Review

MINISTRY OF SOUND; ‘GARAGE CLASSICS’

With the resurgence of Garage in the shape of T2 ‘Heartbroken’ and H“two”O ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ B&S was glad to get it’s sticky mits on some unadulterated Garage in the shape of ‘Garage Classics’ by The Ministry Of Sound and mixed by The Wideboys’.

To say this is a quality album is an understatement as The Wideboys take you from classic to classic with effortless and cheeky precision. Their prominence in recent years came to a head last year with the major commercial success of Maximum Bass, after having underground acclaim for the last 10 years DJing on the scene. The greatness of this album is not just in the track selection but indeed by the order of which each track merges, as it goes deep in to the history of any essential Garage enthusiast or indeed anyone who has the intonation for a dalliance/flirtation with the genre.

The first CD (Old Skool 2 Step) in this 3 CD set kicks off with ‘Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo)’ Artful Dodger Feat. Craig David (of course it does ;-)) and rapidly climbs the staircase of great tunes with ‘Straight From The Heart’ Doolally. Encompasses tracks like ‘My Love’ 10 Below & Kelly Le Roc, ‘Moving To Fast’ Artful Dodger & Romina Johnson and anthem ‘little Bit Of Luck’ DJ Luck & MC Neat, phew! And that’s just a selection of a few tunes from the first CD.

On the track selection process, The Wideboys will probably tell you the tunes picked themselves as they have all affected the Garage scene at some point and in turn peoples lives. But as you listen you can’t help but be enthused by all things Garage. CD two album (Old Skool 4X4 and Classics) picks up where CD one finishes with ‘I Refuse (Want You Want)’ Somore, then travels to the shores of greats including ‘To Be In Love’ Masters At Work and ‘Rip Groove’ Double 99. We don’t even mind that over used classic tracks (we love them but they seem to be on every album) ‘Plastic Dreams’ Jaydee and ‘Put’Em High’ Stone Bridge Feat. Therese are mixed in with other classics as they provide perfect balance on this CD.

Lastly the third album in the set (New & Old Skool) comes out of the blocks with a bang using ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ H“Two”O to set the pace, then taking in ‘Missing You’ (Sorry Part 2) Denzee Feat. Danielle and completing the full set of truly greats with ‘So In Love With You (Wideboys Baseline Mix)’ Duke. Special mention has to go to the bonus track as this term is banded about to much with too little in return. In this case the track ‘Heartbroken’ DJ Arnie does what it says on the tin, a real bonus. Did we like The Ministry’s ‘Garage Classics’ album? Well, what do you think?!
Words LEE TYLER