SkeletonMan

Are you asking me

No one should take no for an answer This is my review on discogs but they haven't accepted it yet. Wonder if it's gonna go through. At least it's going through here This is just about one of the best cd's I have ever heard. Even if I had kinda quite ridiculously high hopes for this album X-dream somehow ended up delivering. How do these guys do it? Is it the uncanny moove between corny strangeweird? Is it their never ending innovation when you sometimes think that they're going downhill? No, it's just their relentness when they do it! Whow, I am almost stopping sometimes when I hear this, but I am always waiting for what is following!

I hate "funny" samples in trance, unless there is some kind of intelligence behind. The sample here in naked chicks is SUPER f#¤%#"KING LAME !!!

Nancy Sinatra - You only live twice

This is actually scary. It's made for a reason - IT SELLS! One thing is musicians without ideas and talent. Another thing is when this kind of shit is promoted and sold in much larger numbers than the real mccoy. It's a sad sad world sometimes . Fortunately there is quality music outthere for the rest that needs to hunt quality down. But man, that music sux ...

I completely agree. It's not strange some artists are not able to hold the quality. What is weird here is why it had to decline THIS much.

Label: Warner Music UK Ltd. Catalog#: 3984-22975-2 Country: UK Released: 1998 Tracklisting: 1 Vavoom! (7:11) 2 Seratonin Sunrise (MVO Mix) (6:58) Vocals - Micky Banks 3 Camouflage (2:17) 4 Own The World (7:16) 5 The First Day (Horizon) (6:08) Vocals - Mark Gardener 6 Treacle (6:39) 7 Possessed (6:32) 8 Parallel Universe (7:50) 9 Spaghettification (1:34) 10 Tarantula (8:30) 11 The Breech (6:31) Notice how some people, the more they try to appear cool, the more they fail miserably? Marilyn Manson, Axl Rose, the guy from Ugly Kid Joe, anyone?! Well, Martin Freelander is facing the same problem here and there on Earth Moving The Sun. At least on Seratonin Sunrise where singer Mickey Banks is doing the best he can to sound like a bad boy struggling with some really ... really (!) lame lyrics. Please leave such tasks to Massive Attack or Underworld, thank you! What else we got here? Well, the album is out on Perfecto and it shows and not in a good way As excited I was about Moment Of Truth, as ungrabbed this leaves me. I mean, a favourite track here has to be something like Treagle, which is just a nice little track, but at least staying somewhat true to the psy/ambient genre. Tracks like the opener Vavoom, Seratonin Sunrise, Own The World, The First Day (Horizon), well, basically, ALL tracks instead land in some psy/club-trance/border techno category I've never been into. So, a great disappointment? Well, yes, cause Martin seemed to have all the potential on Moment Of Truth, but what we are treated here is fast food easy consumerable, forgettable, twelve on the dozen type of trance. Which is sad cause the last tracks on this album works better than the first half and gives reason to believe he still knew what it was all about. Parallel Universe certainly stays closer to psy even if it may need to be played at the darkest hour not to have me thinking it's cheese ;o) And my favourite here, closing track The Breech, isn't bad either. But if you like melodic club trance with edge (I'll give Martin that!), you may very well love this album.

