REVIEW: Robert Miles, 23am (Arista)
- Thomas Brown
23am is Robert Miles second release to date. His first album, Dreamland yielded the international hit titled "Children", which went to number 1 in most of Europe and won many awards along the way.
Robert, being both a DJ and a clubber, said he wrote the songs to calm people down, because of all the deaths caused by kids going clubbing in Italy. Kids taking a deadly mix of drugs and liquor were being charged by the hard and fast techno music, which made their adrenalin skyrocket. They would then climb into their cars and would drive at insane speeds. They would, on top of that, ignore all the road signs and the result would be up to twenty and thirty deaths each week. 20,000 mothers joined together into something called the "Mamma Anti-Rock" protest movement. They would march down streets in Europe to raise awareness about the kids of today.
Troubled by all the deaths of kids, Robert Miles took that fast, hard techno and made it slow. The result made Robert Miles an overnight sensation and everyone loved it. The results were Dreamland and 23am, with Robert making use of all his composing, producing, piano, and DJ'ing experience into these songs.
I found this album quite relaxing. While sleeping and listening to this record images would pop into your mind, such as, high cliffs with water crashing on them, babies crying, long elegant beaches, green pastures, snow caped mountains, and many other things. These are the results of the soothing samples, lyrics, pianos, and other delights of this record. The booklet is incredibly good also, with a black figure standing on a street. The only part I hated about this record was the vocal input by Kathy Sledge. If you are into this slow piano-techno genre, then 23am is for you.
