Customer Reviews

Balance 006

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

 

 

I can not believe the reviews I am reading for this release.
Hands down this is one of the best progressive compulations of 2004. I think that it is up there with Sasha's Involver album and I have yet to understand why there are so many mediocre reviews for this dual set from Pappa. I know that Holden is a very tough act to follow,(lord knows I have seen that prodigy a few times and love his work), but this release from Anthony is top notch. I am a huge progressive fan to say the least, so I am more in touch with the first C.D., rather than the second. As far as "continuity" and structure, it is about as good as it gets. The mixing is f**king superb. The planning for the first C.D. is very well thought out and is deeply, deeply emotional. Pappa, if you are reading this, I want to thank you for putting this jewel together. I have it in my player and I have no plans to take it out in the near future.
I was born and raised in South Florida and have seen countless D.J.'s and producers countless times at Space , Crobar and WMC.
Yet, the next time you come down, they better roll out the red carpet for you, cause you are friggin' awesome! D-L-T-B-G-Y-D.

Disc 1: an easy 5 stars
Disc 2: 4.5 stars

Anthony Pappa truly does do a good job on this compilation. I am a stickeler on the quality of mixing and the first CD is downright gorgeous. What really distinguishes this disc from the second disc is the diversity of the music genres. Disc 1 beautifully blends the essentials of breaks with low key progressive house. The disc drives the rhythm home while dazzling you with the atmospheric/soundscapes that he produces in the background. CD 1 = perfection
CD 2 while still being powerful lacks the overall dynamics of disc 1. This is simply because Pappa decided to go strictly with prog house on this one. What truly holds this disc together is the spectacular mixing that is witnessed on disc 1. However different, the mixes still maintain that high level of difficulty that is necessary for someone as picky as myself to stay highly interested.
Overall this is a brightspot in the sea of CDs that I own and I will continue to enjoy it for years to come

I'm not a big Pappa enthusiast but when i saw the tracklist for CD1, it had me sold.

Cd1 starts with the chilled "Into the storm" by Luke Chable and progresses into some very melodic breakbeats. It has a very calm mood with groovy basslines and includes standout tracks such as "Michael Burns - Sunshine in my shadows", "Main Element - Delta of Venus" and the beautiful "Mana" from Shiloh.

Cd2 takes the very deep dark progressive edge, dark vocals and chunky beats is the layout for most the tracks with these standouts: "Ozgur Can - Connected", "Musgrove & McGrath - Freakout", "Shpongle - Beija Flor". The last trakc on the albym "beija flor" is an amazingly produced tune blending upbeat breakbeats with spanish guitars and brazilian chanting vocals, however im not quite sure it fits the style of the cd.

I personally prefer cd1 down to the fact that im a breakbeat fan and just about every track is a hit for me. Fans of prog house will drool over cd2

If you think you had Anthony Pappa's style all figured out, this release will show you a versatility you may not have expected from this excellent Australian DJ. Excellent taste in music combined with his flawless technical abilities results in one of the most interesting, enjoyable mix CD pacakges of the year. The first disc showcases a mellower, more melodic side of Pappa, a departure from the trademark hard trippiness of his productions and live sets. On the second disc, Pappa turns up the energy but never strays into cheesy territory. All in all, a worthy addition to the top-notch Balance series, especially following the standard set by James Holden on Balance 005.

No se si alguna vez lo habrán contratado en SpaceOfSound, pero este Cd recuerda mucho el sonido que se pincha la la mejor sala del mundo. Muy bueno. Requetebueno.

Unlike Pappa's earlier, darker mixes, Balance album features smooth mix of house and progressive house music. Although I am a bigger fan of his darker mixes, Pappa puts serious mixing on the table. His track selection is good, not excellent. However, Track 2 on Disc 1 and Track called "Freakout" on Disc 2 are two good examples of good track selection. Especially Freakout... I found it a superb track, just like "Come To Me" on Sasha's Fundacion.

It was OK although I have to say I was a little disappointed with some of the track selection. There were some good tracks here and there but the CDs seemed totally inconsistent. In both CD they would start out alright and then suddenly it would drift off. A little different style from what i've typically heard from AP.
CD 1 was very chill and had some nice beats bordering house and breaks but then a vocal track 7 was added, which although isn't too bad, was totatlly outta place. Then it slowed down and got a little boring only to pick up just a a little towards the end.
CD 2 was more dark progressive and started off good with tracks 1-3 and then suddenly strange vocals tracks are added 4-5. I hate vocals especially if its a guy talking. These kinds of tracks don't belong in a good progressive set. The rest is ok with some notable tracks 9-10 but the CD never picks up as I was expecting from a 2nd CD after a chilled out first one.
OK but not his best.

Over a decade ago, I was very impressed by Anthony Pappa's Nubreed 001 mix for Global Underground where the Australian DJ presented two CDs of dark, grim house with unstoppable momentum. Unfortunately, neither the live dates nor the mix CDs he's put out since then have really moved me. BALANCE 005, released in 2004, sadly typifies what has gone wrong with Pappa's sets.

We have here two full discs of bog-standard progressive fodder. But not only that, BALANCE 005 is marred by cliches and passe stylings of years past. Who would have thought that as late as 2004 we'd still have tracks where a deep male voice repeatedly intones "Underground, underground"? In the last 20 minutes or so of the second disc, he throws in some melodic, jazzy stuff, but it doesn't segue naturally from what has come before. This DJ once offered the tightest mixing and a smooth rise in energy, but it sounds like his heart's not really in his job anymore.

NUBREED 001 is a classic and I'd recommend it to anymore. If you have to go further into Pappa's career, 2002's Resolution has some memorable tracks in spite of the clumsy flow. I can't recommend BALANCE 005 at all.

Come on Anthony, I know you're reading this. What is this. I've heard much better from you. It seems like you're just throwing a bunch of tracks together. disc 1 was alright with some cool beats, it raised the rating to 3, but some tracks are just plain horrible in disc 2, like tracks 3,4, and especially 13, that was just garbage. Some good track here and there but there's no consistency at all. Good thing 13 was the last track or i would've just thrown that disc away. I'm beginning to question whether you know your shiz or just playing some good track you hear from other djs and then playin these other junk. Very let down. A good dj should never have a track that's not listenable.