MAN WITH NO NAME - INTERSTATE HIGHWAY

[Jon Cocco]

MAN WITH NO NAME - INTERSTATE HIGHWAY

DRAGONFLY RECORDS

2003

 

 

 

Tracklist

 

1. AXIS FLIP ... B-

2. SPACE JUICE ... B

3. LIGHTS OUT ... C+

4. COCOON ... B

5. VISIT THE MOON ... B-

6. REINCARNATION ... C

7. BROKEN PROMISE .... B-

8. EAST 98TH STREET ... C+

9. PIPELINE ... B- ... (the most GOA-sounding, GOA-influenced song on the album)

 

This is MWNN's 3rd main album.

 

I couldn't find this album to review in the 2003 section anywhere. 2003 was the transition year when the old review section was down and the new one wasn't up yet. Some 2003 albums made it. Many didn't.

 

MWNN's style has changed. You cannot expect goatrance or you'll be disappointed. The style is more progressive, psytrance and I'll agree with someone who said prog, more in certain songs than others. There is some goa influence such as with certain melodies and especially on the last song. I like the melodies on certain songs and I've heard him do better. This is not goatrance. This is generally a progressive psytrance (or psy and trance) album.

 

Interstate Highway is made for dancing. It isn't mind-expanding trance but it isn't the Full On that we know as Full On now days either, or not as Full On at least. Nonetheless, this album is more mainstream sounding relative to his earlier work because almost all songs seem to be made (or most friendly) for dancing until the last. He gets to spice things up a bit now and then but they never reach the climaxes or peek that he achieved in several awesome goatrance songs in 1998 with Earth Moving The Sun. Several songs are good here. I can't say any one song is bad but none are great either. Several are average. The album is generally less complex, deep, and/or layered than the stuff he generally did with his goatrance. Nonetheless, the proggy style compliments the album in what could have been nothing new. In short, this is a more linear style, but several tracks retain pretty good energy, character, and groove throughout.

 

From reading whatever reviews I could locate on the internet, his more progressive style seemed to turn off a good amount of his older goatrance fans. I think this is because they were expecting goatrance really. I was one of those people who loved some of his earlier work. However I happened to like some of this right away because 5-6 years had past since his 1998 goatrance album and by then I had become acclemated to other less elaborate psytrance, i.e: Goa. Regardless, this album took some time to adjust to for me because I loved some of his earlier goatrance songs and this wasn't a real follow-up to that.

 

In conclusion , there are some pretty good songs and melodies on this album relative to MWNN's more progressive style. No song is superb or great. Some tracks like track 3 and 6 for instance are very repeticious, lacking, and unimaginatice. I don't like those songs. Some tracks build up to more groove and melodies like track 4 and 7 for starters. This is what I like about MWNN on this album, the feeling and melodies when it's actually somewhat catchy. I like the songs with more feeling (2, 4, 9) in this style, but much is forgettable around those tracks. I also like certain sounds such as the *HITS* 2:05 into track 2 which he repeats multiple times to the music. This sounds similar to something he used before on THE BREECH I think. That aside, it seems obvious the artist here had less freedom to be more creative on this third album because he was working towards having a far more mainstream (for clubs and dancing) album than ever before. I can see why many people were disappointed with this album who experienced the more imaginative, deeper, less linear works from him in the past. Not to say they were't danceable either. Much of his best previous work was superior to and for dancing to over this when you carefully select tracks like FLOOR ESSENCE, VAVOOM, OWN THE WORLD, and TARANTULA just for starters. Those were monster, full of energy and character (catchy!) dance songs. Interstate Highway has some good melodies that save the progressive sound from becoming all but a blur from my memory. It would be cool if next time MWNN has some real gems (excellent, really stand-out songs) to showcase as he's done in the past. Personally I hope he goes all out unlike this far less memorable but definitely not bad third release.

 

At 5:43 this track has a good climax and release. More climaxes and bursts of energy and style throughout the album would have been great!

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

 

- SPACE JUICE

- COCOON

- VISIT THE MOON

- BROKEN PROMISE

- PIPELINE

 

 

B-

 

 

Samples: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/dra/dra1cd063.html

 

 

I’ve recently posted reviews on his first two albums, Earth Moving The Sun and Moment of Truth in the 1998 and 1996 review sections if anyones interesting seeing that and my scores for each track and album.

[rino]

From reading whatever reviews I could locate on the internet, his more progressive style seemed to turn off a good amount of his older goatrance fans. I think this is because they were expecting goatrance really. I was one of those people who loved some of his earlier work. However I happened to like some of this right away because 5-6 years had past since his 1998 goatrance album and by then I had become acclemated to other less elaborate psytrance, i.e: Goa. Regardless, this album took some time to adjust to for me because I loved some of his earlier goatrance songs and this wasn't a real follow-up to that.

