Public Domain had it made for them by the release of this album. After the phenomenal success of their lead single, Operation Blade (Bass In The Place), the group decided to release this album to capitalise on their successes with that single. Unfortunately, it was the only main album that the group released, which is not good because they were pioneering a new form of music and style in EDM based on Happy Hardcore (yes, that is an actual name for an EDM genre) that few could match at the time. The Scottish lineup of James Allan, Mark Sherry and Alistair MacIsaac was quickly joined by Mallorca Lee and David Forbes after they began to become successful at the time. This album was released on Epidrome Records back in 2001. Let’s take a listen to this music and we shall hear exactly where it takes us.

Rock Da Funky Beats (7″ Radio Edit) begins with some awesome MC vocals and launches into a straightforward piece with some great and interesting textures to boot. It progresses and launches into a 4/4 piece of musical mayhem that sounds really great. A very cool tune, especially in retrospect, this has some great Trance Music-like melodies that are totally awesome to hear. An underrated tune, especially in retrospect, this sounds monumental. It has some interesting progressions and sounds throughout, alongside the MC rapping. The legendary Chuck D is also present on this tune, and some live sampled audience cheering and toing and froing between Public Domain and the audience are present throughout this entire track. The second half gradually launches into a frenzied mayhem of progressions and energetic sounds throughout. A really great listening experience, through and through. This music has dated all that well, but it certainly promises to give the listener a great time. A great start to this album. It ends after three minutes with some dramatic, cut-up vocals.

Pump Up Nation begins with some looped MC vocals and sounds interesting and quirky but in a good way. This will sound a little irritating to some listeners out there, but this is largely forgivable as it is an awesome tune. Some beats sampled from The Chemical Brothers are present as well. It is catchy for the fact it is so repetitive, but then again, most EDM is super repetitive. Some Lounge Jazz-styled melodies then enter the scene, and this sounds radically different as a tune. The beats and textures sound as smooth as butter. Towards the midsection are some interesting and twinkling melodies that sound absolutely awesome, along with some cut-up MC vocals. This is radically different to most EDM of the time. It is followed by a liquid breakdown and build-up in the second half of the tune, before returning to the main section of music. Really quirky and inventive, it seems that Public Domain had more tunes on this album than you’d expect. The Lounge Jazz section returns and this is super underrated music as such. The only flaw with this tune is that length-wise, it could be cut down. Still, a worthy listen on an album such as this. Some clanking sounds are in the background before this ends with the melodies and string sections as well. Neat.

Too Many MCs enters into it with some African-like vocals, quick drumbeats and laser-precise electronic melodies. This quickly enters into a Rap tune that sounds rather good with some guitars and excellent breakbeats. A good cross-pollination of music and musical genres, this sounds extremely cool and fun to listen to. A great slice of energetic and different music that sounds descriptively good and different, this album so far is a very underrated listen. Wah-wah guitars (Fender Stratocasters, probably) and other interesting sounds and samples throughout make this tune sound awesome and fresh. A phenomenally great tune to listen to, the looped vocals are a bit repetitive in the chorus, but the rapped verses are sweet and fantastic. A genuinely enjoyable and groovy tune, there is also some funky bass guitar in the second half to match this tune. Very fresh and inspired throughout, this is a very awesome and amazing listen. Decent to listen to with elements of juicy sounds throughout. Genuinely good. It ends with some guitars and vocals to fade out.

Operation Blade (Bass In The Place) (7″ Radio Edit) is the key Public Domain hit. It begins with some looped vocals, pounding beats, sampled crowd cheering and launches into a fantastic and memorable piece of music from the early 2000s. Very, very catchy and awesome to listen to. If anything, this song is great on repeat. It breaks down into an MC and crowd call-and-response section before this builds up to the main tune. “Bass in the place, London!” is chanted here. A New Order melody sample is present here, but used a lot more effectively than what New Order could ever imagine to do. Nonetheless, this is a legendary club music hit. A fine and fantastic tune to hear, with many elements of EDM Music that sound really fantastic. You will be banging your head all the way throughout this listen. A really great listen, this is very fantastic to hear. A great three-minute-long tune.

