"Outstanding mixing with a great track selection. Full of booming tribal beats and screaming diva vocals. If you like Junior Vasquez or Victor Calderone, you will love this one."
Middle tracks aren't great
Hurao | 07/25/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Track 5,6,and 7 leave a lot to be desired. However, the rest of the album is great."
It's DEFINITELY Abel's sound
C. Timmons | New York, NY USA | 10/15/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"High energy, heavy dance sound. I enjoy Abel immensely, and in particular, his building fantastic climaxes when he spins circuit parties (especially the Coliseum Party @ Gay Disney, Snow Ball, & his New Year's parties). My two mild disappointments with this (which afflict many other DJ dance compilations) are 1) many of the adlibs that live DJs mix in to add color & texture (often from FIERCE bootleg white labels) are absent, and 2) the gradual build up to climax isn't really present. There are clear highs and lows and lots of tempo & volume variation to keep it fun, but the energy of this CD doesn't quite capture the magic of Abel live. However, it's a close enough approximation of his live performances that this CD is nevertheless one of my current favorites. Accordingly, I recommend it highly to dance/circuit-party aficionados, and anyone else who's a fan of "celebration" sounds."
The Road Goes on Forever And The Party Never Ends
B. Lynch | USA | 09/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First, 'A Great Time was Had By All', or so the mix would suggest. This CD raises an age old quarrel in DJ/dance music between SPINNERZ who believe all good mixes are created spontaneously (they're like abstract expressionists who believe that the major component of art is in the creation of the work, not the work itself), and the TECH-BOYS who believe that a great production [or post production] is the key to great music; music is ever really great until a producer enhances what the artist has created.While this is not a true "live mix" (not mixed at an actual circuit party), but rather a crafted studio mix recorded at Red Tacones Estudios in Chicago, IL. But the studio mix allows for a much bettter sonic blend and more inventive mixes than a live set usually affords. DJ Abel has built a large fan following with his sets and CD's, but this remains his finest recorded work to date. While the XYBOYS clearly won this round, the battle is far from over, as DJ's continue to turn out great 'live' mixes, and producers continue to craft great dance CD's.Note: XYBOYS [pronounced ZY-Boys, as XY Magazine guys, and the CyberSpace-savvy ] & SPINNERZ are a pair of terms first coined and used [but not copyrighted or trademarked] in this manner by "TheWowBoy", a music jouralist in Austin, Texas."