1. 4
2. Cornish Acid
3. Peek 824545301
4. Fingerbib
5. Corn Mouth
6. To Cure a Weakling Child
7. Goon Gumpas
8. Yellow Calx
9. Girl/Boy Song
10. Logon Rock Witch

When bringing the album to America, the record companies decided that 32 minutes was too short for an album and added on the (entertaining, but IMO inferior) 5 tracks from the Girl/Boy EP.

11. Milkman
12. Inkeys
13. Girl/Boy Song [£18 Snare Rush Mix]
14. Beetles
15. Girl/Boy Song [Redruth Mix]

Those five tracks are BONUS TRACKS - they are NOT part of Richard D. James Album. Please consider this when reviewing the album.

As for my opinion, RDJ Album is a masterpiece of Drill n Bass, which is the term for the lightning quick, spastic drumming that is so prominent in this work. Note that this rather up-tempo drumming isn't always intense...it can actually be quite soothing (For the best example of this, see Flim from the Come to Daddy EP). For this, I couldn't do anything but give it 5 Stars. Once again, Aphex Twin has released something completely alien to my ears and I love it.

18 of 19 found the following review helpful:


Weird, wacky, crazy stuff to help make you go insane  Jul 23, 1998 By darrahs@ucsub.colorado.edu
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be spinning inside the head of an insane genius at the peak of his insanity and creativity? Well, probably not, but if you find yourself wondering what the soundtrack to such an event would sound like, then you should check this album out. The tracks move along at such dizzying paces that you don't have time to catch your breath throughout the 45 minutes that he has a hold of your throat. Each song has its own, unique cheesy melody to accompany often non-rhythmic beats that would be utterly impossible to dance to. That's why this album is the anthem of the sanity-free: the music grabs ahold of you, and you want to do something like dance to it, but you can't. You have to sit there while he's rummaging through your brain breaking everything he can find, rendering you helpless to breathe, think or move for 3/4 of an hour. The only downfall of this album is that it's not longer.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Brilliant...  Mar 03, 2001 By funktion
In a career filled with re-invention, Aphex Twin comes full circle, with an album named after his real-life identity, RICHARD D. JAMES. James performs his usual boundary-jumping, genre-crashing magic, constantly changing gears and never standing still. Melodies are drawn from an infinite variety of sonic sources and juxtaposed with harsh, stuttering breakbeats and placid keyboards in ever-changing permutations. James manages to coax a wide range of emotion from his synthesizers, from the whimsical, playful melodic line which introduces "4." to the harsh beat and angular accompaniment of "Cornish Acid." "Peek 824545201" throws down a skittish, slithering beat, while "Corn Mouth" is a jumble of techno shrapnel. "To Cure A Weaking Child" makes haunting use of sampled voices of children, reassembling them into words and repeated phrases. Drums and keyboard sounds meld into one another freely and playfully. James further showcases his ability to recycle traditional sounds into altogether new forms with the string arrangements of "Goon Gumpas" and "Girl/Boy Song," but nowhere is this gift utilized more effectively than in "Logan Rock Witch," whose goofy rhythm and church organ support a chiming, sparse, guitar-like melody line.

7 of 8 found the following review helpful:


Revolutionary... and light years ahead of its time  Oct 12, 2005 By Etc "et cetera"
If you consider yourself a fan of electronic music at all, you probably already own this... and if you don't you should slap yourself and immediately run out and buy it. This is one of the albums that defined and expanded the potential of IDM music. Many people consider this to be Aphex Twin's greatest work, and I wouldn't disagree.

The drums don't just drum, they explode and morph in ways that sound so natural (and almost acoustic) that it's somewhat baffling. The frantic beats somehow manage to stay soothing throughout, which is quite a feat when you consider how intense and impressive they are. The melodies are clear, beautiful, and almost catchy... with something signature and nostalgically familiar about them that you'd swear you'd heard them before.

Though there's a good chance that you have. 4 and To Cure a Weakling Child have already been established as classic pieces of electronic music wizardry.

Few electronic musicians have come anywhere near to expressing the kind of complex personality that runs through The Richard D. James Album . To call this album a benchmark would be an understatement, but it would be hard to find the words to explain just how revolutionary and perfect this album is.

Absolutely required.

17 of 22 found the following review helpful:


Odd, Inspiring, Intelligent, Beautiful  Sep 19, 2000 By J. Duncan
this is my first Aphex Twin album and I must say it's so good I have to write the review before I even finish listening to it. the basic structure is to have pleasing, relatively simple and light melodies on top of disjointed, interruptive rhythm patterns underneath. it's a most interesting contrast and counterpoint throughout: the lighter melody adds structure to the music and the harsher rhythms improvise and entertain. the character of the melodies is somewhat Japanese/Asian and the instrumentation is similarly light with various bells, chimes, organ and traditional synth sounds carrying the tune. The rhythms are pure techno/trance, could be taken right off a Chemical Brothers, Autechre or Oakenfold CD but given the importance of rhythmic improvisation they are allowed to expand further and roam free on their own.

for some listeners this will take them out of their comfort zone because the patterns never last long enough to settle in to one danceable, toe-tappable or head nodding groove (or whatever it is one does with driving beats!) but for me the effect is to keep the pieces fresh and the attention level high throughout. no mental lapses allowed here or you might miss something and it's all too good for that to happen.

impossible to pick a stand out track as they're all excellent and follow this basic format. I'm going to keep listening to this for a long time I am sure.

one question, on the inside jacket, the grave stone: is that when the artist was born (1968) or is that an ode to a relative (i.e. father)? any one know?

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