 90’s dub dance record.

Things start to slip up for Leftfield with the fourth track ‘Double Flash’. The track attempts to combine hard hitting techno beats and cut off bass squelches, which may work on the dance floor but as a listening experience it highly unexciting. Thing is when your being repetive there has got to be some underlying dynamic to the experience. ’Double Flash; fails to deliver this.

Leftfield then slow the pace of the album down to a crawl with the slow static ridden ambience of ‘El Cid‘. A song led by gentle pulses of melody and subtle ticking drum line. As an ambient number it’s nearly up there with ‘Melt’ from Leftism. However it’s overlong and outstays it’s welcome towards it’s end. It’s also the most experimental track that Leftfield have released, which doesn’t help it’s cause either.

Just as you think Rhythm and Stealth is going into terminal nosedive, things are pulled around again with the sublime ‘Africa Shox’. The track is a tribute to the classic electro track ‘Planet Rock’ by Africa Bambaattaa and the Soul Sonic Force and unsurprisingly features Mr Bambaattaa on vocals. The track is pure electro-funk delivered in the classic Leftfield style. Heavy industrial beats join thrilling electronic swishes and whooshes and vocoded vocals in a journey into head tripping and feet moving sounds. As the man says himself “Let’s get electrified” and the track fulfils this promise.

The next track, brings with it an interested question. What is a ‘Dub Gusset’? Answers on a postcard to the usual address please. The track itself is more of the cyber dub that Leftfield have been playing around with on the majority of tracks on Rhythm and Stealth. All metallic beats, sinking bass lines and dubbed out noises. Interesting but no really that inspiring.

Things don’t get much better with the next track ’Swords’ which features Nichole Willis on vocals. The track is another slower number, laced with static ridden (again) Joy Division like keyboards. The track remains fairly sedentary throughout. My advice is get hold of the single of this track which contains a far more hard hitting version of the track.

The final two tracks ‘6/8 War’ and ‘Rino’s prayer’ conform to the sound and structure of the rest of the album. ‘6/8 War’ is more of the heavy cyber dub without any real direction. Whilst ‘Rino’s prayer’ is more static laden ambience, helped by looped chants and a deep deep bass line.

So is Rhythm and Stealth worth spending your hard earn pennies on? Well yes for a few stunning tracks (Phat Planet, Africa Shox and Dusted) but no for the rest. My advice either buy cheap or hunt down the single from the albums (all the good tracks). What Rhythm and Stealth does prove though is that failure is more likely than success when it comes to the difficult second album.