A month ago, r/trance opened up voting for the top tracks of the 1990s. While Trance itself can probably be traced back to the late 1980s, the 1990s is really considered the early, formative years of trance music. This is the decade that saw trance try to figure out how it differed from the house and techno music of the day, internally split between Goa and Progressive, and rise to global supremacy in the late 90s with euphoric and anthem trance. That’s a packed decade for the genre, and these years have had countless influence on the styles, progression, and elements still found in today’s trance music.

While we continue to see what the 2020s bring the trance community, let’s see what r/trance thought about the 1990s in trance. Remember to see the pinned comment for playlist links.

Before we get into the song list, I want to highlight the winners for our other categories.

Best Artist Album

This was your favorite artist album of the 1990s:

Paul van Dyk – Seven Ways. Special Limited Edition Double CD1 and CD2

This is the second studio for Paul van Dyk (following 45 RPM) released on MFS / Deviant in 1996. It’s a combination of trance and progressive that came out during the time trance as a genre was defining itself, with two main paths emerging for artists: goa trance or progressive trance. From a commercial standpoint, progressive trance would end up prevailing, led in part by producers like Paul releasing albums such as “Seven Ways.”

This was an album that would set Paul on the path of international fame, and it features extensive guidance and engineer work by Johnny Klimek and MFS Label Manager Mark Reeder. The album would also claim DJ Mag’s best album for that year, as well as re-igniting prior released tracks, like “For An Angel”. Standout tracks on the album include one featured in our Top 20 list, the Kraftwerk-inspired Words, and Home.

Best Mix Compilation

This was a heated battle between some well-known compilations from this era. So much that we had a three-way tie between albums that arguably are classified as some of the best mix albums of all time:

Tiesto – In Search of Sunrise

Gatecrasher Wet. CD1 - Sub and CD2 -Aqua

Sasha & John Digweed – Northern Exposure. CD1 - North and CD2 - South

Let’s first talk In Search of Sunrise, which was released in October 1999 on Songbird. It’s the genesis of a long-running mix compilation series that has seen mixing duties from Markus Schulz, Richard Durand, Orkidea, Sunlounger, and more. But for the first seven installments it was mixed by Tiesto.

ISOS distinguishes itself from another long-running Tiesto mix series Magik in a few ways. The ISOS series typically had more vocal-heavy trance tracks. You heard Tiesto start to explore more English and American productions of trance in this release, compared to the heavier Dutch and German productions in previously mixes. The album would also later focus on geographic destinations for inspiration. While the first two ISOS albums lacked such designations, this album is pure night-time clubs in Ibiza from start to finish.

It’s an album that continued to push Tiesto into worldwide fame leading to a series of massive tours in the early 2000s. Standout songs on this album are hard to identify personally, since I could just point to the entire tracklist and call it a day.

Switching gears away from Ibiza, we go towards an album that features much more variety in sounds, styles, and rhythms: Gatecrasher Wet, mixed by Scott Bond. This was released on INCredible in 1999 and is the third Gatecrasher album.

For those that might not be as familiar, Gatecrasher is the clubbing brand that held “Gatecrasher” dance music events at the Republic Nightclub (Sheffield, UK) during the late 1990s and early 2000s. As part of their promotion, the club used to regularly release mix compilations.

This album sees Scott Bond carry this “wet” theme by emulating a dance-heavy summer theme throughout the album. We see big names across the scene throughout, including Carl Cox, Ferry Corsten, Thrillseekers, Mauro Picotto, and more. If you want a glimpse of the late 90’s music scene’s “who’s who”, this is a place you want to start. Its focus is on trance music, and Scott creates a great blend of mixing popular (then and now) trance songs while still telling a journey.

I’m not even going to attempt to list the best songs from the album here. One is it’s tough to do. The other is that there’s a fair number of them that make our Top 20 list (and for good reason!). So take a listen to the mix above. As Scott Bond mentioned in prior interviews, these CDs “were my babies, really…we changed the market place with those albums and our unique approach because the music used was really fresh and so up front at the time.”

We finish our look into the best mix compilation albums with probably one of the hallmarks of the era: Northern Exposure, mixed by Sasha and John Digweed. This was released on Ministry of Sound in 1996 and is the first in a series of three in the Northern Exposure series.

