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A State Of Trance Year Mix 2005
A State Of Trance Year Mix 2006
A State of Trance Year Mix 2005 -
Track Listing
Disk 1Intro - What the bleep do we know? |
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Disk 2Close Horizon - Thomas Bronszwaer |
Brief Review
Armin Van Buuren's Year Mixes are a joy to the ear and are not only mixed superbly, they are a perfect example of the evolution for future mixes. 2005 is no exception and with every track picked by fans of the genre, the unique "mash-up" of 82 tracks across 2 hours is one of the finest albums of the year and well worth the money. This is a must-have in every dance music fan's collections.
Full Review
With 82 tracks across 2 CDs this album was the first I stumbled across in my search for new and exciting albums and tracks. At the time (2005) I had heard little about the now famous Armin Van Buuren and was encouraged by fellow DJs to give it a listen. In doing so, I not only found one of the best albums I've ever heard, a new style of mixing was also uncovered in the process.
Now, because the tracks were all picked by fans of the genre, real thought has gone into how the tracks are to be mixed together and this effort and commitment shows on every level of the album from the unique artwork, to the tracks that blend effortlessly into one another to the perfect balance of brand new never-before-heard tracks and old classics remixed to fit the genre.
The album starts off with the eerily attention-grabbing Intro which sucks the listener into a series of audio clips stabbed together with thoughtful questions echoing in and out of the speakers before the first two tracks begin in quick succession. 'Ghost' and 'Eighties' mix together so well a separate remix has been released with the vocals of one mixed with the other.
What follows from this very strong opening couple of tracks is the bouncy 'Larry Mountains 54' and a remix of Deep Dish's 'Say Hello'. What follows are two upfront, pounding trance tracks 'Breathe' and 'The Drill' that are another excellent example of flawless mixing. 'Zocalo' is one of my favourite tracks on the album with excellent vocals and a brilliant guitar riff that compliment one another very well.
The pace dips slightly to showcase some of the softer, melodic trance tracks including 'Living the dream', 'Ice Beach' and 'Halcyon'.
'Till there was you' is, in my opinion, one of the standout tracks on the album with the bassline of 'Swing to harmony' hugging the vocals closely adding extra to a track who's vocals are both haunting and thought provoking.
From here on, the next tracks 'Without you near', 'Air for life', 'Tracking treasure down' and 'Love theme dusk' are trance classics in the making with the perfect dose of vocal pleasure and hypnotic synth lines to please any fans new and old to trance music.
'The other side' and 'In the end' are two tracks that just felt mediocre in comparison to the above future classics but are undoubtedly still good tracks.
'Does she know yet' changes the key of the album to a darker, more eerie tone before driving through a series of euphoric instrumental trance tunes before the mix throws itself head-first into the vocal wonders of 'First time'.
The rest of the first disk dips in and out of instrumental and vocal trance tracks with the real standouts from the second half of the album for me being the gorgeous vocal delights of 'Time goes by', the addictively bouncy 'By your side', the classic 'Without you' dub mix by Dogzilla and the pounding 'False Light' by Marco V.
From an excellent first disk it was difficult to draw up many criticisms. The only one I could find would be that a few of the tracks seemed to blend so well together it was difficult to pick a stand-out track/tracks. Overall the first disk was more than I could have hoped for.
I always find that in many 2 CD sets, one of the CDs usually has a harder job following the better act but in an unconventional album such as this one, the same rules don't apply. The 2nd CD starts off with a bang. 'Close horizon' picks up where the last CD started with euphoric trance oozing through the sound system. The instrumental track builds slowly until a euphoric breakdown and sets the tone for the rest of the disk.
One of my favourite tracks on the 2nd disk, 'Stargazing' mixes a subtle synth line and a pounding bassline before smashing into 'Serenity' that follows the same formula with a big "hands in the air" breakdown.
The style changes once again to feature 'Damager 02', an almost techno-sounding track with a distinct synth line before hitting the vocal notes of 'Dark side of the moon', one of the favourites on a track packed full of excellent tunes.
'Mute your mind', 'Summerdream' and 'Castamara' are all mixed extremely well and flow seamlessly together, mixing vocals and instrumentals intricately to form almost one track.
'Tribal Affair' is another track that stands out with a pounding synth line that just begs to be danced to. The track is put together very well and it mixes amazingly with 'Alone Tonight'. Above and Beyond's masterpiece in vocal trance then hits the sound system and is by far the best track thus far on the 2nd disk, in my opinion. The vocals work so well with the instrumentals laid beneath it and the track delivers in both chilled and euphoric trance.
'Timeless' drifts by before 'Shivers' hits the sound system and delivers another slice of fantastic vocal trance mixing gorgeous female vocals with a euphoric bass and synth line for another of the best tracks on the 2nd disk.