Label: Sub Terranean Catalog#: SPV 089-47742 Country: Germany Released: 1997 Tracklisting: 1-01 Miranda Gnocchi (9:18) 1-02 Shiva Shidapu India Spirit (9:54) 1-03 Psychaos Dense Dawn (7:10) 1-04 B.E.T.H. Blighty (7:10) 1-05 Semsis Sound Vandal (6:54) 1-06 Crop Circles Full Mental Jackpot (Pleiadians Remix) (9:10) Remix - Pleiadians 1-07 Absolum Biologic (10:56) 1-08 Hallucinogen Synthesizzler (6:04) Co-producer - Chicago , Raja Ram 1-09 Tandu New Aura (10:11) 2-01 Juno Reactor Swamp Thing (5:18) 2-02 Zodiac Youth False Prophet (Man With No Name Remix) (6:05) Remix - Man With No Name 2-03 Planet B.E.N. Daily Delay (8:08) 2-04 Massimo Vivona War Cry (9:25) 2-05 Lost Chamber Sunflight 11 (4:10) 2-06 Yaka Suki Power Cult (8:55) 2-07 Paul Brtschitsch Amorphgeocrime Trysynergie (8:35) 2-08 Havana Discorder (Blue Amazon Remix) (11:49) Remix - Blue Amazon 2-09 Astrological Zyrkon (8:16) 2-10 Space Tribe All You Need Is Spirit (8:49) From my review on discogs: Different strokes for different folks! From very good tracks to crap, mediocre and forgettable to excellent this double cd album contains it all. I believe it's somewhat sought after (though if you find it in a 2nd hand store you'll probably be able to pick it up for next to nothing) and I expect a reason for this would be the inclusion of Pleiadians side-project Crop Circles on cd 1. Let's jump right to that one, then Well, Full Mental Jackpot is one sweet tune, too! Very true to the Pleiadians sound, yet, with a distinct characteristica separating it from IFO. At least when you know it! ;o) More upbeat, perhaps. Anyhow, this cd is packed with loads of other cool tracks. Tandu, Psychaos, Semsis, and Lost Chamber comes to mind, and, off course, the very nice opener from Miranda. These are prime examples of melodic psytrance from back in the days. Another listener might choose other favourites, though. For instance, I would probably love Juno Reactor, Bth and Zodiac Youth (MWNN remix) if it weren't for the freaking distorted guitar sounds going fucking ballistic here! And I'm just not into the tracks here neither from Shiva Shidapu (in the words of one Homer Simpson: BORING!), Planet B.E.N. or Hallucinogen. But that should just be taste. In addition to these instant hits & shits there's quite an amount of "bobblers" here. For instance, I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna feel about Absolom, Massimo Vivona, Hanana, and others down the line, but they certainly have potential to go either way Well, that's the main characteristica of trance compilations. You get so freaking much music in your face it takes time to take it all in. But hours of musical exploration & fun should be guaranteed here. ... and I picked it all up at a 2nd hand store for only 7 euro

Label: Spirit Zone Recordings Catalog#: Spirit Zone 009 Country: Germany Released: 1995 Tracklisting: 1 One Love (11:11) 2 Out Of Time (9:46) 3 Orange Night (7:25) 4 Galaxia (5:30) 5 Equilibrio (4:20) 6 Electronic Pulsation (9:20) 7 Virtual Landscape (7:27) 8 Visiting Venus (9:15) 9 Nexus (9:25) One cool and classic 1995 ride! For those of us that aspire to the original Psytrance of 95-98 this is one of the "must know's". I'd say the album has an overall typical mid-nineties trance sound. Not very complicated so if you like todays progressive you'll probably also enjoy this album for its quiter parts that, I think, works quite well as deep trance. Very simple, very repetitive, very mindwidening. If you like deep trance you know what I mean and this album will not dissappoint you. Check out for instance the last two minutes of Out Of Time and tell me you don't get hypnotized. Or the middle part of Galaxia. Or Equilibrio or all of Electronic Pulsation. I'm sure you get my drift. This is pure bliss for deep trance gems. The melodies EU rips out for you are so happy and mind uplifting and filling it's impossible not to follow the flow. And once on the ride, this is a 1st class ride. Well, there are parts of this album I am not too crazy about. A song like Orange Night, for instance, has a mid section where not much is going on and the same goes for a couple of the other songs. Also I am not crazy about the heavy use of the 303 acidic synth sound that is used throughout the tracks. Don't get me wrong. At the right time it workes wonders. I just like that there is not an acid lead to pave the way so much of the time. Well, I guess any good album needs to also contain a challenge to the listener. It can't be all about seconds ;o) So in conclusion, if you like 95-98 Psytrance this should be an album you'd wanna check out. As your can hear, I am not crazy about all the parts of all the tracks but I hear no fillers and if put on at the right time, I'm sure, each and any of these songs would rock my butt off! Dance or die.

Label: TIP Records Catalog#: TIP 017 CD Format: CD5" Country: UK Released: 1996 Tracklisting: 1 Dreampod (10:19) 2 Psychopod (9:09) Enter Psychopod, side-project of legendary danish trance act Koxbox. Psychopod would later change name to Saiko-Pod focusing on a more club-oriented sound. Psychopod, however, still ventures in psychedelic waters. And like a fish. In many ways, Ian Ion, Frank E and Peter Candy defined the psychedelic trance sound of the mid nineties. Trippy, diverse tracks with loads of different sections, and very complex. Then again, no other act sounds like them so it may not be easy to say they defined anything! Dreampod / Psychopod is built over the same themes and exhilarates in FX. It may remind a little of the Stratosfear single which is also from 1996 but things get even more spacey on Dreampod. These guys were always far out and with this album it's like they decided to see how far they could take their sound. Psychedelic when it's very best, but also very challenging for the listener. There are no dull moments here and you have to be in with the music all the time to get the full effects of the riddly bullets of sound Psychopod throws at you. But if you can, this is some of the most intelligent contemporary music around. Bom shankar