If ISOS is the Ibiza-driven album and Gatecrasher is the club-driven album, then Northern Exposure’s hallmark is a journey album, and perhaps of the three the only true “concept album”. Its release saw success in the UK, being certified Silver and peaking at #7 on the UK Compilation Charts. In the Mix ranked it as the 5th Best Mix Album of all time, calling it “the pinnacle of Sasha and Digweed’s joint efforts…it is what every mix [compilation] wants to be: timeless.” Rolling Stone ranked it #25, describing it as a “trippy traipse through the verdant world of progressive house, a genre with one foot in the rave and the other somewhere in the great beyond.”

That said, positive reception didn’t always surround this record. Reviews at the time were a bit put off by the ambience of CD1, others regarding the darker sounds of CD2. This was also a divergence from their prior work together with Renaissance: The Mix Collection, an album that was an immediate hit becoming the UK’s first ever gold-selling mix compilation. DJ Mag, at the time, for instance, gave it a scathing review, with the South (CD2) side getting a 0/10, saying “it kind of bores you into a state where the slightest change…sounds positively exciting. Has anyone told the emperors that they’re wearing no clothes?” That said, CD1 did get an 8/10.

This was also a confusing release coming from Ministry of Sound, which was known for releasing more heavy house mixes and songs. In an interview with Red Bull, Sasha said they wanted to use music no one had really used before, with Digweed noting that they took inspiration from gigs they had played in Florida, which was big into breakbeat and atmospheric sounds then. That passion slowly and eventually grew the cult following for this album, while also popularizing concept albums and mix compilations in the dance music scene. When talking to Australian radio station Triple J, they mentioned their focus was that after-hours affair. “There were a lot of tunes we’d listen to when we’d come in from a night out that we wouldn’t be able to play in a club…we wanted to choose some stuff from our record collections that were classic records to us but perhaps forgotten classics.” Like Gatecrasher, it’s tough to pick standout songs here. But where Gatecrasher is a wonderful mix of absolute trance bangers and classics, Northern Exposure is the opposite: it’s the weaving and journey of these tracks that makes it so spectacular. To isolate just a single track detracts from the ambience that Sasha and Digweed have created – one that enhances the tracks rather than removes.

Best Trance Label

By a decent margin, the best label of the 1990s:

Hooj Choons

Hooj Choons is a house and progressive trance label formed by Alex Simons and Red Jerry in 1990 (with Alex leaving after the 4th release to work with Pete Tong at FFRR). Over the years, the label has released some of the most popular club hits and underground classics across the trance genre, as well as numerous compilation albums. After 13 years in, the label announced its dissolution in 2003. 2006 saw the label coming back under new management from the owners of Lost Language. Since then, it’s seen sparse releases.

The very first release was from the Rio Rhythm Band with a House track called Carnival da Casa, the Original Mix featured here. Since 1990, it saw the release of numerous #1 records, including some featured in our Top 20 list. The best known track is probably the re-release of Energy 52 – Café del Mar. Other tracks from the label include LSG – Netherworld, Nalin & Kane – Beachball, C.M. – Dream Universe, and Tilt – Invisible to name a few. There were also numerous tracks from Lustral, JX, and Solarstone.

Solarstone once called it “the best dance label in the world at that time.” David Gates said “the label had the best tracks across various genres for so long and it was truly independent. And Jerry…could really pick the tracks to put out.” Red Jerry said part of the success, outside of luck, was the immersion in the clubs and the clubbing scene in general. “It felt like you could just hear what was going to work, it seemed to simplify and streamline the A&R process…to the point of pure instinct and feeling.”

Hooj Choons. Occasional Providers of half decent house. Full time providers of classic trance memories.

Best Radio Show

While Armin’s A State of Trance might have been the de-facto radio show for trance in the 2000s and 2010s, another long-running radio show was the focus of the 1990s that helped push electronic music to the masses:

Pete Tong – Essential Selection (BBC Radio 1)

It’s perhaps not fair to call it solely Pete Tong’s creation. After all, the original idea for a dance music show, with a focus on house music, was first pitched and produced by Radio 1’s Eddie Gordon. But his protégé, Pete Tong, was the host and the voice that entered Britian’s, and later the world’s, airwaves. It’s a show that has been running on BBC Radio 1 since 1991.

