Showing posts with label Armin van Buuren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Armin van Buuren. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Armin van Buuren - 002 Basic Instinct (A 'Token Prog' Review)

United Recordings: 2001

And finally, Armin. It’s worth pointing out that in 2001, Armin was by far the least well known of these DJs. PVD, Oakey and Tiesto were all jostling in the Top 10 of the DJ Mag poll back when it had some connection to reality, and Ferry Corsten was sat at #19 despite being better known as a producer. Armin was a new entry on the list that year, and he still hadn’t had a mix CD released outside the Netherlands. Not until widespread broadband roll-out made Internet radio a big thing did his A State Of Trance show take him truly global.

Basic Instinct (which was kinda, sorta part of the ASOT series but before Armin had figured out how to brand it) was released in January 2001 and most of the tracks featured were released the previous year, and it shows. CD1 is prog alright, but it’s a much more banging big room strain of prog than the dark ‘n tribal stuff that would become so crushingly dominant just a few months later.

And y’know what? That’s very much a Good Thing, because the prog disc here is really good. The transitions are sometimes edited to make them a bit too abrupt for yer chin-stroking Global Underground connoisseur, but honestly I can’t fault how Armin put this together. The Argonaut’s Going Through is a perfect opener, low-key with a great sci-fi sample, and from there AVB builds quickly into some full-knacker peak time prog trance, featuring some of the finest trancey proggy cuts of the era from the likes of Lemon8, Starecase and Junkie XL.

And really, that’s the distinction. Like Oakey’s Another World, which I didn’t get to review, this CD is far better than the more dutiful 2001 Token Discs because it’s progressive trance rather than just progressive prog. It captures that shift where these guys sighed and said, “Okay fine, I’ll build up a set” in concession to prog scruples, but weren’t yet wanking around with tuneless tribal blah just to fit in. Funny how fast the club scene moved back then, that a mere twelve months could signify such a significant shift in sound.

Make no mistake, CD1 here would be CD2 on any of the Global Underground or Renaissance outings mixed by Seaman, Warren, Pappa and the like. It’s prog at its biggest and tranciest, but without ever falling into uplifting trance stoopidity. And honestly, if you’re going to buy a prog CD by Armin Van bloody Buuren, isn’t that what you’re after?

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Not good. Not good at all. Cringey vocals, breakdowns longer than the Middle Ages and blaring Roland JP-8000 leads abound. It’s vaguely mindblowing that Armin can be so good on disc one and so bad on this disc.

What Did We Learn From All This? The general trend here is that the trancier these guys kept their “deep” disc, the better the results. Funny that. Improbably, it’s the Dutchmen Ferry and Armin who prog up best. If you want to hear the big trance boys at their least silly, their CDs are the place to go. Equally improbably, it’s Englishman Oakey who comes dead last, although he would have done a lot better had the Syko-lord allowed me to cover Another World again. Either way, the Great Prog Dominion fell off pretty swiftly after this, while trance got real bad almost as swiftly. For most of these guys, this was as respectable as they ever sounded. But hang around after the final credits, because there was one trance jock who jumped this bandwagon and never hopped back off…


Thursday, November 5, 2015

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2006 (2015 Update)

Ultra Records: 2006

Oh what the heck. Though it's hi-lar-ious to leave my current thoughts of A State Of Trance 2006 out there in the ether, I feel like this needs a proper reassessment anyway. In the ensuing years following my bevy of bile, I had defenders proclaiming Armin's selection of tunes here wasn't so bad, not when compared to where the genre had gone since. And that's a valid point, all manner of sad bandwagon jumps and obnoxious productions (ugh, all that side-chain nonsense) still over the rim from 2006's vantage point. Hell, the idea of dubstep cozying up with trance was utter bollocks in the mid-'00s, yet here we in 2015, Seven Lions an actual thing. The euro trance scene has done more than enough to prove the old adage “it's never so bad that it can't get worse”, and there's been many instances of me going back to these old, lambasted releases, wondering just what zombie bug crawled up my ears to get me so irate. Maybe A State Of Trance 2006 was unjustly crucified, time and hindsight now offering a renewed perspective on Armin's mix.

Nope. In fact, it’s gotten worse! While On The Beach didn’t blow me away as a set, I found it agreeable enough as a proggy collection of tunes way back when. I haven’t a clue how I came to that conclusion before, because this sounds so dull to me now, spinning its wheels worse than the In The Club mix. The two tracks I pointed out as highlights – Zirenz’s Edge Of Space (Whiteroom Remix) and Incolumis’ One With Sanctuary - do remain the best of CD1, but everything else around them is useless plodding McProg and forgettable progressive trance. I mentioned Jody Wisternoff’s Cold Drink, Hot Girl as a mood changer, yet it serves no function in the context of this set. What was I even hearing? At least 2006 Sykonee was accurate in mentioning how lame that acoustic guitar in Sunlounger’s White Sand is.

