Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems 2008 - Various Artists

Posted by John Bentley at 29/04/2008 11:39:31

Having listened to dance music since the age of about 11, and being a DJ for about 50% of that, a decade and a half on, I have had the pleasure of getting to know quite a few dance tunes to the point where I can sing all the harmonies in my head while tapping the drums using each finger as a different pattern! Ridiculous I know...so I guess I can't work out whether Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems 2008 is a brilliant album or a bad one. I mean I could practically write this review just by looking at the tracklisting - every tack I know like the back of my hand and so would a good number of us out there.
 
There are 60 tracks in total and mixed over three CDs of non-progressive trance classics from Nalin & Kane’s Beachball to Marcel Woods’ Beautiful, Thrillseekers’ Synaesthesia to Delirium’s Silence - you know that what you're getting is going to be as easily recognised as Jordan's old boobs and as overplayed as Peter Andre's Mysterious Girl. But this brings me back to my original point - I can't work out whether this is a good or a bad thing.
 
You know what, I'll even have a stab at reviewing the mixing without listening to it. And I mean this in no derogatory fashion - many top nights I have had from Swansea to San Antonio, have been to the sound of Dave Pearce blasting out his Anthems on the decks (one that stands out being Escape in the Park 2006 where what I can only assume to be Judge Jules' alcohol intake incited him to stop the Technics 1210 3 times during Dave's set which was being broadcast live to millions on Radio 1!).
 
Here goes; CD1 - quick radio edit-like mixing - a bit like his radio shows, keeping tight harmonies on the leads and focusing on the basslines during the crossovers which last about 30 seconds on average into the first breakdown of the next track. Then stretching out those mixes towards the end of the mix.
 
CD2 - much of the same but more cuts than harmonic crossovers. The tunes are beefy - it's all about Underworld, Picotto, Piu, and Da Hool - think cheesy take on Picotto's blinding Gods Kitchen sets of ‘99 – 2000! Dirt Devils’ The Drill - genius!
 
CD3 - the lesser-known track selection out of the three CD makes this one a bit harder so I'd go with a blend of CD1 and CD2 style mixing.....and I'd be right.
 
The truth is there is little class about this album at all but who cares?! It's all about the nostalgia and to be fair DJ Dave has gone about selecting tracks that were simply the best of their time; tracks that one might even say are timeless - Synaethesia by The Thrillseekers, Luvstruck by Southside Spinners, Madagascar by Art of Trance, Airwave by Rank 1, Southern Sun by Oakenfold and Skydive by Freefall to name but a few....and in this respect he will succeed in pulling in today's generation of clubbers that probably used to sit at the top of the stairs listening to their big brother and his mates on half hols, dancing around the living room at 7AM on a Sunday morning listening to God is a DJ by Faithless...those were the days!
 
Albums like these neglect the art of what DJing trance music has become - a serious and technical business demanding more and more from the DJ. Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems 2008 is the minimal of trance music – in that it takes you back to basics, back to the club you crawled around in for years and back to those good times when you hadn't a care in the world  and with simplistic ease, this album just cannot fail.
 

Click the link to listen to & buy the album:

http://www.djdownload.com/mp3-detail/Various+Artists/Dave+Pearce+Trance+Anthems+2008/Ministry+Of+Sound/375069

Tracklist:

Disc 1

  1. Alice Deejay Better Off Alone
  2. Sash! Encore Une Fois Original 12" Vocal Mix
  3. Ian Van Dahl Castles In The Sky
  4. ATB 9PM (Till I Come)
  5. Nalin & Kane Beachball Extended Vocal Mix
  6. York On The Beach CRW Radio Edit
  7. Delerium Feat. Sarah McLachlan Silence DJ Tiësto Remix
  8. PPK Resurrection Space Club Mix
  9. System F Out Of The Blue
  10. The Thrillseekers Synaesthesia
  11. Three Drives Greece 2000
  12. Atlantis Vs Avitar Fiji Lange Remix
  13. Freefall Feat. Jan Johnston Skydive I Feel Wonderful
  14. Ralph Fridge Angel
  15. Agnelli & Nelson Everyday
  16. Matt Darey Feat. Marcella Woods Beautiful
  17. Push The Legacy
  18. Orkidea Beautiful Alt+F4 Remix
  19. Art Of Trance Madagascar
  20. Balearic Bill Destination Sunshine

 Disc 2

  1. Underworld Born Slippy
  2. Darude Sandstorm
  3. Public Domain Operation Blade
  4. Storm Time To Burn
  5. Lock 'N' Load Blow Ya Mind
  6. Da Hool Meet Her At The Love Parade
  7. Brainbug Nightmare Sinister Strings Mix
  8. CRW I Feel Love R.A.F. Zone Remix
  9. Mauro Picotto Lizard Claxixx Mix
  10. Mario Piu Presents DJ Arabesque The Vision Vision 1 Mix
  11. BK Revolution
  12. Cosmic Gate Fire Wire
  13. Hi-Gate Pitchin' (In Every Direction)
  14. Dirt Devils The Drill
  15. Warrior Warrior
  16. Southside Spinners Luvstruck
  17. Lost Tribe Gamemaster Signum Remix
  18. RANK 1 Airwave
  19. Lost Witness Happiness Happening
  20. Madelyne Beautiful Child

 Disc 3

  1. Faithless God Is A DJ
  2. Jurgen Vries The Theme
  3. Oakenfold Southern Sun Tiësto Remix
  4. Minimalistix Close Cover (The Piano Track)
  5. Dutch Force Deadline
  6. iiO Rapture Riva Remix
  7. Mike Koglin The Silence
  8. Members of Mayday 10 in 01
  9. Marco V Vs Jens Loops & Tings Relooped Marco V Mix
  10. Agnelli & Nelson Holding On To Nothing
  11. Ocean Lab Satellite Original Above & Beyond Mix
  12. Marcel Woods Monotone
  13. Randy Katana In Silence Ron van den Beuken Mix
  14. Kamaya Painters Endless Wave
  15. Veracocha Carte Blanche
  16. Vincent de Moor Sunflower VDM's Rework
  17. Jan Johnston meets Jussi Soro Merge
  18. John O'Callaghan Feat. Audrey Gallagher Big Sky Agnelli & Nelson Remix
  19. Nu NRG Last Experience Digital Nature Remix
  20. FKN Feat. Jahala Why? Aly & Fila Remix
     
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