'Advanced', 'The Chamber', 'Play it louder', 'Playmo' and 'Adrenaline' all deliver a slice of tech trance fused with excellent synth lines that you can't help but nod your head to, shifting the tone of the disk from euphoric trance to dirtier, heavier territory.
'Remember me' shifts the disk back to vocal trance for around 2 minutes before another of the standout tracks on the 2nd disk stealthily infiltrates the mix, blending excellent chords and one of the best breakdowns I've heard in a long time in the form of 'Puma'. The track is my favourite unknown tune across both CDs as it effortlessly ticks all the boxes on how to produce an excellent trance track.
'A new beginning' and 'Touch down' deliver mediocre epic trance tracks that are overshadowed by the previous track 'Puma' before 'Lyteo' delivers on bounce and an addictive synth.
'Behind silence', 'Mistaken' and 'Confirmation' deliver on decent trance but in my opinion don't stay long in my memory as being among the best tracks on the CD. 'I can't stop', however, produces an excellent track with an amazing synth line that builds gradually accompanied by rising chords.
The rest of the disk follows suit, slowly dipping in and out of different sub genres of trance and showing the best that 2005 had to offer. The real stand-out tracks on the rest of the disk are 'Mahananda' and the excellent vocals of 'Amsterdam' and 'More than a life away'.
The disk ends with the Outro which, like the intro, has echoing voices flooding through the speakers before a subtle tone with distortion applied to it rises and falls bringing the fantastic album to a close.
Overall I was amazed at this album. Even after 4 years the album holds its own with the best in dance albums and is definitely a series worth investing in. The Year mixes are a joy to listen to and are mixed seamlessly with real thought going in to the production of the album and how the tracks work together. If you've never heard of Armin Van Buuren or never heard this album or any of the year mixes, you're in for a real treat.
A State Of Trance Year Mix 2006 - 
Track Listing
Disk 1Intro - To Be Taken |
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Disk 2The ones we loved - Kuffdam & Plant |
Brief Review
Armin Van Buuren returns with another fantastic Year mix and although the track listing and the mixing is superb, the quality feels like it's dipped slightly from the previous year. The album dips into electro and house and although the album is still a masterpiece and a fantastic listen, 2006 just feels like its missing the "wow" factor.
Full Review
2006 sees another helping of Van Buuren's Year Mix and this time the album dives further into bringing a wide array of tunes from commercial to upfront to pounding to chilled. The mixing is superb as expected and the album definitely holds its own as one of the best of the series but personally its missing the same feeling as the first in the series delivered.
Once again, all the tracks were voted for by fans of trance music and Armin has done a brilliant job in delivering a satisfying mix that not only adds more tracks than the previous year, it wanders slightly off course and delivers some house, electro and chilled tracks. Although this doesn't detract from the overall quality, it was slightly surprisingly finding this on the album.
The first disk kicks off with another excellent Intro 'To be taken', explaining the fundamentals of dance music and how the industry is evolving and developing before subtly smashing into '1983' with the vocals of 'Your loving arms' laid over the top. Interestingly, this same formula was used in 2005 but although the vocals fit well, it doesn't feel as strong as last years effort.
The brilliant 'Make u mine' then hits the speakers and is an interesting blend of progressive house and excellent vocals that fit well within the mix before seamlessly mixing into the vocals of 'Light of hope'. The keys of the two records compliment one another perfectly and the vocalists sound like the same male lead on both tracks.
A snippet of 'Let go' is teased to the listener throughout 'Nostalgia' before the vocal track hits with gorgeous female vocals and a beautiful chilled beat laid underneath. 'Outsiders' follows suit sticking with the chilled beats before the album takes a sudden turn towards electro-fused trance or as I've dubbed it, electric trance.
The brilliant 'Electronic Electro' bounces its way through the mix before the excellent 'Zero' and 'Bass Society' do an excellent job in fusing electric and euphoric trance together to form an odd but brilliant combination that once again changes the sub genre subtly.
The progressive beats of 'Saturday night' and 'Roundabout' zoom by with more trance that just feels like its missing the 'Oomph' factor. Unfortunately the two tracks don't stay for long in the memory before vocal trance returns to the forefront, but with the tempo and euphoria dipping slightly.
'Louder' is a great track to sit back and relax to as is 'Bounty Island' and the incredibly chilled 'White sand' that is the perfect song to sit on a beach and sunbathe to but is this track really trance? I thought it wasn't but the track was so good I wasn't going to complain too much!
