Thank God I got to hear this album all the way through before I bought it, otherwise I would've thrown it out the car window and regretted ever purchasing it. Let's just make this short. Tiesto is a master. No matter what he puts out, he will always be one of, if not, the best trance DJ's ever. If you ever doubt his talents, please listen to "Parade of the Athletes" all the way through. He's a musical giant, an incredibly talented DJ, a great entertainer. Unfortunately, judging from this album it sounds like he is focusing more on entertaining, and less on putting out quality trance music that his fans demand from him.
I am all for artists branching out and expanding their musical horizons. For some, this album will be great. But for those of us who have every Tiesto album and have followed him for years, this album is cheesy trash. The only reconcilable piece of this album are the instrumental tracks, in which Tiesto gives us junkies just a little fix of his signature style. Apart from a couple other songs (Kaleidoscope is cool, and "I Will be Here" is decent, too). The rest is club-trash, suitable only for those who enjoy clubbing and acting like douchebags. Vocals are cheesy and painful, the music is nothing to brag about, and I had a hard time getting through 80 percent of this album. Seriously, at one point I said out loud "What the f--k is this??" I thought I had accidentally bumped the radio dial or something. After checking my iPod, I felt my stomach sink.
If you are looking for signature Tiesto, this is far from it. His new sound... let's just say it's not for me or for any other true Tiesto fan I've spoken to about it. I'm now debating whether or not it's worth the money to see him live in Vancouver. If he's playing the commercial junk that's on this CD, I think i'll pass.
Hopefully, In Search of Sunrise 8 will be more of his true sound. I'll always love Tiesto, but I may just have to stick with his past catalog and turn my ear more towards the "other" DJ's. PS Armin's newest Universal Religion is pretty good, too!