Label: Transient Records Catalog#: TRANR640CD Country: UK Released: Sep 2002 Tracklisting: 1 Cosmosis Contact (8:08) 2 Cosmosis Find Your Own Divinity (7:55) 3 Cosmosis Holographic (Time Space Illusion) (7:17) 4 Cosmosis The First Step (8:08) 5 Cosmosis Inner Space (8:21) 6 Cosmosis & Shakta Supernatural (8:11) 7 Mumbo Jumbo Weird, Sick 'n' Twisted (Cosmosis Remix) (7:54) 8 Cosmosis Human Evolution (Also Sprach Zarathustra) (6:14) 9 Cosmosis Skankadelic (7:48) With this album bilbo bagginz presents a variety of sounds & styles. Mostly we venture in psytrance. I am not that familiar with Bill's earlier stuff, but in 2002 he definitely hit a good note! What Cosmosis does best is keeping things simple and dark and then going from there. Like track 5 Inner Space. This is carried out so effortlessly and smooth, going from intro to build up over mayheem, and then back to deep trance just to start it all over again. Amazing track! And a nice album indeed. You get the impression that Bill's a real nice guy who's all about wanting to make us all move in a happy way. And most of the way steering clear of cheziness. Well, Human Evolution may be border cheesy, built on the Space Odyssey 2001 theme, it certainly comes scarily close! Last track Skankadelic also falls outside my approvable categories! But I might just need to get my act together. Listening to track 7 built on the infamous Weird Sick'n Twisted Homer Simpson sample you got your X-dream FX elements, your full on'ish bass, and those breaks that seems to take you deeper than the musical parts. And then off course the sample to fuck your brains up the last bit! Still, no! Human Evolution is cheese, but it's only for 6:14 ;o) The artwork here also deserves a comment. As with his previous albums, Cosmosis has let an artist do the cover and inlay. Here it is Alex Grey doing the honours. I am not quite sure if I dig all of Grey's work, the religious elements maybe being a little over the top for me, but the artwork here certainly is appealing, even if it may promise a dark journey I don't think Cosmosis is quite delivering all the way ;o) Anyhow, nice work and hats off for including artists in the process from other genres.

Label: Dragonfly Records Catalog#: BFLCD 60 Country: UK Released: 18 Nov 2002 Tracklisting: 1 Intro Wave 2 Hear And Now 3 Check Out Girl 4 Jack In The Box 5 Porn Engineers 6 Murphy's Lore 7 Unwashed 8 Mr. Boing 9 Hoover Groover 10 Cricklewood Crickets 11 Outro Wave This record surpassed me completely unnoticed when it was released back in 2002. Luckily for me I have later discovered it I'm not quite sure how to label this album. Psytrance would be the most appropriate, I guess, but there are also some progressive and even full on elements here and there. Psygressive is what I like to call this ;o) So how are Green OMS treating us? Friendly, catchy, uplifting, on the one hand, sinister, unfriendable and dark, on the other! We go from cheery leads to mean basses, melodic goa style to repetitive themes, happy to angry. It all depends on the mood, but I would say Green OMS are not the ones to blame if you don't have a good time while trippin' on this. My personal favourites here are Check Out Girl and Cricklewood Crickets. And Unwashed spirals me right into orbit. This tune shows that these guys know exactly what the mid nineties trance scene was all about. If I would go as far as labelling this album a must I am not sure about. There are still some tracks here that challenges me, but it may just be a matter of time before I dig them yet. Ah hell, what am I saying? I dig them already

Progressive MONSTER label Iboga Records from Denmark on the loose again this time with Danish act Beat Bizarre. What's Iboga got in their stash bag for us this time? Progressive minimal trance kept to the core is what! Whow, Martin Zimmermann and René Nielsen keeps things simple on Pandoras Groove Box. Don't expect crazy psychedelic mayheem! These guys are taking you on long journeys and the keyword here is patience (!) to enjoy the minimal style climaxes PGB offers. Like track 2 Eavesdrop Pop. A journey of sound not really containing any melodies. Just beat, bass and FX setting a transcendental mood and then when you may wonder if this track is actually a little boring the bass changes (6:33) and all your patience is rewarded. But boy, it's not a lot that they change! My favourite here is track 3 Corrosive Juices. This is when BB works best, a long journey with one nice, groovy bass. You gotta relax and fall completely in mood and sync with the music to enjoy it, though. But if you do? The tranquility ... On a last note I might add that even if this clearly falls into the progressive trance genre, one may argue that the music here is also rather psychedelic. It is the FX that keeps this music working and even if simplistic it's these you remember when you think back of this record. I would say fans of progressive may enjoy this record for its bass, while fans of psychedelic may find a nice entrance to the world of progressive trance here. But it's still not the best release from Iboga ;o) !

