Juno Reactor - Shango

[Guest Baboon]

Juno Reactor - Shango

 

 

Artist: Juno Reactor

Title: Shango

Label: Metropolis

Date: 2000

 

Track listing:

 

01. 06'13" Pistolero

02. 04'00" Hule Lam

03. 06'18" Insects

04. 07'13" Badimo

05. 06'05" Masters Of The Universe

06. 08'33" Nitrogen Part 1

07. 06'25" Nitrogen Part 2

08. 08'57" Solaris

09. 08'09" Song For Ancestors

 

Review:

 

Hmm, hmm, hmm.... well what can I say about this album more than it has become

one of my favourite albums, absolutly the best from Juno I think... Track 1 is

Pistolero wich I guess quite many freaks out there have heard, it´s a bit

strange song but kind of cool anyway, I like it. Track 2, Hule Lam is very

good I think, cool tribal drums and a nice melodie. Track 3, Insects is really

good for softing... nice evil track to relax to =) Track 4 is one of my

favourites on this album, Badimo, really evil track and great samples from

some evil dude =) Track 5 is calld Masters of The Universe, like UX´s old hit,

only this is a hole diffrent song, more of those tribal sounds in a bit higher

tempo, nice samples here to. Track 6 Nitrogen part 1 is also very very good to

listen to when you want to relax, really nice vibes in this one. Track 7 is my

favourite track, part 2 of Nitrogen... this is how the music shall be on the

floors, evil and hard baseline, groovey vibes, it´s real upliftin!

g when the track after about 3:50 builds up in an great evil tune. Track 8 is

back to the soft part... also nice to listen to when sleeping or whatever you

like. last track is also slow and the same here, really good chill track. I

give this album 9/10 !

Keep this up Juno !!!!

[Jeto]

The first track rocks... It is my favorite on this album... but I must say all

the rest of the tracks are equally good.. Boms .. Juno Reactor back in Full

Swing

9/10

[Guest Cnt97]

Disapointing... the Transmissions album is way better than this Im afraid...

This is... hm.. too soft?... or something..

[Guest [Anonymous]]

well yeah a bit weird stuff maybe... love masters of the universe though...

[Guest TRISTAN]

A modern classic!

Pistolero, Badimo, Insects, Hulelam -

Pistolero is one of the most amazing tracks i ever heard! ohhh my god...

get this! this is a most...

9/10

[Guest grmpFFF]

errr .. in my opinion pistolero isnt psy-trance and that track sux like the

whole album 3/100.

[Chis]

*sigh* Once AGAIN Juno give us another album that fails to deliver. Don't get

me too wrong, Pistolero and Hule Lam are works of sheer genius, but from there

it's down hill most of the way. In Insects they've tried to do the kind of

dark acid tech style that Mike Dred and Christian Vogel pioneered over 5 years

ago! Insects, by comparison, seems very weak and unoriginal. Further on it's

mostly dull dubby "stuff" with somewhat adventurous sounds here and there.

Nitrogen Part 2 really picks the pace back up; Solaris is a nice little

excursion into slow tribal beats, and Song for Ancestors takes this a little

further but really doesn't do anything special (rather like the vocal here

though - there's just not enough of it really). Overall then a fantastic

start, and a relatively impressive ending completely ruined by tracks three

through six that just totally failed to impress or interest me. If you like

dub at all, you will very likely enjoy Shango; it does a better job of

exploring new territories than IM's Classical Mushroom ever will. But

personally, even after scrutinising this to pieces, Luciana is still the only

Juno album I enjoy, as it's many light years away from everything else they've

done. 6/10 (ps. yeah Pistolero isn't psy-trance, but if that's the only

style you can bear to listen to then you've got to wake the fuck up now)

[Children]

Pretty Good ! The typical kind of album which grows on you ! More " Bible Of

Dreams " oriented than " Beyond The Infinite " oriented IMHO ? As I don't like

Juno Reactor that much (check the ratings I've put to their other albums), you

can imagine how good it can be for someone who LOVES Juno style ? for me

there's no doubt : this album is THEIR BEST ONE ! Tracks are very well built

And completely keep the Juno music style through the whole album ? Track 1

starts with a very spanish guitar melody And psychedelic sounds around,

whereas a typical western-sounding gun can be heard in background, And spanish

vocals at the end ? one of the bests here ? Track 2 is much too short for me,

sorry ? tribal vocals And sounds ? reminds me Conga Fury a lot ! Track 3 is a

deeper Track ? a repetitive background with many Juno effects around it ?

