Customer Reviews

Gatecrasher: Digital

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ha...whoever said that this was a bad set is totally wrong. Gatecrasher puts out amazing cds! The first cd has a permanent home in my car's cd player. It's really enjoyable to listen to while driving, and does NOT put you to sleep. I haven't really been listening to the second cd, but I'm sure it's just as good. And the chillout one is nice to do when you have work to do and such, and is just a nice relaxing one, totally fufilling its duty and name as chillout...Gatecrasher is awesome..and I totally recommend this one. But then again, who am I to judge it. Check it out and see what you think. I can't really decide on how many stars...as it's hard to judge that way...

Like the title, oh my god, I don't know where to start. I waited so long for this cd to come in. I couldn't wait. When I got the cd, I no sooner had it out of the package and into my cd player. I started with disc one. Disc one is very good, starts out layed back (like most sets do) and gradually get stronger as it progresses. But you can't stop there, go onto disc two. Words can't describe this cd. Most sets will slowly progress and finally be strong and intense in the middle and then chill out alittle. This one doesn't follow the norm, it just get more intense till you can't take it anymore. But don't stop there, you're all wound up and you still want it to get more intense, but then you throw in disc three. Now I must say, I don't think they could have done anything better. This is the most chillout set that I have ever heard, better than any ambient or goa set. Don't stop listening to it though, you may want to keep up beat, but if you just sit back and relax this will take you on a journey one has never been on before. This set well deserves 5 stars !!!! Keep them comin !! And like it says "Beyond the discotech generator to the fast the furious and the future, so let's get digital and fall in love." I don't think I could have put it any better

This CD took my breath away. I have been a big Gatecrasher fan for over a year now and my favourite before this was Wet. This, I have to say, goes way above and beyond that, and for me it is mainly due to the third disc. The additional "Chill-Out" disc, while other people have found it to be out of place, I found to be the highlight of the cd. The songs are great, and while they are electronic, they are slow, orchestral and quite simply beautiful. The highlights of disc 3 have to be tracks 2 and 3. CD 1 is more in the style of Discotech Generation and makes a nice start to the album. CD 2 is an extension of Discotech Generation with a more matured sound, and CD 3 I have already covered. This album is the best Gatecrasger album to date and you can definitely hear, and better yet feel the progession of Gatecrasher to bigger and better things. If you like great techno and you like slower, more melodic electronica, this is the cd to buy.

All of the Gatecrashers are well worth owning if you like passionate trance, but "DIGITAL" and "WET" are among my favorites. The "Fast and Furious" disc from DIGITAL has got some really intense stuff and the bonus "Chill Out Disc" was different. One thing that needs to be said about all Gatecrasher cd's is that when put through an effects processor and given echo or "room size" treatment the repetitive stuff becomes less monotonous and the ambient voices become larger and more passionate.

I have been a big fan of Gatecrasher compilations since the 'Black' album (their first one for those who haven't tracked them), having the 'Wet' album reigning as my favorite to this day, with 'Global Sound System' pulling in a close second. When I visited the Gatecrasher website, I saw the announcement of their latest one and got immediately excited. I listened to dozens of the samples online and eventually got it.

Disc 1 is the progressive, trance one of the group of 3. It has some really awesome synths and catchy melodies. While not as hard as disc 2 (I'll get to that in a second), it does have a good beat overall that can profess as a good danceable CD. Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, and 15.

Disc 2 has some of the hardest beats I have heard on a CD before. The basslines are incredibly hard and if you turn your system up loud enough, you may either make your ears actually bleed, get complaints evolving into possible evictions from citizens in a 2-mile radius, or both. Maybe this wasn't my type of a mood of music, since the majority of it sounds a bit like 'happy to be hardcore'. The beats seem lost and I am having a difficult time trying to enjoy the music as I am secondly trying to find a rhythm to it. The beats were far too hard for my taste and this particular disc made me quite disappointed. What I also found a bit odd was on track 12, how the beats are so hard in this, that there was a strange occurrence of two moments of calm melodies of a piano being played; as soon as the piano silenced for a brief second, there came the boom of the next beat, shaking the floor. Favorite tracks: Not a single one.

Disc 3 is the chill disc of this group and a chill it is. After the migraine-pulsing second disc, this will relax you with its long synths and calm rhythm. Be noted that the high-pitched 'windchime-like' melody so to speak in track 6 will be quite ear piercing if you are listening at a short distance or if the volume is too high. Favorite tracks: 2, 5, 7, 8, and 10.

