Product Description

With Leftism, Leftfield made the crossover of techno into the pop mainstream two years before the likes of the ChemicalBrothers. Embarking on a series of high-profile collaborations, they introduced to the charts a musical manifesto that had been popular in the clubs for years - including ambient ('Song Of Life'), pure techno, ragga, African tribal chants ('Afro-Left') and the all-important remix. The pumping, snarling 'Open Up', featuring John Lydon, predated the Prodigy in its blend of punk and dance, and 'Original', with Curve's Toni Halliday, ironically inspired a multitude of imitators.Most of these tracks have become ubiquitous through mainstream television and film, and it is easy to forget that, before Leftfield, techno music had only rarely stepped outside clubland.

Track Listing

1. Release The Pressure
2. Afro-Left
3. Melt
4. Song Of Life
5. Original
6. Black flute
7. Space shanty
8. Inspection (Check one)
9. Storm 3000
10. Open up
11. 21st century poem

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5327 in Music
• Released on: 2000-01-10
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ever since they were credited with inventing progressive house with their first single "Not Forgotten" in 1991, Leftfield have been earmarked as pioneers. Their debut album was a glorious fruition of their talents, delivering on all fronts and sealing their place in dance music history. Effortlessly weaving intoxicating rhythms and sublime melodies around the diverse vocals of former Sex Pistol John Lydon, reggae toaster Earl Sixteen and indie ice maiden Toni Halliday, Leftism is a scintillating journey through all the planes of club culture. From the interstellar dancehall vibes of "Release The Pressure" to the languid splendour of "Melt" and the peerless dancefloor dynamics of "Song Of Life", Paul Daley and Neil Barnes prove themselves jacks of all trades and masters of them all. "Make room for me," screamed Lydon on "Open Up"; the rest of the dance music world duly stepped aside to let the Leftfield juggernaut through. --Ed Potton

Customer Reviews

If you don't own this, where the hell have you been?
One of the very few CDs in my collection I can listen to all the way through without skipping a track. Until you own this your CD collection is not complete, it is perhaps one of the greatest albums of all time, without a doubt one of the best dance albums ever, only Orbital and The Prodigy even come close and they released some stonkingly good albums

'Melt' and 'Storm 3000' are the personal favourites here but there are no tracks I dislike

Legendary
This sounded new ten years after its release. I remember a couple of months before it came out. Leftfield had been releasing lots of tracks and the album was something to look forward to. And when it was released people were asking if one had heard this really good album.
The remarkable thing about this album is that even ten years on not only did it sound new but it also sounded considerably better than its current day competitors.
I think it may well be my desert island disc.

Greatest Dance Album Ever?
Putting an artist album up on a pedestal is sure to have people want to knock it down, but in my opinion nothing even comes close to Leftism. Very few "dance" artists or bands have been able to create a quality artist album and only the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy have matched Leftfield's output of quality. The fact that I am on my 5th cd of this as many of my so called friends love to "borrow" it, never to be seen again, is testiment to how good this album is. If you are a fan of quality music buy this if you haven't got it already. If you do have it, buy a spare, you never know when you might need it!