Okay, the guy's legendary. He's a household name in jungle music. People everywhere sing his praises. But why? What is it about Goldie that gets people goin'? Is it his trademark nasty teeth? Was it his temporary fling with Björk? Or is it that he owns a decent drum-n-bass label that's spawned a lot of artists that have turned out to be substantially more talented than him? Help me out, people!

Despite what the vast majority thinks, Saturnzreturn wasn't that terrible of an album (although the man's 1995 debut, Timeless, was actually a lot better). The bummer about this guy, though, is that his records are really hit- and- miss affairs. While I raved madly about Saturnzreturn in last year's review, it was only because I was temporarily enamored with it. In retrospect, a bunch of those tracks are bullshit.

Oh, sure, it's still got it's cool moments-- I stand by my opinion that "Mother" is one of the most impressive theatrical ambient songs of all time, and that "Temper Temper" is also pretty decent. But songs like "Letter of Fate" and, of course, "Digital" are among the worst things ever committed to plastic.

So, what of Ring of Saturn? Well, remix albums have been pretty decent lately-- the High Llamas' Lollo Rosso, the Pastels' Illuminati and Ryuichi Sakamoto's Discord remix EPs on Ninja Tune have all been astounding-- but this is one exception to the norm. Goldie's taken it upon himself to remix all his own tracks. So, it's nice to see that he's avoiding the entire purpose of the remix disc, which is, of course, to hear another artists' perspective on the music.

Frankly, the only remixes actually worth listening to are the ones that weren't mixed by Goldie-- both Optical and Grooverider's takes on "Temper Temper." (Actually, Grooverider's mix isn't all that terrific, either, but after an hour of shoddy remixes of songs that weren't so incredible to begin with, it all seems good.) Yeah, there are a few new tracks here, too, and they aren't horrible, but they'd have been right at home on Saturnzreturn. So, a ploy for more cash? An attempt to keep himself in the spotlight after his last album tanked? Whatever the case, Ring of Saturn's a bad idea executed shabbily. Good luck in the future, Goldie-- you're gonna need it.

-Ryan Schreiber