Search - Dave Pearce :: Ibiza Euphoria

The winning streak continues......

M. Maraviglia | 12/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have reviewed the previous two Ibiza Euphorias, and I decided to review this one as well. Especially since no one else has even rated it. Also because this album deserves it for being just that good, and living up to the high standards of the previous two volumes.
Now, this ablum is mixed by Dave Pearce, through his summer residency this past year at Eden in Ibiza. Which Euphoria sponsored in support of this release. Now I must say that I was not a big fan of Dave Pearce before this mix. For followers of the Euphoria series all know, that True Euphoria didn't quite cut it, and when Transcendental Euphoria came last fall, I was all about fed up with the regular line, and decided to stick exclusively with the Ibiza line. In my opinion, the regular Euphorias fail to capture any kind of real atmosphere, and the mixing is at times choppy, while the song selection can go from the best to the worst in a matter of minutes. Where as the Ibiza line has been mixed by all quality djs & producers. Hence volume one by Matt Darey, and volume two by Xtravaganza Recordings; Alex Gold & Agnelli and Nelson. But I must say that when I heard Dave Pearce was mixing this year's album I cringed. Boy was I wrong to have ever doubted him. But who can blame me based on his past efforts in the series?
Anyway, I must say that Dave definitely captured the brilliantly beautiful balearic vibe of Ibiza. And he did it almost flawlessly. Cd one starts off nice & chilled with some great progressive house, that exemplifies the tropical atmosphere of Ibiza. "Hide U", by Kosheen, "21st Century", by Weekend Players, and the standout is "Transfer", by Posession, open the set nicely. This builds into some flawless mixing of balearic trance such as "The Mystery", by Mystery, and The Minimalistics "Struggle for Pleasure". These songs are great, but the way Dave mixes them into balearic anthems such as "Beauty of Silence", Svenson & Giehlen, "10 in 01", Members of Mayday, "Love Parade 2001", & "Like this, Like that", Mauro Picotto, truly takes you into a state of Euphoria. There's only one way to listen to this part of the cd, "LOUDLY"!
This continues until the cd starts to cool off a bit without losing momentum into "Superstring" by Cygnus X. Then we get the beautiful vocal track "See me here", by Orion, which melts beautifully into "Sun" by Slusnik Luna to cap off the set. This first cd is unbelievable, but it's almost nothing compared to the second.
Just when you thought things couldn't get better, Mr. Pearce takes it up a notch. Roger Sanchez starts it off with his Ibiza anthem "Another Chance", followed by the likes of Tall Paul "Precious Heart", some more awesome Ibiza style progressive house, and then the set begins to hit it's climax. Song number seven starts the ball rolling with Sunscreem vs. Push, "Please Save Me". This is an awesome anthem that combines the pulsating synths of Push with the beautiful vocals of Sunscreem. The song selection from here on in is unbelievable! Push follows this up with "Legacy", which blows away their last hit "Strange World". Then Rank 1 serves up the vocal anthem that dominated last summer, "Such Is Life". Surreal chips in with "Always on My Mind" and Dave Forbes with "Questions must be Answered". Then Dj Tiesto unleahes his master track, "Suburban Train". The synths in this track are just awesome. If you weren't in a state of Euphoria yet, you will be once this track kicks in for the next six minutes. As Dave says in the liner notes, this is the perfect track to drop on clubbers around 5am. The rest of Cd explodes with tracks such as "Castles in the Sky (Whippenberg Remix) and cools off at the end with "Composure" Junk Project(John 00 Fleming mix), Lost Witness's "Did I Dream"(Album version), and finally ends with Konkrete, "Law unto Myself"(John 00 Fleming Remix). Just a beautiful set, that one must listen to, to get the full effect.
In closing I would just like to say that this is a stellar 3rd edition to the series, and definitely stands on it's own when compared with the first two editions. There must be some kind of magic when Ibiza and Euphoria come together, because they simply blow away any other compilation series on the market. And even though Dave Pearce's mixing was shaky at best up to this point for Euphoria, it seemed to magically come together for this mix. Maybe Dave was overwhelmed with the emotions of Ibiza, and that's what enabled him to pull off such a "Euphoric" set. But in any case Mr. Pearce made me a believer, and this series has made me a believer in the Balearic Island scene for quite some time now. I admired Dave so much through this mix that I have been tempted to try out "Total Euphoria", which has already gotten rave reviews by fans on the UK Amazon site. Anyway, if you had any doubts about this cd, lay them to rest. Just buy it, listen to it, and enjoy a state of Euphoria. P.S.- Then go get the other two volumes if you haven't already, you won't be disappointed!"

Superb trance/dance at its finest, ladies and gentleman.

Photek | USA | 07/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Matt Darey is probably one of the best mixers out there. And he lives up to that reputation in this absolutely flawless adventure. Go pick this CD up, grab a pair of headphones, pump the volume as loud as you can stand, and sit back and let this CD blow you away on a rollercoaster ride of beautiful builds and just flat out the best trance/dance (call it what you want) mixes around. I've heard it all - I've been listening to trance/techno/dance for 6 years and this is some of the best stuff I've come across, along with the rest of the Euphoria line. Go pick this one up - amazing! Five stars!"

Great CD

Ethan Boos | Tulsa, OK United States | 12/03/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is Aweseom, but I'm not sure what Induce from Somewhere (The other reviewer) is talking about, because none of the songs he mentioned are on this CD. Infact, I already had this CD, but because of his review, I thought it was the other Dave Pearce: Euphoria, but it wasn't because this guy was wrong. Thanks Induce! Otherwise, the CD is awesome, I had the opertunity to see Dave Pearce this summer, and these two CDs capture his live energy well."