In the early nineties I would search the myriad of record shops in city centres for new electronic and dance music to buy.
One day in HMV I came across a 12" called "Figure of 8" by The Grid. I think the record must have been cheap as I can't think why else I would have bought something completely unknown to me.
As it turned out I quite liked the song and some of the Todd Terry mixes were quite good. There was even a second 12" single to fit into the gatefold that completed the set; so I bought that too. The next single "Heartbeat" convinced me to buy the parent album "Four Five Six" when it was released a couple of weeks later.
As with the majority of my collection, I originally bought this album on CD and acquired the vinyl more recently. I bought this record from eBay in 2014 and it is very good condition. As it turns out the sleeve for the CD is just detail from a larger image which is featured on the LP sleeve.
The album gets underway with "Face the Sun" which is a track that clearly illustrates how far the band have moved on since their debut album "Electric Head". The strong TR-909 swing beat pumps away as synth sweeps and wah-wah guitar riffs float along. Sun Ra delivers a typically spaced out monologue as the bassline continues propel us forward. Unfortunately there's some screaming guitars but the backing vocals of P.P. Arnold soon begin to take over from the cacophony.
There is an effortless segue into the next track "Ice Machine" which is nothing to do with the Depeche Mode song of the same name. Here Dieter Meier delivers his usual vocal which is then layered over Kraftwerk inspired rhythms and some funky percussion. There's a more contemporary dance track next in the form of "Crystal Clear" which I always thought was very clever. When this song was released as a single I was keen to hear the inevitable remixes that would be included. However, I was left disappointed by the absolute garbage that was delivered by The Orb and Justin Robertson. The original version remains the only one worth listening to.
"Aquarium" is a bit of a weird song that harks back to the sound of the first album and even uses the same vocalist Sacha Souter. Robert Fripp turns up to deliver a laconic performance on guitar and there is even some real harpsichord thrown in for good measure. There's a short incidental piece called "Instrument" which consists of bubbling noises and whale song to end side one.
Side two opens with the single "Heartbeat" (although a punchier edit was released for the single). This track sounds slow and a little cheesy now, but hearing it takes me straight back to 1992. The afore mentioned "Figure of 8" comes next with its deep bassline and funky beats. Having not heard these tracks for a long time, I am struck by how brilliant Dave and Richard are at constructing basslines. There's also a massive rumbling sub sonic bass on the first single from the album "Boom!". This track passed me by when it was first released and, back in the day, singles seemed to be deleted very quickly and once they were out of the shops they were impossible to find again, so I didn't get hold of a copy until relatively recently.
"Leave Your Body" is another track that reminds me of the first album and doesn't really do anything much. However, the album is set to finish on an almighty high with the superb "Fire Engine Red". This final track features Robert Fripp, P.P. Arnold and some great drums by Steve Sidelynk. The cherry on the top is provided by the growling vocals of Zodic Mindwarp which somehow work perfectly. 4/5
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