Saturnz Return
Studio album by
Goldie
Released27 January 1998
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 149:16 (CD)
  • 75:14 (cassette)
  • 73:20 (vinyl)
LabelFFRR
Producer
Goldie chronology
Timeless
(1995)		 Saturnz Return
(1998)		 Ring of Saturn
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB[3]
The Guardian[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Muzik7/10[6]
NME8/10[7]
Pitchfork8.6/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Spin6/10[10]

Saturnz Return is the second studio album by Goldie, released on 27 January 1998.[11] The album entered the UK Albums Chart at 15, however only spent four weeks on the chart in total.[12] The album received mixed reviews upon release, with particular negative attention paid to the hour-long opening track "Mother".[13]

Content and documentary

The album opens with the hour-long piece "Mother", which includes a "30-piece string section" and "classically trained child singers" and was intended to sonically represent Goldie being put up for adoption at age three by his mother, being raised in multiple children's homes and by various foster parents, as well as his life in the public eye after the success of his first album and becoming addicted to cocaine. Goldie said he needed to make it, and described it as opening with a "beautiful piece of music that's the voice of a child who's not arrived yet" before "the whole thing descends, and it's being cast away [...] He's trying to find his way and he becomes a monster, and the beats become really complex and start to grow really fierce".[13]

Goldie filmed an accompanying documentary, Goldie: When Saturn Returnz, about his search for his birth parents, in which he questioned his biological father and "chastis[ed]" his birth mother, which was considered "uncomfortable viewing" by Alexis Petridis of The Guardian. Goldie subsequently reconciled with his mother before her death, and she asked him to play the track at her funeral. He refused due to its length, but played the track on his headphones while seeing her body before her funeral. He stated that the experience of making the track "was what it was for. [...] It was for that simple moment."[13]

Reception

Goldie said that his record label were expecting "something like [his] first album" Timeless after he had become the "poster boy for drum'n'bass" in the years following its release. The label listening to the hour-long "Mother" was dramatised in the 2008 John Niven novel Kill Your Friends, with Goldie claiming that their dissatisfaction with it was also "the end for one [label executive]'s career". The suite also divided British music critics at the time, who "were so perplexed that largely they chose to ignore the rest of the album" despite following tracks featuring David Bowie, Noel Gallagher and KRS-One.[13]

Upon the album being reissued for its 21st anniversary in 2019, Goldie said that he "tried to tell [his label] no" but that they "insisted", saying that they believed "people should hear it now". He was still unsure whether they had come to "genuinely believe" in the album or if they were "trying to recoup the money they lost on it in the first place".[13]

Track listing

CD pressing

All tracks are written by Goldie, except where noted[14]

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mother"Goldie, Optical, John Altman60:11
2."Truth" (featuring David Bowie; includes hidden track, "The Dream Within") 13:52
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Temper Temper" (featuring Noel Gallagher) 5:14
2."Digital" (featuring KRS-One) 5:51
3."I'll Be There for You"Goldie, Anne Dudley, Malcolm McLaren, Trevor Horn6:57
4."Believe" 7:09
5."Dragonfly" 16:04
6."Chico – Death of a Rockstar"Goldie, Jorge Mautner, Rob Playford7:14
7."Letter of Fate" 7:54
8."Fury – The Origin" 6:30
9."Crystal Clear"Goldie, Justina Curtis6:53
10."Demonz" 5:28

The cassette release is identical to the second CD, with five songs on each side.

Vinyl pressing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'll Be There for You"Goldie, Anne Dudley, Malcolm McLaren, Trevor Horn6:57
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chico – Death of a Rockstar"Goldie, Jorge Mautner, Rob Playford7:14
Side C
No.TitleLength
1."Fury – The Origin"6:30
Side D
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Crystal Clear"Goldie, Justina Curtis6:53
Side E
No.TitleLength
1."Demonz"5:28
Side F
No.TitleLength
1."Digital" (featuring KRS-One)5:51
2."Temper Temper" (featuring Noel Gallagher)5:14
Side G
No.TitleLength
1."Letter of Fate"7:54
2."Truth" (featuring David Bowie)5:15
Side H
No.TitleLength
1."Dragonfly"16:04

Charts

Chart performance for Saturnz Return
Chart (1998) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 35
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 44
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[17] 35
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 43
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[20] 30
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 38
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 15

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Saturnz Return – Goldie". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Kot, Greg (30 January 1998). "Goldie: Saturnz Return (London/ffrr)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Browne, David (6 February 1998). "Saturnz Return". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Bennun, David (30 January 1998). "Goldie: Saturnz Return (London)". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ Weingarten, Marc (14 March 1998). "Goldie, 'Saturnzreturn,' Ffrr". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Bush, Calvin (February 1998). "Goldie: Saturnz Return (London)". Muzik (33): 70.
  7. ↑ Dalton, Stephen (24 January 1998). "Goldie – Saturnz Return". NME. Archived from the original on 8 October 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Schreiber, Ryan. "Goldie: Saturnzreturn". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 20 April 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Strauss, Neil (8 February 1998). "Goldie: Saturnzreturn". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Hunter, James (March 1998). "Goldie: Saturnz Return". Spin. 14 (3): 130. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Saturnz Return – Goldie | Releases". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Official Albums Chart: Saturnz Return". Official Charts Company. 14 February 1998. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Petridis, Alexis (30 August 2019). "Goldie: 'Saturnz Return ended one label exec's career'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Saturnz Return – Goldie | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Goldie – Saturnz Return" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Goldie – Saturnz Return" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "Goldie: Saturnz Return" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  18. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Goldie – Saturnz Return". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Goldie – Saturnz Return" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  20. ↑ "Charts.nz – Goldie – Saturnz Return". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  21. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Goldie – Saturnz Return". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  22. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Goldie – Timeless". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  23. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
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