14. Messiah – Temple Of Dreams
Without further ado! The engines are throbbing at the start line, ready for Richard Dawson’s Running Man evocation to wave the chequered flag: “It’s time… to start…. RUNNING!” And we’re off! ‘Temple Of Dreams’ accelerates up and up through the gears, before levelling out on a smooth cruise control in the stratosphere, burbling along whilst our in-flight hostess Liz Fraser whispers soothing lullabies. Wonderful stuff.
But hang on, haven’t we already had a track by Messiah?
Rave ’92 defies one of the cardinal rules of mixtapes: “thou shalt never have more than one track by the same artist.” Can doubling up on compilations ever be justified?
ADVANTAGE #1: Showing Off
As a particularly obnoxious child, I was always desperate to show off how much more I knew about music than everyone else*. Knowing that extra song gives you the edge on your peers: a throwaway playground remark along the lines of “have you heard Messiah’s version of I Feel Love?” can be instantly trumped with a retort of “actually Temple Of Dreams is far superior”, stunning your classmate into awestruck silence for the rest of double Maths. Technically this could also be achieved by referencing an obscure song by a different artist, but then you run the risk of your opponent thinking you haven’t actually heard of Messiah at all and are BLUFFING.
DISADVANTAGE #1: Future Embarassment
Whilst a detailed knowledge of specific subjects can indeed be useful, a broad spread over the genre will help avoid those awkward conversations that begin “I know everything there is to know about Young Person’s Rave Music” and end with “Well indeed, I must check out these Eight Hundred And Eight State chaps of whom you speak”. Non-repetitive compilations truly are the International Baccalaureate to Rave ’92‘s AS Level General Studies.
ADVANTAGE #2: Potential Investment
If you’re new to an artist, having more than one track to go on obviously gives you a greater confidence in the artist’s quality (or lack of), and maybe even grounds for spending your pocket money on the album and the unknown bounty that lies within it.
DISADVANTAGE #2: Potential Disappointment
But what if those two tracks are the ONLY good tracks on the album and you’ve just wasted ten cassingles’ worth of pence in vain? Rave ’92 doubles up tracks by The Orb, The Prodigy and 2 Unlimited – sound investment choices all – but do Messiah put forward a convincing album-purchase argument? Perhaps if 20,000 Hardcore Members had been included as well…
The non-repetition rule is there for a reason, but if the tracks are good enough it doesn’t matter. ‘Temple Of Dreams’ is a great side opener that more than deserves a place here. I’d choose it over ‘I Feel Love’ any day.
Watch the video to ‘Temple Of Dreams’ on Youtube (dodgy music quality but worth it to see Arnie’s acting face).
*Amazingly enough, knowing obscure music trivia is actually more useful in my current job than my degree. Suck on that, academia!