'Sunhump' takes the album gently back to electric trance with an odd combination of upfront trance and a chilled guitar riff laid over the background that surprisingly works very well. The first disk remains in the chilled territory with the relaxing vocals of 'Never be the same again' before arguably the biggest track of 2006 hits the speakers.
'Yeah yeah' (before it was given a god awful vocal mix) was a brilliant electro song that filled the floors of clubs across the country and the mix on this disk is no different although the intro is a little odd. The effortless mix between 'Yeah yeah' and 'Domino' is brilliant and the track is definately one of my favourite on the album and one that I regularly play out.
The biggest problem with the middle portion of this album is the lack of pure euphoric trance. The album dips in and out of teasing tracks that almost hit the highs but then suddenly change to a more chilled or electro-fuelled set. This isn't a bad thing as it gives you more of a varied range of genres but 'Everything matters' and 'Green Astronauts' are both progressive house tracks at the purest form and although almost hit the trance notes but not quite.
'Black is the colour' on the other hand is an excellent electric trance track that hits all the right notes from the excellent female vocals to the pounding bassline and synths. This was definitely the one track that has the definitive 'wow' factor and if you haven't heard this track, I suggest you do so!
The rest of the first disk follows suit, dipping in and out of the different genres with some pure gems hidden amongst the rest of the tracks. 'Helsinki Scorchin' is an excellent effort from Super8 and Tab; euphoric trance at its purest form. 'This world is watching me', '5', 'Leaving london', 'Arisen', 'Carabella' and 'The space we are' all deserve worthy mention here as being the standout tracks from a different first disk from Armin. The ability to dip in and out of genres is evident but unfortunately I was left a little bit disappointed at the lack of trance in its purest form here.
The 2nd disk, however, is in my opinion a lot better than the first and kicks off with a bang with the excellent pounding rhythm of 'The ones we loved' followed by the equally pounding bassline of 'Another you, another me' before the synth hits and delivers a slice of euphoric trance with an excellent breakdown.
The electro influences of 'Always and forever' shine through with a quick vocal snippet of the track before 'Dance 4 life' hits the airwaves. One of the best commercial trance tracks of 2006 sees an excellent remix applied to it with the vocals of Maxi Jazz shining over the synths.
'This way', 'Split', 'Sirens of the sea' and 'Poseidon' bring the disk back to euphoric trance with some excellent tracks mixed seamlessly into one another before the fantastic 'Lift' hits the airwaves. The track is beyond doubt one of the best tracks on the album and with an excellent euphoric feel to it and a brilliant breakdown and synth is well worthy of a place as one of the best of 2006.
'Rogue' shoots by with a bouncy synth before the big-room 'Evaporate' delivers on more pounding synth notes before the Purple haze mix of 'Take me away' gives a nod to the excellent chord structure of the original.
Marco V's 'Any better, or?' shoots by with a mediocre effort before 'Good for me' produces some feel-good relaxing trance. 'Shipwrecked' is another stand-out for me with a brilliant piano solo before the disk delivers more euphoric trance in the form of 'Divine', 'Soul Cure' 'Get off' and 'Ellipse' with equally appealing synths and chords laid over a pounding drum beat.
'Beyond doubt' is beyond doubt (no pun intended) another of the stand-out tracks on the album with a rising breakdown and chord structure with a nice blend of vocals echoing in and out of the speakers.
'Proglifter' doesn't compare to the previous track and is over in the flash as vocal trance floods into the mix with the fantastic 'Can't sleep'. The vocals are chillingly beautiful and the beat is equally appealing complimenting the vocals perfectly with a nice blend of euphoria and a chilled rhythm.
'Beautiful' keeps the tempo and the mood of the album at a high with more instrumental euphoria before the disk dips back to slightly more mellow trance in the form of 'Monday bar' and 'Chrystal' before Armin's excellent 'Love you more' graces the album with more vocal trance. Once again, the vocals compliment the backing beat perfectly.
The rest of the album sticks to the euphoric trance with the odd vocal track thrown in to keep the balance and maintain the attention of listeners. The real standouts from the last portion of the album are 'Harmonic', the fantastic 'North pole', 'Sail', the electric trance induced '4 L.B.' and 'Direct 'Dizko'.
The album finishes with the Outro. The now-trademark male narrator thanks the listeners before finishing on the usual echoing distortion tone.
At the end of the 2 disk album, I couldn't help but feel the 2nd disk was stronger than the first. Trance in its purest form shone through and although the first disk delivered some stand-out tracks, it just didn't have the same 'wow' factor that 2005 delivered. It might be the quality or lack thereof of real bombshell tracks released but 2006 is definitely a strong contender in this series of albums. Unfortunately the lack of trance and the constant switching of genres dragged this album down slightly from being the real gem it easily could have been.