As for In The Club, yeah, that’s gotten no better either. I ranted big about its problems before, but I could have summed it up with a single word: homogeny. There are twenty-three names listed among these tracks, and only five of them show any sort of personality outside the bog-standard epic, uplifting trance template: Stoneface & Terminal’s Venus for its distinctive rhythm and synths, Sander van Doorn’s rub of Control Freak for its Doorny beats, Thomas Bronzwaer’s Shadow World for those guilty-pleasure SUPREMEsaw synths, and van Buuren’s Sail for its awfulness. Everything else comes off like euro trance as disposable product, duplicated and churned out to meet Armin’s needs in presenting his singular, myopic vision of what trance must sound like. And this has been a problem with his music ever since!

With plenty other fresh takes on trance now available (prog psy! neo-trance! throwback trance! melodic, hypnotic techno!), settling for A State Of Trance 2006 as a standard-bearer of the genre is an exercise in musical denial.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2006 (Original TC Review)

Ultra Records: 2006

(2015 Update:
My friends, this review is
awful! ...is what you want me to say, right? I won't deny this is one tedious slog, taking forever to get to any point and forcing the reader to wade through waves of bile to do so. This thing is seventeen-hundred words long, with maybe two or three paragraphs of a clear point being made throughout. Hell, I spent the opening three-hundred words building to a lame joke about the cover. Who has time to read that? Certainly no one in this day and age. And there's so much more that's just cringe worthy to read now: still doing track-by-track in some instances, rambling on about inconsequential details, and what the Hell was I going on about with constant reference to 'Glory Years'? I just listened to a DJ mix that sounds much closer to Millennial trance than this one, A State Of Trance 2004. This sounds nothing like that.

I was tempted to do a full Update review, as I've plenty fresh things to say about this mix, but that'd be cheating my ironclad rules. Besides, do I really need to spend any more words on
A State Of Trance 2006? I mean, just look at this review! It's a bitter, bloated beast, ornery and cranky for reasons I can't recall now, beyond my utter frustration with Armin's scene in general. All that hype, all that marketing, all that product and good intentions. All that waste of my time.)


IN BRIEF: Still living the Glory Years.

Armin van Buuren’s always been the guy who remains cheerfully optimistic in the face of adversity, and it clearly shows in his approach to music. His brand of uplifting trance is known to rock many a club night while putting sincere smiles on all those who hear it, equally enjoying the soaring melodies while Armin exuberantly lays down the anthems behind the decks.

But one has to wonder whether Armin is growing tired of his role as cheerleader for the epic trance brigade. After all, nearly every other DJ that helped build the style into the dominating party music that it was at the turn of the century has begun to move on to other pastures, leaving Armin to carry on in their stead. He’s certainly made ample use of being given the spotlight, as his star rose to the elites of popular trance DJs while promoting his A State Of Trance internet radio show as the premier source for new uplifting tunes. However, being stuck in that typecast has left him at a standstill for the last few years.

His artist album Shivers from last year saw him attempt to break that mold by creating songs outside the trance template. A worthy idea, but the results were uninspiring to casual happeners and met with annoyance from his hardline trance fans. Still, Armin knows if he wants to be held in higher regard outside his core niche, he’s going to have to step up his game. So, no more Mr. Happy Exuberant Nice Guy. With the grim determination of a DJ on a mission to bring trance back to its nostalgic highs, Armin presents to us the latest collection of the best trance music his radio show has to offer.

Well, one theory for the awful cover image at least.

Anyhow, here we are with Armin’s latest edition of his annual A State Of Trance series. As usual, there are plenty of complaints from listeners of his radio show that there are too many tracks which have been played to death. I’m still befuddled by this complaint; unless you are an extreme Armin fanboy that has got to have everything Armin puts out, this release really isn’t for the dedicated radio listener. Rather, the aim here is simple: compile the standouts from the program for those who don’t listen to it much (or, like me, at all), thus giving Armin the necessary promotion in places that are not the interweb - namely, music stores where money can be made. Fortunately for the non-radio listener and non-downloader, there are plenty of new, exclusive, unreleased tracks to be had in this edition, so if fresh material is what you’re after, you’ll get some bang for your buck.

Following similar themes set by previous editions, 2006 divides the selection of tunes between two different types of sets. Last year, Armin didn’t know if his audience would get the idea, so he gave the discs idiot-proof titles of Light and Dark. He seems to show a little more faith in his fans this year though, going for the slightly more descriptive titles At The Beach and In The Club. Since it’s the first disc here, let us start with the beachy music.

And Mike Foyle’s Shipwrecked is as fine an opener for such a theme as any. Pleasant piano melodies, seaside sound effects, and warm pads make up the bulk, with simple rhythms keeping the pace on easy cruise control. This is quite the blissy offering, easily putting me into a trancey, tranquil sense of waterfront calm.

