Customer Reviews

Altered States 2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's absolutely so much proggish/house/trance flooding the market that listeners can just about spend their music money exclusively on two-disc sets and remain satisfied. Perhaps it's the Global Underground standard set a few years ago; regardless, we now get more bang for the buck than ever before, if increasingly faced with track fillers and DJ vanity tracks as bi-product. Altered States 2 shows Blissproductions not only avoiding these missteps, but getting a much better jump on the hottest tunes than Volume 1.

Jon Cowan and Mike Hiratzka split DJ duties. Perhaps not being household names prompted these two to work harder, as they've delivered more quality music with less padding than a lot of big releases in 2001. Cowan sifts through what could be called progressive pop if you set aside preconceived notions of inherently shallow music. Commercial without condescending, these eleven tracks offer hooks, girly vocals, and immediately enjoyable rhythms. There's some bite as well, with Freeloader's grinding funk stomp "Freekwency" and Superchumbo's big room moment "The Revolution."

Mike Hiratzka's work offers the slower, more savory experience within a seamless mix. Jimmy Van M's fantastic quasi-breaks number "Forget Time" finally reaches an American compilation , while James Holden once again displays perhaps the best ear for melody today, ghostly strains of "Solstice" wrapping around a bass throb. Nods as well to the ST mix of "Papua New Guinea" that certainly pushes the buttons marked "Big" "Epic" and "Tune", and to melancholy closing number "Faith Delivers."

Each disc has one song veering perhaps too fluffy (Tilt, Silicon Soul) or clubby (Mutiny UK, Major North). Regardless, Altered States 2 still offers an excellent example of balancing mainstream, credible, and accessible moments.

I originally heard the track headstrong in one of my friends cars who lives out of state. He told me it was "altered states". After searching and searching and searching I finally found the cds.

Needless to say the entire cd is as breathtaking as Headstrong (which btw is my favorite track on these cds). These two cds combined are by far one of my favorite trance/progressive dance cds I have ever heard. The track selection combined with the mixing makes this cd A must have.

I want to be very clear I am generally not a huge fan of trance, exspecially sissy vocal trance. This cd however is far from "sissy" and I just cant get enough of it.

This is a fantastic double CD--both CDs are excellent. The music is great and the mixing is superb. It captures the big hall atmosphere and right now is my favorite dance/trance selection.

this cd is a must have!! the perfect blend of progressive house, vocals,tribal grooves and even some uplifting trance..It is a needed item for the lover of top quality grooves...the mixing is brilliant on both discs although I prefer the flow of disc 1.. if your a lover of danny howells, dave seaman, digweed, you need to pick this one up!

Received promptly. There was a crack in the case but it could have happened during delivery.

What can I say The mixing is great only followed by the Track selections....

Based on the reviews I read here on Amazon[.com] I bought this 2-CD set. My preference is for Dance and Trance songs that have a danceable beat, but not repetitive. Louie DeVito's mixes ranks fairly high on my list, just to give you an example of what I like.

That said, I was very disappointed with this Altered States Vol. 2 set. Starting with disk one, by the second track going into third, the songs sounded like 3 minute loops of the same beat. I mostly listen to my Dance CDs when I am in the car or when I am jogging. I had the uncontrollable urge to hit the track skip button all through the first disk.

The second disk is somewhat improved, accounting for both stars I'm giving this set. Even though the entire disk contains what seem to be the same female vocal, things starts to get interesting by track 10. Track 11 is also nice, and track 12 is almost perfect. If the other songs on this CD are anything like these last three tracks, I would have given it 5 stars.

But paying this much money for 3 songs that I like is not my idea of a good value. I advise against piracy, but I do believe in buying what you like, so test listen these songs before you drop your cash. I wish I did.