'Pressure' was revolutionary by dancehall and electronic music standards. Kevin Martin's powerful work in projects like Techno Animal and Ice paved the way for this radical, brutal album, where talented Jamaicans flow and roar over his devastating bass shattering beats. The feverish pace of Daddy Freddy on tracks like "Run The Place Red" and "Politicians & Paedophiles" make his contributions a cut above the rest, though Wayne Lonesome comes close on the sick "Fuck Y-Self." Essential listening.

Dancehall never sounded so rough as it does with The Bug's _Pressure_, a hyper-aggressive burst of vocals and beats. Even if "Politicans and Paedophiles" starts out rather simply, with Daddy Freddy’s layered vocals and a drumbeat, the percussion accumulates gradually throughout until it becomes a wall of rhythm. Paul St. Hilare offers a slightly more sedate vision for "Live and Learn" and "Some Days," though the gruffness of the music still persists. Daddy Freddy reappears for "Run the Place Red," where his voice takes on a ominous growl, even without the benefit of The Bug’s rumbling production. "Night Steppa"” has a more of a 4/4 beat to it, though this in no way makes it less exciting; indeed, the quasi-political lyrics deliver more of a punch. And let’s just say that the lyrics of "Fuck Y~self" are self-explanatory. But for the perfect blend of scary beats and menacing lyrics, nothing can quite top “Killer,” a menacing track complete with freakish yelps and screams. Tough, but fair.

I love this, definitely The Bug's best work to date. It flows well as an album, there are no weak tracks. It works so well partly because there is a very nice balance between the hard-as-nails ragga shakedowns of tracks like "Killer" and "F*ck Y-Self", and the deeper/slightly more chilled tracks such as "Living Dub", not to mention the soaring "Superbird" which takes you somewhere else entirely. The tougher tracks will grab and shake you, make no mistake - but for those who know it is all about "Night Steppa" and "Theif Of Dreams" featuring Roger Robinson on vocals. These tracks are so deep, and yet also so heavy, and it elevates Pressure to one of my top albums of all time. Fans of Kode9/Spaceape, Soundmurderer, Ambush records etc. should check this release. The Razor X lp is not as good as this, but still worth a look if Pressure leaves you gagging for more of the tougher tracks.

Post-rave dancehall, bass assault, noise. He-Man monkey screaching (#11). Zaps your booty with Basic Channel dub poetry interludes by Roger Robinson (#3,8,12). Exploding jungle insertions placed perfectly (#2-4). Who new is was possible that the political scantilizing of ragga/grime could sound this not-shallow?

This is an amazing release featuring experimental dancehall production that varies from hard to insanely aggressive. The vocals follow the same variation, from spoken word to singing to, for the bulk of the album (and my favorite tracks) hard-as-nails ragga MCing. Tracks such as "Killer" and "Executor," well, hell, they're all outstanding. Fans of dub and jungle will likely enjoy this fare. I play it for my friends, though, and they are scared.

I have yet to hear a convincing explanation of what the hell "illbient" is, but this sounds nothing like the inventor of that genre label, DJ Spooky. If there isn't a "ragga" style option, there really ought to be...

Anyways, this is hard, loud electronics with reggae vocals. Very, very good, and containing the original "Run the Place Red" track remixed on Aphex Twin's Smojphace EP.