...Only to be promptly taken out of it by the questionable guitar work in White Sand. I can kind of hear what DJ Shah was shooting for with this track, that of a loungey Mediterranean mood. Unfortunately it comes across as mere noodly finger plucking, without any kind of proper attention paid to stringing together a cohesive harmony. It’s like a poor-man’s Michael Brook with a dance beat.

We quickly leave these seaside tunes though, entering a stretch of moody vocal prog numbers, each followed by a charming instrumental to complement them. These are all quite nice to listen to, keeping the mood on a gradual climb with each track sounding unique from the previous without losing that all important flow. Although the tracks never quite lift beyond a few minor emotional peaks (most notably Junkie XL’s remix of Niyaz’ Dilruba and the Whiteroom remix of Zirenz’ Edge Of Space), they are effective in drawing you into a pleasant trance. It’s just as nice as background music as it is something you can absorb yourself into.

Once Jody Wisternoff’s Cold Drink, Hot Girl changes the general tone of this mix to something a little more groovey, Armin sees fit to gently ease us out of our blissy tenure with the ethereal setting of One With Sanctuary from Incolumis. No apparent hook to be had with this track; just gentle pad work with appropriate rhythms. Definitely a nice capper to this pleasant little disc.

Ack, but Armin decides to keep going. I’ve complained about him throwing on additional tracks at the end of a set when the lead-up to it suggests he’s wrapping up, just because it comes off as milking a CD’s length for all its worth even if you’ve said all that needs to be said. Still, his choice of add-ons isn’t too bad this time out. Even if Envio’s For You has the unfortunate distinction of being ‘one track too many’, it’s a decent track regardless.

Overall though, At The Beach certainly manages to create the atmosphere Armin’s title shoots for. Although a couple tracks feel out of place (I suspect the Karen Overton one may just be PR plugging, but that’s a rant for another review), none of them really detract from the overall tone set-up by Shipwrecked and, more or less, is brought to its natural conclusion at the end. It’s not a revolutionary mix, but works within its confines and should make for a nice summer soundtrack.

As for the second disc...

Shit...

My friends, this is awful!

Damned near every single fucking song does the exact same thing! I just need to provide a link to Fable’s Above for a description (2015 Edit: whoops, that link no longer exists!), and let that repeat itself. If you’re too lazy to actually click the link, here’s the gist of how it goes from start to finish: intro and outro beats matched; minor melody; breakdown, build, soaring uplifting melody, jump in the air with your fist pumping, supposedly cheering Armin on for selecting the ‘choon’; repeat. That’s it. The repetitive redundancy this disc contains isn’t that far removed from that found in hardstyle mixes. The energy is completely flatlined from the get-go, at no point ever seeming to lead anywhere other than just one breakdown after the other, and the predictability of it gets old fast. Were I to implement my Patent Pending Trance Drinking Game to this disc, I’d leave with a very tortured liver.

It’s not that all the individual songs on display here are bad examples of epic trance; put into a better set with more room to stand out, any one of them would probably be good peak time moments. However, Armin’s arrangement and mixing is so utterly bland, the tracks never get a chance to show any kind of personality, which is a far cry from the flavour to be had in the first disc. The beats are simply aligned, the keys properly matched, and that’s it. A robot could do the same job. Say, maybe that’s what gives with the blank look in Armin’s face on the cover: he’s been replaced by an android!

There are a couple points where this mix seems to break the mold, however slightly, but not always for the better. Highlights include: the better than average melody in DJ Governor’s Red Woods; some quirky synthy delights to be found in Stoneface & Terminal’s Venus; the SUPREMEsaw synths of Thomas Bronzwaer’s Shadow World (though that just may be familiarity sparking my interest, since I’ve already heard it on Phynn’s recent DJ mix for the In Trance We Trust series). Lowlights include: both Kyau vs. Albert tracks, who’s blend of bland adult contemporary songwriting with trance beats seems to kill just about every show of momentum; Armin’s own laughable Sail.

Actually, since he gives his own new anthem the spotlight at the end, I may as well give it the review spotlight as well. It’s as though Armin, still trying to create that one classic that will be played forever and ever, took a look at every single major hit in the past and fused them all together. The melody is super-stupidly simple, pretty much hitting single notes on every beat and played with just about every kind of sound you’ve heard in epic trance. You get bleepy synths that made PPK’s ResuRection the smash it was; you get plinky pianos that made Children the hit it was; happy-go-lucky rhythms which are vintage Ferry Corsten; and, of course supersaw breakdowns, sure to bring back Rank 1 memories. And that’s just the first fucking half! I’ll admit I have a soft spot for the voice pads, but Armin kills it with a horribly distorted synth sound in a second breakdown, which reminds me of Tiësto’s take on Adagio For Strings in sound, and The fucking Launch in ‘melody’, of all damned things. To complete the idiocy of trance clichés, he brings in stuttery supersaws alongside the distorted synth once the beat returns. What is this, epic trance meets hardstyle? Christ... Either this is meant to be a ‘tribute’ to the Glory Years of epic trance that totally missed the mark, or a very, very sick joke.