The show has given rise to a number of Essential Selection albums from 1997 to 2003, charting on the UK Compilation chart as high as #2. It’s also been home to the regular feature “Essential New Tune”, which has frequently featured white-label tracks that have gone onto club bangers and classics.

I don’t think we can talk about Pete Tong and Essential Selections without touching on The Essential Mix, which is a separate show hosted by Pete Tong featuring a two-hour mix from a different artist each week. It has led to some absolutely defining mixes from a wide breadth of DJs. In the trance world, this includes the 1994 Goa Mix by Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and Digweed’s 2002 Mix, and Above & Beyond, which had two separate mixes get chosen as “Essential Mix of the Year” in 2004 and 2011.

Before we get into our Top 20 list, a few tracks that just missed out:

25) BT – Flaming June (BT & Paul van Dyk Original Mix)

Released on Perfecto Records in 1997. The lead single from BT’s ESCM album and peaked at #19 on the UK Singles Chart and #1 on the Dance Singles Chart.

24) Three Drives on a Vinyl – Greece 2000

Released on Massive Drive Recordings in 1997 by the Dutch duo of Erik Marcel de Konig and Ton van Empel (DJ Ton T.B). The song reached #1 on the UK Dance Chart and #12 on the UK Singles and Scotland charts.

23) Chicane – Offshore (Disco Citizens Remix)

Released on Xtravaganza Recordings in 1996. This was the debut single by Chicane that had chart success all across Europe (including #1 on the UK Dance Chart) and even the US, where it reached #5 on the Dance Club Songs for Billboard.

22) Hybrid – Finished Symphony

This was released on Distinct’ive Records in 1999. The orchestral parts of the song were performed by the Russian Federal Orchestra. This was Hybrid’s lead single from their debut album, and the song saw commercial success, including use in SSX and SSX Tricky. It’s also a remix of an earlier song of theirs: Symphony.

21) Faithless – Insomnia (Monster Mix)

First: rest in peace to Maxi Jazz, who sadly passed away last December. This track was released by Cheeky Records in 1995, and the release is arguably Faithless’ most successful track ever. Gerry Kiernan said of the track, “Insomnia crept with nocturnal stealth through rage culture into suburban bedrooms…this climatic, hands-in-the-air dance anthem was not one to put on before bedtime.” It was also voted on by Mixmag readers in 2013 as the fifth greatest dance record of all time.

In an interview about the creation of the song, Sister Bliss discussed how they had to do a gig at the Jazz Café in London just to let people know the track existed (since Radio 1 didn’t want to play a song with no hook or chorus). They also had to pass tickets out of the dressing room window to Sasha and Oakenfold just so they could get into the café.

For Maxi Jazz, the lyrics resonated with personal experiences about a tooth abscess that kept him awake at night and how he used to write lyrics by candlelight when his electricity would cut out. He mentioned how it was a big shock to him that the track was a huge hit, even more so that 35 years later it was still a favorite – joking that if he had a quid for every time someone came up to him going “I can’t get no sleep”, he’d be living on a space station.

This track might not have made our Top 20, but it’s still an important track in the evolution of trance and dance music. Combined with Maxi’s recent passing, I wanted to talk about the track a bit more here than I normally would. “Insomnia, please release me and let me dream.” May your dreams be utopic, Mr. Jazz.

Let’s count down the Top 20 detailing the Top 5. Drumroll Please

Top 20

#20

The Age of Love - The Age Of Love (Watch Out For Stella Club Mix)

The actual origins of the song stretch back to 1990, with a release on ZYX Records. The original track reflects more of the New Beat and Techno genres of the time. It would be Jam & Spoon’s remix, though, that would elevate the track to trance history. Released on React in 1992, it’s considered one the earlier “pure trance” songs of the genre.

#19

Gouryella - Gouryella

Released on Tsunami in 1999 by Ferry Corsten and Tiesto. The track was a hit across the trance scene and beyond, reaching a top fifteen position on the UK Singles Chart. When Tiesto and Corsten first sat down to create the track, they didn’t have a name for it. In an interview, Ferry mentioned that he’d like to pick weird names or words with beautiful meanings. He was watching a TV show about Australian Aboriginies at the time, and the show was about their beliefs and heaven. Their word for heaven was “gouryella.” Ferry liked the name, and the rest is history. Ferry also discussed this and more in an interview with Muzikexpress a few years ago, as well, for the song’s 20th anniversary.

