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Critic's Review
Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
Following his name-making collaborations with Sasha in the Northern Exposure series, John Digweed made his solo album debut with Global Underground: Sydney. The double-disc set moves along steadily through a range of mainly progressive house tracks, demanding a bit of patience from listeners expecting lots of hands-in-the-air action. Digweed opens the album wonderfully with Fortunato & Montresor's "Imagine" and Liquid Language's "Blu Savannah." From there he opens up a bit, pacing his way toward an excellent finale to the first set, Albion's "Air," by way of Danny Tenaglia's midset percussion workout, "Elements." The second set is a likewise varied affair, albeit one that's a bit more intense than the first, highlighted by the back to back punch of Deepsky's "Stargazer" and Paul Van Dyk's "Words." Regardless of the careful pacing, welcome variety, and choice highlights, however, Global Underground: Sydney isn't one of Digweed's more memorable mixes, seeming relatively uneventful relative to some of the more colorful ones he followed with. [The differently packaged U.S. and U.K. versions share the same track listing.]