I honestly don’t know how anyone can take Armin seriously after this. At The Beach showed some promise, but In The Club destroys it in an instant with its tiresome re-hashing. In Armin’s mind, 1999 is still going strong, and I suppose with the continuous influx of new kids to the scene, he’ll be able to live off of that vibe for a long while still. He’s apparently made his bed with the Glory Years, and you can either join in with his never-ending ride or go elsewhere. Of course, once you’ve moved past that introductory stage A State Of Trance seems custom made for, you usually will.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2006. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2004 (2015 Update)

Ultra Records: 2004

(Click here to read my early rambly, rubbish writings.)

Hello, Armin, my old friend. Seems I must talk about you again. Not that I haven't mentioned you when discussing so many things trance - the highs, the lows, and the epic, uplifting in-betweens. Long ago though, I decided it wasn't worth my effort to “get” your music, as the Armin fanclub is wont to say. I suspected it even this far back, when you technically could do no wrong. You were still the scrappy upstart to the euro trance throne, the almighty Tiësto still King and Tyrant, with Corsten remaining the Duke of Dutchiness. Everyone likes an underdog, a talent on the rise, a hustler willing to make his vision come into being. The vision is to be Overlord of all things trancetastic, right?

Unfortunately, Armin's time at the top only eroded a once vibrant scene. It wasn’t entirely his fault, as all scenes must recede, tastes and trends waning as new ones emerge and take the spotlight. Trance though, in its desperation to remain the most popular gateway genre (and thus the most profitable!), hilariously jumped on many a bandwagon with ever increasing cringe-worthy results; Armin was no less guilty a shepherd during this time. There's been a minor return to trance's older strengths, but the scene's had to accept its losses in doing so, becoming purist and niche. That's great if you're willing to play for humble audiences and cultivate a savvy following, but Armin's brand has grown too bloated to take that much of a step back.

I'm astounded his long-suffering fans keep holding out hope he'll return to the sort of sound he played back on this DJ mix. Instead, he dangles them along, throwing an occasional vintage cut their way like so much scrap meat, continuously proclaiming he’s still playing trance, but constantly barraging them with trite dance pop and obnoxious stadium house in his efforts to reach a broad EDM audience. With Solarstone providing the full course meal these days, I must wonder why they settle for substandard product? Armin doesn’t deserve that much unrequited loyalty; no musician does.

Still, listening back to A State Of Trance 2004, it’s understandable how that devotion blossomed. There’s a lot of quality trance on here, much of it holding up remarkably well a decade on. A few problems do persist - Future Funland and Satellite remain pants, Sahara’s still corny, and the end of CD2 hasn’t a clue of where it’s going – but beat for pound, I enjoyed this more than I did before. Heck, some tunes, like Super 8’s Alba and Mono’s Rise, I’d totally forgotten about, and found myself vibing off them like they were fresh, new cuts.

Then again, maybe I'm biased to this era of trance than anything recent, these tunes closer in spirit to the Oakenfold Years than whatever it is we get these days. Yes, this is me saying the Oakenfold Years had some merit – even Armin believed so in his liner notes. Shame he all but ignores that now.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Armin van Buuren featuring Nadia Ali - Who Is Watching (Remixes) (Original TC Review)














Hit ‘N’ Hot Music: Cat. # H’N’H CDS 372
Released March 2006

Track List:
1. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Radio Edit) (3:46)
2. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Club Mix) (7:28)
3. Who Is Watching (DJ Remy & Roland Klinkenberg Remix) (7:54)
4. Who Is Watching (Oliver Moldan Remix) (7:48)
5. Who Is Watching (Tone Depth Remix) (11:18)


(2010 Update:
What else is there to say? Aside from the Tone Depth remix, no one really remembers this one. Erm, sorry I'm being brief here. Rough week...)



IN BRIEF: By the book remixing.

Y’know, as I sit down here at my lappy, set to type up my review, it occurs to me this is only the second release from this prominent trance personality to grace our archives (the first being A State Of Trance: 2004). Considering the two other DJs in the top three of DJ Mag’s annual poll get a fair deal of coverage, this might seem a bit odd, especially since AvB’s output this past year has been quite steady with a couple DJ compilations and an artist album.

Of course, who ever remembers consistent bronze medalists? Heh.