#18

Quench - Dreams

Released by Infectious Records in 1993. Another one of the early 1990s songs that many point to as one of the defining tracks for trance. While it only managed to reach #75 on the UK Singles Chart at the time, it saw success in France, reaching #9. It also had influence on trance into the late 1990s, including another song in our list that we’ll discuss later.

#17

Rank 1 - Airwave

Released on Free For All in 1999. Rank 1 is the duo of Piet Bervoets and Benno de Goeij, and while this track was not their first release, it would be the one that helped pushed them into the mainstages of trance music. They’ve previously said the track “opened doors which had been shut before.” It was a track that made the Top 100 of DJ Mag’s Most Important Trance Songs, and a song many still point to as one that helped define the Dutch Trance scene that would continue into the early 2000s. The song also got a vocal remix in 2003.

#16

Orbital – Halcyon On On

Released on Internal and FFRR Records in 1993. So, a bit of history with this song. The original version, which is just called “Halcyon”, was released the prior year. It’s a track that’s a bit more downbeat compared to the later release. The 1993 version, while a bit shorter, has more of a melodic style that helped propel it to commercial success. It’s featured on the soundtracks for Mortal Kombat (1995), Hackers (1996), and even Mean Girls (2004).

The track’s primary vocal sample comes from another 1992 track via Opus III called “It’s A Fine Day”, which featured vocals from Kirsty Hawkshaw. As a side, that Opus III track also got remade and remixed in 1998, with the most well-known version being Miss Jane – It’s A Fine Day (ATB Club Mix). The song also features vocal samples, uncredited, from the 1983 song Leave It by Yes. Its baseline also gave rise to another track on this list, discussed later.

#15

Veracocha – Carte Blanche

Released on Deal Records in 1999. The Carte Blanche EP is the only release from this duo; the B-side is the much less known Drafting. The track peaked at #22 on the UK Singles Chart and has had countless remixes since it’s release. Ferry mentioned that it was taking hours to find a hook for a track they were working on. As Ferry was messing around with a synth, he heard a scream coming from Vincent down the alley (who was taking a smoke break) asking him to replay what he just did. They reconstructed that melody, and so became the cornerstone of Carte Blanche’s timeless hook. You can see more history of the track from Ferry in this interview.

#14

Robert Miles – Children (Dreams Version)

This was released on DBX Records in 1995. This track had a rocky start, not even charting on its original release. The re-release later that year, however, would allow it to become one of the most successful tracks in Europe in 1996 after it was heard by Simon Berry (Platipus Records) at a nightclub in Miami. Yes, Europe. #1 in Austria, Denmark, Eurochart Hot 100, Iceland, , Sweden, Spain, UK, and more. It reached #1 in Canada’s Dance Charts, #5 in Australia, #6 in Japan, and #21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (plus a #1 on the Dance Charts). It’s consistently been pointed to as the track that pioneered Dream House as a genre. Larry Flick (Billboard) said it “deserves to be one of those rare records that never fades beyond recurrent status on any DJ’s playlist.” Pete Tong played it for three weeks straights on Essential Selection, appointing it his Essential Tune of the Week.

Robert always gave credit to two different inspirations for creating the track. The first is to do with social dynamics in early to mid-1990s in Italy. The growth of rave culture and club attendance led to increased car accidents and deaths due to alcohol and drug use, as well as exhaustion from the late-night outs. To combat this strage del sabato sera, artists like Robert created calmer, slower music destined for the end of sets to counteract the faster, rave-like songs that preceded them. The second was in response to photographs of children victims of the Yugoslav war that his father shared with him, something that deeply resonated within Miles.

The first time Miles played the song, it was a Sunday morning DJ set and was his opener. In past interviews, Robert noted that he was anxious to see how people would react, especially following a DJ that had just finished with a heavier piece. As he describes it:

To break the existing mood with a melodic tune and a long intro could have simply cleared the floor. The people in front of me stopped in their tracks, their eyes fixed to the console almost in annoyance. I felt my blood run cold and I remember lowering my eyes in fear. The record reached its soaring climax. From the floor came a thunderous noise... I lifted my gaze and saw a sea of hands reaching up high and a smile stamped on every face. A girl approached me in tears. "What music is this?" she asked me. I don't think I shall ever forget that moment, when I realized that my feelings had been conveyed through my music.

