Forever Faithless: The Greatest Hits

It was a crazy time when dance music exploded into the mainstream. A youth culture-based musical movement that had seemed more at home in damp and dirty garages and trespassed fields it had inhabited so far (for a good 15 years before it enjoyed any real power in the popular music charts). There were no major label deals, no mass-grossing compilations, no super clubs per se, and there certainly wasn’t the celebrity stigma attached to any of the early pioneers. In the mid-nineties along with Leftfield, Orbital and The Chemical Brothers, Faithless helped bring dance music firmly into the mainstream. They fused hi-octane synths borrowed from the Chicago dance scene with a myriad of different danceable styles, such as dub-reggae, hip-hop, samba and disco. Formed in London during the mid-1990s, Faithless is, at its core, producers Rollo and Sister Bliss (biggest female DJ in the world and multi-instrumentalist), with Buddhist rapper/vocalist Maxi Jazz fronting the group. Forever Faithless features the greatest hits of Faithless's 10-million-records-selling career, with tracks taken from all four previously released albums (Reverence, Sunday 8pm, Outrospective, and No Roots) and new songs.

The collection mixes tracks in a non-chronological order that showcases the band's consistency. Insomnia, one of Faithless's biggest club hits, kicks off the set with its pulsing house beats and ominous synth lines. Other highlights include the dramatic dance-floor epic Salva Mea, the Nina Simone-sampling I Want More, and the dreamy One Step Too Far, which features the ethereal vocals of Dido, who got her start as a backing singer for Faithless (and is Rollo's sister). Tracks also include God Is a DJ and the massive We Come 1. There are two new/previously-unreleased tracks: a slamming reggae-influenced Fatty Boo and aforementioned smooth and laid back I Want More. The gentle piano and heartfelt vocal work by Pauline Taylor on Don't Leave show that, although Faithless may make electronic music, they are first-and-foremost highly talented musicians. The languid grooves of Muhammed Ali deftly show off how they manage to combine these two ends of the musical spectrum.

Seventeen days was all it took. Seventeen days to make one of the most eclectic, spectacularly unusual and internationally successful albums of the decade. What you have is a pioneering outfit that is still going strong and Forever Faithless proves that fact. Faithless is to house what Massive Attack is to trip-hop – that is, both acts expand the boundaries of their respective styles while creating a fascinatingly dark atmosphere. Listeners seeking an excellent introduction to this influential group should look no further than Forever Faithless. This collection is a great career round-up of one of the most successful acts in dance music.