A couple of CDs are mixed with dirty vinyl
Bryce Conner | Syracuse, NY | 01/13/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"If you can handle listening to music that comes from dirty vinyl, and you really like dance music, then I say go for it! But I found it distracting that music on CD comes with pops and stuff when they could have used a record cleaner or something. Also, this collection has been out for a while, and there are only a few big name artists in the mix.Here's an incomplete review of the 5 albums that come with it:Transcapes -- Some of the songs are too repetitive and not very cutting edge, kind of flat and boring. Other songs drag. Much popping, very dirty vinyl. I don't know what Danny Zee was thinking but he needs a record cleaner or newer vinyl.Trance Voyage -- Some nice trancy disco (Disco Fanz 2000) and a song with a big sound (agrimonizer). I like the few tracks I've listened to and remember. DAMN Trance -- Songs about sex ("in every position") and more. Pretty good stuff on this album.Atomic Trance -- Pretty good selections and no hissing or popping. Not too cutting edge but pretty with it.The Depths of Progressive Trance -- Just what it says it is, progressive and deep. My favorate album of the collection. I wouldn't really call it cutting edge though compared with some of the stuff you can find off of MP3.com for free. Pretty good mix, though."
So-so
Bobby | USA | 07/16/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Besides "Trance Theory" and "DAMN Trance", the rest of the CD'S are amaturish and repetitive.
I recommend just buying those 2 as they are well enough alone but if you got extra money then buy this."
Some discs are good, some are not as good.
HouseMusic | 02/25/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Disc 1, Trance Theory- Tracks 1 and 2 are uplifting trance which I do not like that much. Track 1 is okay at the beginning, it progresses well and has a good beat and bassline, but when the synths come in, it's more uplifting. Tracks 3 and 4 are a little better, and tracks 5-8 are my personal favorites. They're darker than the first few tracks. Track 9 is decent, but I'm not a huge Corsten/Tiesto fan... Track 10 goes back to uplifting trance, and 11 is mediocre at best. If you enjoy uplifting trance you should like this CD, but otherwise I'd try to find some of the tracks toward the middle and get those individually instead.
Disc 2, Damn Trance- I'm not into this "Save my soul" song. It contains a sample of Eddie Amador's "Rise", check that song out instead. A lot of the other songs aren't so good, including "Communication" (This isn't THAT bad, but I think it's way longer than it needs to be, at almost 9 minutes, and almost anyone can agree to that unless you're a huge Armin Van Buuren fan), and "Miami" (Just not good). Jon The Dentist is not a bad mixer but some of the songs he chose are not great. His song "Silence" is okay, though. My favorite song on here is "Sex". It somehow stands out from the rest, and it reminds me a lot of Voodoo & Serano's "Blood Is Pumpin'" toward the middle of the song.
Disc 3, Trance Voyage- This disc isn't too unique or interesting, but there are some killer songs on here like "The Second Coming" that you won't find anywhere else. It's a great hard trance track. I really wish that the songs on here weren't mixed together because I would prefer to not have to listen to good songs mixing into bad songs, which happens a lot on here. Another thing that could be improved about this one is that there could have been less tracks. There are 13 on here, and it's not that much, but it was enough to have to cram a lot of mixing in.
Disc 4, The Depths of Progressive Trance- Is there a volume 1 of this? It's good, mainly for the first two tracks. "Cine" is extremely rare and I think it is only found on this disc. The last track, "Stargazer," is a good track, just about 10 minutes, so it's a bit long. My only complaint about this one is that the mixing is not very good, you hear a "double beat" in some songs during the mixing. It would have been nice if this was not mixed as well.
Disc 5, Atomic Trance- This is one of my two favorite discs in this collection, and I would say that it is probably the most unique one of the bunch. It is not like any other trance I've ever heard before, but it is really excellent stuff. The mixing is a lot better on this disc, except for the fact that a lot of the tracks on here were extremely long to start with, so they had to cram in about a minute or two of mixing between songs. My only other complaint on this one is that I don't like the last two songs. But that's it, overall, good disc.
Disc 6, Trancescapes- This is my other favorite disc. It just has such excellent songs that I never seem to get tired of. My favorite is probably "Bugbear," and I think it should have been the last track rather than the first if this disc absolutely had to be mixed. It is nice and relaxing to listen to. Other really good tracks include "More," "Shifting Clarity," and pretty much the rest of them. I think that a lot of trance fans have heard of "Air" and "Xenophobe", which are good songs as well. I didn't know about them originally, though... But this is good, and I just don't get tired of these songs."