Elements of Life

Tiesto | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 10, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ultra Records
• ASIN: B000N8UY3W
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,851 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Netherlands

Track Listings

1. Ten Seconds Before Sunrise

2. Everything (featuring JES)

3. Do You Feel Me (featuring Julie Thompson)

4. Carpe Noctum

5. Driving To Heaven

6. Sweet Things (featuring Charlotte Martin)

7. Bright Morningstar

8. Break My Fall (featuring BT)

9. In The Dark (featuring Christian Burns)

10. Dance4Life (featuring Maxi Jazz)

11. Elements Of Life Bonustrack : He's A Pirate (Tiësto Remix)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Tiësto sticks to his guns on a new album of original compositions that follows 2004's Just Be. Elements of Life strikes a satisfying balance between inventive vocal tracks and signature trance stormers: "Ten Seconds Before Sunrise," "Driving to Heaven," and "Bright Morning Star" all glow with the Dutchman's epic sound, one that is simultaneously haunting and uplifting. On the vocal side, the soaring energy of "Break My Fall," which features BT on vocals, will not disappoint fans of the duo's prior work on "Just Be" and other collaborations. To be sure, there are a number of less convincing pieces as well: "Dance4Life" with Faithless's Maxi Jazz falls flat, and the lyrics of "Can You Feel Me" prove that the genre's reputation for banal wordsmithing is not entirely undeserved. For the most part, however, these weaker moments are outweighed by the stronger tracks. Principal among these is undoubtedly "Sweet Things"--in which Charlotte Martin's vocal high-wire act is complemented by some exceptional programming--a track that is sure to receive a great many spins by DJs around the globe and yet further proof that when it comes to bringing alive the female voice for the dancefloor, Tiësto remains without equal. All in all, it's a safe bet that many of Tiësto's Elements will be making their way into DJ crates and MP3 players alike. --Brent Kallmer

Product Description

Tiësto is undeniably one of the greatest DJ talents of this era. Internationally recognized as the world's premier DJ and producer, Tiësto continually takes electronic music to the next level - pushing boundaries with his addictive and creative trance creations. With his prior album releases enjoying outstanding success in the States, the time has come for his next installment: ELEMENTS OF LIFE. This record includes brilliant collaborations from the likes of BT, Maxi Jazz (Faithless) and other incredible female vocalists; a stunning collection of uplifting trance ensues. Supporting this release with performances at Coachella, WMC and an extensive national tour through Summer 07, Elements of Life will be THE electronic album of 2007.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elements of Life - Smooth production, great vocalists but lacking SOME diversity, April 23, 2007

By 

Stephen J. White "Dragnilar" (Richmond, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elements of Life (Audio CD)

Tiësto's "Elements of Life" is a testament to his mastery of the studio and ability to collaborate with other artists. It features several big name vocalists (including the awesome trance diva JES) as well as his signature "epic" sound on tracks such as Ten Seconds Before Sunrise. However, the album loses some steam somewhere in the middle due to not dabbling in "new" sounds.

During the progress of the album, the album uses the same "genre", that being a crisp, clean upbeat trance sound that can be best described as "artistic commercial trance with pop hooks".

The only time that Tiësto takes any risks on this disks is on the track Carpe Noctum (and a couple other tracks, which will be mentioned shortly). This track starts out with a simplistic but catchy bass driven progressive house beat. It then grows as drum patterns are thrown onto it and finally it takes full form with some smooth, dreamy classical Tiësto trance synths. And in the end, this track in particular is nothing original. It sounds similar to Tiësto's "Traffic". Still, Carpe Noctum is strangely addictive . Perhaps it's similarity to "Traffic" is what makes it so enjoyable. Maybe its safe to say that we WANTED at "Traffic 2.0", and Tiësto has delivered.

Another track that features some diversity in sound is the epic "10 Seconds Before Sunrise", which is arguably the best track on the album. This song features all of the things you would expect from an opener on a Tiesto album. Big production, world music sounds, flowing drum loops, string instruments and a beautiful blending of all of the previously mentioned with some top notch trance synths. There are also some choruses thrown in for good measure. This song would make a great opener to a "In Search of Sunrise" CD, which I am sure that's what Tiësto was thinking when he made this song. Just look at the name! If not, then he might have made this song as a homage to his seemingly favorite mix compilation series.

Tiesto also tries something slightly different on the third to last track, "Dance for Life". This song however is nothing new to the scene, as it was previously released last year. The song still is a welcome addition to the album, as it was a somewhat difficult to track down single beforehand (unless you bought it off of a music download website such as [...]). The song comes off something like a progressive house song due to the weird notes that open it up. Maxi Jazz' vocals are odd as well, making this song unique. Critics of this track (and Tiësto in general) will not be impressed with the inclusion of this track, but fans will be delighted to finally have it on a mainstream CD release.

