CJ Bolland - The 4th Sign

I recently took this one out of the collect for old (very old) times sake. CJ Bolland was one of the first personas in the world of electronic music my ears were exposed to. Despite sounding dated, all of his early albums are strong testaments, and undeniable musical influences to the era they were released in. And "The 4th Sign" is not that different.
The album sounds old, and what do you know - old it is. A great mix of pounding beats, larger than life melodies, huge breaks, and a whole load of the good old rave energy! My memory recollects quite accuratelly though, how these tunes placed many smiles on many faces all over. Most tracks had that something which made a little cosy fire ignite around your heart. The opener Mantra, Pendulum and Camargue had beautiful, touching melodies, in the vein of early trance, yet they could still demand your presence on the dance floor.
Thrust, Spring Yard and Jungle Man were the hard, uptempo party anthems, with the emphasis on Thrust and Spring Yard which both killed it with those epic beatless interludes, with melodies pouring out of everywhere, just moments before those fast drum rolls kick in!
My favorites to this day remain Aquadrive, a frenetic break beat track with a hypnotizing melodic sequence atop, and occasional ambient breaks. Inside-Out, my personal pick here, still sends shivers down my spine, with those avalanches of spaced out leads descending from the sky and interlaceing in an endless plethora of sounds, melodies and beats. Awesome!
Overall, just like "Electronic Highway" and "The Analogue Theatre", "The 4th Sign" is a great release for a year it was released in, and while it most certainly has a charm of its own even today, and a vast majority of these tracks can impress with the force and energy they delineate, my guess is that you can get the best CJ Bolland's debut has to offer if you were there around the time it was the item to keep an eye out for. Do not get discouraged and mislead, an album can be deeply encompassed in a time period it was released in, and still be great! That is the case here. Unquestionably this one is loaded with good music, and witnesses of the past will all confirm how much impact did CJ's sound leave on the world wide dance culture. As excellent as it may be, giving it a listen while simultaneously sponging up the stuff fashionable today, you might just get the wrong idea, if you follow.

This is arguably the best thing that was ever put out on R&S. Every track on here is a belter, but the sublime string laden techno of 'Carmargue' is worth the price of the album on it's own. It's reduced me to tears on many occasions...*sniff*

Good all round album with varying styles from track to track, from the manic 'Thrust' and 'Spring Yard' to the more chilled out 'Camargue'. C J Bolland's style seems more experimental than that of Joey Beltram although they are both greats from the same stable and era. Another favourite from R