Leftism (album)

Leftism
Studio album by Leftfield
Released	30 January 1995 (1995-01-30)
Recorded	1992–1995
Studio	Rollover Studios, London
Genre	Progressive house
Length	69:37
Label	Columbia
Producer	Leftfield
Leftfield chronology
Backlog (1992) Leftism (1995) Rhythm and Stealth (1999)
Singles from Leftfield
"Song of Life" Released: 30 November 1992 "Open Up" Released: 1 November 1993 "Original" Released: 13 March 1995 "Afro-Left" Released: 24 July 1995 "Release the Pressure" Released: 8 January 1996

Leftism is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Leftfield, released in 1995 on Columbia Records. It contained a mixture of new tracks along with reworked versions of previous Leftfield singles. The album contains guest spots from musicians not associated with dance music at the time such as John Lydon from Public Image Ltd. (and formerly of Sex Pistols) and Toni Halliday from Curve. The album was described as progressive house, although some journalists found that label too limiting, suggesting the album incorporated many genres. After completing the album, the duo initially were not pleased with it.

On its release, the album was well received from the British press with positive reviews from the NME and Q. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1995 but lost to Portishead's Dummy. Leftism sold well and was released months later in the United States. Critics have praised the album as one of the major album-length works of dance music, with Q referring to it as "the first truly complete album experience to be created by house musicians and the first quintessentially British one".