Hold Your Colour

The seminal debut album from Pendulum shot them into the limelight, pulling DnB viciously behind them.

One listen and you quickly begin to see what made "Hold Your Colour" an instant classic. Constant movement characterizes Pendulum's drum n bass, bringing forth energetic rhythms and powerful low-ends behind a couple of great vocal features between pop and hip-hop. But what really made "Hold Your Colour" so revolutionary was its blend of DnB production with rock-esque tropes and songwriting, singlehandedly plunging the genre into the mainstream. At the time, this presented a rift in the drum n bass community - the 'commercialization' of their beloved genre was perhaps too much to handle - but in the modern scene, this album's influence on contemporary artists is undeniable. And "Hold Your Colour" is celebrated so widely for a reason. No record implants itself into the history books quite like an album of genuine quality, fiery and bold, towing new and never-seen-before ideas that would, as a result, go on to be staple tropes of the genre. Arguably, Pendulum achieved just that. In retrospect, it would seem that not much of "Hold Your Colour" is particularly new, but of course the retrospective is a lie. In fact, the truth is much the opposite: it's not that Pendulum are pretend innovators, but rather that they shaped the scene so much that everything nowadays has a spoonful of their flavour. Take a gander at the opening act, "Slam", for instance, a massive dancefloor soundscape hoisting an infectious yet powerful synth lead; or Jasmine Yee's wistful vocal on the molten synths of "Sounds Of Life"; or perhaps the ripping basslines and dark intensity of "The Terminal"; or even the pop-rap-styled vocals complementing the addictive DnB flow of "Plasticworld". Pendulum provide an endless stream of classic drum n bass sounds, repackaged and repurposed to fit a more mainstream environment, plucking esoteric, minimalist sounds from the underground and supercharging them with rock-infused energy and electrifying synth blasts. "Hold Your Colour" has imprinted itself into the undercurrents of mainstream discourse for almost two decades, a testament to its longevity and memorability, but, most of all, a testament to the quality of this record.

I won't try and glaze over the fact that, inevitably, this album sounds a little dated. The mixing techniques are lost to time (which is probably for the best) and the song composition appeals to a different time period. And whilst that does knock this record down a couple of points, don't let it deter you from giving it a proper shot, even just for the culture - for that, "Hold Your Colour" is a must-listen album.