don't like it that much in fact ? Track 4 uses a very dark vocal at the

beginning ? then strange " grasshopper-snares " appear and last till the end

of the Track ? not an unforgettable Track ? Track 5 is the more psychedelic

here, with woman vocals And sthing between rock And tribal drums ? pretty good

Track ! Track 6 And 7 are very different : Track 6 slows down the previous one

? some chinese And more tribal sounds here and there while most of the samples

sound like if you were in a pipe that someone knocks from outside ? pretty

good Track too ? the last 2 minutes are very quiet And beautiful ! Track 7

starts even more quietly, then echo sounds appear And the Track becomes more

rhythmic ? still tribal sounds with a repetitive 3-notes slow melody giving a

strange atmosphere to the Track ? pretty good, but I prefer Track 6 to this

one ? Then a VERY SHPONGLEY Track appears ! If you listened to this Track

without knowing from where it's taken you would say that's SHPONGLE ! All

sounds here remind you Shpongle album ? very peaceful Track (even more quiet

than Shpongle ones ? how can it be possible ? ;-)) , the more peaceful of the

album ? " waterized " samples with a flute melody ? a good ambient Track, but

very similar to Shpongle stuff ? Track 9 is more ambient too, but less

peaceful than the previous one And more Juno-oriented? many different vocals

in background ? a really good Track too ! Perfect to conclude this album !

When you stop listening to this Track you're falling from a cloud And want to

climb over it again by listening to the album again ;-) To conclude I would

say that, except Track 1, Tracks are better And better along the album ?

Tracks 2,3&4 aren't outsanding, but other Tracks are really interesting,

particularly Tracks 1,8&9 ! An album melting Juno usual style, from " Beyond

The Infinite " psychedelic style on Track 5 to " Bible Of Dreams " more quiet

style, with a beautiful ambient Juno style on last Track And a more

expermiental Juno Track 1, with spanish guitars And vocals ? check my other

Juno albums ratings before reading the one I give to this album ? Rating :

6.5/10

[Guest Isra-Alien]

Generally, it's a great album. Sounds more as a follow-up to Beyond the

Infinite than to Bible of Dreams, which is still their best.

 

Pistolero - 10/10. nothing more to say here.

Hulelam - Not so good use on the African(?) instruments, 7/10

Insects - Hard And slow. One of the best here, 9/10

Badimo - Nice, they can do better, 7/10

Masters of the Universe(?!) - Worst track here, 6/10

Nitrogen Part 1 - Great Juno style, 9/10

Nitrogen Part 2 - good job on the bassline, 8/10

Solaris - For some reason, reminds me the Shpongled sound. chilled ambient 8/10

Song for Ancestors - beautiful closing 8.5/10

 

Overall - 8.5+/10. Not a masterpiece, but almost? =)

[Guest knapp36[at]attglobal[dot]net]

The bottom line with this one (and you probably already know if you own any

other Juno Reactor) is that this is music isn't for 4/4, predictable formula

fans. Juno (Ben Watkins) continually strive to evolve, rather than repeat

previous success. Diverse and engaging, looking forward to seeing them live.

[Guest slinker]

I like the album, theres certainly alot of tribal influence that may not be to

everyones taste and the pace is somewhat slower than his previous

albums...apart from one track which is very fast! Great ambience and original

style in most tracks, if you like his previous album `Bible of Dreams` then

you would certainly love this one...of course `Pistolero` is pure genius...my

other favorites are `Masters of the Universe` and `Nitrogen Part1&2`....8/10

=^,^=

[Guest slinker]

having listened to it again and again my opinion changes..what i said above is

true, but that ` Insect` track is totally amazing...wahhhhh

9/10 BUY BUY BUY!! the only track i dont like much is track 2 i guess.

[Guest jormaz[at]hotmail[dot]com]

Worst CD ever from JunoR.

[Guest Psylent Buddhi]

This CD is pure bliss! No standard formula trance here! Very interesting and

provocative! Simply music for your mind! Thank you Ben Watkins and

collaborators for bringing extreme joy into my life!

