freak51

yyyYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEeessss! This is the album we could hear Wizzy Noise had in them from the start. They've eliminated the cringe factor and listened to a lot of X-Dream. This is the best Psy-Trance record of the year. This is a triumph. The percussion is full yet interesting and there's plenty of good stuff going on, but it never gets too busy. The sweeping effects have a gothy touch but suggest a fine red mist instead of dripping with melodramatic gore. This crunchy madness sets the bar for any other tech-trance releases to come. I wish the new Delta release had been more like this one. 9/10, and I am VERY hard to please these days. Take a bow, guys.

Amazing how people can feel so strongly about this record. That alone makes you want to find it. This is one of my all-time favourite electronic music CDs of any kind. As more and more of my older trance CDs go into the 'what the hell was I thinking - get rid of it, selling by the kilo if necessary' pile, this one keeps sounding amazing every time I listen to it. This is the business - I believe serious DJs should own this one. When you don't know what's next, almost no matter what you're playing, one of the tracks on this disc will mix perfectly with what's on now and make your set special. Then either mix back into what you were doing before, or take it off in another direction. The join will be seamless. There are not many discs that can make this claim.

That's funny - after all the positive reviews I thought I'd love this comp, but I'm afraid it didn't do anything for me. 4/10, but I must confess I'm just basically waiting for the X-Dream: "Irritant" to come out and give the sound some much-needed new stimulus.

I just got this as a gift from a friend. Nice old-school tracks from an artist who cares enough to put in some detail. Feel-good vibes for happy-chemical trips. Minimal lovers stay away, but fine cheese is no crime.

Another track just 'switched itself on' for me: #6, Nitrogen Part One. Slower (120ish BPM), breakbeats with a japanese-sounding string and some sort of dark fuzzed-out oily wet mastication engine underneath. The timing is perfect for sets with breakbeats in, or for transition in/out of broken beats.

I've just dusted this off and am playing it at work. I stand by my 10/10, almost a year later. This is the good stuff. It ought to be in RED, if Celtic Cross/Hicksville is.

I dusted this off and played it for the first time in years last night. It was even better than I had remembered it - as always! This one's a keeper, still gorgeous after five years and dozens of nu-sound fads.

Asia 2001 - really, I can't think of many more mediocre trance acts.

Nice lightweight housey numbers. At least Dragonfly is making an effort again.

Nice production but, like vernon s noted above, the sounds are mainly very old. 7/10 from me.

Pretty standard progressive psy-trance; get it if you need some. The last track is very flamante morning-trance, just like 1996 again. Not my cup of tea, but those who are into it, you know who you are.

OK, maybe not 'ageproof' as I thought previously. It definitely sounds like 1995 - it _was_ 1995, after all. Still, if you're into melodic or old Goa sounds, this is totally worth the money. If you don't enjoy that style/era, you won't like the record.

The first two tracks are Something Special, it sounds to me like this is where they spent the most effort. They're deeply layered to perfection. After that, typical Shiva Chandra sounds follow, love him or hate him as you do.

"230 000 Miles", "Fuel On" and "Black Rain" are excellent tracks, and sound excellent even over 5 years later. In the right mood, even Rotorblade works well. If you're after some old-school back-catalogue chewns, this one's worth a go.

Nice work here for the dance floor. Digital Self and Arabian Nights on Mescaline are both excellent tracks. Most of the others are good too. This is worth keeping in the collection. 9/10.

This is good work in the new-school Swedish vein. It's not quite as deep as Vibrasphere, but it mixes well with lots of stuff and delivers a vibe from a lovely atmospheric cloud. It doesn't lean towards a commercial finish (a la Ticon or Necton), and it doesn't break into hard kick-drum head-bangin' abandon. I hate to describe music in terms of what it's not, but it seems appropriate for this CD. You can use this as transition between Swedish and German/minimalist sounds, or just smoke a fatty and let it wash over you. It's versatile yet ephemeral: two tracks later they'll forget what you played, just that they enjoyed it. It took me a while to get into the right frame of mind, but tracks #4 and #6 still strike me as special. 8/10.

The cover art is very well done. I wasn't keen on the disc itself, but if you're into the more professional-sounding typical Israeli stuff, give it a go.

A year later, I can still get into this CD for a few tracks at a time. Which tracks? Doesn't really matter, most are pretty samey. However, almost each one has a momentary cringe factor somewhere. For example, the samples destroy the otherwise excellent Devil's Night. But the good parts are perfect for stompage. I give this one 8/10 - but please make another; this vibe reminds me of an updated early Future Prophecy and I think this outfit has a killer record in it, dying to get out.

This style of psy-trance might make more sense to me played over top of Teletubbies. It's like eating a whole bag of Skittles - no sensory editorial judgement, sonically incontinent. Just my opinion - those that enjoy it, fill yer boots.

Standby is a track for the ages. I came this close to picking up the CD for this track alone. The rest of the disc would play really nice in big dingy factories, it's got that dirty clapped-out warehouse rattle/shake throughout. Unfortunately I get tired of this sound after 5 minutes these days (OK! I'm old! Dammit!) and want to move on to something less maudlin. I'll wait for the X-Dream CD. Still, where it's good this CD is excellent.

Not as solid as their singles. It's full-on stomping madness, good for filler but nothing new here. 6.5/10.

Well the other Chakras were warmed-up old TIP records comps, so it's no surprise that a Bob Marley vibe [i.e., 30 years old and often-imitated around the world] is the most original that this crew can come up with. I find it amazing that this is the same label as the D.Drum releases: The Delta, Midi Miliz et al.

Oh yeah, I keep trying to remember to review this comp. I caned this for about a month last year, there are some really nice tracks on it. The Chicago's Coin Cinema remix is one of my favourite-ever trance tracks. The rhythms and syncopation are perfectly timed, it's bloody flawless! The Ticon and Tarsis tracks are nice but nothing special, if you don't have them it's not a gap in your collection. Ditto with the Saafi Bros mix of A Major Problem in Australia; I've heard far better stuff from this bunch. However, the SUN Project track is goooorgeous - lush, a hair cheesy but not over-the-top and they've finally fixed their grating, annoying, boring percussion problem. computer ... emulator-ator-ator-ator ... yyyyyeeessss. Also, the M.O.S. track is an absolute bomb, this has the best freakin' breakdown, especially with the stereo play with the sample "timing -- timing -- timing -- ... I do the timing." If only they turned down the volume on the copper pterodactyl screeching noise that shows up once in a while. Do get this track, either on their excellent Meter LP or this one. The Delta should put out a new record soon, I hope it's as solid as the last one because every comp in the last 2 years has had a mix of this track on it, it seems. The rest is ordinary at best, with a lot of that 'elegant' sound that was fresh for about 10 minutes last year. But it is a comp after all. 8/10 from me.

There are some nice tracks here: #4 and #8 are nice. The minor melody is excellent in #4. The rest actually is not bad but nothing special. It's this pasty gruel sound that has basically turned me off of psy-trance. I mean, it's better than house music but doesn't give me any thrills. And the titty-bar cover art is gratuitous. Still, this is not awful as a debut effort. Say, 5/10.

I found nothing redeeming in this one. A couple of tracks I could listen to, but I found nothing worth paying for. Other labels have far surpassed this series for chill-out stuff. The attempt to integrate with the dubby Thievery Corp sound was a good idea and could still produce interesting results, just not on this record. 3.5/10