Let Me Clear My Throat is a seven-minute-long piece. It begins with some DJ scratching and has some MC talk introducing this tune. It quickly enters into a straightforward tune with minimal beats, a bit like The Chemical Brothers It Doesn’t Matter from the Dig Your Own Hole (1997) album. This quickly launches into a pounding, pseudo-Hardstyle tune which is cool, minimal and danceable throughout. A really great listening experience, this is very different in comparison to other forms of EDM at the time. It progresses into a rather repetitive section but is enjoyable enough nonetheless. It progresses nicely throughout into another section of MC rapping and sampled crowd cheering. This isn’t as good as the singles, but it is okay nonetheless. It builds up into yet another section of music with some banging beats, repetitive melodies and MC chanting. It’s good music but obviously not the greatest EDM album of all time. Still, it is for those of you who feel nostalgic for the EDM from the early 2000s. It quickly launches into a different section of music in the second half and has a lot of Roland drum rolls and beats throughout. This gets rather lengthy after some time, and the title track that is the centrepiece lyric is a lame one. Regardless, this does sound really interesting to hear, if you can look past its repetitive nature throughout. This is good but the length of the track leaves something to be desired. An interesting tune all the same. It quickly launches back into the main section of music at hand. This is much too long as it goes on, which points out the flaw of this album overall. In any case, skip ahead if you wish. This begins to wrap up after over seven minutes with a pounding set of beats and interesting textures. Good but could be far better.

Inside Out (& Out Of Control) begins with some rushing noises and launches into another minimal and lengthy piece of music at nearly seven minutes long. This is where the appeal of the album begins to wear thin somewhat, in its absurdly lengthy tunes. Still, this does sound good and adventurous sonically. It gradually builds up in sounds and textures with wild progressions, entering into a pounding tune that Ecstasy and drug lovers will no doubt enjoy. A really good listen, despite its repetitive minimalism, it does have some interesting sounds and instrumentation throughout. This is much more an exercise in doing Hard Techno than anything else, however. The breakdown has some edgy melodies, however, that do sound strange but decent. A very good listen for EDM fans, although many others who are serious music listeners will point out the length and the repetitive nature of this music as its main flaws. Regardless, this is a straightforward and pounding tune that is good to play in the car on your way home from work. It was never going to be the greatest album of all time this release, but it certainly has a unique appeal, especially amongst EDM fans. Very catchy, however. A straightforward and energy-driven Hard House/Hard Techno tune with some interesting sounds and progressions throughout. It breaks down in a big way in the second half, but one can hear that this music in retrospect should have been edited down quite a lot. A good listen, but tiring to get through after a while. It does have an appeal but this is understandably forgotten today. In any case, good but too repetitive to be great. It wraps up well towards the end, with minimal EDM beats and textures. It’s interesting but lacking.

Just A Latin Groove begins with a rush of sound and launches into another straightforward Hard House-sounding tune. This, again, is minimal and repetitive, although the melodies and sounds throughout are fantastic. Indeed, this is a very good listen for what it is. The beats fade out somewhat, leaving in some hypnotic textures and sounds before this tune progresses nicely back into action. It’s okay, but quite frankly, some of these sections could have been edited down. It bursts into an okay main melody which is good for those of you who like party-styled EDM, but outsiders will not get this. Towards the middle, it has some minimal beats and a basic set of melodies that sound really different and fresh. Some tribal Latin Music based beats follow, and this tune really gets grooving away at the start of the second half of it. The main section of music then fades out, with the recurring main melody playing away. This album is a bit of a mish-mash, of MC-based tunes in the first half and average Hard House EDM sounds on the second side. In any case, this is good for what it is but is nothing overly memorable. Towards the end are more repetitive and straightforward beats that go on for a while, with some gradual musical changes throughout. This finally ends after six minutes in a way, again like The Chemical Brothers.

