While I'm not a particular dEUS fan (electronic music really rocks my world, see) I had a dream set to this sound track last night... And so this morning I found myself really wanting to write a review about this album. Why? Well, partly because it affected me so deeply upon first listening to it many moons ago... But mainly because it farking rocks!!! I remember that friend, totally out of the blue, recommended it to me when we were record shopping. I think we were in Glastonbury town, Somerset, in the only record shop worth visiting... Tor Records! And as he knew of my heavily biased electronic, jazz and folk preferences, I was initially somewhat surprised with his recommendation. Having heard some of dEUS's previous stuff, I had never been impressed enough with their song writing skills or musical style to consider ever checking them out again. But low and behold, one listen of this, and I was left gob smacked at their sheer genius!!!

Released back in 1994, this is a deeply insightful and figurative simile for modern day living, all interwoven with as much raw energy, imagination and sensibility as any rock band should muster. To add to that, this energy and rawness is countered beautifully by melancholic interludes, poignant remorse, and melodic feelings. Right from the outset with the intro, you know that this is going to be an abstract journey into the minds, memories and aesthetics of dEUS themselves... "Listen to me", spoken in French, reveals their European origins (themselves being from Belgium), and once I started, I couldn't stop.

But what really sets this album apart from their other efforts is the way they word play and fuse together a never ending flow of ideas into a seamless blend of stories and analogies. Jigsaw You depicts rather beautifully the throw away nature of our thoughts, most of which seem to be single serving: one pop and it's gone, unusable and unsuitable for new experiences and expressions. Right As Rain wouldn't be out of place in a Wild Western mining town; filled with remorse about the cheap thrills and rides we all partake in, saying we've lived as best as we could, through all the pain that we've felt... Devoid of any certain meaning, and yet we still do what we do without question. But in between all the melancholic modes, it still carries enough light heartedness to balance the insights and regrets. Via lifts the heart and makes me shake my body and soul to it musical sound track... But what's the point describing what it means to me... It'll no doubt shift meanings from someone else's point of view.

Along with clear creative mixing, it's set in a style that could almost be likened to Steely Dan's own crystal productions... Instruments separating in the mix beautifully, giving space and feeling for their ideas to breath and flow. Flow! That's it... This album's flow demonstrates the pure poetry behind the arrangement on all levels! dEUS must have written them so that they languidly coalesced like this into one another...

No less than an epic journey, it could easily be my sound track to life... This is dEUS at the pinnacle of their creative powers. Lively and tender, yet abstract and hurting, its meanings shift with your place in time... Yet it all still manages to carry that poignant power it had when you first heard it. A truly timeless wonder! dEUS... You're genius!