The best release this year!

Plur - Psylent Buddhi

[Guest dj_sg1[at]hotmail[dot]com]

yea i agree with Moksha, an excellent album, the best i've heard this year.

[Guest AlexG]

well, juno reactor are truly one unique group! most of the stuff they make is

truly brilliant, yet AT THE SAME TIME they manage to sound so amateur! i mean,

just listen to the quality of the sounds: surely not mindblowing! and the

background composition sometimes gets soo simple! i have never seen this

combination in any other band; for that alone one must give them credit

yes, they are truly talanted musicians, that cannot be denied, but at the same

time i can't help thinking that they lack a lot of skills the other trance

greats (like posford) posess...hmm, i don't know if that makes sense to

anyone? maybe it's just my damaged brain 7/10

[Guest Babalgamble]

What can I say about this album... I love it, but at the same time it could be

a lot better... Juno Reactor always gives us something new and experimental. I

must say that this isn't your everyday psy-trance... But as we all know Juno

made good psy-trance already in the beginning of the nineties, so who knows

where the evolution of psy-trance is heading. My favourite track is nr.5

Masters Of The Universe, it brings back good memories... Also tracks

nr.1,2,3,4,6... are good, actually I like them all. 8.5/10.

[Guest ugli[at]pp.htv[dot]fi]

This is the best album in the year 2000! Mind pumpin' tracks, every one of

them! Best Juno I've ever heard!

[implant]

Ahhh....Finally I got this one...My favorite band has become even better....

Juno really kicks with this one...full of great tribal

rythms...PERFECT...Pistolero

is more than great...Badimo is very hard and dark...which makes it GREAT;))

Other tracks too....10 out of 10....

[Guest setorsetor[at]hotmail[dot]com]

Well...not quite what you would expect from JR-not a single dancefloor blowing

track (Pistolero is not bad, but its not that great either...plus its an old

track), but still a good album. ...so if you look at it from that perspective

-that its not an album made for the dancefloor, but for the chill-out...- the

whole thing changes. I totally agree with alexg, they're good musicians but

dont really get to the sound quality of other artists...they've been doing

this for so long, though, that one may think they really dont want to sound

too spacy...rather more tribal. But then, what the fuck is Masters of the

Universe doing here? its so cheesy...i cant believe its the same Juno of Bible

of Dreams or BTI...they know how to do better songs, damn it! .... Lets just

hope they dont take another three years to release their next TRANCE album...

[Guest elvisbigpelvis[at]yahoo[dot]com]

Luckily I went to the store where you can listen before you buy.. I left the

store with no less money than I had when I came in. Boring tracks except for

pistolero which is a novelty song. I liked transmissions and bible of dreams

so much. The only thing I really loved about this Shango album is the crazy

picture of the broken down car in the desert with a father and daughter

standing in front of it.

[Guest [Anonymous]]

I find this a very good album, with new ideas, it's not exactly psy

ttrance...but who cares? I really odn't like when people say "it's not psy

trance it's not good," i've heard it so much...all the want to hear is the

same 101 pattern they've been hearing for many years now...it's well composed

when u think about it, most psy that's considered "complex" because of it's

intricities is more intricate because of the delays thrown on the 101(oooh

what good can be done with delays...)...the firs ttrack shows some syncing to

trance by a guitarist the whole way through which isn't an easy task, because

of this pistolero gets kind of messy later in the trakc...+ i don't like the

cheezy " i hate robing banks" sample ...heheh...but anyways i relaly like it,

and it shows that juno doesn't just have to do 1 style...and also i'd love to

hear this on a dancefloor! ESPECIALLY the track without any kick, just sounds

like djembes and congos....=)...that'd b a complete dancefloor feet fuck...=)

[freak51]

Ehhh. Maybe it'll grow on me. It seems to me that there are a few excellent

tracks and a lot of filler. Maybe it could have been a single? Worth buying

if you find yourself ahead $30 at the end of the month.

[Guest dark_luna_303[at]hotmail[dot]com]

mmm...track 1 and 5 are killers and the soft songs are good! 5/10

[Guest glasgow_uk[at]hotmail[dot]com]

I loved the early JR stuff but this... sheesh. The tunes on this release are

fine but have strayed far too off course for my liking. Good but no longer on

target. 5/10