I guess I can call myself one of those older goatrance fans who got turned off by his more progressive style. But, in te year of 2003, I did not expect a goa trance album from Man With No Name. Along with Astral Projection and Transwave, he was the first goa trance artist I ever listened to, and boy did I adore his music! I am a proud owner of all his work from the '90s, including his vast remix body of work. But I did not like this album. Not because I wanted to hear blast-from-the-past over the top melodies and stuff, but because there is one thing I never would have expected from mr. Freeland: monotomy. On a lot (if not all apart the last 2!!) of these tracks nothing happens. Actually, the last track is the only one which could engage your mind, while the rest is more for, well, dancing. At dawn. "Pipeline" stays true to his goa-ambient production and I must admit I like it more than the ambientesque tracks from his Moment of Truth and Earth Moving the Sun albums, which I found to be somewhat filler tracks. My favorite track on the album, which is also kinda weird, since I'm usually not that much in the whole downtempo/chill thing. But very nicely done! And "East 98th street" kind of reminds me of Chris Liebings remix of Ignacio's "Virton", which is btw one of my favorite techno tracks. Not that the track is spectacular, but it has that nice type of melody that just keeps on rolling in "circles". Yes, the track is repetitive, but this is one of those rare moments when I like it that way. And my third, and last standout track, is "Broken Promise", which is just fun to dance to. It's the closest thing to his older and rowdier stuff you will get on this album. And I actually heard him play some of these tracks around 6 in the morning, and it wasn't bad. I mean, this is at times so simple, and well, boring, that I would never guess that I was listening to Man With No Name's music! Well, and the other reason of my dislike of this album is the fact that by 2003, with the whole old school hype being dead and buried, I moved on to, and found it quite enjoyable, the finnish trance sound. So I must admit I was rather surprised to see him having a new album out, and rather not willing to adjust to this sound. If this was to be your first contanct with this man's music, it is perfectly understandable if you retain this a good album. Fans of progressive trance should give this a listen and, like the user above me wrote, probably enjoy it as well. Not even I'm saying that this sucks, it is just hard for me to accept something as plain as this to come from him. It just isn't (if this is the appropriate term) uplifting enough as his older work. I feel like I'm listening to the same track over and over and over again up until track 8!!! Oh yeah, and the thing about the chime hit in track 2... No comment. Coming str8 from "The Breech". This is in no way a bad album per se, in fact, I am kind of glad with the direction that he took after his amazing old school phase. I quite like the direction he took in that he didn't become another one of those horrible full on pointless music makers. That is, I like it until the old stuff doesn't reach my eardrums. Fans of the old MWNN, be careful, big chances of you getting disappointed. But, nonetheless, this man will, is and always will be a legend in my eyes, regardless his choices of where to go in trance music. Solid work, mr. Freeland, I know that the old days are long time gone, but can't you give us even a glimpse of what you use to do?

 

BEST TRACKS: Broken Promise, East 98th Street, Pipeline (!)

[Aeros]

Very bland, I could not enjoy this one at all...

[Mindphilux]

I like this one a lot. I prefer his first album the most... But this one is not bad goa trance for the year 2003. It seemed like he purposely wanted this to sound more 90's then the sound change most artists were doing at the time. I applaud him for that, but i'll agree that this doesn't hold much against his earlier songs. Still, he continues to be one of the best out there in my opinion

[Trance2MoveU]

 

 

13 year old wedding cake, that's what this is. Perhaps at the time of the marriage it was tasty and sweet. Now? Sigh. Now it's just frost-bitten. Stale. As mentioned above it in no way resembles what he accomplished years ago. It's full-on, progressive and like rino said, fairly monotonous. I'm sure the majority of folk weren't expecting a goa album in 2003, but we probably weren't keeping our eyes peeled for a meh album either. If you can get past the gag reflex and choke it down some of his details are catchy and his work during the breaks is still pretty good. It's not terrible...it just...is. Nothing really different from a lot of music from 2003.

 

"Ooh, you know what I'm in the mood for? 2003 Man With No Name."

 

Said no one. Ever.

[Good Dance Recordings]

 

 

13 year old wedding cake, that's what this is. Perhaps at the time of the marriage it was tasty and sweet. Now? Sigh. Now it's just frost-bitten. Stale. As mentioned above it in no way resembles what he accomplished years ago. It's full-on, progressive and like rino said, fairly monotonous. I'm sure the majority of folk weren't expecting a goa album in 2003, but we probably weren't keeping our eyes peeled for a meh album either. If you can get past the gag reflex and choke it down some of his details are catchy and his work during the breaks is still pretty good. It's not terrible...it just...is. Nothing really different from a lot of music from 2003.

 

"Ooh, you know what I'm in the mood for? 2003 Man With No Name."

 

Said no one. Ever.

lol Trance2MoveU this was probably the funniest review you ever done. Seriously. Ever.

 

This album is just... ok. Comparing this to his earlier gems there not even such thing. You're even unable to.

Pick Teleport it's one of his best albums. Apart from that one there's Moment of Truth and Earth Moving the Sun which are ok and many will probably consider them Goa gems.

As for this album it's a simple 3 out of 5 in our opinion. Teleport being the best in our musical taste.

 

And another thing. When you see albums with the artist themselves in them you know what to expect...

 

a big 13 year old wedding cake, that's what this is and its just... is lol as Trance2MoveU just put it lol .

[Padmapani]

axis flip and space juice are among my favourite mwnn tracks. the rest is good too (the only track from the album that doesn't get lots of playtime is lights out).

Quote

 

"Ooh, you know what I'm in the mood for? 2003 Man With No Name."

Said no one. Ever.

 

i do. regularly. i really wish he had made more music like this.

[Celaripo]

On 9/6/2016 at 5:42 PM, Trance2MoveU said:

 

 

"Ooh, you know what I'm in the mood for? 2003 Man With No Name."

 

Said no one. Ever.

lol very true

this album is very ordinary

too many good albums even in 2003 to waste time with this

[astralprojection]

On 5/4/2019 at 4:53 PM, Padmapani said:

axis flip and space juice are among my favourite mwnn tracks. the rest is good too (the only track from the album that doesn't get lots of playtime is lights out).

i do. regularly. i really wish he had made more music like this.

 

+1.

space juice was such a warm gust of wind when it came out, because goa trance had been plagued with absoulte garbage for like 3 years straight. so finally we get space juice which is a very refined version of 2003 goa trance. and axis flip.... thats just a beast of its own, what a monster. his best track hands down, and i listen to it several times per year =)