X-102 – Discovers The Rings Of Saturn

Certainly not as in your face raw and hard as their X-101 release from the year before, X-102 is definitely more accomplished, and conceptually three dimensional. The cover art and the track titles only add to the story line, a voyage into discovering the rings of Saturn, but it also gives the music a unique, science fiction like touch. Most tracks aren't as relentless as on some of the trio's previous releases, but are way more sophisticated and forward thinking. Envision this as a bridge between their old Tresor releases and the Axis period.
"Discovering the rings of Saturn" lands somewhere in the middle, but captures the best of both styles. There are seriously ferocious tracks like Titan (those synth stabs have to be from a nearby galaxy, there is no other explanation), Groundzero is an old school party monster with larger than life hoover sounds, while Hyperion is a straight up techno banger with a repetitve siren hook which eventually gets tangled with some spacey sound effects. Enceladus does't come far behind with two wicked lead melodies taking turns during the track's time: one is just so rabid, while the other comes in to calm things down, only to get replaced by an even more stomping segment of energy. The track then ends with just some bleeps and effects going over the percussion.
Then there are the minimal orientated tunes, way ahead of most things recorded back then; C-Ring, Dione, and B-Ring all kind of just roll along as bits and pieces of layers get manipulated with. It's remarkalbe, how focused and fairly simple these tracks are, not as obviously forged to rock dancefloors as some other stuff here. They all contain really head nodding melodies (Phoebe and B-Ring) or bubbly synths (Dione and C-Ring).
Then you get the really spaced out, atmospheric brief tunes, such as Rhea, Tethys and A-Ring (which should have been the closing track in my opinion, as it sounds like an open radio trying to catch signal from alien spaceships and ask for urgent rescue), all of which are fantastically orchestrated pieces of building snyth chords and, in some cases, percussion. Tethys is the one to watch out for, though, sixty some seconds of rising melody work with the apparent intent of exploding, but then out of nowhere the drum kicks get retracted, and the music gets lost somewhere in outer space, where it could have easily emerged from... Then, Iapetus, where deep and mystical chants merge with dark tones, no beats, just a two minute soundtrack to your space ship landing onto an unidentified planet, before the music subtly fades out.
Mimas is my favorite tune on the album, by far. It's the release's sum up in one track: the melody work is so hypnotic yet soulful, the pace is steady and never too agressive, the beat is pushed to the background so the lead is given proper space to breathe. What a track! So simple yet so futuristic and mystical. With Tethys and Titan it marks the highpoint of this album, and really gives the impression of three visionary producers giving us a glimpse of the 21st century!

Released in 1992 & produced by Jeff Mills, Mike Banks & Robert Hood, X-102's "Discovers The Rings of Saturn" is typical of the legendary trio's earlier releases. You can hear each of their signature styles in the tracks, and the collaboration of the three techno prodigies is, well, prodigal.

Each of the tracks is named after one of Saturn's satellites (with the exceptions, obviously, of tracks 1, 5, 9, 13, 14). It's interesting to note that the most irregular or 'wildest' tracks on the album ("Hyperion" & "Phoebe" - maybe Banks had the heaviest hand in crafting these two) are named after the two moons with irregular, chaotic orbits. Coincidence?

Standout tracks for me are "Tethys" & "Dione". The former is a short, minimal affair with a catchy keyboard melody that gradually increases in tempo until the end when the melody abruptly disintegrates. With an especially spacy sound, it conjures up images of a decaying orbit spiralling into oblivion. The latter track is again a bit minimal, driving midtempo piece that will definitely keep heads nodding and feet tapping.

Intelligent, forward-thinking Detroit Techno that is still fresh over a decade after its release - not to be missed!