Nice to see all the positive feedback on this amazing album!! I luv it. Following from my review on discogs. While I was never an all-in fan of Atmos' first album Headcleaner, the style here being one layer too naked for my taste, I surely could appreciate the new ideas Thomasz Balicki entered the scene with. Long build ups over long tracks and with a climax nothing but a simple melody repeated over and over. So naked once in a while it could have me wondering whether music needed to contain more elements? Or was I wrong?! Cause I mean when it worked, it worked nonetheless! 2nd Brigade is built on the same line of thoughts, only I think Atmos goes a darker here, and it suits this music very well. If Headcleaner didn't exactly fit my taste, I am much happier with 2nd Brigade! The music is still very bare but where Headcleaner became the definition of minimalistic trance, 2B is larger in sound, more aggressive, and deeper. It's the sort of music you put on and then maybe not notice until you all of a sudden become aware that you have been in a trance for the last half hour. That's when you think: Whow, is this guy genius or what's the story here?! Someone made a comparison between Son Kite and a bordeaux red wine. Very enjoyable and with an after taste sometimes more important than the first taste. Ticon was compared to beer - head on and consumerable in loads. Atmos was champagne. Fine sparkling bubbles and a sophisticated taste. I think that's a brilliant metaphor for Atmos' music (and the other artists for that matter). If Headcleaner represents the first and daring steps into minimal trance land and stripped naked, Atmos is at home on 2nd Brigade and all the pieces fit together. Don't be without it. This is the best stuff Thomas has given us so far.

Label: TIP.World Catalog#: TIPWCD29 Format: CD Country: UK Released: Sep 2003 1 Oforia Rolling Stoned (8:26) 2 Astrix Solaris (7:16) 3 Space Cat Metalizer (7:35) 4 Delirious Analog Booster (8:13) 5 Alien Project DJ Where Are You? (Beat Hackers Remix) (7:57) 6 Panick Freud It Out (7:32) 7 Melicia Grip (7:31) 8 Alien Project vs. Dynamic - Alien Life (7:03) 9 Cosma People On Hold (8:03) From my review on discogs. 1st class full-on compilation material? I guess this album was one of my first entries into the full-on scene. That's not the worst entry one can get! It's funny. All the widespread critic of full-on being cheesy and not rewarding. I think one is able to enjoy any and all music. The harder it may seem, the more rewarding it will be when you get there. And the music even deeper. Much deeper ... ;o) Yeah, I am sure some will find this an album packed with the proto typical full-on tracks, boring therefore and never giving it a chance. I differ from such opinion. When you get on the full-on boat as a fan of psychedelic trance the rewards this type of music will give you are endless. Just relax to the trance and go with the flow, and this music will clear a path two miles wide to Psychedelia for you. It will if YOU let it! Lastly, I need also to add a comment on the booket supplied with this album. What a great booklet we have here! Finally we are supplied with a booklet that introduces the musicians!!! Why is this so hard to get in trance booklets FFS! But here all the musicians are presented with pictures and some very informative history. Nice !! This is what characterize the gems of music albums. I was actually thinking maybe I should get rid of this semi-old full-on cd. But now having heard it again on repeat and writing this review, hell no, this baby's staying here! Like I said, this is 1st class full-on compilation material!

Label: Phonokol Catalog#: 2049-2 Country: Israel Released: 1996 Tracklisting: 1 The Prophecy (7:28) 2 Magnetic Activity (Total Eclipse) (7:31) 3 Alternate Dimension (7:20) 4 Overload (9:17) 5 Illumination (9:22) 6 New Horizon (7:31) 7 Hypnotized (9:11) 8 Shape The Future (Future Mix) (10:47) 9 Mystic Dawn (7:39) From my discogs review. Some music is worth waiting for. I discovered this album 10 years after its release and it brought me directly back to the wonderful days of the mid nineties trance. Wow! This is why I got into trance and this mess altoghether. Israelian trance anno 1996 making us all go crazy at home during the week and mayheem on the dancefloor at underground parties in the weekends. Listening to track 7 Hypnotised is like being taken back to a me 10 years younger in a trance somewhere ... somewhere in a field in New Hampshire. Alright. This track and this music has all the edge, psy elements and insisting bass necessary to move the truthful melodic goa trance follower to new heights. If you don't know it, get it. If you know it ... you know what I mean