So, here is the most recent remix package of yet another track from Armin’s album Shivers, this one being the Nadia Ali featuring Who Is Watching. The original could kindly be described as... unassuming. On an album which did not have glowing praise showered upon it by many, this track was one of the apparent glaring problems some seemed to have with it. Consisting of nothing more than guitar-strums, pads, light percussion, and Nadia’s vocals, Who Is Watching came across as lightweight adult contemporary compilation fodder. It was a far cry from the sort of music Armin’s fans had come to expect from him.

But whether his fans enjoyed it or not seems to be irrelevant. Who Is Watching is the one that’s been given the remix treatment, so let’s see how the remixers treat it.

First up is Mischa Daniëls, a relative new house producer out of the lands that are Dutch. He doesn’t do much altering, making use of the original elements while adding some housey beats, bobbly bass, and an added riff playing off the main melody during the peaks. It isn’t terribly innovative, but would probably fit snuggly in a typical Hed Kandi compilation (or radiowaves, as the Radio Edit indicates).

DJ Remy and Roland Klinkenberg (though uncredited here for some reason), both stalwarts in the Dutch scene, provide a mellow progressive re-rub. To be honest, this is unexciting stuff. Sound effects and washes drone along for half the track, Nadia’s vocals every so often cropping up with plenty of trailing echo effects. Midway through, you get a harmonic bass drop to add some excitement at the peak of a minor build. It’s effective in the sense that everything’s been so monotonous leading up to it, any change of tone is welcome. Overall though, their remix would be best suited as an early warm-up track in a DJ set, and probably not much more.

German Oliver Moldan, fresh off releasing Second Session on the Armada sub-label Stoney Boy, does the house thing as well for his remix. It’s more groovy than Daniëls’ take, relying on additional guitars, a lightly distorted ‘rockin’ bassline (first one to call it electro gets a whuppin’), and builds to promote energy. While certainly playing to all the elements house music’s been filled with lately, it isn’t all that amazing either, merely making use of current, trendy sounds to complement Armin’s original work. In two words, perfectly adequate.

Finally, we have a whopping eleven minute remix from Tony Papadopoulos, under his Tone Depth alias here but more commonly known as The Greek. The first half of this track is pure Tony: warm pad work, pulsing synths, tranquil guitars, and mellow rhythms, all combining to conjure up Mediterranean vistas at dusk. It’s practically a separate song in itself, but then he seems to remember this is actually a remix, so, around the six minute mark, he breaks the song down, brings in the original’s elements under reverb effects, and essentially does what DJ Remy and Klinkenberg did with their remix, only some of the pulsing synths and basic percussion retained (and two minutes worth of lead-out). Yeah, the second half doesn’t live up to the first half’s atmosphere because Tony’s strengths are stilted by having to let Nadia’s vocals carry the remainder of the track. As such, it sounds like he’s just going through the prog motions.

In fact, that could be said for all of these remixes. I don’t know if the remixers just felt uninspired by Armin’s original, or if they were merely requested to make their re-rubs suitable for potential club scenes without losing much in the process. Whatever the case, all of these remixes of Who Is Watching are perfectly decent for supplying DJs with danceable versions but nothing more. Only the Tone Depth Remix sees any kind of innovation, and only for the sections when Armin’s track isn’t really a part of it. Why am I not surprised?


Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2004 (Original TC Review)

ASOT2004












Ultra Records: Cat. # UL 1202-2
Released April 10, 2004

Track List:
DISC 1
1. Mark Otten - Tranquility (7:10)
2. Solid Globe - Sahara (5:48)
3. Whirlpool - Under The Sun (Solar Stone Remix) (7:18)
4. Three Drives - Signs From The Universe (4:14)
5. Airwave - Lady Blue (Original Beat) (5:53)
6. Kyau vs. Albert - Velvet Morning (Aalto Remix) (5:01)
7. Fictivision vs. Phynn - Escape (Phynn Mix) (5:36)
8. Perpetuous Dreamer - Future Funland (Astura Remix) (5:00)
9. Active Sight - The Search For Freedom (6:01)
10. Super 8 - Alba (6:00)
11. Oceanlab - Satellite (Original Above & Beyond Remix) (5:45)
12. Robert Nickson - Spiral (6:54)
13. Armin van Buuren featuring Justine Suissa - Burned With Desire (Rising Star Remix) (7:07)

DISC 2
1. Perry O'Neil - Kubik (8:06)
2. Valentino - Flying (Sultan & The Greek Remix) (5:37)
3. Michael Burns - The Ambience (4:35)
4. Anthanasia - Perfect Wave (6:43)
5. St. John vs. Locust - Mind Circles (Perry O'Neil Remix) (4:47)
6. Remy & Roland Klinkenberg - Fearless (5:42)
7. Scott Bond vs Solar Stone - Naked Angel (6:07)
8. Fascinated - Totally Fascinated (6:18)
9. Mono - Rise (5:37)
10. Envio - Time To Say Goodbye (Passiva Remix) (6:04)
11. True From - Forbidden Colours (7:28)
12. Artic Quest - Offbeat (5:31)
13. Water Planet - Introspection (John Askew Mix) (5:06)


(2010 Update:
Pretty benign here, I must admit. I'll grant I didn't have the highest opinion of Armin but the second CD of this was quite good, so I could see the potential of an excellent trance DJ, and even buy into some of the hype a number of his fanboys were gushing on about. You can't help but wonder what would have happened to his career if he'd followed CD2's style instead of the cheesier CD1.

