The Journey Man

Following the critical success of his debut album, Timeless (1995), and the more subdued reaction to its follow-up, Saturnz Return (1998), Goldie's focus moved from studio album production to DJing, acting, art, and appearances on celebrity television shows. This experience, including his appearance on the BBC's Maestro television series, led Goldie to reprise Timeless at the Royal Festival Hall with the Heritage Orchestra in 2015. It was during this process that the idea for The Journey Man began to germinate.[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Clash	8/10[5]
The Guardian	[6]
The Line of Best Fit	8/10[7]
Resident Advisor	3.3/5[8]
The Times	[9]

The Journey Man received generally positive reviews from critics. Erik Thompson of The Line of Best Fit praises Goldie for managing "to craft a sprawling, nearly two-hour collection that sounds vital and inspired, while also delivering a fresh twist on the euphoric drum ‘n’ bass club anthems that he'll always be known for."[8]

Reviewing for AllMusic, Paul Simpson notes that The Journey Man spans genres; "As with his '90s masterworks, Goldie has created a widescreen epic that tells the story of his life through music, not only via drum'n'bass but spanning other genres such as soul, jazz, and downtempo. In addition to club-friendly drum'n'bass tracks such as the vibrant "Prism" and the darker, Photek-like "I Think of You," there are loads of tracks that do without fast, complex breakbeats."[4]

Will Hodgkinson, writing for The Times, tempered his praise for the album, saying "Goldie's creativity and ambition is inspiring and the cinematic scale of his music uplifting, but this isn't hugely different from the material of his mid-nineties success".[9]

The album was reviewed less favourably by The Guardian; with Ben Beaumont-Thomas citing Goldie's inability to corral his larger than life ambition as cause for what feels like some interminable material; with the 18-minute track "Redemption" the place this is most evident.[6]