Sadly, six years ago Robert Miles passed from cancer. Rest in peace Robert Miles.

#13

Binary Finary – 1998 (Paul van Dyk Remix)

Produced in 1997 and released in 1998 in the UK under Positiva. There was some heated voting for the preferred remix of this song – additional nods go to the Original / Binary Finary Mix and Gouryella Remix. Binary Finary is a British Trance act comprising Matt Laws, Ricky Grant, and Stuart Matheson. The song saw UK charting success and has since seen many, many remixes across trance and beyond. Wikipedia alone notes 30 different remixers, and Discogs has 63 versions for just this track.

Over a decade ago, Binary Finary actually did an AMA here on r/trance. Some interesting factoids about the song include the synth used was from a Yamaha W7 workstation. The original sound was actually a fluke take in the studio, where the W7 decided to resonate the line in a weird way. And if they had to pick their favorite remix? Alex M.O.R.P.H..

#12

Paul van Dyk – Forbidden Fruit (Fruit of Love Mix)

This was released on MFS in 1997. The original track was also featured on the limited edition double CD of Paul van Dyk’s Seven Ways album, released in 1996. It’s tough to find any information on the history or inspiration of this track, perhaps in part due to chart successes of other tracks during this era. The only thing that people point to is Orbital’s Halcyon, whose bass line heavily inspired this song.

So, let’s talk Paul van Dyk in general. He points to The Smiths – Hand in Glove, 1984, as the first piece of music where he identified it as special and something he loved. Paul points to The Smiths, OMD, and Yazoo as early influences for his musical career, as well as other early house music from this era of electronic sounds. All of this led him to create albums like Seven Ways, as we discussed earlier.

#11

Signum featuring Scott Mac – Coming on Strong

Released on Tidy Trax in 1999. As I mentioned in the original voting post, this track contains vocal samples from a 1991 House track from Cheryl Pepsii Riley called Ain’t No Way (Jazz House Overhaul). It’s a track that really explored the overlap of house and trance elements, which makes it a really nice transition track going from a house-focused to a trance-focused set for DJs.

Signum (currently Ron Hagen) points to Jazz artists as his first influences in music: Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenouer, Jeff Lorber to name a few. As he went into electronic music, Future Sound of London and Chicane helped shape his musical journey. In prior interviews, Ron’s noted that Coming On Strong (alongside with What Ya Got For Me) is a track that has made him the proudest for the impact they had and still have on the industry. For the track itself, the production was done alongside Pascal Minnaard in the Netherlands over just two days, using equipment like the Roland JV-880, the Roland JV-1080, and the Roland JP-8000. You can see Ron talk about the early production of this track in an interview with Muzikxpress a few years ago.

#10

William Orbit - Barber's Adiago for Strings (Ferry Corsten Remix)

We start off our Top 10 with a track that was released at the tail end of our eligibility period, December 1999, on WEA Records. The basis for this track stems from a work arranged by Samuel Barber written between 1935 and 1936, with revisions until 1943. Specifically, what most people call “Adagio for Strings” is really the second movement, titled “Molto adagio [attacca]” from String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11. It’s perhaps Barber’s most famous work and is a prime example of arch form compositionally. NPR has called it one of the 100 most important musical works of the 20th century, and Alex Morin has called it “full of pathos and cathartic passion.” Two versions to highlight for your listening pleasure. The first is a more recent performance from the Vienna Philharmonic as part of their Summer Night Concert Series. The second is from the BBC Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, as part of the Last Night of the Proms in 2001. Generally, the last night is typically lighter and more “winding-down”, full of popular classics and British pieces alongside a general atmosphere of pomp and circumstance. At the request of Slatkin, however, the direction was taken to reflect the solemn nature that many in the US (and parts of the world) were feeling just four days prior on September 11th.

In 1999, William Orbit reimagined in a more modern classical style. If you listen to the original, you can hear the original movement using electronic synths. As part of the release, it also came with a dance version from Corsten. William Orbit approached Ferry and asked him if he wanted to listen to his album from that time (Peace in a Modern Style) and pick a favorite track to remix. The one that really hit Ferry was Adagio for Strings, recognizing it from the movie Platoon (1986). On a call back to William, Ferry found out that it had been promised to someone else, but William said he could really see Ferry’s Gouryella sound work well with the track. A few phone calls later, Ferry had the remix duties, and the rest is history.

