Law of the Jungle (album)
| Law of the Jungle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Compilation album by various artists | |
| Released | 18 October 1994 |
| Recorded | 1993–1994 |
| Studio | Trinity Studios, London |
| Genre | Jungle |
| Length | 60:14 |
| Label | Moonshine Music |
| Producer | Various |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| CMJ New Music Monthly | (favourable) |
| New York Magazine | (favourable) |
| Vibe | (favourable) |
Law of the Jungle is a compilation album of various early jungle music tracks by various artists, released in 1994 in the United States on Moonshine Music. Jungle had started to emerge in the United Kingdom a couple of years earlier but despite its growth, albeit slow, in the United States, no jungle albums were available on the American market. Moonshine conceived the album as a primer for jungle music for American shores, using music from British jungle label SOUR Records, and as a spin-off to their fast tempo techno compilation series Speed Limit 140 BPM+. Law of the Jungle was the first jungle album released in the United States.
The music on the album features typical jungle characteristics including influences from ragga, dub and dancehall, cut-up breakbeats, rude boy motifs and lyrics of urban alienation. The album sold 15,000 copies in the United States and was a major critical success, with many critics describing the album as a great introduction to jungle music. Furthermore, the album has also been credited as helping spread popularity of the genre in the United States. In 1999, music critic Ned Raggett named the album the 15th greatest album of the 1990s, and the decade's greatest compilation album.
Jungle music emerged circa 1992 in London and Bristol, characterised by its pulsating, fast tempos (150 to 200 bpm), relatively slow and lyrical reggae-derived basslines, breakbeats (often cut-up using breaks such as the Amen break), and other heavily syncopated percussive loops. According to Tim Haslett of CMJ New Music Monthly in his review of Law of the Jungle, described the original jungle sound present on the album as "constructed of sped-up drum breaks from '70s funk records from everyone to James Brown to Jimmy Castor and Hermann Kelly."New York Magazine meanwhile described its influence from hip hop and "dancehall, dub and techno music that's distinguished by a frantic speed, a deep, detached bass pulse and a staicky surface of radio sound bites and unintelligble ragamuffin-style vocals," citing the genre's similarity to "early punk rock–at least in its tempo, noise levels and desired effect on the more conservative segments of British society."
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