Search - Above & Beyond :: Trance Nation

Night and Day

Stochastic | New York, NY | 09/18/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I never thought I would say this about an Above and Beyond compliation: take Disc One and use it as a coaster. I'm being serious. It's a collection of songs forced together, not a mix. Jono, Paavo, and Tony are mixologists. This is what they do for a living, but Disc One sounds like a greatest hits compilation, except these aren't greatest hits. Some of the songs are, in fact, terrible. That Marco V track is atrocious, with the Karl Hyde-like scat for vocals. I think I have the dub mix. Now I know why.



Disc Two, on the other hand, is a dream. There are one or two low points (I have heard that Gareth Emery track a million times), but this is front-to-back majestic, grandiose trance. The Breakfast sound is here, along with Magenta (without its fantastic bass drop, but it still sounds great). Cold Blue is growing on me with Fever and Mount Everest (off the soon-to-be released Anjunabeats 7 compilation).



The second half of Disc Two is non-stop wonderful. I never get tired of hearing Justine Suissa sing "Yeah..." on On A Good Day, and it goes right into the best track on the whole mix, Aurora by Nitrous Oxide, and into Circles, without the overwrought breakdown (and conspicuously without Eller Van Buren on guitar). It's awesome.



I'd pay twenty bucks for Disc Two alone. Heck, I'd pay forty bucks for it. It's really special."

A Worthy Return of Trance Nation...

C. Horne | Chicago, IL | 11/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There seems to be some kinda gap between Trance Nation 2005 and this one. Not sure what happened those last few years. But, I do know that Above & Beyond has done well with [I think] their first entry into the Ministry of Sound compilations.



Disc 1 may not have pleased Stochastic or Gustavo very much but I personally enjoyed it. It does not beat Disc 2 in terms of song selection or overall quality. But, I didn't get that "forced together" feeling, myself. Just my personal opinion. "First Glance", "Deep Down", "Break Away" and "Interfere" are worthy tracks of mention. Give it a chance and you will not likely regret such a decision.



Disc 2...what can I NOT say about Disc 2?!?! It is indeed what it is and it is pure perfection of anything. It's the kind of compilation where you can name the least entertaining tracks with less effort than the most entertaining. It is that good.



I would not use Disc 1 as a coaster[haha], myself. But, I will agree that this is PLENTY well worth it just for Disc 2 by itself. I do believe I've had it for 2 days and already listened to it about...um...6 times, haha!



Buy it. Enjoy it. ANJUNABEATS FTW!"

Disc 2, from track 7 and on... AWESOME. Hard pounding progre

Gustavo J Sanchez M | 10/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge fan of anything that comes from Above & Beyond, their Anjunabeats label and series, or their Anjunadeep series.



Anjunabeats 5, 6 and 7 are, in my opinion, some of the best uplifting, melodic, progressive and sometimes housey trance compilations to date, they are also some of the most original albums in terms of innovation and forward thinking, without feeling or sounding experimental at all, always sounding very melodic while they make you think to yourself "no freakin' way this album is soooo good..." and smile and nod to the rhythm when you hear some of their mixes and selections for the first time; they are THAT GOOD and that is what happened with almost all of their albums, particularly Anjunabeats 6 and 5.



None of that happened with this particular album, UNTIL I got to Disc 2, from track 7 and on... pure classic hard pounding melodic progressive trance, VERY good, REALLY good, in fact, AWESOME, the Above & Beyond we all know and love. Its worth buying just for this last tracks of disc 2 and how they are mixed together, really, you won't regret it.



Nobody can say this is a bad album, but its definitely not on par with other Above & Beyond albums EXCEPT FOR DISC 2, FROM TRACK No. 7 AND ON... which I repeat is AWESOME, very well mixed and I don't get tired of listening to it.



Their Anjunadeep series are also very good, pure progressive and melodic house marvels, I didn't like house too much until I heard Anjunadeep and Luke Fair's Balance 11 (Disc 1, from song 4 and on... pure house GENIUS and AWESOME mixing skills), both highly recommended."