#9

The Thrillseekers – Synaesthesia (En Motion Mix)

Released in 1999 on Neo. This is the debut single from Steve Helstrip, and what a release to start his long and successful trance career. The track was produced by Steve in a basic home studio: a modest sequencer, a sampler, a few effects, and 90% of the track on a JP-8000 synthesizer. The actual melody came quick (within 3 minutes of sitting down at the keyboard), and he would spend the next six months tweaking it. The track received support from Paul van Dyk and Paul Oakenfold. A club vocal version was released the following year, Synaesthesia (Fly Away), which was featured in the 2001 film “The 51st State” and hit #28 on the UK Singles Chart.

Steve has pointed to Chicane as the inspiration for wanted to create trance music, and today, his favorite piece of gear continues to be Cubase. You can see the story behind the track from a Muzikxpress interview from a few years ago.

#8

Push - Universal Nation

Released on Bonzai Records in 1998 by Push (aka M.I.K.E. Push). This started off as a small trance studio project in 1997, but following positive reviews, had multiple releases across Europe. It’s a track that invokes the classic old school trance sounds, differing from the Anthem and Dutch sounds that were coming out around this time.

All of this from a producer who points to synth pop and New Wave as inspirations during his discovery of dance music. The track itself was done within just four hours on “a Wednesday afternoon”. Fun fact: the phrases, including “proceed with visual attack formation”, are sampled from the 1984 film “The Last Starfighter.”

#7

Lustral – Everytime (Nalin & Kane Remix)

Released on New Year’s Day in 1997 on Hooj Choons. Lustral is the duo composing of Ricky Simmons and Steve Jones. They have had other aliases you may have heard of, including The Space Brothers (Shine) and Chakra (Love Shines Through). The name Lustral actually comes from the trade name for the drug Sertraline, which is a SSRI-class antidepressant (C17H17Cl2N). For the track itself, Tracy Ackerman provided vocals, and the Balearic trance interpretation by Nalin & Kane helped propel it to a club hit.

Interestingly, the track didn’t have much commercial success in Europe, only reaching #60 on the UK Singles Chart. But in the US, however, it reached #2 on the Hot Dance Club Songs Billboard chart. It still required a push by the duo to get it signed, as no one originally wanted it.

#6

Armin van Buuren - Communication

Released on Cyber Records in 1999. This track came out early in Armin’s career, and alongside Blue Fear, is one of the tracks that helped propel Armin into the Dutch trance scene that has since led to an absolutely massive career. The track itself peaked at #18 on the UK Singles Chart and was the lead single to his debut album “76”. The Part 3 version, released later, also reached #5 on the ASOT Top 1000 Trance Tunes.

Armin’s discovery of dance music was through the radio, and he went into production of music at a young age, having received his first sampler at 16. For Communication, it was a track that he produced in his parent’s house in Leiden, inspired by Speedy J’s Ginger album. Armin mentioned he was stunned by Cyber Record’s response, since it was a personal track for him, and he wasn’t sure if people would respond well to it.

#5

Humate – Love Stimulation (Love-Club-Mix by Paul van Dyk)

This was released on Deviant Records in 1998.

We start our Top 5 countdown with a massive song remixed by Paul van Dyk, a track that would pull together elements from the house sounds at the time, as well as the piano melodies used by the early pioneers, such as Cosmic Baby. Humate was a trance group composed of Gerret Frerichs, Hans Georg Schmidt, and Oliver Huntemann up until 1996.

The original track actually is from 1993, with the more popular version being the Lovemix by Paul van Dyk. This re-release half a decade later adds some additional time, especially towards the end, to allow the bass resolution rather than a piano-inspired outro.

#4

Solar Stone – Seven Cities (Solar Stone’s Atlantis Mix)

This was released on Hooj Choons at the tail end of 1999.

This track I feel needs no introduction. The Discogs version history feels like a mile long, and the track has been remixed from trance greats like Armin, Michael Woods, Thomas Datt, Ferry Tayle, and more. The popular remixes are probably Armin’s euphoric take, the V-One’s Living Cities Remix, and the updated Pure Remix.

