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Way Before Their Time

D. Hansen | UT | 12/01/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd heard the lead track "Something Good" before but I recently heard this entire album and I was blown away. There are a few moments on the album where the sound sounds dated (more so towards the end) but I kept having to remind myself this was Utah Saints and not The Crystal Method. Their sounds are so similar and this album is so solid all the way though that if you like TCM as much as I do then you'll love this album!"

Awesome for 92-93.

H3@+h | VT | 08/10/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's amazing how much I heard them in the early 90's, and then suddenly never again. This is a good sound of the times though, and almost holds up even now. For the most part it's dance/techno, but there's a few slower pieces too. The biggest and best songs here are "Something Good", which samples Kate Bush, and "What Can You Do For Me", which samples both Kiss and the Eurythmics. Everything else is good, just not as club-ready as those two were. If you like the genre, this is worth getting if you find it. There should be a few used copies between here and "Utah"."

Genius!

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 03/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is dance music of its era but at the same time totally unique and timeless. Driving, dense, and amazing at times, it puts a lot of (actually most) contemporary stuff to shame. The big plus is it manages to sound REAL and not over-processed and that was the band's goal. The first cut has energy, driving drums, "piano", and samples Kate Bush for Pete's sake! The whole thing sounds like a labor of love.



In my permanent top twenty of all time favorite pop recordings and I am one fussy SOB! It's also one of the few dance albums I know of that holds up beautifully as simply a listening experience, although I defy you to remain motionless! This is the kind of overwhelmingly upbeat music a shaman could use for healing. Bless the owner of this who has great sub-woofers.



Why this album isn't better known is a tribute to the screwy out-of-focus quality to commercialized music. I know of a handful of albums, and a bigger handful of songs, that should be absolute classics and are barely known. Check out Pram (my all-time favorite band), Rita Mitsouka (a band not a person--some of the best and most offbeat New Wave ever) and the utterly individual Thin White Rope.



Sadly, later albums by Utah Saints just don't match up. A one-of-a-kind in all respects. Must have been visited by angels during the recording sessions.



PS I predict (and I'm taking dollar bets) that the instrumental cut Trance Atlantic Glide will become, in 200 years, the national anthem of some immense utopian space colony."