Trance Review

It would be remiss of a trance reviewing site to avoid paying homage to A State of Trance, one of the longest running trance radio shows still belting out tunes today. While numerous DJ’s have attempted to cash in on internet radio fame with offerings like N-Joy Radio with Blank & Jones and Intuition Radio with Menno de Jong, Armin manages to keep his show on the forefront with consistently solid offerings each Thursday. But what really gives him the edge are his special shows – the megamixes, the 8 hour shows from the club, the epic events that leave you scrambling to download the show off of Trancetraffic to listen to it again.

A State of Trance 200 truly set the bar for this type of event. Comprised of a 2 hour Ableton “megamix”, a 1 hour Gabriel & Dresden set, and a 1 hour AVB set live from Amsterdam, this is a show that will impress even a casual trance listener.

Conceived as a way to celebrate the 4th anniversary of A State of Trance, Episode 200 solicited the participation of listeners to post their favourite tracks from the first 4 years of ASOT on Armin’s forum. From the hundreds of replies that flooded in, Armin picked 58 of the best tunes and compiled them using Ableton. The result? A 2 hour set of top notch mixing and plenty of tracks to reminisce over. We first heard an Armin megamix in A State of Trance 182, but the concept loses no originality with a second attempt.

For those readers unfamiliar with a megamix, the concept is simple. Take a small part of a track – 30 seconds to 2 minutes – and mix it with other tracks as in a regular DJ set, thus upping the pace and tempo of what could normally be achieved by playing full tracks. While the concept in itself is basic, the technique is limited by the creativity of the DJ using Ableton. Fortunately, Armin suffers no deficiency here. Combining 2, sometimes 3 tracks on top of one another simultaneously, Armin is able to create a sound that is distinct and powerful.

The track ordering and selection here is nothing short of impeccable. Take, for example, the first 9 tracks of the megamix:

02. Andain - Beautiful Things (Gabriel & Dresden's Unplugged Mix)
03. Nu Frequency 808 (Dub Mix)
04. Perasma - Swing 2 Harmony (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
05. Tilt - The World Doesn't Know (Original Mix)
06. Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Sweeping Strings Remix)
07. Mike Foyle vs Signalrunners - Love Theme Dusk (Mike's Broken Record Mix)
08. Max Graham featuring Jessica Jacobs - I Know You're Gone
09. Adam White & Andy Moor presents The White Room - White Room (Original Mix)
10. The Cranberries - Shattered (Arctic Quest Bootleg)

On their own, these tracks are brilliant. But when combined and overlapped, there is true synergy. You will find yourself enthralled by the way the vocals of As the Rush Comes are spliced over the piano tune from Love Theme Dusk. Or how you can hear White Room playing even before I Know You’re Gone begins. This is to say nothing of the brilliant starting track. Throughout the 58 track mix, the transitions are flawless, smooth, and often indiscernible. Ableton Live makes this easier, but there is a certain mastery in both planning and execution. Never once does the listener feel the energy of the set waning. Armin hammers out a perfect mix of new and old tunes – classics like Rapture, Café del Mar, and Southern Sun are melded with newer hits such as Dark Side of the Moon, Made of Sun, and Hello Strings.

The bottom line is that this is a masterful effort that will leave you wanting more. Although the megamix itself is not a concept pioneered by Armin, he certainly perfects it here. The only “downfall”, if it can be called that, is that the impact and enjoyment of the mix is greatly increased for those who are familiar with all the tracks. There is something intensely satisfying about identifying tracks as they are played and recognizing when several tracks are being belted out simultaneously. This is a difficult feat if you are largely unfamiliar with the type of tracks played on A State of Trance because of how smooth the mixing is, as mentioned earlier.

