Many years ago Crowded House promoted their greatest hits by telling us that we knew more of their songs than we thought we did. This wasn't strictly true, and more importantly, if you did know them, you'd sooner forget. There are many bands who could stake this claim, though – one of them being GROOVE ARMADA.
This compilation is comprised of two CD's which highlight the sides of Groove Armada. CD1 (mixed and chosen by Tom Findlay, one half of the duo) is 'up-tempo,' all those bombastic dance tunes that have filled dance-floors from Cream to Chicago Rock Cafe. CD2 (mixed and chosen by Andy Cato, the other half of the duo) is, unsurprisingly, titled 'down-tempo' – the songs that have been filling chill-out compilations over the last decade. It's an interesting way to package the hits, much better as a concept than most of the best of's that get churned out around this time of year. And you can't resent this review of a long and productive career.
For those who haven't followed Groove Armada's career closely (and there are many), there will be some surprises on here in terms of them actually being Groove Armada songs. They lack a trademark sound, of sorts, that means you can recognise one of their tunes from fifty paces. They have the wide appeal without necessarily having the fame that others like Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers have had. How many adverts and club scenes on television have been sound-tracked by 'I See You Baby' or 'At the River.' Despite, at times, being more than friendly to the Mondeo driver, they have managed to keep on the cutting edge of commercial dance for some time.
'Easy' is somehow better than all of the other songs it sounds like – as good as this sort of music gets. There is a special something that puts it above it's more generic peers. They have an often impeccable choice of vocalists that has seen them through quite nicely. 'Save My Soul' sounds like a song that you've always known about but never thought about. And that's how it is for a lot of the album. A lot of stuff that you wouldn't have credited them for, but at the same time you don't particularly hear again.
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They have continually managed to stay relevant, to the point that 'Song For Mutya' will no doubt be adorning many people's end of year lists. There are some definite classics on there, but over two hours of Groove Armada is a lot. When they're good, they remind you of times when you've had fun – a party, club or festival. When they're not so good, it becomes utterly generic, and it's hard to listen to one CD all the way through.
To pick a favourite of the two, 'Downtempo' is the superior, which would suggest that their chill-out side is their most effective. This is probably the case, as it works well as background music or something to really relax to. It is the less repetitive of the two, but both suffer from a Groove Armada overdose.
As a concept it's great, but two CD's worth of Groove Armada is a little too much. The songs essentially work better on their own – mixed in with other songs. It's not that they're formulaic, it's that the general sound begins to wear after a while. They have indeed had their moments – but there are too many of them in the same place on this compilation. It perhaps would have worked better had it been one compilation – bring everyone up and bring them back down in the same mix. It would have made it more of a journey for a start. This is a CD for the fans – for you probably own the ones you love already. Or at least hear them often enough.
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