Search - Paul Van Dyk :: In Between

Probably Paul's weakest release

Bulldozer | By the Beach, CA | 11/23/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First off, purchase the mp3 release. It contains more tracks and has longer running times than the CD release.



Second, PvD's famous (or infamous) 4-4 beat gets very tiresome here. It plagues just about every track. It works for some of the tracks, but in songs like 'New York City' it just gets ugly repetitive. And when that's pread over 17 tracks, it becomes hard to really distinguish and separate one track from the other.



Some of his best tracks here are 'Another Sunday' and 'La Dolce Vita'. Still, there's nothing quite as memorable, nothing that would stand alone as a classic PVD tune like 'Forbidden Fruit', 'Another Way', or 'Autumn'. I don't believe that these few tracks would, however, justify a purchase of this album except from the most ardent PVD fans and those just generally interested in what one of the world's top DJs produces. For that measure, I would recommend the Global CD/DVD.



On the upside, this album does return PVD more to his dance roots and I appreciate that. We saw a slight departure to a more artistic expression (and commercial) with Reflections (see my review) and him experimenting with hip-hop wasn't exactly a well-received experiment. But to be honest, Reflections sounds refreshing compared to this. Reflections had a bit of filler, but tracks like 'Time of our Lives', 'Reflections', and of course, the euphoric 'Nothing But You' were sonic heaven-- and all three tracks sounded different.



Still nothing beats a PVD live set or a PVD remix thrown in a PVD set, and the remixes for New York City and White Lies are rather good. Unfortunately, In Between is an album best served in small doses rather than in a large, single serving.



"