viola's delight is a nice piece of detroit inspired jungle techno.

whatever you have to say about livin in darkness it tore up the dance floor,full stop. happy days

Living in darkness most overated overplayed track ever got on my fucking tits violets delight alot better but never got played by any so called big shot back in the day not as i can remember any hows pill munching lsd tripping shroom madness great days them TOP BUZZ

Sorry folks but Living in darkness is not a firm favorite of mine. Great tune for it's time, but I think its a little too minimal and repetitive. Top Buzz were awesome as DJ's though! It was pretty innovative for its time, though.

Info from Jack Smooth on B2VOS:"The original of Livin in Darkeness had been made elsewhere. We completely rebuilt Viola's Delight from the ground up but I liked the other side (LiD) a lot so I offered to to try and repair it without us having to reconstruct all of the parts. I managed to get it to sound pretty good so we agreed to release it knowing that it was likely we would completely rebuid it in a future remix (which of course we did)."

One of the most iconic basslines in Hardcore, how anyone can describe it as overrated is beyond me. Its a monster, so atmospheric and beautifully produced. The little touches with the bongos are so, so funky. It's got a tribal vibe to it, an anthem in the best kind of way. Its an absolute classic in my opinion, you could play this in an upfront set and it would destroy the dancefloor! Respect to the Top Buzz boys and of course the mighty Jack Smooth for a timeless masterpiece. Sally bed hopper!

It could be argued that this record was a blueprint for the Drum n Bass sound that emerged from the UK Rave scene. What a lot of people don't realise is the original track played by Top Buzz was made in 1991 when it was thier exclusive. The track was sought after by most DJs and only Groove and Fabio had a plate. As the track grew into an anthem it needed a fresh update and as Jason and Pat were promoting Basement Records other releases, I suggested the guys work with Jack Smooth at Basement Records, it was a marriage made in heaven and the rest as they say is history.It was a massive influence on the future of the Rave scene and without doubt one of the most memorable Rave Tunes ever made. A special record for a special time.

Only 35 of these hand written test press's were sent out per release from nos 4 - 40

I own a copy of this hand written test. Thanks for the info Phil ????

In my opinion, 'Living in Darkness' was/is massively over-rated. It is one of the weakest Basement releases apart from the first three, up to when the style began to change more to D&B. The main synth stab is pretty weak, and the drum programming is basic - the track is fairly formulaic. Kev Bird, Wax Doctor, DJ Mayhem, etc were producing far superior work on Basement at this time. That said, it is kinda catchy, and middle of the road usually appeals to the masses more so than the more cutting edge sounds. I can't help feeling that if the name 'Top Buzz' was not attributed to this track, it wouldn't have attracted half as much attention.

Classic hardcore track, arguably the first that pointed in a direction other than speeded up vocals, and ripped off piano tracks. Simple stabs, simple bassline - simply devastating.