3/5 Stars
Embrace - Starts out as jazz, I thought the last trumpet part sounded like Europe: Final Countdown. But then it turns to a house beat. Not as good as Intense, though; 7.0/10
Another You - Definately not trance, pretty short, but good; 7.0/10
Strong Ones - glossy pop but good beat; 6.5/10
Make it Right - Sounds like Rihanna. Pop, but nice; 7.0/10
Face of Summer - Sounds more trancey but sounds like "only girl in the world"; 7.0/10
Heading up High - not pop but rock. But great because it mixes different aspects together. Poor vocals though. Radio-edit length; 7.5/10
Gotta be Love - Sounds like Rihanna's "We've found Love" but still good; 7.5/10
Hands to Heaven - Trance-lite, still good, though poor beat; 7.0/10
Caught in the slipstream - Perhaps best song. How would you describe it?; 8.0/10
Embargo - Pure trance, but the beat isn't so great, because of influence from Cosmic gate; 7.5/10
Freefall - Good song, but too short. Should be an extended mix?; 7.0/10
Indestructible - Another house song. Pretty short again; 7.0/10
Old Skool - Dark-toned dance song. Again, Radio edit-length but still not bad; 7.0/10
Off the Hook - Big room house, but still great. Like the change in tempo; 7.5/10
Looking for Your Name - Doesn't sound like Armin at all. Piano playing. Expected a house buildup to come but it still sounded just the same. No electronics. Good at being acoustic pop though, but if I wanted anacoustic track I would buy a piano CD from an acoustic artist. Should they make a house mix of this?; 5.0/10
Conclusion - Not Armin trance, lacks quality, but still not terrible, because it's good to do different things, that's the key to #1 DJ, to combine aspects. The sound is kind of entertaining, but Armin could had a better way of doing something different. Not so much "poppy," though, but garage pop rock. Armin must not produce country or all-acoustic next time. Not have too much hope, lets fear that he will continue the trend he's been going. But he's gone on this trend for long enough. He must get back to some of his roots and/or get to something bigger (like breakbeat hardcore, industrial/EBM, Space rock, hard trance, eurodance, or even hip hop or metal. Don't want him to get too dark either though) and put sell-out sounds into his side projects. I'd like 146 bpm! But he doesn't necessarily have to abandon ALL of sounds of Intense and this album, because he is a bridge between trance, house, pop, and rock. Techno as well. If I wanted pop I would buy a from a pop artist. But for sell-out music, I'm more OK with Tiesto than with Armin. Of course, we have the classics to go back to (like Sail, Love You More, Yet another day, From the Heart, Intricacy, Rain, and Simple Things). But there can't be no more trance. We can change for some time, but then we can go back to the way we were after a while.
If you want just trance, now you'd probably buy Sean Tyas, Talla 2XLC, Dash Berlin, Alphazone, or artists like those.
Anyway, best not to buy this album.
