Leftfield: 1995 жылғы «Leftism» альбомы

1995 studio album by Leftfield

Leftism is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Leftfield, released in 1995 on Columbia Records. It contained a mixture of new tracks along with reworked versions of previous Leftfield singles. The album contains guest spots from musicians not associated with dance music at the time such as John Lydon from Public Image Ltd. (and formerly of Sex Pistols) and Toni Halliday from Curve. The album was described as progressive house, although some journalists found that label too limiting, suggesting the album incorporated many genres. After completing the album, the duo initially were not pleased with it. On its release, the album was well received from the British press with positive reviews from the NME and Q. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1995 but lost to Portishead's Dummy. Leftism sold well and was released months later in the United States. Critics have praised the album as one of the major album length works of dance music, with Q referring to it as "the first truly complete album experience to be created by house musicians and the first quintessentially British one".

Leftism is an album that consists of singles recorded previously by members Paul Daley and Neil Barnes between 1992 and 1995, with the exception of the single "Not Forgotten" which is not included, and other new tracks. These earlier singles included "Release the Pressure", "Song of Life", and "Open Up". Lemn Sissay guests on "21st Century Poem". After completing the production on Leftism, Rob Daley was unhappy with how the album turned out stating that "It sounded shit [ ] It seemed to have no cohesion, the tracks just didn't seem to hang well together. But having lived with it for a while it sounds much better." Paul Daley echoed these statements saying "We did all the tracks, listened to them and decided it sounded a fucking mess [ ] we went back, messed around with the running order and chopped a lot of things out. Hopefully now it sounds complete, something that can be listened to in one go."

Later reviews of the album were generally positive. In 2000, Q gave a re issue of the album four stars out of five, opining that "It's hard to overestimate the significance of Leftism, roundly acknowledged upon its release in 1995 as the first truly complete album experience to be created by house musicians and the first quintessentially British one." Q specifically praised the song "Open Up", describing it as having a "revolutionary fervour that once gripped dance, and that's missing from pretty much all pop music at the moment." The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2000 it was voted number 59 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2007, The Guardian included the album in their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die".

Released in 1995 on CD, cassette and double vinyl. A limited edition triple vinyl version was also released at the same time, containing "Cut for Life" (7:09) (replacing "Song of Life"), "Half Past Dub" (3:38) and a longer version of "Open Up" (8:44). It was re released in 2017.

The second CD contains B sides and remixes from the original singles, as well as "Cut for Life".

CD and digital contains eleven "brand new" remixes.