Customer Reviews

Hands on in Between

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I am greatly disappointed with this cd I noticed that PVD did not do these remixes but someone else. When the first CD of IN BETWEEN came out it was good then PVD came out with a second version with included a bonus CD with remixes that he did it was good enough to start dancing. The third version called HANDS ON IN BETWEEN is nothing more than shoving this down on our throats. The remixes are nothing to scream about and they are terrible and uninspiring . What was PVD thinking? He came out with maxi singles called WHITE LINES and LET GO they are better than remixes on this CD. Save your money this is not worth it one bit I am still have hopes that he will come out with something better than this. I will be seeing him on December 5th, 2008 at Roseland Ballroom in New York .

The result of a contest given by Beatport and Paul van Dyk himself, Hands on in Between is a double-disc set of the trance producer's admirers putting their hands all over his 2007 comeback album In Between. It isn't a new idea--Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails beat him to the punch--but the intentions are good, and as solid as In Between turned out to be, its surface was so blank that injecting some new juice into it was practically a necessity. It's also refreshing to hear from producers far outside the sphere of stardom, especially since most of those who listen to Mr. van Dyk regularly aren't apt to pay attention to anyone less famous than, say, DJ Rap.

So how do these mixes stack up? Obviously the quality varies from track to track, as is the case with remix albums in general. For example, Super8 & Tab's reworking of "New York City" is just the ticket, with a gripping fade-in, a lot more protein in the synthesizers, and an awesomely glittery dénouement. Then there's the Tyler Michaud remix of "Haunted", which excises the Insides-style beat that made the original so sexy and replaces it with a dumb trance thud. But the biggest sticking point with Hands on in Between isn't that there are too many losers; it's that the producers sound deathly afraid of doing anything unique with the material. That could be because they're fans who would rather pay homage to their hero's music than risk screwing it up, but still, why would anyone pay $11.99 to hear "Castaway" with slightly higher compression, or "Complicated" with a bit less melody, or "Detournement" a half-step too slow, other than to support the artists personally? Van Dyk has taken commendable measures to move away from trance as we know it on his last couple of records, but his remixers are setting him back with overdrive clichés and stale mixer tricks van Dyk himself patented over a decade ago. The concept behind Hands on in Between is excellent; the actual music is not. Completists, you have been warned.

(This was published in PopMatters on 5/1/09)

Hands on In Between is a great collection of remixed tracks from the original album, although it would have been better if it had included two or three extra mixes of "In Between (the track)" and "In Circles." But overall it's a great album to have.

As always another wonderful cd by Paul Van Dyk. He is one of my favorite trance artists.

Paul van Dyk's 'In Between' album is by far his best effort to date. Therefore, I welcome any addition there is to it. This offering, although not great, is still very good and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates Pauls' previous work. Disc 1 is nearly perfect, whereas Disc 2 suffers slightly from repetitiveness. Overall, I'll take the good with the mediocre... and for under $10, who's complaining.

I am greatly disappointed with this cd I noticed that PVD did not do these remixes but someone else from his stable of DJ's. When the first CD of IN BETWEEN came out it was good then PVD came out with a second version with included a bonus CD with remixes.The third version called HANDS ON IN BETWEEN is nothing more than shoving this down on our throats. Most of the remixes are nothing to scream about and they are terrible and uninspiring for the exception of the 2 New York City remixes and TALK ON GREY the WHITE LIES remix on this CD is terrible. The maxi singles called WHITE LIES and LET GO they are better than remixes on this CD. I am still wondering why PVD did not come out with a remix of HOURS and another remix version of LET GO. I believe that you should save your money.

I am still a big fan of PVD and will continue to support his music, I went to ROSELAND to see PVD live in NY and it is true what they say about him regarding that his live sets are alot better than his CD's maybe I think it is time for him to come out with a LIVE SET CD of his greatest hits.

To me he is the best international DJ in the world!