There are few in the electronic dance scene that evoke such energy, demand such respect, and are as well known as Faithless. Individually and collectively, Sister Bliss, Maxi Jazz and Rollo are artists in every sense of the word. And now Renaissance have provided us with an intriguing insight into the musical minds of one of the greatest. For those of you that are not familiar with the Renaissance 3D concept, it basically divides 3 disks into ‘home’, ‘studio’ and ‘club’, giving the listener an insight into the musical repertoire of the featured artist(s).

I’ll start with the ‘club’ disk because, basically, I thought it would be the best, but I found it to be the weakest of the three. Looking at the artists like Deep Dish, Tiga, Mike Monday and Coldcut I figured that I would be in for a classic Faithless journey, but unfortunately just found a well mixed CD that lacked direction and soul. It seemed the tracks were selected at random and went nowhere really. The other two disks, however, are a delight and are thoroughly enjoyable when listened to. The ‘home’ disk of course takes us to the lounge and bedroom of the Faithless crew. Included in this CD are a mass of classics which are both diverse and entertaining. From the Jungle Brothers to Ian Brown’s ‘F.E.A.R’, or Roots Manuva to Joe Cocker. Here is the CD to jazz to, groove to and even have a sing-a-long to.

As you would probably expect the ‘studio’ disk is packed with Faithless tunage. Pete Heller remixes of ‘Miss You Less See You More’ is an old school, feel good track, and the Brothers on a High remix of ‘Crazy English Summer’ does a similar job on a much more laid back, jazzed-up tip. I love the feeling of listening to these tracks, I guess personally it takes me right back to the moments in which I heard them live. The powerful vocals of Maxi Jazz are concurrent throughout the disks but none more so than on ‘My Culture’, a definite standout. It is evident that Sister Bliss and Rollo take control of the producing duties, but Faithless came together and in its purest essence is a live energy.

Going back to what I was mentioned previously, the power of an act, an artist or a track is in the ability of revisiting a moment once lived with the greatest of clarities and vividness. Real music never dies. And Faithless is eternal.