Spooky – Gargantuan

Early 90s progressive house was an odd time for electronic music—it hadn’t quite developed all technology to sound clean, and yet was still bursting with ideas. Into this came Spooky’s debut album, GARGANTUAN, which has some of the weaknesses of the genre (the silly samples on “Don’t Panic”) along with plenty of it strengths (the bouncy synths of “Schmoo” and its smooth echoes in “Schmoodub”). If anything, though, it’s fun, and sometimes that’s what you need when you look back in time. They do, however, show some signs of experimentation, something that will come further into fruition on their later albums, as on the liquid opening of “Aqualung.” The one-two punch of “Little Bullet,” too, shows off their club-friendly efforts, and although they dip into the pool of diva vocal samples (“Something’s Got to Give”), they don’t drown in them. The more spare “Let Go” has that lovely smoothness to round out the album on a more mellow note (though the album “Orange Coloured Liquid” could have done that for you earlier). Maybe not gargantuan, but certainly large enough.

Let's face it, truly great house/dance albums (that aren't mix albums) are hard to come by. You can start a list with Leftism by Leftfield and then you're scratching your head because 90s dance electronica is very much of its time. What was mind-bendingly amazing in 1991 is old hat how and it doesn't carry over the "classic" status that old rock does.

I'm not quite as bowled over by this album as some other reviewers but there are some cracking tracks on it. I think Little Bullet Part One IS a classic track which was why Sasha and Digweed played it a lot. Don't Panic is fun but grating at times with that sample and seems out of place with the overall vibe. Schmoo is above average. Most of the rest is pretty decent but not amazing or particularly ground-breaking at the time.

The album is a relaxing take on house music. You can sit back with a drink or intoxicant of your choice and chill to it.

one of the best club/house/tech/progressive records of 90s. pure class!

Orange Coloured Liquid is a gorgeous trip and worthy of the purchase alone.
Fantastic set starter/ender

The sped-up Pixies "Broken Face" sample on Track 1 is a match made in hell, completely un-fitting, destroys the album experience. There are moments of excellence included like Aqualung, Little Bullet(s) and Orange Coloured Liquid, but overall the album is far too dated. And they are taking the p*ss a bit too much, what is a warm orange coloured liquid except that ;-)

Besides everything else going on on this album, "Aqualung" is dope!

After waisting lot of my youth mainly with punk and heavy metal music, this was one of my first excursions into electronic music.
The style ranges from oldskool happy breaks of moby or space cube over progtrance like orbital to Electro House like LFO. I still love all of the tunes today. Allthough most of the tracks are quite catchy, they still sound modern and timeless even today.
Trance and house music not allways was/is that easy and independent.

I bought this CD when it first came out in 1993, and still enjoy listening to it today. Upon re-reading the liner notes I was surprised to see there are no credits for the vocal samples used. The ones that I recognise are :-
Track 1 the vocals of Black Francis from the Pixies track Broken Face.
Track 10 the Oooh ooh vocal from The Pixies "Where Is My Mind".

Little Bullet part one has to be the basic, maximalism style tune of progressive trance that not many people have ever heard, which so effectively and simply accomplishes what dance tunes are supposed to, that it is overlooked. It is also called overproduction by white label lovers. The superficiality is quite noticeable on the first two tracks. The annoying Mike D sample from the Beastie Boys makes it sound like Mickey Mouse. It is still a testament to the current trance which is spewing forth like a geyser of which none are memorable enough as this album. Schmoodub is a very lucrative offering on this disc. The CD is worth much more to me than what I bought it for, and I wish Spooky mainstream success in the future although it seems unlikely.

Along with Leftfield's Leftism, Spooky's Gargantuan helped define the progressive house that we all know and love today. There are some bonafide classics on this album. The epic "Little Bullet Part One" sounds absolutely majestic over a decade later, and so do, to a lesser extent, "Little Bullet Part Two" and "Schmoo" (including the more somber dub version). These tracks are timeless classics that have aged marvelously.

Your not going to like every song though. The opening "Don't Panic" is just cheesy and annoying, and "Land Of Oz" is in the same vein saved only by an infectious bassline. Also, the closing "Let Go" doesn't really do much for me either. But for the most part, what's here is good. Progressive house fans should pick this up for their collection, but this is by no means essential (save for "Little Bullet", which should be in everyone's collection). Also, check out the superb "Little Bullet" High Velocity remix on Sasha & John Digweed's Renaissance Mix Collection or on the single release.