In the Mode - Roni Size & Repraszent

New Forms, Reprazent's debut album was met with critical acclaim. It was a summary of the development and attitude of the UK Drum & Bass scene. A lot had happened in Drum & Bass by 1997, and this was perhaps the reason that New Forms was an extensive and frankly, over long album clocking in at over two hours. Although the music on it is consistantly of a top quality it isn't an album that you can sit down and listen to when you have a few spare minutes. In The Mode goes some way to rectify this. It is (only!) 80 minutes long. In that 80 minutes there are a whapping 18 songs though (there were 22 on New Forms and it was twice as long) and only three are ...  Read the complete review

Roni Size & Reprazent have become one of the most established and well know drum and base acts in the UK if not the world. Known for such songs as Brown Paper Bag and Heroes from thier last album, the group have hit back with style with this new album In The Mode. This time the group are graced with the presence of such guests as Wu-Tang Killer Bee Method Man, Human-Beat-Box Guru Rahzel and former Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Roch, none of which I would ever have associated with Drum and Bass. However this isn't the normal breed of drum machine heads is it? This time there seems to be a few more lyrics in the tracks which seem to be ...  Read the complete review

Bring it on baby! This second gem from Roni Size carries on where the first album left off. The first album was quite chilled out with a jazz influence. In the Mode on the other hand has a harder edge with heavier beats and a faster tempo. This album has guest vocals from the likes of Method Man and Zach De La Rocha, which probably explains the harder edge. These vocals are a top choice as they work so well with this style of music. If you know the first album, there was an excellent female vocalist, Onallee ('Watching Windows', Heoroes) who does just as well on this album. If you've heard the single 'Who Told You', then ...  Read the complete review

The second album by the Reprazent crew is excellent. Its a much more musical album than New Forms. In the Mode contains more vocals from Onalee and Dynamite, plus appearances Method Man (Wu Tang) and Zach de la Rocha (RATM) Compared to the previous album In the Mode seems to cotnain more energy than New Forms. While it still maintains the jazzy sound of the first one, this album uses more sounds, lots of orchestral parts and more complicated drum patterns. Another part of the sound of the album is it hip -hop vibe, while its not drum and bass, its not an unwelcome addition, the album flows from track to track really well. Each track has been blended into one ...  Read the complete review

With the modern Drum and Bass scene becoming very similar and repetetive more producers should look back to Roni's second album In the Mode, and try to remember what its all about. The scene is becoming too commercial, and with that tunes are becoming too similar-They are just standard material that is pumped out to make money. When a producer gets big he stops putting effort in. Im not saying Ronis new tunes from the Touching Down album aren't good, its just that they dont have nearly as much singularity, and do not stand alone as some of his classics such as-Dirty beats, the mexican and the original snapshot. The songs on this album are individually crafted and ...  Read the complete review