Still, if you are a fan of trance, Armin, or his radio show, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this set. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Track Listing:
01. A State Of Trance 200 Intro
02. Andain - Beautiful Things (Gabriel & Dresden's Unplugged Mix)
03. Nu Frequency 808 (Dub Mix)
04. Perasma - Swing 2 Harmony (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
05. Tilt - The World Doesn't Know (Original Mix)
06. Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Sweeping Strings Remix)
07. Mike Foyle vs Signalrunners - Love Theme Dusk (Mike's Broken Record Mix)
08. Max Graham featuring Jessica Jacobs - I Know You're Gone
09. Adam White & Andy Moor presents The White Room - White Room (Original Mix)
10. The Cranberries - Shattered (Arctic Quest Bootleg)
11. Way Out West - Mindcircus (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
12. Solar Stone - Seven Cities (Armin van Buuren Remix)
13. Airbiscuit - Lately (Riley & Durrant Remix)
14. Scott Bond vs Solar Stone - 3rd Earth (Original Mix)
15. Lost Tribe - Gamemaster (Original Mix)
16. Armin van Buuren featuring Ray Wilson - Yet Another Day (Original Mix)
17. Paul van Dyk featuring Second Sun - Crush (Original Mix)
18. Humate - Love Stimulation (Paul van Dyk Remix)
19. Ridgewalkers featuring El - Find (Andy Moor Remix)
20. Synergy - Hello Strings (Original Mix)
21. Ralphie B - Massive (Original Mix)
22. The Thrillseekers - Synaesthesia (En Motion Remix)
23. Gouryella - Tenshi (Original Mix)
24. Solid Globe - Sahara (Original Mix)
25. Sarah McLachlan - Fallen (Gabriel & Dresden Anti Gravity Mix)
26. Bossanova - Stonecold (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
27. Ernesto vs Bastian - Darkside Of The Moon (Original Mix)
28. Kyau vs Albert - Made Of Sun (Kyau vs Albert Hard Dub)
29. Oceanlab - Satellite (Original Mix)
30. Tranquility Base - Razorfish (Above & Beyond Remix)
31. Whirlpool - Under The Sun (Solar Stone Remix)
32. Mr Sam vs Fred Baker presents As One - Forever Waiting (Original Mix)
33. 8 Wonders - The Morning After (The Thrillseekers Remix)
34. Plastic Boy - Silver Bath
35. Kyau vs Albert - Velvet Morning (Aalto Remix)
36. GTR - Mistral (Original Mix)
37. Enmass - CQ (Seek You)
38. Midway - Monkey Forest (Original Mix)
39. Paul Oakenfold - Southern Sun (DJ Tiesto Remix)
40. Iio - Rapture (Armin van Buuren Remix)
41. Armin van Buuren featuring Justine Suissa - Burned With Desire (Rising Star Remix)
42. Young Parisians featuring Ben Lost - Jump The Next Train (Kyau vs Albert Remix)
43. 4 Strings - Diving (Hiver & Hammer Remix)
44. DJ Tiesto - Flight 643 (Original Mix)
45. Yahel featuring A-Force - Behind Silence
46. Active Sight - The Search For Freedom
47. Above & Beyond - No One On Earth (Gabriel & Dresden Vocal Mix)
48. Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar (Marco V Remix)
49. Jonas Steur - Castamara
50. Pulser - My Religion (Original Mix)
51. Paul van Dyk featuring Hemstock & Jennings - Nothing But You (Club Mix)
52. Randy Katana - In Silence (Txitxarro Remix)
53. Signum - The Timelord (Original Mix)
54. St. John vs Locust - Mind Circles (Original Mix)
55. Armin van Buuren - Shivers (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
56. Oceanlab - Clear Blue Water (Fery Corsten Remix)
57. Gaia - 4 Elements (Extended Mix)
58. A State Of Trance 200 Outro

Let me start out by saying how much I love the first track on this album. It's just a great piece of vocal trance. I recently heard it live when Josh Gabriel came into Canada, and I cant begin to explain how hard this rocked the shit out of the last 5 or so minutes of his set.

"Let Go" opened the album in a really strong way. It's a great vocal track that really displays to the new listener what Gabriel and Dresden are all about, and to the veteran listener, reminds them of just why they love G&D so much. The songs vocals are done by Molly Bancroft who some of you may know from "Tracking Treasure Down"; another instant classic, but I'll save that for later. The mixing of the tracks wasn't anything you should expect from the likes of mix or megamix, nor do the tracks fall closely in line together or overlap much. But note that is clearly not what this album is all about; it's about one solid single after another.

Eleven is a solid synth/bassline that I feel shows the diversity of sound that Gabriel and Dresden are capable of in their productions. It's a nice change as opposed to some artists such as Ferry Corsten or Blank and Jones whom I find create very similar tracks, at least on the same album. We don't stray from the theme of our set too long though, as we get back into another solid vocal track: Enemy, which holds its own amongst some of the great singles this album has to offer.

