Beloved, The ‎– Happiness

Though brimming with the prerequisite electronic piano chords, and the various Roland gadgets (the TR-808 and TR-909 Rhythm Composers, the TB-303 Bass Line) that lent house its unmistakable sound, The Beloved hadn't completely abandoned their indie rock roots on "Happiness". Its closing track, "Found", wouldn't have been entirely out of place on albums by contemporaries like Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, or even Flowered Up, successfully combining rock with dance culture, while "Don't You Worry" and the particularly buoyant "I Love You More" could quite easily fit in the New Order or Pet Shop Boys catalogues… (More: http://writatlarge.blogspot.com/2010/05/hear-again-happiness.html )

One of my all time favourite dance music albums. This was a groundbreaking record in that it pre-dated Screamadelica (which many claim to be the first dance/rock record to merge both genres successfully). A truly balearic album that contains indie crossover tracks such as 'Hello' & 'Scarlet Beautiful'; gorgeous all time classic chill out in the form of The Sun Rising which is pure deep house bliss; euphoric dance music with 'Only Your Love Takes Me Higher'; & uptempo electronic grooves in the form of 'Up, Up And Away'. Their later material never matched these heights again.

Classic synth-pop smoothed over with terrific melodies and John Marsh's soothing vocals. "The Sun Rising" is an eternal club anthem with one of the most intoxicating bass-lines ever to fill the dancefloor. "Hello" and "Scarlett Beautiful" are pop classics as well as the rest of the album. Classic stuff!