Tracklist
| Dreams Of Heaven | 6:06 | |
| Secrets | 8:57 | |
| Grey Odyssey | 6:12 | |
| Mute | 4:21 | |
| Deep Inside | 7:52 | |
| Silver Blade | 6:10 | |
| Locust | 8:50 | |
| Warned | 6:11 | |
| Still | 7:54 | |
| City Lights | 6:49 | |
| Grey Odyssey | 3:45 | |
| Subway | 3:48 | |
| Mute | 3:04 | |
| Going Gets Tuff | 4:51 | |
| Secrets | 4:49 | |
| Silver Blade | 3:46 | |
| Dreams Of Heaven | 3:58 | |
| Still | 4:32 | |
| Threshold | 3:24 | |
| Deep Inside | 4:56 | |
| Locust | 5:51 | |
| City Lights | 3:33 | |
| Warned | 3:24 | |
| Still V.I.P. Mix | 5:06 |
Versions
| Title, Format | Label | Cat# | Country | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Prototype Years (CD, Comp + CD, Comp, Mixed) | Higher Ground, Prototype Recordings | 487219 9 | UK | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (2xCD, Comp, P/Mixed) | Epic/Sony | ESCA 6746-7 | Japan | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (3x12", Comp) | Sony Music Entertainment (UK) | 487219 1 | UK | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (3xLP, Promo, Ltd) | Higher Ground, Sony Music Entertainment (UK) | XPR 2339, 31-002339-20 | UK | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (CD, Comp) | Columbia | CK 68597 | US | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (CD, Comp) | Columbia | CK 68560 | UK | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (CD, Comp, Ltd + CD, Comp, Mixed, Ltd) | Higher Ground, Prototype Recordings | 487219 2 | UK | 1997 | |
| The Prototype Years (CD, Promo) | Sony Music Entertainment (UK) | ACK 68560-S1 | UK | 1997 |
▸ show all 3 reviews
Reviews & Discussion
referencing The Prototype Years, 3xLP, Promo, Ltd, XPR 2339, 31-002339-20
referencing The Prototype Years, 3x12", Comp, 487219 1
This Lp includes two of my favourite dnb-tunes ever!
Dillinja - Silver blade
Beautiful atmospheres, and a roaring amen smashing drop...Hard to put in words what feelings go through my head when I listen to this, mostly it just tells me something how life is...
Optical - Grey odyssey
This track is THE funk! Rolling beats with dreamy synths, just what I love!
Dillinja - Silver blade
Beautiful atmospheres, and a roaring amen smashing drop...Hard to put in words what feelings go through my head when I listen to this, mostly it just tells me something how life is...
Optical - Grey odyssey
This track is THE funk! Rolling beats with dreamy synths, just what I love!
referencing The Prototype Years, 3xLP, Promo, Ltd, XPR 2339, 31-002339-20
Silver Blade -
Huddling beneath a baron rocky outcrop, the last swathes of daylight feebly drown amidst the swelling oil slick slithering its way eastward into the starless cerulean sky.
Forked lightening momentarily illuminates the bleak rock-strewn landscapes, an infinite expanse stretched out like the blackened frothing waves of a rabid ocean.
This track summons such vivid imagery with every listen.
Back in ‘96-’97 amongst a barrage of ‘tech-step’, this tune sounded so fresh it was hard to comprehend. Whilst remaining as dark as anything around, if not darker, it sliced the blueprint two-step sound to shreds. The beats pounce unexpectedly after the relatively subdued intro, actually sounding metallic - like swords clashing. Midway, an inexplicably malevolent intensity descends upon the track, a pervading sense of foreboding, much like the eerie calm before the storm; eight bars later the whole track is plunged into an apocalyptic, distorted reece-bass crescendo. It was this kind of experimentation and intensity in his tracks that made Dillinja so prolific an artist and ensured he remained alongside only a handful of others at the cutting edge of the Drum & Bass sound. Many people credit Boymerang with being the first to use this break, but as far as I am aware it was Dillinja who first used it – and on this track.
Huddling beneath a baron rocky outcrop, the last swathes of daylight feebly drown amidst the swelling oil slick slithering its way eastward into the starless cerulean sky.
Forked lightening momentarily illuminates the bleak rock-strewn landscapes, an infinite expanse stretched out like the blackened frothing waves of a rabid ocean.
This track summons such vivid imagery with every listen.
Back in ‘96-’97 amongst a barrage of ‘tech-step’, this tune sounded so fresh it was hard to comprehend. Whilst remaining as dark as anything around, if not darker, it sliced the blueprint two-step sound to shreds. The beats pounce unexpectedly after the relatively subdued intro, actually sounding metallic - like swords clashing. Midway, an inexplicably malevolent intensity descends upon the track, a pervading sense of foreboding, much like the eerie calm before the storm; eight bars later the whole track is plunged into an apocalyptic, distorted reece-bass crescendo. It was this kind of experimentation and intensity in his tracks that made Dillinja so prolific an artist and ensured he remained alongside only a handful of others at the cutting edge of the Drum & Bass sound. Many people credit Boymerang with being the first to use this break, but as far as I am aware it was Dillinja who first used it – and on this track.
An essential album for the drum and bass faithful.