Customer Reviews

Beyond the Infinite

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I respect everyone's point of view, I have to totally disagree with the reviewer below me who stated that the music on this CD is annoyingly repetitive. Believe me, I listen to regular pop music and I myself get very frustrated at how annoying and repetitve most of techno music is. Yes, Juno Reactor may often use similar beat, but the complex sampling and melodies change constantly, so the album never gets boring. Instead, many songs have a tremendous amount of energy. Slower tracks such as 5,7,8 expertly combine trance, fast beats, and dreamy melodies. Listening to this CD you feel transported to some dark exciting futuristic world. I love it. Better than Bible of Dreams which, by the way, is another great CD.

How can anyone (ahem reviewer who gave it 2 stars) call this mindless???? They must not have been listening to the same album. Anyone experienced with listening to any sort of techno (or anyone who likes GOOD music no matter what) should be able to tell how great this is. From start to finish, it is a complete ALBUM. It's not just a bunch of songs. These songs flow together and almost tell a story, they have a beginning middle and end, such as any good movie. Also, the transitions are all very good. Juno Reactor is the greatest of all techno groups, and this album is the one that started it. Their sound is incredible, no matter if it is synth or voice clips. The first three songs, Guardian Angel - Magnetic - Ice Cube, all are great, and they are possibly the greatest 3 song combo on any album I have heard. 4 and 5 are its weak spots to me...they are good songs but they dont have the same energy and creativity that Juno Reactor shows elsewhere. After that, is picks up again with another terrific combo, Samurai - Silver - Rotorblade. Listen carefully and you will find that Rotorblade is the best song on the album, not to mention one of the greatest songs I have ever heard. The last songs, mars, isnt nearly as good as those three, but it finishes the album nicely. From start to finish, this is absolutely great music. I simply cannot imagine why anyone would not like this album. You can't go wrong buying it, but make sure you listen to it carefully! It gets a solid 94 percent. Buy it!

If you like the idea of driving a fast car with precesion through the night on an empty highway then this is a perfect CD for you. The audio quality of the CD is crisp and great care has gone into the digital mastering and layering of tracks and samples. The music is complex, driven, and lush in sound. I have listened to the tracks over and over and each time I pick up something new. 120 beat per minute rythm is used extensively throughout but there are excellent rythmic shifts and tempo changes. The use of sampling and DSP is some of the best I have ever heard. It is obvious that this music was scored. Each track has a beginning, middle, and end. Some of it is even madrigal in nature and makes a very compelling listen. In addition there are some interesting samples extracted from the movie Dune. One other unique element is the blending of live and sampled live percusion into the songs. Ice Cube, Samurai, Rotor Blade, and Guardian Angel represent some of the best Techno Trance tracks I have heard, period. This CD will stay in your play stack for a long time

This is a great CD, with cool beats and awesome melodies. Though some songs take a while to get going (some tracks have just ambient sounds for a minute or so), each one inevitably has a unique and interesting twist to it. I especially like 'Razorback', a pounding jungle beat that amazed me when I first heard it. 'Ice Cube' is another really good one, with a steady, pounding bass drum and all kinds of nifty sounds floating throughout. Very few words in this album though, and not what you could really call lyrics (usually just saying the title of the song somewhere); if you need lyrics, you may not appreciate this one a whole lot. However, if you like techno, this is a great CD to have.

I do have to add my two cents to this, mentioning artists like Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Jean M Jarre, and Tangerine Dream in a review about Juno Reactor, is just plain bizarre. This is akin to complaining in a Metallica review that they don't sound like The Beatles. Sure, these groups share musical roots, but of course they are very different and cannot be compared fairly. Even trying to compare JR to Prodigy as that reviewer did just doesn't make any sense.

That reviewer, or any other techno fan who thinks psy trance is simply 'mildly interesting' or dead, just does not understand this very unique and complex genre, and is not aware of the amazing psy trance currently out there. This album is a classic in that it is one of the early releases that defined the genre. It is true that JR has evolved/changed musically (to great effect, IMHO), but other great artists continue to create stunning psy trance, such as Infected Mushroom, Astral Projection, Shpongle, and Hallucinogen, to name a few.

As for this particular album, although it is indeed a classic, I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I agree with the reviewers who say that a number of these songs do get a bit repetitive. My favorite tracks on this CD are Feel the Universe and Mars... very trippy... :) but some of the other tracks are not quite as inventive, IMHO. But, regardless, a great CD and a must-have for serious psy trance fans :)

I am one of the people that jumped on the Juno bandwagon after Shango, and I have been a huge fan ever since. I recently had the honor of purchasing this CD off of a longtime friend of mine (the same friend that got me into Juno) and I am eternally greatful. This recording is nothing short of amazing. Songs like Guardian Angel, Ice Cube, and Samurai pulse with energy, while other tracks have just the right mix of smooth ambience and spacey experimental sounds that makes this sound more like a great piece of art then a simple CD. This is quite a hard album to find, but a treasure that no Juno fan should go without. Ignore the naysayers, Beyond the Infinite is nothing short of amazing.

With 68 minutes of masterly composed beats, "Beyond the Infinite" is Juno Reactor's classic masterpiece, an infuriating set of psy-trance tracks paving the way for the more organic "Bible of Dreams". Its awesome maniacal outerspace theme made me dance the night away. Dark and brooding, but utters coolness the whole time.

Each track starts off with a nice prelude of ambience, then it takes you in as if you've been blasted into space without letting go. Hypnotizing rhythms mixed with beautiful organic sounds and voice make for some of the coolest goa tracks you'll ever hear. It's like zooming through the infinite with a pair of shades on.

"Guardian Angel" and "Magnetic" start off the album with deadly rhythms of darkness. The 3rd track "Ice Cube" has a character like none other. It's possibly the best track on the album. The jabbing jungle beats of "Razorback" will surely get you dancing. The album flows in two separate chapters without tripping over itself. This is goa trance for the ages, a collection of tracks that proves that this genre is not a restricted form of music.

The vast corners of space never sounded so good. Buy? Yes, if you're a fan of this type of music or if you're interested in getting into the genre. It's what got me into it. Give "Beyond the Infinite" a try... it may get your head boppin.

If techno had remained the underground sound it was a decade ago I wouldn't have to laud Juno Reactor as I am. This is Techno as Techno without a subtitle and full out. Its the kind of thing Techno was meant to be, not a marketing gimick for the rest of us post-boomer hordes but its own form of anti-post- modernism putting some heart and soul back into a music "industry" deadened by the black hearts of bean counters. Now go buy it and force the neighborhood to listen to it! :).

Where I live I was only able to purchase Bible of Dreams. I was forced to turn to the internet for Juno Reactors other albums and I'm very pleased I made this purchase. In my opinion this cd is much better than Bible of Dreams. Some songs might be slow going at the start for a minute or so but the song will pick up speed.

I thought Bible of Dreams was perfect and here I am saying this cd is better. Either way you should go out and buy Beyond the Infinite or Bible of Dreams. Now I can't waite to hear Transmissions.

Nobody ever gives this album the recognition it deserves. These tracks are solid. Samurai got a single (deservedly), but don't forget Ice Cube and Mars.