By the way, does anyone know what the hell I was going on about in the Brief? I wrote that, and even I don't have a clue.)



IN BRIEF: One of the world's most popular DJs shows us two sides of the same face.

Is there any point in doing a brief background on Armin van Buuren and his A State Of Trance radio show? Any passing fan of trance will have heard of it after spending a short time around online trance communities. Between acquiring massive amounts of admirers and massive amounts of detractors, there's been a tidy niche carved out for Armin in the genre.

However, for as many people who've listened to his radio show (thanks in large part to online feeds), there are probably far more who haven't checked out what the big fuss was about, whether due to technological limits, time limits, or flat out apathy.

Truth be told, I was one of those folk.

It's not so much the curiosity wasn't there; fact of the matter was as A State Of Trance was starting out, I was putting my interest in trance on the backburner when the overdose of anthems had sent me fleeing to the wonderful, back-to-basics vibe of electroclash and disco punk. By the time I'd come back to the fold, the Sashas, Digweeds, and Oakenfolds had been replaced by a flurry of new cats as trance's movers and shakers -oddly enough, almost all of them Dutch.

At the time of its release, A State Of Trance 2004 held some of the most recent hits of Armin's show. Looking to find out just what the current 'state of trance' was (ho ho!), I figured this would be as good as any place to check out what I'd missed in the previous two years.

Judging from the first disc, things have gotten a lot mellower. This isn't to say trance didn't have a mellow side to it before; it's always kind of lurked about while the heavier tracks held the limelight for the first decade or so. But by the turn of the century, you could see that Ibizan atmosphere starting to emerge from the background when acts like ATB were dominating pop charts. It would appear that aspect of trance has now completely taken over.

The first three tracks are quite similar in this respect with their use of gentle guitar strums and light pad work. Solid Globe's Sahara stands out a bit more than the others, though not for the better. Instead of relying on the strums to carry it, they use a rather goofy sounding cousin of the ATB Hawaiian guitar. You can tell Sahara so desperately wants to be the Next Big Anthem but with a flaccid hook like that, it'll probably receive a mere token footnote in trance's history.

Anyways, we briefly leave the Ibizan fronts with Three Drives' Signs Of The Universe, then make a return as we head into the quite lovely synth pads of Airwave's Lady Blue. Seems a bit odd to arrange tracks like that but I'll give it a pass this early on -compilations of this sort can be troublesome to arrange into a flowing, continuous mix sometimes.

Things start to get more energetic as we move into Velvet Morning, at least until the song breaks down for a minute and a half to let a few sung lyrics and mild breakbeats play out. This isn't too bad, though, as the breakdown does help change the tone of this mix, leading to a wonderful payoff.

Oh, not in Velvet Morning (although it's not too bad in that song). Rather, Fictivision & Phynn's Escape completely leaps out at you with energy, thanks in large part to one major factor: bass. Sure, there's been bass on this mix so far, but for the most part it plays second, even third, fiddle to the more melodic elements the former songs were intent on providing. Escape's bottom end instead fills out the low frequencies as it rolls along to some energetic rhythms. Pair this up with simple, effective synth arpeggios and melodies, and this mix seems about ready to be taken to the next level.

Whoops! Looks like I spoke too soon.

Um, Armin, what are you doing here? You do not give your audience a song that has just as much ass shaking goodness as hands in the air vibes, only to follow it up with a track that is almost completely devoid of bass that can match pace. Without that extra emphasis on the rhythm being maintained, you're going to lose your momentum.

Any hope of seeing that energetic charge created by Escape carry over is lost instantly with Future Funland, and Active Sight's The Search For Freedom doesn't get any better when a ninety second breakdown slows things right down to a crawl. Sorry, but as fine as these tracks are, coming off the heels of Escape just makes them sound inconsequential.

Alba by Super 8 passes us by without much fanfare and we're now into one of the most notorious tracks of 2004: Above & Beyond's remix of Satellite.

Why is it notorious? Well, it seems to have gained a reputation for polarizing more epic trance fans than any other track. Either you absolutely love it for Suissa's vocals, sputtering supersaws, and grandiose build, or hate it for those exact same reasons.

How could such a simple song have such an effect? Well, it probably has to do with the fact this track bares more than a passing similarity to DJ Tiësto's seminal remix for Delerium's Silence. The fact Satellite really is nothing more than a carbon copy of it will please those who couldn't get enough of Silence, and chase off those who were sick and tired of the endless wanna-bes that followed in the wake of the remix's success.

