This review covers the breakbeat track The Prodigy – Mindfields.
This track was released in 1999 as part of The Matrix official soundtrack. We’ve had some very good luck with this soundtrack so far. First, we tried Rob D – Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Mix) and found it to be great. Next up, we listened to Lunatic Calm – Leave You Far Behind and found it to be very solid. Finally, we gave Propellerheads – Spybreak! (Short One) a listen. That also turned out to be great. So, we thought we’d continue our reviews of the soundtrack.
The track starts with a layered synth effect. From there, a few percussion elements take over. A melody then enters the track with an effect. The vocals then make an appearance with a subtle fast distance effect. A stutter effect then makes a minor appearance.
After that, the drumkit joins the track. The vocals then repeat a line. A synth effect then makes an appearance again. After that, the drum kit continues. A 303-like bassline makes an appearance. A synth effect makes an appearance as the vocals repeat the beginning lines. A synth melody also makes a brief appearance.
A synth effect makes an appearance before a melody and synth effect makes an appearance. This drops out as a synth effect pulsates. After that, a drop hits, leaving only a few percussion elements behind. The first melody makes an appearance again before repeating with a higher volume. The vocals makes an appearance again.
From there, the secondary melody and synth effects return. The vocals also return. An additional 404-like synth makes a subtle appearance as well. A vocal sample makes an appearance before the drop hits.
The vocals are then extended with more fast distance effect. The pulsing synth makes a return. After that, the drum kit returns. A stutter effect makes an appearance before an altered secondary melody makes an appearance. The vocals then repeat the opening lines in the track. The secondary melody and stutter effect makes an additional appearance. The vocals repeat once again before the stutter effect returns. A snare roll hits before the track ends with a bassline note and an effect.
My first impression of this track is that it’s a much more abstract listening experience. It would make for an interesting background track to certain things, but not as something that would be a dominant feature.
It’s a pretty complex track which can be a good thing. In this case, I’m not entirely sure it helped a whole lot necessarily. It didn’t hurt anything, but I’m not sure it wound up being a standout feature.
The vocals are OK and the effects do stretch the quality, pushing the vocals to be as good as they can be. The 303-like bassline does give this track some interesting dynamics.
Unfortunately, nothing really stands out for me in this track as anything particularly amazing. It’s not bad, but nothing to get overly excited over.
Overall, this track has some interesting features. It also makes for some potentially good passive listening experiences, but not something I would actively listen to that much. It’s not a bad track, but it’s not something I would get overly excited over. So, a decent track, but there’s plenty of far better music out there.
Score
7/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
