CD1
The start is quite remarkable, its DJ and singer Ben Lost kicking off with a ballad-like poptrack with a little help from the Young Parisians (yep, from the track You Write The Rules). The transition into the massive, massive White Room - The White Room track is totally orgasmic and a perfect kickoff of this Trance album. It gets a little punchier already with Marco V's remix of the Age Of Love. The classic sounds and vocals sound familiar, but reworked in a tough techy way. After a good connector track from Stephen J Kroos, we find German meister Ronski Speed again with his E.O.S. track. Scott releases the pedal for this easy listening trance track. Robert Nickson makes an appearance with the sublime Spiral, somewhat older now, but still breathtaking. So far the mixing is really good and energetic, there's a constant flow and an avalanche of melodies and highlights, breakdowns, and builds-ups that make you dazzle. Ferry Corsten's best remix in 2004 so far IMO is the remix of F. Massif, so no wonder it appears here as well. The vocoder vocals abnd bursting energy of the track is another one in the long row of exciting Trance highlights we experienced so far. It all goes on and on with killer Trance tracks to the end of this CD. Especially worth mentioning is the Cohen versus Deluxe bootleg, which combines a banging clubby/techy sound with the vox of Tim Deluxe's summerhit It Just Won't Do. Kickass. Also worth mentioning is the new Paul van Dyk track - Crush. Rapid Eye (Steve Helstrip) closes with the Santa Cruz track. There's also a track #16 which is an outro.
CD2
Just recovered from the energy of CD1, Scott kicks off easily with Hybrid - Higher Than A Skyscraper. What a fantastic track! Hybrid creates a melancholic hybrid (<-- DIONYSOS is a smarty boy isn't he? yes, yes he is!
) of breaks, effects, trancy sounds, and a bombastic melody. What better way then to kick off and follow it up by the Gwill Morris - Time track. The mixing is out of this world. Take a listen how the guitar from Fire & Ice - Para Siempre slowly evolves and merges with Time. Absolutely wondefull! Para Siempre is a wicked track from Belgium and connects the easier tracks to the real bombastic trancefloor fillers. Like the Jussi Polet Remix of Solar Stone versus Scott Bond - Naked Angel. The track is mixed in quite rough, but the track itself is awesome. I'm not sure if this is a winner of the remix contest, but it's definetly fantastic! Lange's Kilimanjaro track comes next. Steve Helstrip remakes the new track from Motion Recordings. Summerish, but lasts only a minute before another summer track enters. Solar Stone remixed Whirlpool with a catchy guitar lead. Whirlpool are Filo & Peri from the USA and this might be one of their best tracks up to date. Another duo are the brothers from Corderoy. A tougher track they bring this time, more in the style of Pulser. The vocals add some atmosphere to the version I heard a couple of months ago. Good work by the bros! One of the most eagerly awaited tracks is Dame Blanche of trancemasters J00F versus M.I.K.E., the follow up to their previous work. This is J00F's mix and it's very trancy, techy, and even slightly psy at the same time. It all gets pretty hard & tough from now on, with a new Funaki remix. The Scott Bond throws in a track that made a deep impression on me: Arc In The Sky - Vainqueur (7AM at Heaven's Gate Mix). Fastpaced, it builds-up slowly to a massive breakdown with an awesome voice. Then it builds up with such an energy and devastating melody equal to an earthquake. What a fantastic track! Short after a new David Forbes track (remember 'Questions Or Answers'?) we find a tasty new Paul Oakenfold track called Mortal. Great outro track, reminded me of Moby in some way.
What a fantastic mixalbum! Scott Bond proves that he's one of the Trance pioneers in England with this fantastic selection and some breathtaking mixwork. A lot of fantastic floorfillers, a couple of unreleased stuff, and some easygoing tracks. This is definetly 'Ahead'! Very promising start for this concept and a must-have for the true Trance fan!
CD1
01 ~ Young Parisians featuring Ben Lost - Jump The Next Train
02 ~ White Room - The White Room
03 ~ Age Of Love - Age Of Love [Marco V Remix]
04 ~ Stephen J. Kroos - Phantazmz
05 ~ Ronski Speed - E.O.S. [Positive Ways Mix]
06 ~ Robert Nickson - Spiral
07 ~ F. Massif - Somebody [Ferry Corsten Remix]
08 ~ Matt Hardwick versus Smith & Pledger - Connected
09 ~ Agnelli & Nelson - Holding Onto Nothing
10 ~ Paul van Dyk - Crush [PvD Remix]
11 ~ Cohen versus Deluxe - Just Kick [Carl Cox Remix]
12 ~ Jon the Dentist - Global Phases (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
13 ~ Envio - Time To Say Goodbye
14 ~ Endre - Kallocain (Robert Nickson Remix)
15 ~ Rapid Eye - Santa Cruz
CD2
01 ~ Hybrid - Higher Than A Skyscraper
02 ~ Gwill Morris - Time
03 ~ Fire & Ice - Para Siempre
04 ~ Solar Stone versus Scott Bond - Naked Angel [Jussi Polet Remix]
05 ~ Firewall - Kilimanjaro
06 ~ Usual Aspect - Mister Blue [Thrillseekers Remix]
07 ~ Whirlpool - Under The Sun [Solar Stone Remix]
08 ~ Corderoy - Deeper
09 ~ Armin van Buuren - Burned With Desire [Ronski Speed Mix]
10 ~ Red Karma featuring Tom Wolf - Dying To Survive [Mister Sam versus Fred Baker's Remix]
11 ~ John 00 Fleming versus M.I.K.E. - Dame Blanche
12 ~ Woody van Eyden - Si-N+R-JE [Funaki Mix]
13 ~ Arc In The Sky - Vainqueur (7A.M. at Heaven's Gate Mix)
14 ~ David Forbes & Mallorca Lee - Quadra
15 ~ Oakenfold - Mortal
