The Journey Man

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The Journey Man
Goldie The Journey Man artwork.jpg
Studio album by
Released16 June 2017
Studio Battery Studios, London; The Tree House, Kamala Beach, Phuket
Genre Drum and bass, acid jazz, trip hop
Length148:45
Label Metalheadz, Cooking Vinyl
Producer Goldie and Jon Dixon
Goldie chronology
Saturnz Return
(1998)
The Journey Man
(2017)
Singles from The Journey Man
  1. "I Adore You"
    Released: 22 April 2017

The Journey Man is the third studio album by English drum and bass artist Goldie. Released nearly two decades after his previous studio album, [1] Saturnz Return , The Journey Man has been described by Goldie as his magnum opus and his legacy album, taking five years to produce. [2] The album features a number of collaborators, including vocalist and songwriter Natalie Duncan, Terri Walker, Jose James, and Goldie's wife, Mika Wassenaar Price.

Contents

The album spent one week on the UK Albums Chart at number 43.

Background

Following the critical success of his debut album, Timeless (1995), and the more subdued reaction to its follow-up, Saturnz Return (1998), Goldie's focus moved from studio album production to DJing, acting, art, and appearances on celebrity television shows. This experience, including his appearance on the BBC's Maestro television series, led Goldie to reprise Timeless at the Royal Festival Hall with the Heritage Orchestra in 2015. It was during this process that the idea for The Journey Man began to germinate. [3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 65/100 [4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Arts Desk Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Clash 8/10 [7]
Exclaim! 8/10 [8]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Line of Best Fit 8/10 [10]
Mixmag 8/10 [11]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Uncut 8/10 [14]

The Journey Man received generally positive reviews from critics. Erik Thompson of The Line of Best Fit praises Goldie for managing "to craft a sprawling, nearly two-hour collection that sounds vital and inspired, while also delivering a fresh twist on the euphoric drum ‘n’ bass club anthems that he'll always be known for." [15]

Reviewing for AllMusic, Paul Simpson notes that The Journey Man spans genres; "As with his '90s masterworks, Goldie has created a widescreen epic that tells the story of his life through music, not only via drum'n'bass but spanning other genres such as soul, jazz, and downtempo. In addition to club-friendly drum'n'bass tracks such as the vibrant "Prism" and the darker, Photek-like "I Think of You," there are loads of tracks that do without fast, complex breakbeats." [5]

Will Hodgkinson, writing for The Times , tempered his praise for the album, saying "Goldie's creativity and ambition is inspiring and the cinematic scale of his music uplifting, but this isn't hugely different from the material of his mid-nineties success". [16]

The album was reviewed less favourably by The Guardian ; with Ben Beaumont-Thomas citing Goldie's inability to corral his larger than life ambition as cause for what feels like some interminable material; with the 18-minute track "Redemption" the place this is most evident. [9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Goldie, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Horizon"Goldie, Jon Dixon7:08
2."Prism" 6:07
3."Mountains" 5:14
4."Castaway" 4:30
5."The Mirrored River" 5:51
6."I Adore You"Goldie, Ulterior Motive6:06
7."I Think of You" 7:12
8."Truth" 4:59
9."Redemption" 18:36
10."Tu Viens Avec Moi?" Pat Metheny 8:49
11."The Ballad Celeste" 5:12
12."This Is Not a Love Song"Goldie, Jon Dixon6:35
13."The River Mirrored" 5:51
14."Triangle" 5:51
15."Tomorrow's Not Today"Goldie, Jon Dixon, Naomi Pryor4:36
16."Run, Run, Run"Goldie, Jon Dixon6:08

Charts

Chart performance for The Journey Man
Chart (2017)Peak
position
UK Albums Chart [17] 43

References

  1. Trendell, Andrew (20 February 2017). "Goldie: I'm Back to Shake Things up". NME . Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  2. "Goldie - The British Masters Season 3 - Chapter 3". YouTube Noisey. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  3. "Goldie's voyage into another galaxy: DJ Mag cover story". DJ. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  4. "The Journey Man by Goldie Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  5. 1 2 Simpson, Paul. "Goldie - The Journey Man". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  6. Muggs, Joe (11 June 2017). "CD: Goldie - The Journey Man". The Arts Desk . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  7. Kalia, Ammar. "Goldie - The Journey Man". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  8. Sylvester, Daniel (16 June 2017). "Goldie - The Journey Man". Exclaim! . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  9. 1 2 Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (15 June 2017). "Goldie: The Journey Man review – over-ambitious jungle epic drifts off course". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  10. Thompson, Erik (17 June 2017). "Goldie Takes a Chance on The Journey Man". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  11. Cook, Ewen (2 June 2017). "June: 18 albums you need to hear this month". Mixmag . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  12. Earth-shattering breakbeats take a backseat to slicker, smoother, jazzier efforts and broad-brush over-emoting for much of its ponderous second half. [Jul 2017, p.91]
  13. It's pulled down by too many mid-paced ballads and inordinate length. [Aug 2017, p.104]
  14. Goldie strikes a neat balance between exploratory drum programming ad sleek soul. [Jul 2017, p.30]
  15. Ryce, Andrew (13 June 2017). "Goldie - The Journey Man". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  16. Hodgkinson, Will (16 June 2017). "Pop Review: Goldie - The Journey Man". The Times . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  17. "Official albums Chart for The Journey Man". The Official UK Charts Company. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2022.