Okay, the fact I've spent the last two paragraphs going on about one song's reputation instead of how it actually sounds kind of shows how much interest in this mix I have left. Sure, the remaining songs are fine (quite wonderful if you have someone to tenderly embrace, I might add, so cynics of lamour may want to stay away) but when I still have those infectious rhythms of Escape lingering in my head even after six other songs have played, there is a serious problem here.

As a test, I started the disc at Future Funland, just to see if it might be something to do with the tracks themselves. Without Escape's rhythms so recently in my mind, the second half of the disc sounded much better. Granted, there were still a couple of nitpicks I could point out but, for the most part, the flow of the tracks made more sense and, most importantly, I did not feel as though the momentum took a huge dive (it didn't exactly gain any either, but steady momentum is much preferable to a drop). Had Escape been left out of this mix, it would have been a pleasant enough listen. Instead, we are given a rather substantial tease to something bigger only to have it cruelly snatched away, the remaining tracks sounding like nothing more than filler as a result.

Anyhow, enough moaning about woulda-coulda-shouldas, as I still have another CD to listen to here.

The second disc starts out much like the first in terms of atmosphere. However, there are grooving prog rhythms at work instead, allowing you to be swept up in their hypnotic patterns. Relying more on soundscapes than melodies, the opening stanza of this mix manages to do in its first two tracks what the first one couldn't even manage in its entirety namely, allow my mind to drift with the music. Sultan & The Greek's remix of Valentino's Flying perfectly captures that hypnotic feeling with its eerie pads and grooving bass.

The Ambience by Michael Burns keeps the mellow tone going, tiding us over nicely into the subtly stuttering chords of Peter Martin's Perfect Wave. As these chords gently get tweaked with pitch effects, the mind is taken on an entrancing sojourn. Additional synth pads join in some four minutes in, bringing with it a wave of bliss.

It's strange how these four opening tracks have managed to move me more physically and mentally than all but one of the first disc's tracks (no prize for guessing which one, I'm afraid). I get the impression that Armin was allowed to get a little more creative in track selection for this second disc than the first, creating a mix with excellent flow. I'm quite impressed by this turn of events but I'll hold off on full praise for the moment; I've been let down by strong openings before.

The rhythm gets a little heavier with Mind Circles, and the mood gets deeper with Fearless, taking this mix into darker pastures. Taking its cue from these tracks is Solar Stone's and Scott Bond's offering of Naked Angel. This song hits all the right notes with driving rhythms, ghostly pads, and heavenly female voices. A mild breakdown over halfway through adds a simple piano melody to create a wonderfully benign vibe over the song.

As such, using M.I.K.E.'s Totally Fascinated (under the Fascinated guise) is a great contrast to follow with. Borrowing more than just the habit of using tons of aliases from Oliver Lieb, this track has much in common with many a Lieb produced release. In what may be the most inhuman song on this entire two-disc set, the electronic heritage of trance is given a chance to show off sinister sounds as subtle, synthesized melodies pulse and meander in the background. The climax to this song adds hauntingly ominous effects to the fray with superb skill, ending it with a rush of primal energy.

Feeding off that rush, the busier rhythm of Rise by Mono works brilliantly in keeping this mix on a steady upward climb of excellence. While the main melody may sound a little whiny in other mixes, it plays remarkably well as a follow up to the comparatively unmelodic Totally Fascinated. As fine it is that tech-trance can hypnotically draw you deep within your psyche, having a little melody thrown in for good measure at points can help accentuate points.

With Envio's Time To Say Goodbye, things start to slow down a bit. Actually, they slow down drastically as this song uses a breakdown and build that lasts over two and a half minutes. Good lord, but does this ever go on. Considering how good this mix has been thus far, I normally wouldn't be too annoyed by such a long interlude, especially since this track has an air of wrapping things up soon. However, there's a rather weak, er, 'melody' used in the breakdown that doesn't add anything at all. The fact we have to endure it for so long quickly takes us out of that trancey state of mind everything else before it had expertly put us in. "Reality's on her way..."

Anyhow, the climax of Time To Say Goodbye manages to recover a bit but it's quite apparent Armin's changed lanes now. With True Form's Forbidden Colours, he takes a complete one-eighty. With its peppy synth arpeggios, this is a stark contrast to much of what's already been played but not a bad offering, really. I guess it's quite nice to go out on this album with an uplifting note.

Oh, wait, Armin's not done yet. He takes another one-eighty with Artic Quest's Offbeat. Returning to the more ominous, darker textures of much of this mix, there is a wonderfully mysterious little melody introduced in a breakdown, building subtly into some tech-trance rhythms. Never overdoing it, this is a great way to go out on an enigmatic note.

