A Forest [Ron van den Beuken Remix Edit][Edit][*] - Blank & Jones, Gallup
A Forest [Ron van den Beuken Remix][*] - Blank & Jones, Gallup
A Forest [Exor Remix][*] - Blank & Jones, Gallup
Limited edition of the German dance act's 2004 album features 17 tracks including a bonus disc with five remixed tracks, 'A Forest' (Ron Van Den Beuken & Exor Remix/B&J Vocalized Edit), 'Zero Gravity' (Envio Remix)... more », 'Mind Of The Wonderful' (Martin Roth Re« less
Limited edition of the German dance act's 2004 album features 17 tracks including a bonus disc with five remixed tracks, 'A Forest' (Ron Van Den Beuken & Exor Remix/B&J Vocalized Edit), 'Zero Gravity' (Envio Remix), 'Mind Of The Wonderful' (Martin Roth Re
"Germany's hot trance duo Blank and Jones is here with an "artist" album, and compared to many, many DJ's who come out with sub par artist attempts, this one comes through with 9 strong tracks out of the 14 on the US version (the import has a few variances with A Forest vocal mix and some other remixes not included on this one).
I think there was something up with securing the rights to the Cure's lead singer who sings on A Forest, as only 3 instrumental remixes are on here and not the actual original track featuring his vocals, which does appear on the import. That's quite alright with me, because I think the track works much better as an instrumental as Ron Van Den Beuken proves this with one of his trademark high energy trance remixes of the track. It just might be the best track on the album. There's a shorter edit of his remix too. Then there is the Exor remix of A Forest which starts out very slow, but picks up nicely.
Another stunner is the awesome trance vocal Perfect Silence with Bobo on vocals. This is one of my favorite vocal trance tracks for the end of '04/start of '05 and the album version is excellent, but even better is the super fast club mix found on the CD single (along with a sexy video). Mind of the Wonderful is the only other vocal track on here and it's a smooth flowing, long (9:00+) track that really puts you in a groove.
Zero Gravity is standard catchy trance instrumental that we've come to expect from B&J and it is very good. It can also be found on ATB's DJ in the Mix 2 in the form of a super remix by Envio. Flowtation is a sweet melodic track with some bouncy synths and a female voice whispering "flowtation". Waiting For The Light is another melodic track sounding somewhat similiar to Flowtation, but with an ecclectic twist. Stars Shine Bright is another above average instrumental with a smidgen of female vocal, and also check out the Sam Sharp remix of it found on Trance Mixed Anthems Vol. 1.
The downside to this CD is that tracks 1-3 (1 is only an intro) and tracks 10 & 11 are all pretty lousy. Other than that, it would be a 5 star rating; nonetheless, this album is well worth it for the trance fan and it's high above many other DJ attempts at artist albums."
Great TRANCE Album
Kyle A. Ludka | 11/20/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you feel like just cuttin' loose and having a good time this is the ALBUM for you! Blank & Jones do some good mixes and they will keep ya on your feet all night, just great music to have a good time to."
A masterpiece of eloquence...!
M. Faisal Ahmad | Yorktown, Virginia USA | 07/08/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Monument" is the fourth debut studio release from Germany uplifting trance duo BLANK & JONES. I happened to purchase the 2-CD limited edition. The second disc basically contains the remixes of some of the main tracks. Although, with the exception of the "Intro" and the last track on the first cd, which kind of thru Blank and Jones in another direction musically speaking,( more of a breakbeat style), the rest of the album was flawless...and had an uplifting feel...!"
Darker, but better...
E | Los Alamitos, CA USA | 08/05/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First off, Blank & Jones are my all time favorite trance artist. Additionally I believe this is their best album to date.
It was released at a time when the Trance/Techno community in Germany was losing steam. The popular Berlin techno festival, "The Love Parade" was cancelled in 2004, 2005 and attendance in previous years was down. This album reflects this with an overall darker sound than previous releases.
Personally I also like Blank & Jones earlier stuff, but it was not until this album that I truely appreciated the great work of Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones.
I believe the standout track on this album would have to be "Mind of the Wonderful", which I heard for the first time in 2004 on a Lufthansa flight from Hamburg, Germany to the United States. During the 12 hour flight the onboard radio station repeated every 2 hours or so and I just couldn't get enough of the track. Inspired by this record, I have since seen Blank & Jones perform live in the United States."