I didn't have high expectations for this compilation, but I was anxious to break it in. While two discs made me pleased, the other one ruined half the mood. This won't stop me however from continuing to have faith in what Gatecrasher delivers.

The cool thing about Gatecrasher is the incredible tune selection....and the Digital album is no exception. There is truly something for everyone in this basket of goodies. Disc 1 is loaded with quality dance tunes
and doesn't waste much time in building the energy and is solid from start to finish. It is a well mixed set and the songs are allowed to run longer than 3-4 minutes...a nice addition over the WET album !! Max Graham, System F, Marco V have contributed solid tunes to get you dancing. This is a great driving cd !!

Disc 2 goes for a harder edge, however the FIRST 6 SONGS lack variety...there are none of the Gatecrasher trademark builds and crescendos. These are the songs you hear during a long set when the dj needs to go take a break....they just zone you out !!! Now for the GOOD part....the listener is rewarded starting on track 7 and the dj starts to really rip it up. The power, intensity are taken to a fever pitch and these songs have enough melody for even the most timid trancer, while the
hard core faithful will find it worthy of their darkest sunglasses !!! "Getaway" and "Wildside" are hot trax you'll want in your collection!! This is the pre-party, pump you up on your way to the club cd....skip to track 7 and crank it up !!

Disc 3, while not my thing, does provide a chill out....I prefer to sleep off a hard core session, but this mix is nice to drift off to in the afternoon in a chair by the pool !!! If chill out is your thing, there is better stuff out (in fact the Gatecrasher 2002 Experience chill disc is quite nice) but this is a nice addition and rounds out the trilogy provided by the DIGITAL LION !!

In summary "Digital" offers smoooooth mixing, 80% great tune
selection, and tons of variety...you'll find lots to smile about on this one....its great for parties, driving, dancing, revving up for a night on the town, etc. I give it between 3.5 and 4 lollies and only deduct points for the high price and for some of the zoner songs selected for cd 2 that actually make me sleepy...but if you could snag it on the used market it is a gem !!! You'll love it the first time you play it but I'm not sure you will keep coming back to it 6 months from now, but let's face it, with house and trance cd's, even the best have a shelf life. BTW...My first posting of this review got inserted under the newer Gatecrasher 10 - Digital Trance....a different "2 cd offering" which I recently bought but have not yet reviewed !!

2 stars is all I can offer for this set. This one is very heavy, dark tek-trance. Really monotonous and boring. Don't risk driving while you listening to it, it might easily put you to sleep! If you don't already own Gatecrasher Discotech set or Global Sound System set, go for those instead.

Depending on what type of music you like this one is really boring. 2 stars here in comparison with Gatecrasher Discotech set. 3 CD's in this one. Chill out CD is mellow, spacey, gazing-at-stars kinda of experience. Very slow and pleasant. But that's where the good news stop. The other 2 CD's are boring, pounding tek-trance, laced with hard-techno, banging tracks. I personally found myself flying through CD by pressing the "next" button on my player. Very disappointing. If you don't own Discotech set yet, I strongly suggest getting it instead of this piece of bordom.

After I got my hands and almost immediately fell in love with Gatecrasher Discotech set, I rushed out to get this one - Digital. Very, very disappointing experience. There are 3 CD's in this set. One of them is chill out CD, which is slow and mellow, and it delivers no more and no less than what it promises - it's relaxing music, cosmic sounds and sound effects, so it's ok can't complain here. But the other 2 CD's are mostly, hard banging tek-trance, sometimes even surpassing hard trance and going into hard core tekno. There are a couple of "so-so" tracks sprinkled here and there. I found myself pushing the "next" button on my CD payer most of the time. So for those of you who really liked Gatecrasher Discotech set, and in general like high quality dutch trance, skip this set, you will not find it here.

I bought this CD already a while ago off of Amazon.uk.co and it was even cheaper with the international shipping and handling than from the US. Not to mention that trance and dance music is released in Europe a lot earlier.

Discs 1 and 2 are for the party and dance happy people. The CD's never leave my car and I am always confused which one to play. Disc 3 is very very mellow, where it will almost put you to sleep, but it is good of you want to listen to decent trance and you have a headache :)

I highly recommend Ibiza Summer Annual 2001 which has been out for a while in Europe and on Amazon UK, and Politics of Dancing (PvD) which comes out on Amazon on November 6.