The new millennium was in full swing by the time of this release. Horsepower Productions unleashed this, their first album back in 2002. Is it any good? Let’s find out.

We begin with Fist Of Fury which begins with some basic electronic sounds and cicadas at night, before an eastern sounding wind instrument kicks in. This is okay music. Some good shuffle like breakbeats are then thrown into the mix. It kicks into a groove that is both perfectly listenable and danceable. This sounds pretty warped, basic sets of breakbeats with some Asian influenced sounds through the track. It goes into a slight melodic breakdown, before returning back into the main track. Although this sounds very simple for an EDM track, it is very good listening. The cut up beats, beautiful melodies and sense of musical purpose light this up very well. Some hi tech sounds finish off this piece, along with some speech sampled from a movie. It segues into the next piece.

Next is HDN which likely stands for High Definition. It has some basic electronic melodies in the intro, before some snappy cut up breakbeats enter. Some rushing sounds and basic Roland style melodies then come along. The whole thing kick starts into a great and well thought out breaks style track. Some additional textures then enter, and we have a very good listen than is rather surprising with the sounds and textures at hand. Additional vocal samples make this more interesting than you’d think. Some nice and different melodic sounds come through this track, going into a great and interesting outro for this piece. A bit different. It ends with airport samples of overhead airport dialogue and a plane flying.

Gorgon Sound is next, with some shuffle style breakbeats and some sort of sounds that you would usually hear in a café sort of environment. It goes into a breakdown with some strange sounds, along with some vocal samples, before jumping straight back into the track at hand. This does have some interesting sounds, but this is a little too simple and repetitive to be considered a classic track. Still, it’s an okay effort and listenable regardless. It just seems a little lacking. Could have been edited somehow, especially with the length of the track. It fades out nicely, however.

Django’s Revenge has a Spanish classical feel about it, before some interesting sounds come into the mix. Wacky, minimalist and electronic seems to be the way to go here. It slowly progresses throughout the track with the gradual additions of unique sounds. There is a little bit of sampled saxophone here as well. Some backwards bell sounds then join in on the breakdown, before going back into the main section of the track. An interesting listening experience, although once again, could have been edited. The bubble pop sound is pretty cool, mind you.

Next is The Swindle which has an interesting melody at the beginning, with some samples of a man talking about the effect that consumerist based Capitalism has on destroying one’s soul. It then goes into an interesting breakdown section, with some gurgling bass and the quotes continue. This is an interesting, if not, overly simple track. It’s good but, unless you are very patient at listening, it is very dull. The tracks all seem to follow the same agenda, which is okay to some, but it just sounds dull and boring here. Also, it should not be over five minutes long, it has the Oasis Be Here Now sort of effect in retrospect. Some sampled speech towards at the end taken from an old movie about voodoo witchcraft is here at the finish, interesting, but not really relevant here.

Following is What We Do – Remix which starts off with a wah-wah pastiche and some matching vocal samples and beats as well. It is seemingly an exercise in sound effects here, rather than being strong in overall structure here. Some more cyber sounds gradually are thrown into the mix, showcasing a different listen. It progresses nicely along, with the addition of some creepy string sections to add into the track. More cut up vocals and melodies eventually emerge, but sorry to say this again, this is way too simple and repetitive to be enjoyed to the full. It’s a difficult listen for that reason, and could have been edited for about 50% of the length. It should not be six minutes long, more like around two and a half minutes. Still, it’s okay though, but banging your head against a brick wall might be more fun than this. Another old movie sample is at the end, how original.

Classic Deluxe comes next, and is a welcome change from the last few tracks, which were dull beyond measure. It begins with some warm, ethereal sounds and continues with a steady rhythmic section added to the track. Some interesting string and horn samples enter the mix, making this somewhat more lively than usual. Acid sounds enter gradually, before further layering of the track occurs. Still, although this is good listening, it seems like an amateur exercise in sounds and textures, nothing else. More Jazz sounds then come along, this is somewhat of an improvement. A good instrumental, yet not a great one. Some chopped up bongos are here as well. A movie sample from a cops and robbers type film comes next, and is not the greatest.

Stone Cold Soul Vibes comes along next, and begins with a good Jazzy feel to it. However, by this point, it is easy to see that this album is a failed product. It just has no magic and feel behind these long and rather stale tracks on this recording. The horns on this track are a little annoying, as is the main melody. It doesn’t sound greatly original either, which is quite a shame. It merely sounds like a few different tracks were whacked together, rather than a proper album release. Disappointing, but you can always avoid this one. Another stupid movie sample is at the end, again.

Next is Rude Boyz which has melodies from an earlier track in the album, before going into a groove based piece. This is another lifeless track that doesn’t merit much attention from the music community. In fact, this is a real disappointment for music itself. It has some sampled speech throughout. This does seem like a good track compared to what has come before, but still dull enough to send you asleep. Sub par, hopefully these releases were a warning sign to Horsepower Productions to life their game.

Following is To The Beat Y’all which begins with some cool digital sounds and that is before some awful sampled melodies enter. Please avoid this album, there is nothing good nor redeeming about it, just like this particular track. If you have made it this far, congratulations, you have more patience than most. It’s not even a Hip Hop track, like the name of the track suggests. Sadly, these tracks are failures. Little else need to be said about that at this point. Some Atari sounding video game samples are in this as well. These guys are not like The Chemical Brothers, they need to do their Homework. Daft Punk did. These guys needed to improve and quick. Annoying and dull. Far too long as well. And guess what? Another movie sample is at the end here. Junk this song, and album.

Log On – Dub begins with some Acid noises and basic beats with delayed vocals. This sounds quite interesting, at last. Some subsonic bass then enters. Still, by this point of the recording, there is little ground for recovery here. It’s a nicer, and more mellow track. Still, a good listen this track, but not a great one. It does come across as repetitive, once again. Therein lies the issue with this sort of music, it is far too minimal and repetitive. However, there are rewarding moments in this album, just not many of them. A little shorter than the other tracks here does not prevent it from suffering from overall. Good, but lacking.

Pimp Flavors samples some movie talk about Cocaine dealing in the Americas, before going into a rather trashy track. It is unappealing and seriously lacking, with too many crashing cymbal sounds in it. It’s a ridiculous excuse for a track, and once again, can be skipped. You’re not missing a great deal here, you’d be best off avoiding this listening experience. It gets boring very quickly, once again.

Last is Fat Larry’s Skank which actually sounds interesting, with a good mixture of different instrument samples, and a flute included in that. Some more movie samples are here as well. This eventually kicks in with a decent and danceable beat. Good but the rest of the album has killed this track off in terms of overall quality. Sadly, one feels dissatisfied upon completing this album. Good tune here though.

This album is not worth your time. Oddly enough, it inspired a lot of the Dubstep that followed afterward. Still, this is pure rubbish and anything a ten year old kid could make, in terms of musical skill. Just don’t bother listening to it and you’ll be fine.

Useless listening experience.

3/10