Oh, wait, Armin's still not done yet. Geez, these last two tracks certainly had an air of finality to them; it's quite disconcerting to keep having another track follow it up. Still, Introspection by Water Planet is a pleasant enough excursion. Nothing too fancy here with some bright melodies, mellow pads, and stomping rhythms, this kind of encapsulates most of the elements heard throughout this mix. This is probably the honest-to-god best method to end the mix on; a nice way to go out on a summarized note (for real this time).
And now, I am stuck with a dilemma.

The first disc really sounds more like a compilation of big trance tunes put into a continuous mix, mainly because of the lack of any type of consistent momentum. Like any compilation, you are given a selection of tracks to enjoy, but very little in terms of that proverbial journey to follow; much like a typical radio show, actually.

The second disc sounds more like a DJ mix, as the flow is more logical and actually builds towards something. Despite the final act of it sounding more like a random mish-mash of leftover tunes Armin wanted to include on this release (but was unable to find any logical place to include them without things sounding even more jarring at points), everything else up to that point is quite enjoyable.

So what's the dilemma? In a nutshell, do I rate this as a DJ mix release, or as a compilation release?

Actually, it isn't too hard to choose as my answer lies in the front cover. The fact the DJ's name is in big, bold letters with a photo of his face (albeit slightly hidden) leads me to believe the marketing team expect folks would be after this for the DJ rather than the material. As such, how do I rate Armin van Buuren, the DJ?

Well, he can beatmatch the percussive lead-outs and lead-ins of each track. That's about it, really. There aren't any other fancy DJ tricks to be had here so it boils down to track selection. As I bemoaned at length already, the track selection for the first disc is very off kilter for a DJ set, with very little in terms of surprises to be had (most of the tracks follow the melodic theme, with a slight increase in energy towards the end) a two star rating from me in most cases. On the other hand, the second disc's choice of music for a DJ mix has much better flow and diversity, creating a far more pleasent excursion into trance, a four star rating from me in most cases.

I guess this leaves this release smack in the middle: three stars. There is enough enjoyable material to keep me interested in the more popular forms of trance at present but I hope things show a little more innovation in the near future than what is on offer here. I'd imagine trance could get even more mundane than after the anthem boom of yore if this melodic form dominates for too long.


Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS/MIXES:
Fictivision vs. Phynn - Escape (Phynn Mix)
Anthanasia - Perfect Wave
Fascinated - Totally Fascinated


Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.

Things I've Talked About

...txt 10 Records 16 Bit Lolita's 1963 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2 Play Records 2 Unlimited 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 20xx Update 2562 3 Loop Music 302 Acid 36 3FORCE 3six Recordings 4AD 6 x 6 Records 75 Ark 7L & Esoteric 808 State A Perfect Circle A Positive Life A-Wave a.r.t.less A&M Records A&R Records Abandoned Communities Abasi Above and Beyond abstract AC/DC Ace Trace Ace Tracks Playlists Ace Ventura acid acid house acid jazz acid techno acoustic Acroplane Recordings Adam Beyer Adam Ellis Adam Freeland Adham Shaikh ADNY Adrian Younge adult contemporary Advanced UFO Phantom Aegri Somnia AEI Music Aes Dana Afgin Afrika Bambaataa Afro-house Afterhours Agoria Aidan Casserly Aira Mitsuki Airwaves Ajana Records Ajna AK1200 Akshan album Aldrin Alex Smoke Alex Theory Alice In Chains Alien Community Alien Project Alio Die All Saints Alpha Wave Movement Alphabet Zoo Alphaxone Altar Records Alter Ego alternative rock Alucidnation Ambelion Ambidextrous ambient ambient dub ambient techno Ambient World Ambientium Ametsub Amon Amarth Amon Tobin Amplexus Anabolic Frolic Anatolya Andrea Parker Andrew Heath Androcell Anduin Andy C anecdotes Aniplex Anjunabeats Annibale Records Anodize Another Fine Day Antendex anthem house Anthony Paul Kerby Anthony Rother Anti-Social Network Anzio Green Aoide Aphasia Records Aphex Twin Apócrýphos Apollo Apollo 440 Apple Records April Records Aqua Aquarellist Aquascape Aquasky Aquila Arcade Architects Of Existence Archives Arcturus arena rock Arista Armada Armin van Buuren Arpatle Artifact303 Arts & Crafts ASC Ashtech Asia Asian Dub Foundation Astral Engineering Astral Projection Astral Waves Astralwerks AstroPilot AstroPilot Music Asura Asylum Records ATB ATCO Records Atlantic Atlantis atmospheric jungle Atom Heart Atomic Hooligan Atomine Elektrine Atrium Carceri Attic Attoya Audiobulb Records Audion AuroraX Autechre Autistici Autumn Of Communion Auxilary Auxiliary Avantgarde Avatar Records Aveparthe Avicii Axiom Axs Axtone Records Aythar B.G. 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