I'm a bit perplexed about my feelings on Dust in the Wind. I find it difficult to pass judgment on the song as I don't feel it holds up very well on its own outside the set. It's a very basic song, a remix, of course, of the original by Kansas. Given, it's a groovy beat, and it keeps your head bobbing and the set moving. The vocals are decent as well, which makes it hard to pin anything about the song I really dislike because it also fits into the set well. In the end, though, I think the song is a bit better conceptually than it actually turned out. I do look forward to remixes of this single, however, as I think someone might be able to do something interesting with it.

Mass Repeat was a bit sporadic of a tune, but I really enjoyed the beat it provided and felt it was appropriate. Unfortunately, I think the album got a little off course after this. "Closer" was not a favourite of mine and I think it was one of the weaker tracks in the set. This problem only expanded when it was followed by "Not Enough" which is all together way too slow for this album. It felt like I was listening to a U2 / moist hybrid track. Do not fear, this bout of weakness did not continue much longer than that. The rest of the set follows in suit with similar themes of the likes of "Eleven" and "Enemy".

But let's not forget our favourite single of all: "Tracking Treasure Down". We all know that this track gets played way too much ever since it was featured on A State of Trance, but its a real goodie and it deserves all the love it gets. Molly Bancroft has strong vocals as always, and it's just a magnificent piece of production. It fits in nicely with the rest of the tracks, and its only right that "Let Go" and "Tracking Treasure Down" open and close the album respectively.

All in all, I gave "Gabriel and Dresden" 3.5/4. Very close to a perfect score, and I feel the album only lacked a little bit of consistency at some parts with maybe a better choice in one or two tracks. I didn't rate it down for weaker tracks; those are inherent, as one man's gold is another man's treasure... One might even say, they track that treasure down....

Track listing:
1. Let Go (6.38)
2. Eleven (5.01)
3. Enemy (5.27)
4. Dust in the Wind (8.46)
5. Mass Repeat (4.58)
6. Closer (5.44)
7. Not Enough (4.10)
8. Amsterdam Interlude (1.22)
9. New Path (4.56)
10. Sydney (6.37)
11. Dangerous Power (7.45)
12. Tracking Treasure Down (8.42)

When I pulled this CD hot off the grill earlier this week, I was almost giddy with excitement. Ferry Corsten rarely ceases to impress me with his productions and almost never disappoints. This time, however, I was a little let down.

L.E.F is by no means a bad CD. It carries a different tune - much different than his prior Album, "Right of Way" - but it is refreshing in the sense that it is much different than the things he has done before. Nothing wrong with branching out. It keeps the flavour that is Corsten as well; the melodies and basslines make it quite evident who made the tracks even if you had slipped this into your computer off a blank CD.

What turned me off most on this CD was not a failure to produce so much as a failure to inspire. This album clearly has tracks that are capable - they just don't go the extra mile. Maybe this is because I expect a lot from Ferry Corsten, but I just didn't "feel" the music so to speak, as I have before.

Insolation is an absolutely fantastic track. I was considering reviewing it separately, but I decided it would be best put here. It is not featured on the American CD, but is instead a bonus on the Japanese album. Why this was done, I don't know. Insolation is a four star song, and it would have definitely given the CD a lot more flavour than is presented. I suggest getting your hands on it, as it epitomised what I really expected from L.E.F.

In conclusion, I'm not saying that this was a BAD CD per se, so much as it could have been a lot better as it's made by an artist who's just so damn good.

Track Listing:
01. Ferry Corsten - Intro
02. Ferry Corsten - Are You Ready
03. Ferry Corsten - Fire
04. Ferry Corsten - L.E.F.
05. Ferry Corsten - Into The Dark
06. Ferry Corsten - Galaxia
07. Ferry Corsten - Beautiful
08. Ferry Corsten - Possession
09. Ferry Corsten - On My Mind
10. Ferry Corsten - Down On Love
11. Ferry Corsten - Forever
12. Ferry Corsten - Watch Out
13. Ferry Corsten - Junk
14. Ferry Corsten - Cubikated
15. Ferry Corsten - Freefaling
16. Ferry Corsten - I Love You (Bonus Track)

This blog is going to be based around reviewing new and old songs alike. Tune in for more info soon.