Artist: Steve Gerrard
Title: Thinking Out Loud
Label: Nascent Recordings
By: Simon Jones | 22 September 2004
Tracklist:

• Disk 1
• Disk 2

1. Wrecked Angle - Intro
2. Subsky – Single Gun (Solid Mix)
3. Powerplant – Turn It To Gold (Madoka Faded Memories Dub)
4. Pappa & Gilbey – Ortygia (Wrecked Angle Mix)
5. Dobbs – The Alchemist (Christian J Mix)
6. EK Vs C83 – Threshold
7. Ozgur Can & Rouzbeh Delavari - Eternity (Chris Lake Dirty Breaks Mix)
8. Shiloh – Dream On
9. Matthew Dekay - If I Could Fly (Madoka First Class Free Drinks Rerub)
10. Andy Moor Vs Ice Cream Social – Control Me
11. Burufunk – Outsider (PS Mix)
12. Wrecked Angle – Back To Babylon (Burufunk Mix)

1. V Sag & Andrew K – Fossil (Simuck Mix)
2. Pinkbox Special - Simple
3. Benz & MD - Dead Calm
4. Shmuel Flash – The Other Side Of Me (The Other Side of Subsky Mix)
5. Matthew Dekay, Doves & Roob V - God's Answer
6. Martini & Micali – Boundless
7. Fitalic – Transition
8. Kung Fu Rodriguez - SpEd
9. Mike Hiratzka & Joe C - Show Me The Way
10. Dousk – Tengaloop
11. JDK – Phantoms

Steve Gerrard "Thinking Out Loud"

For the past six years, Steve Gerrard has come from being a relative unknown to one of the most inspiring up and coming DJs, playing endless gigs in far reaching corners of the globe, whilst attempting to find time to concentrate his production projects with studio partner Russell Pearce. An avid lover of most kinds of music, this diversity shines through and through via his sets, earning him plaudits from not only his peers, but music fans and club goers in general. Having won numerous awards early in his career, two of which came from the now defunct Muzik Magazine's Bedroom Bedlam, Steve's following has grown, and it was only a matter of time before his potential was realised and he was given a platform on which to show to the world exactly what he can do. That time is now. The platform is this new compilation, 'Thinking Out Loud'.

A subtle and thought provoking introduction to CD1 questions whether music still has soul, conscience and balls. It's almost as if the introduction is Steve Gerrard providing the questions for which he will attempt to find the answers for, and it's not long before the latter of the three is revealed as we are submerged into the breaks disc of 'Thinking Out Loud'. The dreamy opening melodies of Subsky's 'Singlegun' soon subside to reveal grungy breakbeats, carrying forward into the atmospheric Madoka rerub of Powerplant's 'Turn It Into Gold' that follows. We're barely off the starting blocks and Steve Gerrard is always throwing a curve ball our way, something he does many times throughout this disc, as it constantly evolves, taking in many forms and types of breakbeat sounds.

With dirty nu skool tracks and remixes from the likes of EK, Christian J and even Steve's own Wrecked Angle project sitting alongside big room remixes from Chris Lake and Madoka, it's an example of a diversity that has seen Steve able to play club nights that sit at different ends of the musical spectrum. With a series of vocal tracks from Shiloh (Dream On) and Ice Cream Social Vs Andy Moor (Control Me) in addition to driving instrumentals from Burufunk and Wrecked Angle with the blinding peak time epic 'Back To Babylon', Steve proves he is more than capable of rocking any crowd, from the more casual club goers to the purist followers and trainspotters, and this first disc sets up the mood nicely for the second that follows.

And that it does in grand fashion. as the progressive disc is a smooth mix of some of the best tracks from around the world that Steve happened to stumble across, with a very cosmopolitan range of talent featured in the disc. From the emotive and cultural sounds of V Sag & Andrew K's 'Fossil' that opens the mix, Steve carefully layers each track that follows on top of each other, as the pumping beats and melodies of Pinkbox Special's epic 'Simple' trickle into the tough rolling grooves and synths of Benz & MD's 'Dead Calm'. Keeping the groove flowing. Subsky's take on the Shmuel Flash track 'The Other Side Of Me' builds nicely into the dubbed out ambience of 'God's Answer', the incredible track from Matthew Dekay & The Proluctors.

With the foundations laid, Steve gets a bit more daring as tracks from Mark Martini & Chris Micali, Fitalic and Mike Hiratzka all contribute to the upbeat and twisted vibe that is forged and manipulated by the man behind the decks. Climaxing with a two massive tracks, the first being Dousk's 'Tengaloop', and the second a collaboration between Dousk and Jose Zamora entitled 'Phantoms' under the guise of JDK, Steve releases the built up energy of the disc in a huge way, and like it's counterpart disc, ends on a high that will leave you grinning from ear to ear as these two brilliant dance floor tracks provide the exclamation point to a solid and satisfying journey through the world of progressive house.

A hard working DJ who has quietly been mapping out a path through the saturated scene and slowly amassing an impressive following, 'Thinking Out Loud' shows that the silence has ended and that as one of several DJs on the verge of breaking into the upper echelons long inhabited by the usual suspects, Steve Gerrard is more than capable of holding his own, rocking a crowd in his own unique fashion. He may have left the bedroom long ago, but this album shows he can still cause bedlam with the best of them.