It’s a track that charted multiple times due to these remixes on the UK Singles Chart, and it reached #87 in ASOT Top 1000 poll a few years ago. The song itself has been considered a Balearic trance anthem. The vocal sample comes from the artist and track Adiemus – Tintinnabulum; the vocals themselves are sung by Miriam Stockley.

When working on the track, Solarstone notes that listening to it now, it has a similar vibe to Jam & Spoons’s Odyssey to Anyoona and Y Traxx’s Mystery Land. The track itself came together in a few days, and the name was a result of a grab bag pull of words that they (he and Andy) liked. Solarstone notes that Jerry (Hooj Choons) wasn’t sure that people would play a song with such a long breakdown, but after giving a version to Paul Oakenfold to play, Jerry wanted to sign it ASAP. And so began the rise of Solarstone.

#3

Paul van Dyk – For An Angel (PvD E-Werk Club Mix)

This was released on Deviant Records in 1998.

The original version of this track comes from 1994, with vocals by Natascha Seidel. This remix would help push trance from the progressive sounds of the mid-1990s into the anthem genre that would take over trance during this time period of music. This rework and re-release was an homage to the E-Werk nightclub where Paul used to be the resident DJ. It received critical acclaim at the time, reaching #1 on the UK Dance charts; even Mixmag had it at #8 on their all-time dance music list.

#2

Sasha - Xpander

Released on Deconstruction in 1999.

Named after the Oberheim Xpander synthesizer used throughout the song, this track has consistently been pointed to as a seminal release in trance music, and perhaps even a song that helped revitalize the progressive house scene, as well. The EP reached #18 on the UK albums chart and won an International Dance Music Award. The title track received play and air time across the Global Underground series, Hooj Choon’s mix compilations, and Pete Tong’s Essential Selections. It reached #9 on the best dance tracks of all time by Mixmag, and ASOT listeners rated it at #233 for ASOT’s Top 1000 trace tunes. It also saw commercial success, including being featured in the racing game Wipeout 3.

In past interviews, Sasha notes that his first DJ setup was a set of “dodgy belt-driven decks” that forced him to master how to move the pitch controls to mix properly. In creating Xpander, it started off as a Spooky (electronic duo) track between Charlie May and Duncan Forbes. They could never get anything to stick or work in the studios. Five years later, there was only parts remaining on a DAT tape. Sasha heard those sounds and he and Charlie May worked to create the final version. It would still take additional time on the mixdown on a then-prototype Soundcraft 328s to get to the final version we hear today.

Another great version of this song is the reimaging as part of the re-Fracted version; here, this was recorded Live at The Barbican.

And now your number 1 song….

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#1

Lost Tribe - Gamemaster

A while back in this post, I mentioned that we’d get to the influence that Quench’s “Dreams” had on later trance. It’s taken us this long to get to that song, but here we are with the top-rated trance track voted on by you all.

Let’s first talk Lost Tribe, real name Matthew Darey, which you might also know via his other aliases like Matt Darey, Sanctuary, and Li Kwan. He’s a big outdoor fan, tackling the ski slopes and other extreme sports when he isn’t producing or djaying. Growing up, he’s identified artists across Electronic Pop music genre as inspirations for his sounds: Human League, Soft Cell, The Cure, Depeche Mode. He started his musical journey at an early age of 10, playing the violin and participated in a guitar and synth band at school. While his first dabble in electronic music was in 1990 (a drum and bass track), it wouldn’t be until later when he would start producing trance. In past interviews, he’s pointed to Massive Attack’s Teardrop as a song that “sounds as good as it did on day one”, and if choosing a favorite club song? Röyksopp – Sordid Affair (Maceo Plex Remix).

For the track itself, the original version of the track was actually a B-side on “The Distant Voices EP”, released on Hooj Choons in 1997. Vocals are provided by Mala Moonbeam. It was re-released in 1999 as Lost Tribe’s ’99 Mix, which also saw remix help by Jeremy Dickens (R. Jerry). Other well known remixes include the Signum Remix, which was released alongside the ’99 Mix. Matt has said previously that the original had more classical overtones when originally produced back in the 1995. The source of the vocals are from a book by Barbara Marciniak -- Earth: Pleiadian Keys to the Living Library.

Congratulations to Lost Tribe for the Tune of the 1990’s on r/trance!