No Time To Run is a shorter piece at three minutes long. It continues the music theme of before and has a catchy, Acid House-styled melody to it. Very interesting, this is an underrated gem from this otherwise long and unusual album. Some rapping is sampled on this tune, and it sounds like a good mish-mash of The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method and other contemporary genres of EDM. Nonetheless, this is a very energetic, detailed and different musical listening experience that has power and energy throughout. This album would have made a lot more sense if it had been cut down in length, such as this tune. A cool and grooving tune, this sounds somewhat like what 808 State would have done if they had been in existence 10 years after the late 1980s. All in all, a good tune that is worth a mention from this album. Very consistent.

DJ’s On The Move is another lengthy tune at over eight minutes long. It begins with some interesting sounds, quickly launching into a basic Hard House-style tune. Roland beats emerge, and this gets going away fairly well. Again, this is better than expected, despite the length of the track. A powerful, interesting and unique tune compared to most releases in Popular Music, this has some signature Public Domain sounds and samples, such as liquid melodies, 4/4 beats and samples of a crowd cheering. A driven tune that is perfect when out and about, this does have some dated appeal to it. For EDM heads, this will be great but other listeners will probably wish to stop the album by now. A great mash-up of electronic sounds and production, although the length of this track wears out its welcome fairly quickly. In any case, this is okay but better and more memorable EDM tunes from this era have been recorded. There is a breakdown near the midsection, with some interesting and different beats, sonic sound samples and crowd cheers. Some awful rapping comes over the top of it all, and this tune sounds rather poor as a result. Soon enough in the second half are some fresh liquid Acid House melodies, and this tune speeds up as it progresses. It emerges into a pounding second half that sounds quite good, although again, is fairly lengthy. It does gradually progress along nicely and sounds extremely cool for what this is. Fresh and frenetic, however. Some interesting Hard House and Acid House melodies with a Trance Music structure are all here. Nonetheless, a good albeit dated listen. Enough for the EDM heads though, this is a very sweet and awesome listen in its own way. This is good enough for this album, however. Towards the end is a bunch of 4/4 beats and swirling Roland TB-303 styled textures that sound cool. This wraps up with an extended beat outro for DJs out there. Good stuff. Nice to hear.

Stargate is the final track on this album and begins with wind whooshing and bleeps. It is a possible name reference to the popular science fiction TV show of the time. It sounds warped and different and is a very futuristic-sounding listening experience. Moody strings enter this piece, and its detailed and excellent sonic sounds are really great. Some retro melodies enter this piece, which quite frankly, do not sound that good. In any case, this is okay but it is put at the end of the album as filler, basically. Bongo beats and drums enter the scene, and we are entering into a space travel zone here. A good tune, but definitely not great in retrospect. It does have potential, however, as a piece of music. It sounds really nicely produced and well done, all the same. The music and melodies are quite good, for the most part. This seems like an oddity on this sort of album to make a spacey and overly electronic tune that sounds completely different to the rest of the music on this album. Still, it is a refreshing listen for what it is, warts and all. The second half continues the spacey journey that is a mixture of inner and outer space respectively. All in all, a cool listen throughout. The melodies are quite original and different in a musical context as well. Jean Michel Jarre would dig this sort of track, with its ambient nature, electronic sounds and trippy beats. It ends with spacey, ambient-styled melodies and interesting sounds to wrap up with. A good listen for all this is. It ends with some sampled crowd cheering and Public Domain wishing everyone peace and love. The album ends here.

This is a good album. However, despite all the popularity around the time of the release of this album and the impressive nature of the singles, this seems like a long and repetitive album designed to capitalise on the popularity of Operation Blade (Bass In The Place) and to get some money going as a result. Having said that, the music here is quite good. Nothing overly groundbreaking or worth a mention in most musical history books, just a good album. That sums it up. Should you listen to this album? It’s really only recommended for EDM fans, particularly Hard House Music fans. Otherwise, you may wish to look elsewhere.

A good but lengthy album full of ups and downs.

7/10