Fans of Faithless 1996 debut release Reverence (which I am one of) have been waiting for a return to form from this house techno group ever since. Music producers Sister Bliss and Rollo (who is the brother of the now uber famous Dido) and especially vocalist/smooth talker Maxi Jazz created a frenzy of tune in the form of Insomnia and turned moderately curious techno window shoppers into raving club fanatics. Since then however, its been wondered if Faithless would ever recreate the magic that they once conjured eight years ago. It didn't happen with Reverence's follow up, the mostly hollow Sunday PM. It sure as hell didn't happen with their third album Outrospective. But with No Roots, Faithless have finally created a song that will garner them attention once again in the form of "Mass Destruction." There's only a single problem with it though. The kick ass single you might have heard of by now isn't even their version, its a friggin' remix! The original album version kicks off No Roots and is absolutely stagnant compared to the P*Nut and Sister Bliss Mix that's out there on radio and video outlets right now.

True the remix version is here as well, but its track 15 of 15 on the list, and there's 14 other tracks to go through if you don't skip straight to the end. And skip to the end you probably will, unless you review albums for a living. No Roots is a complete snooze. I love Maxi Jazz's voice, but all tracks that feature his vocals are starting to sound the same. What's worse is that nearly half the songs concocted here by Rollo and Sister Bliss almost feel like Insomnia retreads just tweaked a bit to hide the essence of what is really at the heart of these tracks. And of course, just like on all the other albums that Faithless have done, Dido feels compelled (or obliged) to contribute vocals to one song, and here its done so listlessly in the form of the self-titled track. Yes, Rollo and company may have another hit single on their hands with Mass Destruction (THE REMIX VERSION!) but No Roots turns out to be a one trick pony, and a deceptive one trick pony at that.