My review on discogs http://www.discogs.com/release/41508 I reckon it might be possible to limit the amount of classic albums in the All Time Trance Hall Of Fame to some 20 albums. Any serious trance lover will tell you that this album belongs there. This is not just an amazing Trance album. This is an amazing Music album. Why? Because of the endless list of hits here? Because of the never ending number of artists that have found their main source of inspiration here? Well, I could try to put in words what this music does to the faithful trance follower more than 10 years after its release ;o) This album has not only stood the test of time. It still defines the sound of GOA even more impressive, entrancing, and ground breaking today. Words won't suffice. With this album Astral Projection presented what would become the original mid nineties melodic Goa Trance and easily the epiphany of this period and style. Far and away a must in any trance collection. Correction. In any music collection.

That's the original cover http://www.discogs.com/release/15581 And a great cover it is. And a great album. Have reviewed it on discogs. Luv it

I very much agree and also find that many musicians have a narrow approeach to breaks. They can be mind widening but the musician has to "trust" the break and that it will make sense. I guess that is what goes for the talented musician. They know good breaks make sense and so are not afraid to use long breaks. Going from a killargh bass to silence, build up and then the bass kicks in again. Is it possible not to love that?!

Get real X-dream - Quantum Lab (we interface)

Thanks! And in the TIP005 release does the cd have the number '3' on it? Mine does which makes me think the cd is the TIT release.

Michael aka SkeletonMan http://www.discogs.com/user/SkeletonMan

A real beauty it is, yes! Maybe someone can help with something that's puzzling me. This TIT cd005 version of the album http://www.discogs.com/release/156240 has these images scanned http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?what=R&obid=156240 Two covers are scanned. Which cover is the right one? Only asking because my cd inner cover says catalogue no 2041-2, the cd says TRUST IN TRANCE 3, but the cd cover only says Astral Projection TRUST IN TRANCE without the 3-digit. So it looks to me as if I have a mix of a TIT cd and cd inner cover, and a TIP cd 005 cover. Or maybe the TIT cover is without a 3 digit in the title?!? I'm in the dark here. Anyway, if anyone can solve this mystery and tell me where things are going wrong (apart from this message ) I'd surely appreciate it.

This is a real fun topic. I tend to agree about the problems mentioned with breaks. They can danger the trance state. Still, listening to trance for many years and obviously having gotten to know myself better over the years, I have reached the conclusion, for now at least, that breaks are only a question of the mind. When in trance even long breaks - if it's in tracks I really like - nowadays work as trance for me. They take me even deeper. Complete silence when everything else has been crazy and I have a feeling everybody else is waking up. That's when I try to go deeper. Then when the beat kicks in again I actually wake up a little, and have to slow my rhytm to halfspeed or something. It's not that I feel I'm "surviving" the break. It's just I think that trance really is a question of the mind and music or even just sound actually not necessary. When there is less sound to clear a path for you, you just have to look inside your own tranquility to find the trance state of mind. I think To me that's a comforting & meaningful thought. Anyhow, have a funny experience I have to share. Was at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark in 2004 I think. One morning around 6-7 am I was looking for a party. Had been out all night, a little drunk and a little high on weed, but in control. I heard music in the distance. Far away. Fuck it, I thought, I'm going there. As I was walking what I thought was towards the music, the music sort of kept playing further and further away. Weird, I thought! Am I going in the wrong direction, but when I stopped to listen, there was no doubt I was going in the right direction. So I kept going. Then after another half mile there was still music playing far away but also something that resembled music or a beat right next to me. I was standing next to a generator !!! Could this be what I had been approaching all along, I thought?! It sounded very much like the music/sound in the distance. And it resembled music! Man !! I could literally have started dancing right there & then to the sound of a generator! I decided not to though thinking that would have been too weird! Well, it certainly made me think about what sounds/music I like. I guess there was a beat coming from the generator but hardly melodic! Just thump-thump-thump and very fast. Anyway, this experience gave me the idea that sounds have nothing to do with trance. If I can "hear" or create music in my head on the basis of a generator sound, whatever I need to enduce a trance state can all be created in the mind. Go Psychedelia!

California Sunshine - Flying Eye Land.