Search - Armin Van Buuren :: Boundaries of Imagination

The Greatest Trance Mix Of All Time?

Moven | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 07/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well...



Somewhere between Tiësto's In Search of Sunrise and Oakenfold's Tranceport lies Armin van Buuren's Boundaries Of Imagination, and man does it feel good to be stuck in the middle. Like the two just mentioned, this is one of the definitive trance compilations. In fact, it is arguably the best trance mix ever made.



Buuren, like Tiësto, has a knack for soaring female vocals, and Sander Kleinenberg's Sacred makes this point clear, but the Ferry Corsten remix of Liberation makes it crystal clear. Liberation is definitely one of the highlights of the mix. These two songs come after Buuren's own personal introduction, Thank God for Music, which in a haphazard but deliberate way actually thanks himself for the joy this mix truly is.



Solar Stone's Seven Cities changes the mood of the mix abruptly, but by the end of the song the stringy synth sounds have become welcome. You Won't See Me Cry sweeps the mix along nicely with its dynamic rise and fall electro-vibe sound, and Apperception is good enough to keep most listeners excited. C Sharp could be considered a highlight, with its tweaked out, screaming chords that lead into Buuren's waxed out remix of Dido. With an opera-like vocal performance and stark quasi-organ samples, Buuren manages to mix the darkness with the light on this track.



The next track, Gamemaster, which I first heard on Oakenfold's Tranceport, is a classic, and although it can be irritating to hear the same song in two different mixes, it fits perfectly here.



Alright. After Gamemaster, things get serious. By the time Gamemaster ends, you should be wide awake with wet eyes and shaky limbs, because Voco Me lights the whole mix on fire. I live on the Great Plains, where huge fields stretch for miles and the roads are long and straight. I heard the last 5 tracks of this mix while driving on these roads, and when Voco Me came on my foot got heavy in a hurry. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and I was flying. There are places you go the first time you hear great music, and those places stay in your heart and mind forever. I will never forget the first time I heard this mix.



After Voco Me, the absolute rush continues with Future Funland. I cannot believe Armin van Buuren made this song (Perpetuous Dreamer is an alias of his). This song is downright enthralling. It is an anthem of joy, absurdity, and ear-to-ear smiles that takes you to another world. It is beautiful, just beautiful. Come 2-gether is great as well, and although it isn't nearly as good as Future Funland, it drives the mix along appropriately with peaks that playfully flirt with the red.



Namistal, the next track, changes things up a bit. Nevertheless, BT's presence is always appreciated, and his signature melodies mesh well with Buuren's imaginative landscape of sounds. Buuren moves to his mix of C'est Musique quickly with a short transition that may surprise you at first, but do not discount Buuren's DJ skills. Long transitions can become tedious over time, and short transitions can serve as a kind of electric shock that revives you and gets you into the mix again. This is necessary after Namistal, which feels slightly outside the rest of the mix. The warped vocals on C'est Musique are as cool as ice. The melody works because it seems to be winding the mix down... right into the final track.



Tiësto's presence is felt here, and how nice for it to be at the end of the mix. Wonder... Exactly! Wonder is exactly what I felt after the end of this mix. The door is closed, the mix is over, and all I want to do is turn around and go back inside.



It seems like Buuren actually tweaked out the entire mix, making each song sound a little like every other song. I don't know whether or not he went over the entire thing once it was recorded, or if he just picked songs which all sound very much alike, or if his remixes of the songs were for the sake of making the album mix sound whole, but there is a bottom line here: Armin van Buuren is one of the world's best DJs, and this mix is a definitive classic that any trance listener must own.



- I've listened to this mix countless times since I first reviewed it. I've had time to let it simmer and here is the verdict - Boundaries Of Imagination and In Search Of Sunrise are equal.



So, technically, this is the greatest trance compilation of all time.



Buy it... if you can find it!



...And it's finally available! Hahahahahaha! BUY IT NOW!."

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? Is this EBAY?!?!?!?!?

Edgar Avila Gonzaga | California, USA | 03/23/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The CD is just great, the mix is really cool but the single star is just for AMAZON, i dont know who the hell puts prices on the products, this is not EBAY, i saw this same CD LAST WEEK, BEING SELLED BY aMAZON FOR 16.00 DOLLARS, and now 41.00 dollars, its stupid and insane, I think that these idiots r trying to rip us off, ARMIN VAN BUUREN'S BOUNDARIES OF IMAGINATION IS DEFINATELY A GREAT TRANCE CD, but honestly, try to get it somewhere else, I've been an Amazon costumer for years but this really is stupid."