Search - Various Artists :: Euphoria: Deeper Shades of 2

Time for something a little different...

C. Bear | Arlington, MA USA | 08/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Definitely not chillout, but without the relentless pounding of the other (generally excellent) Euphoria albums, Deeper Shades of Euphoria 2 gets its energy from power and depth, thereby fulfilling its title. Tracks range from neoclassical to electronica, but many share a subtle "power in submission" feel that differentiates this set from others.



Just as in the first volume, Jay Burnett has shown extraordinary skill in selecting songs from a wide variety of styles and fusing them into a cohesive and moving whole. While not DJ-ing in the traditional turntables sense of the word, track selection and transition is very carefully done and definitely qualifies as an art. While some of the songs are common, at least the mixes of most are novel, and the compilation is outstanding.



I suppose this begs the question of when, or under what conditions, you would listen to this music if it is not main floor and not chill. I like listening during late night work sessions, or sometimes when I'm not doing anything else but just listening to music, but you'll have to judge for yourself.



I do have a couple of gripes about these discs though. The biggest one is that some of the tracks are sampled too loud and get clipped, resulting in a noticeably degraded audio quality. Also, as Jay Burnett is so zealous in "f***ing with the tracks" as he says, there are some ugly mixing artifacts especially around the some of the speed changes. However I still find this compilation refreshing enough for five stars, and hope that volume three will be just as good, but with deference to normal audio levels."

Surreal, once Again

coopertex | CA United States | 05/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You are missing out on a lot of good music if you haven't bought any of cd sets from the Euphoria series. The DJs select
awesome sounding tracks and compile them together into a two cd set. So what makes them so good? Euphoria tracks are
re-mixed to contain multiple layers in sounds, with amazing synthesizers ("synth" for short), relentless beats, explosive bass and beautiful vocal songs. Mr. Jay Burnett returns for Deeper Shades of Euphoria Vol. 2 and it is just as good as Vol. 1. The first track is a long, but magical sounding piece called "Looky Thing", inter-connecting with "Last of Mohicans", which is orchastrated classical piece. Track three is a song called "Here with Me" a very nice vocal song, followed up with "Far Out", a nice new age sounding piece, slow and smooth. Track five has another nice vocal called "Milk" it's smooth and sexy and has romantic overtones. Next up in "Trancescape" is a soft trance piece with excellent synths and cool beat. Track seven has a fantastic vocal song called "You're not Alone" with a sexy female vocal, up-beat tempo, and has a bit of a retro flavor; this song alone makes it worth buying the cd set! There's a total of nineteen tracks on -cd 1- some of them are short but sweet and help with the transition of tracks. I'm going to jump ahead to- cd 2- Starting things up with "Cry Baby", a smooth drum and bass piece with a bit of robotic voice. Next in "3D" you have an odd new age piece, followed by a mysterious song called "As the rush Comes". Track four is a more up-beat version of "Universal Soul" followed by a strange "Analogue...". The next track is a techno re-mix of "Cry Little Sister". Jumping ahead to track eight another re-mix called "Carte Blanche", it is nice but this track has been around the trance set for too long. There are a total of 20 tracks on -cd 2- . This is my only complaint about, Deeper Shades of Euphoria Vol. 2. the second cd falters in a weaker selection of tracks. They just are not the same quality as the first cd. It also has tracks that have been over-used. this is why I cannot give it a perfect score. I did however, really enjoy a lot of the tracks in this compilation and I know you will have your own favorites. Since it covers a broad scope of musical styles, you'll find something there you like and maybe discover something new. I highly recommend Deeper Shades of Euphoria Vol. 2 and you should also pick up Vol. 1. Thanks again to Mr. Jay Burnett for bringing another surreal experience!"