The penultimate track, "Elements for Life" is also a slight deviation from the "pop trance" course that this album goes on. This song is another "epic, big production" song in the Tiësto fashion. It however features some really weird, almost Moog sounding synthesizers inside it. If it had to be compared, it sounds like an electro take on his remix of Adagio for Strings. Similar in fashion and construction, but ultimately they are not the same song.

As for the remainder of the album, the ratings are across the board. The first single for the album "In The Dark" sounds passionate and features some great vocal work by Christian Burns. Unfortunantly, Burns and Tiësto did not seem to put much thought into the lyrics, so they sound a little cliché. This is especially emphasized towards the end of the song when Burns just starts repeating the chorus over and over again (with successively less vocal strength.) Still, the song features some very catchy and fast paced melodies and trance synthesizers, so it comes off as decent. It still could have used some more inspiring lyrics.

Tiësto' work with JES on "Everything" is hard to hate, especially since JES has such a wonderful voice. Tiësto and his crew did a very good job making a song to compliment her voice. Yes, her voice is the main thing going on in this song. But to clarify, there is still some good instrumentation going on in this song. Personally, I find this song more enjoyable than JES' work with Gabriel & Dresden on "As the Rush Comes" (but that might just be a personal bias coming from being a Tiësto fan).

Final picks that are worth a listen are Tiësto's newest collaboration with BT on "Break My Fall", the instrumental "Bright Morningstar" and if you still haven't heard it, the remix of "He's a Pirate".

Suffice to say, Tiësto's "Elements of Life" is a good disk. Its a shame that it lacks some bigger surprises, but it still shows its strengths when it comes to the things we've come to expect from Tiesto - Big production and great collaboration with other artists. If anything, hopefully on his next artist album, Tiësto will take another stab at "industrial" sounding Trance like on "In My Memory" or just totally surprise us with something we haven't seen him do yet.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Tiesto I know..., May 24, 2007

By 

A. M. Marrs "DJ Mars" (seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elements of Life (Audio CD)

If you are an older fan of Tiesto....your not going to like this album.

I listened and listened and tried to listen, and I keep finding the same conclusion - If you like Oakenfold's "Lively Mind", then you'll like Elements. Tiesto didn't put up a lot of effort into this one and very noticeable, which is the sad thing about it.

Those of us who have been with Tiesto since the beginning of ISOS will not like this release. It's sad to say, and I never thought I would say this about a Tiesto CD, but this was money wasted. Ever since "Just Be", hes been going down hill.

Would the real Tiesto please stand up? Because he's not here anymore.

If you want some good trance, oddly enough ATB's In the Mix is good, Solar Stone, MS and Ronski go it goin.

For those of you who are new to Tiesto - check out ISOS 3 Panama. His best CD ever!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DJ Tiesto is better when he's mixing and not writing, April 30, 2007

By 

kamorra2 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Life (Audio CD)

Yeah this cd is good. Compared to a lot of the other crappy trance stuff out lately this is a great cd. But, the fact remains that DJ Tiesto is better when he's mixing other people's music and adding his own flare. He's not as good when he writes the songs himself.
DJ Tiesto's self written songs start to get a little on the cheesy side.
Some of the songs on this cd are great. And if it weren't for the inconsistancy, I'd give it 5 stars.

1. Ten Seconds Before Sunrise- This is a good opener. Great trance music. - 5/5
2. Everything - Jes is an awesome trance vocalist and this song showcases great vocal trance. - 5/5
3. Do You Feel Me - I love the chorus on this one....very catchy. 5/5
4. Carpe Noctum - Um this just sounds like a rip off to me. I can't quite place it but this does not sound very original. And it's boring. 3/5
5. Driving to Heaven - Better than Carpe Noctum but again, leans towards boring - 3.5/5
6. Sweet Things - Now we're back on track. This one keeps me interested. Good beat, good vocals. 4/5
7. Bright Morningstar - This one is slow to build but a great trance song! One of the best on the cd - 5/5
8. Break My Fall - BT rocks. I love his vocals and I love his collaborations with DJ Tiesto. This song is awesome. Male vocals on trace songs can be hit or miss but this one works. 5/5
9. In The Dark - This reminds me of 80s techno pop in the beginning. This could be a great song. I love the vocal but God the chorus is cheesy. Why do trance artists have this uncontrollable desire to ruin songs with cheesy lyrics? Such a shame - 3/5
10. Dance 4 Life - This is the guy from that Insomniac song and it doesn't sound like he's changed much in the past 10 years. This sounds like Insomniac part 2. The music is great but again, cheesy lyrics and bad vocals. - 3/5
11. Elements Of Life - Now we're back on track again. Great trance beat, great production. One of the best on the cd. - 5/5
12. He's A Pirate - This was on the most recent Pirates of The Caribbean movie. This is a different remix of it. I like this song. It's a good ending to a overall good cd. 5/5