Various Artists - Best of Trance, Vol. 4

Danceable Trance with Vocals

This is a good danceable trance album. Here's a breakdown of the tracks.
"Simply Being Loved" by BT is great...it is a mix of rock/trance/boy band funk. You just have to listen to it. It is catchy and great and makes me think of summer. It is one of those trance songs that you can actually play around non-trance music lovers and they won't beg you to turn it off. "As the Rush Comes" by Motorcycle is dreamy, breezy and earthy. Another great track. It takes a little longer to "get going" than "Simply Being Loved" but it is also a keeper. "Beautiful Things" by Andain does not sound like trance at all in my opinion. It sounds almost like something that Jewel would do but it was still danceable and earthy. It too is one of those songs non-trance music lovers will "get". "Show Me A Sign" by Kontakt is the track that jumps at you from the beginning, grabs you and doesn't let go until the end. It is the best track for club dancing on the record. Sometimes in trance music, it takes too long for the song to "get going" but this songs starts off with a bang. It is great. It can get repetitive though after listening to it for enough times but that in itself is not a big deal. "Is This Love" by Terra Skye is wonderful and "Desenchantee" by Kate Ryan is a cool foreign language song....the language barrier doesn't even matter. This cd is great if you like danceable trance with vocals. December 29, 2007

A Fair Sampling of Recent Commercial Trance

Simply put, this is a cheesy trance album with a handful of exceptions. It's unmixed of course, with tracks from all the familiar faces: Lasgo, BT, Motorcycle, DJ Sammy, Ian Van Dahl, 4 Strings, Darude, and Paul Van Dyk. New trance listeners need not be alarmed. This provides a fair sampling of commercial trance in the 00's.

Alone - Vocal Trance Provolone... this is minimalist commercial trance over rolling drums and aural key sirens. Not very good.
Simply Being Loved - Here's a refreshing track, although it's not your conventional trance. The lower frequencies flutter in this one, and the vocal tweaks are wicked.
As The Rush Comes - I don't know how many different trance mixes this song actually appears on, but there are many versions out there. This is the original radio cut - quality.
Sunlight - Arguably better most of Dj SAmmy's other work, this is one of the good tracks on this album.
Reason - I just have to say that it's cute. If I was a twelve year old girl living in a New York suburb, I might get my rocks off to this song. Either way, I'm not a big fan of it.
Diving - Excellent trance song with a superb driving beat. Great vocal accompaniment, awesome ambient effects. This is classic trance.
Music - Not a fan.
Beautiful Things - The best track on the album. This is the original radio cut and it shines like gold. Awesome string sound and bass line.
Am I On Your Mind - Decent cheese trance. I don't mind hearing this one now and again.
The Way - Like Show Me A Sign by Kontakt, this song sounds like it borrowed elements from Binary Finary's 1998. It's an alright song for cheesy trance.
Nothing But You - A radical release from Paul Van Dyk that just happened to work. This is an extremely uplifting dance track. One of the best on the album.
Get Better - I don't like to think of this as trance. I'd rather think of it as dance. It's decent, but I'm not a fan.
Show Me A Sign - As said before, this song sounds like 1999. It's decent trance cheese, so it's appropriately way over the top.
Is This Love - Ah, cheese.
Désenchantée - Decent, but ultimately... cheese.

If anything, buy this album for the good tracks from BT, Paul Van Dyk, 4 Strings, Andain, and Motorcycle. This is a decent release but it just can't compete with the DJ compilations out there. If you want radio edits, buy stuff like this. January 7, 2006

Try other albums for better tracks...

I'm from the UK. I have NOT listened to this series, but know most of the tracks. Some tracks are poppy, rather than what I'd call trance-y. A little nursey rhyme-ish. Having said that: as an alternative, I would highly recommend the CD called Re:vive female vocal trance 01 for similar - but better - and almost 80 minues, I seem to recall - music. It's melodic, 80% vocal (i.e. 20% instrumental) and not too cheesy as IVDahl and Lasgo can be. I probably reviewed 'Re: vive' on the UK Amazon site. Also look at Anjuna Beats series (1 slightly better than 2. 3 not yet released.); and the 'Euphoria' series which go from 1999 to 2005 and counting. There are also a couple of 'greates hits' in the Euphoria series, one being a triple, which do what they say. Armin van Buuren and Tiesto shoul be checked out, too, for melodic, rather than banging and tuneless, trance. Hope that helps. June 12, 2005

Undecided

I can't really decide if I like the disc overall or not. Some of the songs are phenominal, while others are downright boring. "Sunlight" (Dj Sammy), "Music" (Darude), "The Way" (Divine Inspiration), "Nothing But You" (Paul Van Dyk), "Show Me A Sign" (Kontakt), and "Is This Love" (Terra Skye) are all awesome songs! Things like "Simply Being Loved" (Somnambulist) and "As The Rush Comes" (Motorcycle) aren't that great. Kate Ryan's "Dénchantée" is a great song but when listening to the whole CD through, it sounds like it was just kinda tacked on the end. Doesn't really go with the others. I'd say I'd give this CD 3 stars. I at first had 2 but after listening more carefully I realized I underrated it. June 1, 2005

loving it.

it was love. the track listing:

1. (lasgo) i couldn't decide if i liked it or not when i first heard it. then i took a trip to LA and listened to again. it's a great tune .. catchy lyrics -- nice beat.

2. (bt) where to start.. just wow. i found myself hitting repeat on this track. male vocals.. GREAT!! loves it.

3. (motorcycle) everyone that hears this song on my caller tunes [t-mobile] wants the song. it's simply one of the best, newer, trance tracks out there.

4. (dj sammy) he is great dj, no doubt... i just don't LOVE this song. it's a good song, just not one that i put on repeat.

5. (ian van dahl) this song nicely compliments the other songs. it's a good song, good beat. nice vocals. makes you feel good.

6. (4 strings) the artist says it all. 4 strings is constantly putting out great music. this is just another one of their successful songs over the years. it's really good.

7. (darude) very deep song. i don't know that i repeat this song. but it's a good song to go over 100mph to. :)

8. (andain) this is another one of the greatest newer trance tracks out there. it's pure bliss when you listen to it. and you will put this on repeat... no really you will. gah.

9. (oxygen) i like this song, once the vocals come on. the beginning is very drug out. a minute into the song, and you get your first vocals. it's a good song.. sometimes i just don't feel like waiting for the good part.

10. (divine inspiration) this song is on repeat for weeks at a time. and that's really all i need to say. it's awesome.

11. (paul van dyk) nice song to drive to when you don't wanna think. not a BEST OF TRANCE... but it's good.

12. (kmc) i don't understand why so many people dislike this song. you really will find yourself singing along to this song. there isn't soo much music you can't follow the lyrics. it's a good song, just admit it to yourself. :)

13. (kontakt) just another one of those great "let's put this on repeat cuz it's sooo good" tracks. enough said.

14. (terra skye) i nice way to start tieing up this cd. classic trance. nice mix. i don't think i've skipped it. it's nice.

15. (kate ryan) so many people dislike this song because it's "generic" and "not real trance." all i can say is.. w/e. all you people who don't speak french will be singing in french. guaranteed. don't say you haven't either. great ender.

so all in all. this cd is WELL WORTH THE MONEY. if ever you are going to buy a TRANCE cd.. get this one, along with volume 2. i will be listening to both for a very very long time.

90% is REPEAT MATERIAL.<33 May 27, 2005

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